DIY Lexan Light Buckets

[WrenchHead]

Hey Guys;
Well I decided to build some Lexan Light Buckets for my Scaler Crawler and just wanted to share a small How2 on this build. It was very easy to do and only took about an hour or so to complete. So all you need is a piece of scrap lexan,glue,paint,and of coarse some LED lights. SO here we go,sit back and enjoy. Then go build something.l8r,w.

So first thing is to measure out how big of a piece of lexan you will need for the job at hand. You want a piece BIG enough to cut from and have a little extra just in case. Also make as many as you need all at once so you can move right onto the next step right away.Here I cut the lexan from my sheet and made 4 of them at once.




Next I cut it down and maked it for fold lines and for trimming. I wanted to make it just shallow enough so the LED will sit close to the clear area in the body.

Next I fold along the lines with a strong item like a straight edge. I used a small plastic ruler here for these. Also if you warm the lexan up a bit it will be easier to fold. I layed these on the mag. light I have. The light bulb has vents on top and it puts out enough heat to warm it up in about 10 mins.So by the time I make all 4 of them I can start folding the first one since it is now nice and toasty.


Here I took the prototype and made 4 copies of it.And I will keep it for future use.






So now I have 4 light buckets all ready for paint. I am painting the with a Chrome paint and then backing them with black .





Here they are ready to have the protective cover pealed off and then to be installed into the rig.


And now I will intall them using some hot glue and after that hardens I will add a layer of black RTV silicone to waterproof them and to black out the light on the backside. So all you see is the light coming from the front of the body and none of that glow from under the body. It seals it off nicely. Then I drill a small hole the size of the LED being used and glue it in place as well. Then route all your wires and glue them to the underside out of sight.

Tape in place till glue cools down or it will slide out of place.


Peel off the tape when cooled and you are all done and ready to light them up.


And when you are finished they will look like these on my AX-10 scaler crawler and here are some pics from my RC18R Niteline light bucket mod.





And when you add the stock sticker sheet light covers they look totally stock and all is concealed out of site.









Just wanted to say a BIGTIME thanks to Bill over at Bill's Custom RC Lighting. His kits are the best and custom orders are no problem at all for him. Thanks again Bill.

[Big Bill]

Thanks, thats a nice tip. My scale build is a Pro-line FJ-40 (bushwacker) with round headlights, any ideas on light buckets for a round headinght. You got me thinking

[86zuk]

Originally Posted by Big Bill

Thanks, thats a nice tip. My scale build is a Pro-line FJ-40 (bushwacker) with round headlights, any ideas on light buckets for a round headinght. You got me thinking

try a thimble a nice and shiny one

[Big Bill]

Originally Posted by 86zuk

try a thimble a nice and shiny one

DING DING DING we have a winner! Thanks

[rmdesignworks]

another good piece for round light buckets are the clear caps that come on a lot of the hairspray bottles,,my wife has these little caps all over our bathroom counter,,cut em, drill em, paint em,,glue/mount em in...

[BBCorvette18]

great info guys