How-to: Add working neons to your model

Hi!

To all you ricerz and tunerz out there, now you can easily add working neons to your in-scale ricer!
First you need to purchase a kit from Miller Engineering (http://www.microstru.com/index.html) (go to "Experimenter-Kits").
I got their “El Wire” kit (# 2503-3) as I was pretty sure I could make something out of that kit, I also got the “flasher unit” (#4701) to make my neons “pulse” for an improved visibility. Check out the Miller Engineering website for exact prices.

The following guide will show how I installed neons on my Tamiya Honda S2000.

This is the way I got the kit:

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/7369/dsc034872uv.th.jpg (http://img166.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc034872uv.jpg)

Here is a overall shot of all the included components, you will need to buy two AAA batteries to complete the kit:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/8397/kittetkopia2tz.th.jpg (http://img258.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kittetkopia2tz.jpg)

There are some pretty good instructions included in the kit, so once you get the kit you should be able to figure out how all the wires should be connected.
It´s suggested that you use solder and shrink tubes, but as it´s not going to move or be outside or anything I think it´s safe to skip that part (or if ya just feelin´ lazy like I did :P).

1. Do all the boring stuff

The black thing I´ve marked out in the above pic should be cut of, the two wires connected to it are the ones you will use to connect the neon wire. Remove the plastic and twist the wires together

If you decide to use the flasher unit, now is the time to hook it up to the circuit. Carefully remove the plastic from the wire and twist the wires together:

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/8797/dsc069251nq.th.jpg (http://img40.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc069251nq.jpg)

The flasher should be connected between the switch and the “power supply”, cut off the wires as shown. Remove the plastic from all the wires and twist wires together:

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/3381/dsc069277iz.th.jpg (http://img40.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc069277iz.jpg)

Now connect the flasher unit, it´s very important to connect it the “right” way, since it´s only working in one direction. DO NOT do the way I did in the pic below, after I had installed it I had to do it all over again `cus that damn flasher was´nt working at all:

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/7328/dsc069300vh.th.jpg (http://img40.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc069300vh.jpg)

Now the neon wire was a bit tricky to remove the plastic from, since there are two ridiculously thin wires inside that are supposed to connect to the red wire. Also remove the phosphorus coating on the tip, here is where you will connect the black wire.

http://img427.imageshack.us/img427/1188/dsc06932kopia3hp.th.jpg (http://img427.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc06932kopia3hp.jpg)

Once you have successfully removed the plastic from the wire and scraped of the phosphorus coating you are ready to install the wire in the car.

2. Hide all the evidence!

All the components should be able to hide inside a bigger model, but my little Honda was just to damn small! So I had to scratchbuild a quick base to hide all the stuff:

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/2289/dsc070261vm.th.jpg (http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc070261vm.jpg)

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/5739/dsc070230zu.th.jpg (http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc070230zu.jpg)

3. Drill holes for the neon wire to go in the model/chassis.

I only wanted neons on the sides, but you could put them just about anywhere, in the wheel housing or in the interior tub (under the dash perhaps?), anything goes. Since this kit DOES NOT GENERATE ANY HEAT you don´t have to worry about the plastic melting.

Drill holes where you want the wire to go (the neon wire is 2 mm in diameter):

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7986/dsc050272xd.th.jpg (http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc050272xd.jpg)

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7296/dsc050231jd.th.jpg (http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc050231jd.jpg)

Only two thin wires need to be connected to the neon wire, so hiding them won´t be too hard. I chosed to hide them behind the right rear wheel:

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/1403/dsc06944kopia2jz.th.jpg (http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc06944kopia2jz.jpg)

Install the wires in the car:

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/3266/dsc069352nu.th.jpg (http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc069352nu.jpg)

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/5544/dsc050281sd.th.jpg (http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc050281sd.jpg)

I used some masking tape to cover the rest of the wire so that nothing would shine through once the body is on:

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/2803/dsc070278et.th.jpg (http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc070278et.jpg)

4. Hook it up!

Now that the neon wire is in postition you can hook it up to the circuit, install the two wires from the “power supply” through the car:

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/8275/dsc069457eu.th.jpg (http://img246.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc069457eu.jpg)

Connect the red wire to the two thin twisted wires on the neon wire.

Connect the black wire to the tip of the neon wire where you removed the phosphorous coating.



It´s as simple as that!

Hope this made any sense...now go and get creative!

ANY QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK IS WELCOME!

Happy modelling!

I have a question:

What's it look like with the body on and the lights lit? :icon16:

I have a question:

What's it look like with the body on and the lights lit? :icon16:
You mean if the neons are visible in daylight? Actually it succeeded my expectations, it´s really brighter than I first thougt it´d be. Ask proosen or GvEman, they have seen it live. The brighter your base, the brighter the shine.

These pics were taken with the lights lit:

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/2403/dsc069473zi.th.jpg (http://img295.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc069473zi.jpg)

Compare with:

http://img320.imageshack.us/img320/8493/dsc069467yc.th.jpg (http://img320.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc069467yc.jpg)

http://img284.imageshack.us/img284/7827/dsc069490pc.th.jpg (http://img284.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc069490pc.jpg)

Compare with:

http://img284.imageshack.us/img284/7691/dsc069483uk.th.jpg (http://img284.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc069483uk.jpg)

All the tuners out there will like this one. Lets hope they thank you for your efforts to write this up, and perhaps this might even be added to the FAQ section.

This is very good.

It's been added to ScaleWiki (http://www.scalewiki.com)

that kit looks amazing, will the company ship to the uk?

Cool Tut :D

Nice writeup and I like the finished effect.
Was a little worried you were putting neons on a Skyline (wheels) Phew........
Works well :bigthumb:

That's ricetastic!! Actually, that is pretty cool. Not my thing tho. Thanks for the cool tutorial.

that kit looks amazing, will the company ship to the uk?
Yea it´s a pretty nice kit, I check the neons frequently and they are still working great. If the company could ship it to Sweden I´m sure they´ll ship to the UK aswell. But you could always send them an e-mail and ask...

Nice writeup and I like the finished effect.
Was a little worried you were putting neons on a Skyline (wheels) Phew........
Works well :bigthumb:
Hey, thanks. I figured maybe this tut would be more interesting for the diecast ppl, but since I never read anything written in those forums I ended up posting it here instead.
Oh and don´t worry Steve, I´d never do something like that to a Skyline:D

Thanks for the comments guys!