Lighting a Layout

[didcot]

I need to light my 009 layout. By that I mean the layout not the buildings. It's so dark at the moment I have to use a head torch just to see what I'm doing. 

The layout lives under our bed and has a lid to keep the dust out. The lid has to go on at bedtime when the layout is out as there isn't any room to store it elsewhere. 

I was thinking of some sort of support to suspend a light, but what light source would be best. I'm thinking LEDs, but what type do people use and how to avoid glare? Can you get them so that the true colours of the layout are shown? This is something I struggle with now, it's really difficult to paint and weather.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated 

[The Johnster]

LED desk/worktop lighting is available with adjustable levels and cool, warm, and mixed cast, at about £25 a pop from the ‘zon.  Mine clamp to the front of the baseboards and have bendy necks so angles can be adjusted, which gives the opportunity to light your layout from the side to a degree; light comes from directly overhead in the tropics, not in Britain.  I can recreate times of day and weather conditions to some extent, and the lamps are spaced about 30” apart.  The multiple LED light source reduces shadows and gives an even spread of dispersed light, and they don’t get unduly hot.  I have the advantage of a permanently erected layout, but the clamp attachment means that positioning them when you set the layout up is not time-consuming or onerous, and of course they can be given other tasks when the layout is hiding under the bed. 
 

That’s my solution FWIW, there are others and you may well find something that suits you better. 

[PaulRhB]

A couple of friends have got a couple of these off Amazon 
LED Clip Desk Lamp,, 7W (Black) https://amzn.eu/d/ebAhzBv

If you want lighting that could be used for show then LED strip lights stuck to a L shape aluminium strip works well. I use warm white but many mix warm and cool whites. 

and I mount them on these shelving rack supports

 

[didcot]

I like the shelving bracket idea.

[didcot]

So I managed to get some layout lighting sorted. I bought a 5 foot slimline LED batten from screwfix with twin daylight strips and a defuser. I've made up a rudimentary support, but was getting glare from the LEDs. So I repurposed some square guttering to make a shade. I can always add some softer LED strips to tone it down. But it's made working on the layout much easier.