Adding Realistic Lighting To A Diecast O Scale Vehicle

This little project adds an extra touch of fun and realism to an O scale vehicle. When I say "O scale vehicle," I'm taking a bit of license, because there are very few diecast cars actually labeled 1:48 scale. Most are 1:43. Fortunately for O scale modelers, some manufacturers tend to build their 1:43 diecast vehicles undersized, which means they look about right in an O scale setting. You just have to pick the ones that do look right.

Some diecast vehicles have transparent headlights and tail lights, which makes them ideal for lighting. You can just stick LEDs right behind them. The only other consideration is making sure there's room enough in the vehicle for the LEDs, resistors, and wiring. In tight spaces, tiny surface-mount LEDs can be used. But they can be a challenge to solder.

For this vehicle, I decided to just light the parking lights. I used orange and red 3mm water clear LEDs. Today's superbright LEDs are too bright to look realistic in this kind of application when their rated current is used, so I underpowered them by using relatively high value resistors with 3.3 volts of power.

I was very pleased with the results. The photos don't do justice to the color of the lights, but they do give a good indication of the effect of adding lighting to a scale vehicle.

Here's the build video and the photos: