Overhead Lighting

[GWR-Kris]

Hi All not sure where to of put this one so thought here first. Basically above my layout I have some shelving this annoying now puts a shadow on some of the layout. I want to put some lighting under this shelving however I am struggling to find something i know will work how I want.

Im after something fairly basic and cost effective but ideally something that I can adjust the brightness to suit as I dont want anything too bright. Anyone any suggestion somehting they used maybe?

Just to add the room is about 7ft x 11ft going around the wall with an opertating well in the middle.

[chrism]

Hi All not sure where to of put this one so thought here first. Basically above my layout I have some shelving this annoying now puts a shadow on some of the layout. I want to put some lighting under this shelving however I am struggling to find something i know will work how I want.

Im after something fairly basic and cost effective but ideally something that I can adjust the brightness to suit as I dont want anything too bright. Anyone any suggestion somehting they used maybe?

Just to add the room is about 7ft x 11ft going around the wall with an opertating well in the middle.

I use self-adhesive LED strip lights, fixed to the bottom edges of my layouts' name boards. No reason why they couldn't be stuck on the bottom of a shelf, some are actually described as being for use under kitchen.
Some are dimmable, although bear in mind that this can give uneven brightness when filming videos because the dimming is done by switching them on and off at a varying speed, which the camera can pick up.

Something like these;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=white+led+strip+lights&ref=nb_sb_noss

[ntpntpntp]

Lidl occasionally have cheap "under cabinet" lighting units, either battery or mains powered.   For my most recent project I used a pair of mains units on my lighting rig.  These aren't dimmable though.
Ideally you want the lights to be positioned so they're above the front of the layout rather than the back, otherwise it'll cast shadows the wrong way.  If you're going to use "raw" LED strips (the ones you buy on a reel) I'd suggest they're best fitted into a channel with a diffused cover.

[dannyboy]

I also would advocate the LED strips. I use the type that stick to the underneath of shelves or battens. My layout has them stuck to battens, whilst in my 'plant house' I have them stuck underneath shelves. There are various types available on the likes of Amazon, as has been suggested.

[NScaleNotes]

I built myself a dimmable LED overhead worklight from components I got from CPC Farnell and Ebay.
The same set of parts could easily be used to build some lights for a layout.

I ordered a 5m reel of spotless 24V LEDs
A dimmable power supply.
This cable to connect the power supply to the LEDs.

The LED strip comes with tails already attached so as long as you don't break the strip into multiple sections (cutting to length is fine) you'll just need a few WAGOs to connect the supply cable to the LEDs. Simple.

If you want to cut the strip to have multiple sections of lighting you just need a few clip on connectors and a bit of wire to join the sections together.
Now for some reason CPC Farnell don't sell the little press fit connectors so I ordered something similar to these from Ebay.

5000K is pretty close to daylight colour temperature but you can get 6500K if you'd prefer.
As I mentioned the LEDs are buried in a rubber-like diffuser strip so don't need any diffusing cover and you can just stick them to the underside of your shelf.

It's quite an easy/fun little project. The only thing to check is that the power supply you order has enough power to run the length of LED you want.

P.S. It's soooo much cheaper to buy the parts this way than it is to buy an off the shelf LED kit.

[GWR-Kris]

Cheers for that advice will look into each on see which best suits what I need. thank you