The Van Kit

Here is a shot of the van kit.  Some detailing was done to the van as well.  The panel lines were highlighted with a wash of black paint.  Silver was painted along the inside of each window to look like the weatherstrip edging. Small lights that were not animated were painted.  Clear styrene was used for the windows, then coloured black from the back so that they are not see through.  (The Arduino has some onboard LEDs that would show up through clear windows.)

Van Interior

I painted the interior of the cab a tan colour, and then added a driver.  The driver was from a Prieser fireman set.

LED Mounting

Shane pre-soldered motor wire to the surface mount LEDs, using a magnifying lamp and low temperature solder.  Through some trial and error, I discovered that the "ears" from a Kadee couple pocket would be a great jig and light baffle for the LEDs.  Each LED was glued onto an ear, ensuring the LED was centred in the hole.  The hole was the same diameter as the lenses coming through the body of the kit.

Testing LEDs

As I went along, I tested each LED before and after each gluing to ensure that I did not pull a wire loose, or have a cold solder joint.  The test jig is something I rigged up on the fly.  I also coated the assemblies in liquid electrical tape to seal them electrically and prevent some light from flashing back into the van body.

Gluing the LEDs into the van

Here is shot of a few LEDs now installed.  I could simply locate the ear and LED over a lens, then use a dab of glue to hold into place.  In the bottom left corner of the van body, you can see how the lens poke through the wall a little bit.  As needed, more liquid electrical tape was added.

A mess of wires

Here are all the wires from the LEDs installed in the van body.  Four LEDs were also installed in the front cab of the van.  Two white headlights and two orange marker lights.  These were super-glued directly onto the front chrome plastic of the van grill. The wires were drilled through the grill, then routed under the seat towards the van body.

Programming the LED flashing sequence

Here, all the LEDs have been wired to the Arduino with appropriate resistors, and we are using a programmer and USB cable to do the flashing sequences on a laptop.  The sequences were developed through trial and error, based on an excellent program that Shane found on the internet.  Some LEDs on opposite sides of the van were wired together.  Thus as we programmed the sequence for one side of the van, the other side was done as well.

I spent about 20 hours total on the project, including a few hours with Shane helping me learn to solder the delicate components.  (He spent additional time soldering the LEDs, purchasing supplies, etc.)  The van cost me $5 at a train show.  The components overall were less than $10.  The unit can be run with a 9V battery or a 9V power supply.  Shane has several vehicles on display at our Windsor Model Railway Club, mine will likely spend some time on display at shows, as well as go on my layout.

Mircoscopic Rat's Nest

This reminds me of the complex installations European modelers do when building Faller Car System and DC-Car models; theirs include motors, steering linkages and sometimes IR decoders as well.  Dealing with all those tiny wires must be maddening.

Supurb Job

I just did one for a friend and used a Picaxe processor.

The programability of Arduino and Picaxe are replacing a lot of electronics with software.

I was able to duplicate multiple ambulance light flash patterns, randomly select one, cycle for 5 seconds and switch to another pattern.

Excellent work sir

As a fellow 'emergency vehicle uplighter', I understand how difficult some of this was, and just how fun it is in the end.  Excellent work!!!

Excellent work sir

As a fellow 'emergency vehicle uplighter', I understand how difficult some of this was, and just how fun it is in the end.  Excellent work!!!