Four-Way Flashers

First Generation

I confess I shot no video of this effect, not that it would be all that exciting. Here's the deal: I carved out holes where the front turnsignals and rear brake lights went, and installed microbulbs to create a four-way flasher effect. I even installed a green microbulb on the dashboard to simulate the indicator lights. As you can see from the photos, I also carved out the hood and reinstalled it raised, and also detailed the engine compartment (below).

I honestly don't recall what I used to make the microbulbs flash—yeah, it was that long ago.

Second Generation

Of course, today one would use LEDs instead of microbulbs. We live in an age where one can buy pre-wired 0201 SMD LEDs in any color, including warm white. These LEDs are small enough to illuminate the turn-signals and any other lights on just about any N Scale vehicle. Here I'll offer a look at what it's like to work that small.

The LEDs for four-way flashers (or just turn-signals) can be made to flash by two means: the more conventional one is to use a flasher circuit; however, as a much more economical alternative, one can also make them flash with a blinking LED: one need only wire the indicators in series with the blinking LED. Multiple indicators can be wired together in parallel, and then in series with just one blinking LED. Note that an incandescent effect may be desirable for all but the most recent vehicles.

Four-ways are used extensively on the Men at Work diorama.

The Mail Truck

The Showcase Miniatures mail truck (from the tow truck animation) is an example of one of the more challenging vehicles to illuminate. Even the fly-speck sized 0201 LEDs weren't small enough to fit. I'd thought about using fiber optics, but this presented two issues: first, the lights aren't round; they're oblong; and second, the vehicle is a bit small inside for fiber-to-LED couplings. My solution was to drill out the oblong lenses with a #80 drill bit, then carve out a recess right behind it large enough to accommodate 0402 LEDs. In the process of bonding the LEDs into the recesses, the holes drilled into the light fixtures fill up with CA, which automatically creates lenses. Because the front flashers are so close to the bumper, the holes and recesses broke through the bottom edge of the shell, essentially creating a cross-section view (below left). Also visible in this image are the wires from a green LED I installed in the dashboard. It's not directly visible under normal viewing circumstances, but it creates a flashing green glimmer though the windows. It's subtle little details such as this that I enjoy adding, mostly because I can.

As you can see in the image above right, the functional lamp is almost indistinguishable from the rest.

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