Talented Miniaturists

I have three customers this month who have won competitions with a little help from my lighting products.  One used red Nano LEDs in a magic trick to win the World Championships and another has won the Best Large Miniature in a Warhammer 40K competition in Norway using LED lights and a servo to turn the tank turret and then there's the miniaturist I'm going to feature in this blog post who has won 1st prize in the Hungarian Dolls House and Miniatures contest for her stunning Cape Cod Living room.

Orsi of Orsi's Miniatures is probably familiar name to many of you and has blown me away on numerous occasions with her stunning miniature creations.

I first worked with her to provide lighting for a recreation in miniature of Sherlock Homes's kitchen and since then we've worked on a few projects together but the latest is noteworthy in that it won her the 1st prize and a lovely trophy.  So without further ado I'll show you the pictures!

Orsi's Miniatures Cape Cod Living Room. 

Stunning isn't it!  

The overall lighting is provided by LED spotlights in the ceiling.  There is another LED in the table lamp and hanging lights, warm white nano LEDs light up the bookshelves and a flickering fire kit provides a realistic glow in the fireplace.

Orsi's Miniatures - Flickering Fire and Nano LEDs in the bookshelves

Orsi's Miniatures - Nano LEDs light up the bookshelves

The Nano LEDs are typically used for smaller scales but here you can see just how effective they can be in 1/12th scale for lighting up smaller areas like these bookshelves.  The Nano LEDs are just 1.5mm long but give off an incredible amount of light and with their tiny size they are easily concealed.

Orsi's Miniatures - Miniature or real??

The attention to detail throughout this wonderful miniature is testament to Orsi's skill and vision.  I am delighted that my lighting helped bring this room to life.

Jennifer, 

New Products - Bases for smaller scale kits

It's a familiar situation for many of us...You've built your house kit and added some lighting to really bring it to life but what do you do with the wires and the battery box?

Well, the solution is often to make a base for the kit so you can hide the battery underneath and perhaps also add a garden or other landscaping but what if you could buy a base that was specially designed and had a concealed drawer to hide the wiring with an easily accessible on/off switch?

Ta da!

Assembled and landscaped small base kit for BlueBell Cottage

I have designed a couple of sizes of base kits that suit most 1/48th scale house kits or several smaller kits.  These are lasercut from 3mm ply and even have a concealed magnetic system so bases can be joined together to make a street scene.

Bases can be joined to form a street scene

They are designed to be used with any lighting kit but if you already have or are buying one of my lighting kits then I provide an extension wire with micro plug connectors so the lighting kit can be plugged into the extension and then the battery and switch neatly fit in the drawer.  The switch snaps into the hole in the front of the base for easy switching on and off of your lights.

Large base kit 

Large base kit with drawer open

I have assembled some landscaping materials including kits to make hedging & shrubs, realistic grass and I've also designed a picket style fence with gate.  These are not yet on the website but please contact me if you are interested.  These materials are often sold in large quantities for model railways so I will supply smaller kits, with instructions so you have enough to do one or two bases and don't get left with a mountain of stuff you don't need!

The bases are available here: Bases for smaller scale kits and prices range from £12.99 - £16.25 (discounts for buying more than one)

Best wishes,

Jennifer,

New Products and Updates!

Following on from my tutorial last week about installing LED spotlights in a room box I have now added 3 new spotlight kits to my website to make it very easy for you to have a go!

These include a kit for a shop window or frontage with 2 LEDs, holders and battery kit, a 6 LED kit for a standard room box and a 10 LED kit for a large room box.  They are also suitable for a dolls house 1/12th scale room.

LED Spotlight Kits

Kits include:
3mm High brightness LEDs (you can choose from warm white, white or blue for a witch or fairy room)
LED holders (choice of options)
3 volt AAA battery kit
Full instructions with photos (PDF)

Buy a shop window kit
Buy a standard room box kit
Buy a large room box kit

I have also updated my customer gallery.  If you are looking for inspiration it's well worth a look.  This week I added a photo from Barbara Adair who has bought several of my pre-wired flexible LED strips to light her shop boxes.  Here is her Scent Shop room box lit with 6 LED bright white strips.  They are nice and bright and a very affordable option.  All run off a 12v supply, usually a 12v regulated transformer.  They can be powered by a 9v battery but they are dimmer and the more strips you add the quicker the battery will run down.

LED strip lights in a scent shop room box by Barbara Adair

Another new section I have added to my website this week is for power supplies / transformers.
I have a regulated plug in transformer that will power from 1 to 50 LEDs and the voltage is adjustable so you can set it for use with 3v, 6v, 9v or 12v.  You can only use it on one voltage at a time but it does allow a bit of flexibility if you would rather use mains power rather than a battery to light your miniatures.
These are the modern type of digital transformer so they're small in size, efficient and quiet making it a good choice for your lighting.  They are also regulated meaning the power output won't spike making them perfect for powering delicate electronics like LEDs.

It comes with a selection of plugs, but for use with my LEDs you can purchase a 2.1mm socket to terminal block connector so you can fix the wires from the LEDs in one end and then simply plug it into the transformer plug.  Simples!

2.1mm Socket to Terminal Block Connector

3-12v Transformer

 Visit the power supply page

Finally, I am hard at work on my christmas range and hope to have pictures and final details very soon. Watch this space!

Best wishes,
Jennifer,

I need YOU......

....to give me your feedback!

Last week I mentioned starting up some online workshops to teach you how to use LEDs for your dolls house projects or other model projects.

The first workshops will cover aspects of lighting a dolls house such as a "Beginners guide to LEDs" and making a table or floor lamp.  These have been very popular workshops when I've done them live.

I've had 1 reply so far to my questions but I really need a few more so I can tailor the workshops to what you really want!

It'll only take 5 mins... honest :)

1. Would you prefer step by step instructions in PDF form, a video demonstration or both?
2. Would you like a set time to complete the task or to do it at your own leisure? 
3. Would you like to chat with me to ask questions and get feedback?
4. If I set up a closed Facebook group to enable you to ask questions and show your finished items would this be of interest?
5. Or would you prefer a Yahoo group? 
6. Are there any topics you would specifically like covered in a future workshop?
7. Any other comments?

To provide your feedback please E-mail me or leave your comments below.

jsminiatures[at]gmail.com (please replace [at] with @)


Jennifer,