HOW TO… LIGHT YOUR LAYOUY
I’ve seen so many people ask how to light layouts effectively and easily, that I thought it was time I set the record straight, especially when it comes to the choice of components, design of the lighting rig, and its construction. Truth is, you don’t need a degree in electronics (I certainly don’t have one!) to master the basic principles, but it is easy to overlook some of these aspects.
As Giles Favell noted in his article in the Spring 2020 issue of BRM, lighting a layout is a very important aspect of layout design. If your audience can’t properly see your layout, then you’ve effectively wasted the many hours you’ve spent pouring your heart and soul into building it. This goes for home layouts, too! There will be some inevitable crossover with Giles’ article, but I’m going to build on that by showing you how to produce a lightweight, versatile, and relatively low-cost lighting rig. Specifically, I’ll be going into more detail about LED tapes and their associated components.
It’s not quite as simple as buying an
