Hi All,
Bob was right .... weeping willows aren't easy, but I think the new one is an improvement

Continuing to faff about with things that are niggling (there's not much on the layout that is original now I am learning from all you guys how to do things better

) The latest thing I attacked was this little hut, and its ENORMOUS outside light.

I have a theory that all the little improvements that may not be noticeable individually, when added together better the layout when viewed as a whole, especially on a layout this small.
Taking inspiration from technical genius Caz, and a topic she wrote about tiny lights on carriages and locos, I bought some of this fibre optic stuff which arrived this morning.

It is 1mm diameter, and came in a 7m pack. I used less than an inch of it for the light, and about 6" playing around, so if anyone needs some I have loads spare

I also used a 3mm LED. and some heat shrink tube ....

I made the hut, and drilled a 1mm hole where the light will go ....

Next I had to think of something for the light. I had some spare level crossing gates, so in a "light bulb moment" I thought one of the lights from these would be ok. I VERY carefully drilled a 1mm hole through it. After breaking one first go

, on the second one I first used a 0.5mm drill, then 0.75mm and finally a 1mm drill, and that gave me a hole the fibre optic snuggley fitted into.


Then the lamp was cut off the gate and painted black ...

The lamp with about half inch or so fibre optic was then pushed through the hole on the hut wall from the front, and glued with a very tiny bit of Arraldite (the instructions on the fibre optic said superglue dissolves it)
The LED, which I bought pre-wired with a resistor, was then fitted with a little "hood" of heat shrink, and fitted inside the hut, with the LED butting up against the end of the fibre optic. A knot in the leads stops them from pulling through the hole in the hut base.
The light is on here, and there is a bit of light leakage, which was stopped with a blob of blu-tac.

The wires, blu-tac etc were then painted black so nothing would show through the window and door, and the roof was glued on. Here's how it looks ....

Compared to the first version, which I used one of the rectangular block type LEDs with the block bit painted.

And here are the two side by side, showing both lights on. When I bed the new one in I may dab a little bit of yellow paint on to "warm up" the light.... not sure yet


Well that's been my day, taking it slowly with lots of coffee breaks while paint and glue dry properly, and a few walk away breaks so I don't mess up

No more modelling today, tomorrow it's out with the old and in with the new

Thanks to Caz for her inspiration, and hope you find this useful if anyone is going to try adding little lights on your buildings

All best wishes
Kevin