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"What Lights Do I Need For..."

3/25/2014

26 Comments

 
Here at Brickstuff, we often get questions along the lines of, "I just bought <x> LEGO set, and I'm wondering what lights I need to go with it.  Can you help?"

OF COURSE we can help-- we love connecting with our customers and hearing about all the awesome things they are creating!  So if you have a question about any of our products, don't hesitate to reach out and ask.

Since we often do get the same question, however, we thought it might be helpful to publish this blog post with some of the most common advice we provide.

When considering which lights you need for a given model, the most important factor to consider is: what overall effect are you hoping to achieve?  By this we don't mean lighting effect, but rather the approach you plan to take to the lighting process as a whole.  Here it is important to decide whether your goal is to add basic lighting (for example, adding general, broad light to one or more buildings), or whether you're aiming for something more detailed (for example, lighting each individual lamp in a house, headlight on a vehicle, or laser on a space ship).

If your goal is to add a large amount of general light to relatively large spaces (such as the interior of a building), your best bet is to use our Light Strips.  We offer these in packs of 2 and also in a 9-pack starter kit.  As a general rule of thumb, you'll need three Light Strips per floor of a Modular Building-sized structure (use fewer per floor if you have a smaller building, more if you have a larger building).  You can connect the Light Strips end to end, so you can expand your lighting installation or add more light at any time.  We have published an online guide that provides more ideas for using our Light Strips to light Modular Buildings (you can use these same techniques to light non-buildings as well).

If your goal is to create detail lighting (lighting individual lamps, engines, headlights, laser cannons, etc.), then our Micro Light Boards are the right solution.  As with the Light Strips, we offer these in packs of 2 and also in a starter kit.   We have published an online guide that describes how to light the Winter Village Cottage using our Micro Light Boards-- the information contained in this guide can also be useful for lighting other non-building elements (headlights, for example).  Using the process described in Step 6 of the online guide, you can gently sand the corners of the Micro Light Boards so they will fit inside 1x1 round bricks (out of the box, the Micro Light Boards will fit inside 1x1 non-round bricks).

So, to summarize: there is no one "right" way to light your creations.  Depending on the type of effect you are seeking, you will benefit from using either our Light Strips or our Micro Light Boards (or both, if you want to light both general areas and detailed spaces).  For models like Technic models, space ships, and the like, you will probably want to use the Micro Light Boards.

No matter your approach or what you're hoping to light up, the easiest way to get started is to use one of our starter kits-- these include everything you'll need to be up and running quickly, and since everything in the Brickstuff system is modular, you can easily expand or adjust your installation (or your approach) at any time.

We hope this information has been helpful.  If you have additional specific questions, we'd be happy to help!  Just send us a note via our Contact page and we'll be in touch.



26 Comments

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