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Thursday, 3 March 2011

Illumination

My wife had a trip to Ikea today, and got me a nice new lamp:



As you can see it will be just right for illuminating the box-file layout. It would be rather over the top to build a lighting rig for such a small layout as I did for Awngate, and rather defeat the point of building it in a box file (just don't ask me what that point is!). However to display a model well requires some lighting, and most desk lamps or clip-on lights don't suit as they would be too close to the model and not give an even light.

This long-arm angle-poise type lamp is perfect as it can sit high above the layout and give an even, diffused light from it's 11W fluorescent tube, without blocking the view, and being lightweight and able to fold up small for portability. The light is plenty bright enough, and will give more of a cloudy day look than the warm, sunny-day tungsten strip lights of Awngate or Southon Yard.

At a little over £13 the "Global" light from Ikea is excellent value, but you can tell it is cheap. Lots of plastic, and the joints need to be tightened with wing nuts to keep it from sagging once in position. It also only comes with a G-clamp rather than a proper stand. However for this use that doesn't really matter, it is cheaper than most strip-lights in DIY stores. It would be great for a permanent work bench too, if only I had one ...

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