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1:350 Tirpitz Battleship lighting

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rksl66

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I am new to this electronics scene, but I am building the above and want to put lights near her portholes and upper controll towers to give the effect of the ship been alive. I would prefer for this to be solar powered so that she lights up at night times only. Can anyone help me on the parts I require and the schematics. All help apprec
 
I take it this is a model?
how big and is it feasible to put "lights" in the hull to light up the portholes instead of each porthole?
how many portholes?
a cool effect would be to use PWM. then it would resemble flickering lights. not a bunch of flicker. perhaps white and yellow LEDs mixed together to give that warm light feel.LEDs for less battery drain.
A circuit is relatively easy. Batteries would be preferred (a wall wart better) then a photo transistor or CDS to detect dark.
either a 7555 or a PIC (micro controller). with the PIC you could connect several LEDs so the flicker is not all the same and battery life would be longer with a PIC (you put it to sleep in daylight.
 
okay heres the specs

upper deck bow 8 portholes 10mm apart.... 17 on stern various positions adding upto 3cm
lower deck bow 9 portholes 10mm apart.... 15 on stern various positions adding upto 3cm
length of model 28cms all up.

I agree with the flickering that would give the impression of people walking past the portholes, but I prefer to keep out of the battery scene, as once the ship is in the cabinet I don't want kids etc playing with switches turning on/off hence the solar...

so yes to the PWM, but I am new to this so all assistance in what this is the better lol

thanx
 
i may have missunderstood something but if it's to be lit at night how are you going to use solar power wich requires daylight??? unless of course you use a battery and solar power to charge it. to me it would make more sense to just add a rechargable battery and simply hook it up so you can charge it from a normal charger. if you use leds then it should last a fair while on a single charge.
 
Sounds like a-lot of LEDs if you put one each porthole. If you put seleral LEDs in the hull, assuming that the hull is a common open area, your amount of LEDs would be less.
If you use a solar pannel/charger you would have a wire from ship to charger to solar pannel. then locating a pannel large enought.
I would go with wall wart to power LEDs OR a wall wart to charge the batteries in the ship.
If using a PIC then program it to shut off after a few hours to save batteries. between charging.
either way you have a wire going to the ship.
this would make a great night light
 
here is a schematic

the LEDs connect to J2
you really don't need J1
can add more LEDs to other outputs (5 or 6?)
add a simple battery charger if you want.
have code, just need to add additional outputs and sleep routine.
add a battery charger to schematic.
board size=estimate under 2"x1"
 

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I thought it could be done similar to a garden night light, where i can place a rechargeable battery in the hull (which will be completely sealed never to be reopened), and have the solar part outside near the front of the stand to capture the sunlight. What would be the ratio of 1.5v rechargeable batteries to leds for example. ?. I might use only 4 in the stern 5 in the bow and 1 in the upper control tower.
 
a cool effect would be to use PWM. then it would resemble flickering lights. not a bunch of flicker.

Just for your information: The Tirpitz was a WWII battleship and electricity was well known at these times. :)

If a light flickered aboard a ship flickering was caused either by a faulty generator or cable. :D
 
Warship lights

If you like to show how a common batleship would look in open sea you should not show ANY light in the portholes but the navigation lights. Eventually, a signal lamp on one of the wings (bridge level) could flash a preprogrammed message. I am not sure if at that times, they used the topmast flashing lights visible on the 360º. Most probably yes. And I am not sure if Morse code was in force among Germans.

A seaman myself I know what SOLAS convention requires for common vessels but could try to find out the lights used by German warships in WWII times. My brother, a quite qualified modelist could help here.

He dedicated years building models from several Kriegsmarine's units. He builds them piece by piece. He has also collected an incredible amount of information about them.

Some of the extra lights for warships are those signaling current condition (whether she was sailing along or forming part of a group), the level or the highest officer on board and so on. Quite specific, really.

If you like to be picky: there is a light (of blue color) that basically nobody should see except the steering man (at the bridge) located on the centerline, helping him to identify in the dark where the bow was. Anyway, in certain conditions, steering men where not in the bridge but somewhere inside in much lower decks so unable to see outside. Course was kept watching a repeater of the compass in front of them a receiving orders from the bridge several decks above them.

Probably you know this, and sorry for telling you the basics: all vessels, in night time, show few and specific lights, except passenger vessels, fisshing boats and special ones like tenders or trawlers when carrying out their specific function.

I like the idea of charging a battery during the day to show those few lights in nightime.

Sorry for being wordy but hope this contributes to a better model. If not, forget all the above and enjoy!! ;)
 
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well written, and true enough you are correct about lights esp during war times. my dad being ex merchant navy will also give us an insight on what lights esp in comms were used during these times, thanx again for your reply...
 
ALL sounds reasonable. just a blue light and maybe one transmitting morse code.
the morse code is easy using a PIC. Its just a matter of how many LEDs. then a solar charger but the solar panel would need to generate 5-6 volts. Not sure how big?? would have to be.
 
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