Posted by Brett Anthony on October 26, 1999 at 17:07:33 in 130.86.75.39:
In Reply to: Re: Fiber Optics posted by Mike Pell on October 26, 1999 at 15:27:00:
1. Carefully read Mike Pell's post.
2. Basically, the ambient light you see is from the bulbs themselves, not the F/O. The trick is to cut very large holes in the internal decks and to paint the inside of everything white so the light will fill the ship. Although the hull itself is opaque from the black pigment, paint it white inside anyway. This also helps with porthole drilling. Every other piece of plastic is to some extent translucent, so follow Mike's suggestion of painting it silver (or black) on the backside, followed by white. White alone will not block the light. Mike's suggestion to caulk every internal seam with painted KK should be followed religiously. If you want some portholes dark (recommended), drill and KK them normally, then block the backside with paint.
3. Unless you have a really big bundle of fibers, F/O is not much good for casting a pool of light. As you say, this is strictly point-of-light stuff. However, ambient light coming from the windows plus a F/O decklamp produces a pretty good illusion. Places where there is less of this inside-the-hull ambient light, like under the docking bridge, remain a problem.
4. Specific answers:
A) F/O is not supposed to emit light from the side of the fiber, although there is a variant called "side glow fiber" which does, but not much.
B) ALL the light the fiber emits has to enter the end close to the source. Therefore, this end has to be smooth, square, and as close as possible to the source. A fiber which is 5mm from the source will get 9 times more light than one 15mm away.
C) Cutting and trimming F/O effectively (without spending big bucks for a special cutter) is a major pain. I had a small block of aluminum with a smooth surface lying about, so I drilled holes in it to snugly fit the fiber sizes I am using. I stick the fiber up through the hole and slice it with a single edge razor blade. This seems to produce a clean end without crimping. Don't try to trim ends flush with the model; rather do as Mike suggests and make the fiber a few cm longer so you can prep the end first and then pull it back into place. I have not tried heat flaring the ends yet, but if that works it will make deck lights much simpler.