Wall Sconces: It is difficult to paper after you get the lights installed. Here is what I do: If I want a sconce on a wall I will paper it and then link to light to the other side of the wall and then paper that wall. Most of the time you install the lights after you wallpaper. This is of course if you use tape. I measure where the tape is and then press in my fixtures. I use the ceiling fixtures that press into the tape also. If you use wire it is tricky but what I have done is punch a small hole through the paper and then hang the paper with the sconce at the same time. I am doing a roombox for a contest now. I ran my tape around the bottom section and I will hide my wires as I go. If I put a plug in the floor then I do it as part of the floor installation. For fireplaces and hearths I wire them to my tape through the hearth and then panel or paper over them. I attach wall hung lights to the other side of the wall before I wallpaper that wall. Earth and Tree has the punch to add rivets to the tape system and it really makes life easier.

Bill Leimberger

Soldering Tape Wire: I have always used a direct wire system and by that I mean that I always cut off the plugs at the end of fixtures. It seems they are always out of scale and I don't want them to show, so I cut them off. Then, using an X-acto knife, I carefully separate the wires so that I have two. This part requires extra caution because the wires should retain the insulation at the point where they separate. After I have separated the wires, I solder one to each piece of the tape. If you are using the newer, double tape, you will first have to scrape off the insulation on each tape at the point where you want to solder. Unfortunately, the solder will not go through the heavy insulation on the tape and you cannot get a good connection without removing the insulation first. I am one of those from 'the old school' in that I much prefer the single copper tape to the new double blue/ pink tape that is available everywhere to day.

Nancye in Miami

Soldering Tape Wire: You remove the plastic coatings from the top of the the bottom piece, and both sides of the top piece. Apply a little flux, heat the junction with a soldering iron, and touch the solder to the edge of the top piece - capillary action will draw the solder between the pieces.

Tom Berkner

Wall Sconces: Determine how far up the bare wall you want your sconces. Assuming you have the tape firmly in place, you cut the wires off the sconce to the length you need to reach the tape and attach them. As you know, I prefer solder, but you can attach them with brads or grommets. Lay the sconces on the floor until you are ready to wallpaper. Cut the paper to fit the wall, mark where you want to sconces to go, cut an X at that spot. Carefully thread the sconces through the hole made by the X, leaving only less than half an inch of wire showing behind the fixture. Fasten down your wallpaper, glue down your sconce, and there you are. If you plan to use the sconce adapters, put a brad in the tape where you want to attach it, leaving about 1/8" sticking out of the wallpaper, poking the brad through the paper. Now you know where the sconce adapter will go and you can attach it directly to the wire.

Dottie in Tucson

Different Lighting: I have seen a totally different system of lighting used by a friend who used to be in our mini club. It uses no wire, but it does use strips of aluminum or some other white metal, laid down under the flooring. It has to have a thin floor that a pin will go through easily. (These details are only from what I could glean from two short discussions with Dave Crandall during busy shows.) Each object to be electrified has a couple of small pins on the bottom that make contact with the metal. Now here's the fun part. The metal isn't electrified even enough to tickle your wet tongue. A couple of guesses as to how it works. I'm sure that you electrical technologists can help out here...? It may work on the same principle as the automotive timing lights that came out a few years ago that only had to be attached with a clamp to the outside of the spark plug wire. The clamp never really comes in contact with the actual wire or electricity. Maybe it has something to do with an electromagnetic field?

Dave Pierce

Tape Wiring: I put a layer of shirt-weight cardboard on all of the walls. Then I tape wire to the cardboard. Then I make another layer of the lighter weight shirt cardboard and wallpaper it. I use a lot of lightweight cardboard. I get it from a local print shop.

Wolfie

Voltage Adapters: Radio Shack sells adapters (the thing you plug into the wall to operate a battery-driven item like a radio). They have one that can put out 3 volts, 6 volts and 9 volts. Now you just have to know what bulb you are going to use and the voltage it operates by.

Bob in Hollywood, FL

Installing Light Fixtures on Slanted Ceilings: I use a 3/4" or 1" stripwood (about 1/8" thick) the length of the room, installed at the peak of the ceiling for the ceiling light. That way your fixture is on a flat surface and the wiring all runs above the stripwood to the side of the room or house. Attach the fixture before gluing the strip to the ceiling with the wires hidden. I use scrap wood or whatever I have on hand to wedge the strip up until the glue dries.

Fannye in TX

Fixture Parts (Bulbs, Attachment Parts, etc.)/Metal Tubing: All of Cir-Kits lighting stuff is on my website http://www.dollhouse-miniatures.com, along with some of the JAF findings. The only thing I've seen for bending small tubing is a set of springs that you slip the tubing into and they help prevent kinking. Probably the best way to prevent kinking is to buy some of the very low temp. casting metal that Micro Mark sells (it melts in boiling water). You melt the metal and fill your tube with it. Then bend your tube. Since it is now in effect a rod, rather than a hollow tube, it can't kink. When you have the shape you want, drop the piece into boiling water, and the metal filling will flow out, leaving you with a perfectly shaped tube. The metal is reusable for ever.

Tom Berkner

Candles in Pringle Cans: To make Pringle cans safe for candle usage in mini scenes, you insert a mason jar screw lid ring, upside down, in the top of the Pringle can. After you decorate the inside and outside of the can, you can place a votive candle holder in the top. The hobnail design ones work the best because the hobnail catches on the ring and is more stable. They can usually be found at grocery stores in their candle section. Another good source for them is yard sales. The ring actually spaces the candle source a slight gap from the Pringle can, making it heat safe. The lit candle casts a lovely glow on the scene below.

Anita Myers in Arnold, MD

Lighting for Gift Bag Scenes: I use the battery operated lights on all my gift bags. I punch holes in the ceiling and then pull the six strings through the holes. The battery back will sit on top of the ceiling. I then add tissue to the top which will hide the battery back. I have pictures of a couple of finished bags at my craft website http://members.aol.com/muscka/Minis1/index.htm

Marsha, Newark, CA

Wiring Tips: There are wiring tips on my web site http://www.dollhouse-miniatures.com  Look under Tom's Tips.

Tom Berkner

Quarter Scale Lighting: Check out HO scale street lights for your 1/4" outside light. Go to your nearest railway shop and look for old style wall lamps. I used an old BRAWA wall lamp (Model 5356) as an outside light on a 1/4" scale house I recently made. Here's their web site - (go to English version, accessories, lighting and take a look at their antique and also the N scale wall lights - unfortunately it doesn't show the lamp I used but it will give you a feel for the kind of thing I used) http://www.brawa.de/

Sandra in New Zealand

Strip Lights: The name of the strip light that I have used is "Starstrip Mini Shelf Lite" and is distributed by Yorkville Industries Inc. Amityville New York 11701. They come in 10", 20", 30", and 40" lengths and in brass, chrome, white or black holders. The bulbs are rated at 6 watts and 120 Volts. The plug can be removed so the cord can be threaded through a small hole and the plug reattached. One drawback is there is an on/off switch that is rather close to the light and it is not removable. I solved that by prying it apart, threading the wire through and then installed a new switch so it is outside the box.

June Simpson

Wiring a Ceiling Light: You can groove the ceiling and then spackle over the groove with wire. I would then texture the ceiling or use ceiling paper. I have also used beams to carry the wires. Just make a U shaped beam or groove in the top side of a 1/2" piece of basswood and put the wires in that. I prefer a somewhat larger beam in 1" scale houses.

I like to use two 1/4" square strips covered with a 1/16" x 1" stripwood. That leaves you 1/2" in the center to carry the wires.

Fannye in TX

Candles: This is especially good if you want a thicker candle such as one in a centerpiece. I take a dowel of whatever size I want and paint it with acrylics. After a couple of coats, I then "scrape" the brush filled with paint at the top of the candle to simulate the effect a burned candle has. For a wick, you can drill a fine hole and put either thread or cut a piece of the plastic that comes with clothing tags and paint it black so it look burned. Those gizmos also make realistic straws for glasses of lemonade or other cool drinks.

Jeanette

Lighting with Batteries: You can use batteries to light lights in a miniature scene, but the batteries do not last very long. If you use AAA, AA, B, C or D batteries you need either 1-1/2 volt lamp bulbs or 3 volt lamp bulbs, depending upon how you wire up the batteries. Most mini light fixtures, at least in the US, are 12 volt and would really not light to speak of on batteries. You can light 12 volt bulbs dimly with a 9 v. battery, however. Again, light life is the big issue, and there is no way around that. Our transformers are rated at 12 volts, although many of them are "too hot" and run as high as 14 volts, which shortens the life of some brands of fixtures somewhat. Not a simple subject!

Barb Jones

Wiring Foam Core Boxes: When I wire in foam core, I make a long needle from some stiff wire with the end bent into an eye. I thread a piece of wire through the eye and run the needle all the way down through the middle of the foam, down a wall, and run the other wire in its own place, no need for insulating what is in the wall that way. You can do the same thing with the drill bit someone mentioned, just two holes instead of one.

Please remember all joints should be soldered and any joint that might be able to touch another bare joint should be insulated with shrink tubing or silicon caulk. Electrical tape is of such poor quality these days that I don't recommend it, and it is bulky besides.

Barb Jones

Wiring Foam Core: I hard-wired my half scale house. The house is shown on p.58 of the current issue of Dolls House and Miniature Scene Magazine (website is www.emfpublishing.co.uk). The problem is how to get the wire through the walls. For this I used a long drill bit which I believe is called an "aircraft extension" for some reason. It is an 1/8"bit with a long shaft, probably about 6". I used a cordless drill which is not as powerful as a corded one, and drilled through the foam wherever I wanted a wire to go. If the wall or ceiling is held up to the light, the path of the drill can be seen. In my house all the wires exit the walls or ceilings under the staircase where they are hooked up to barrier strips, and the lead-in wire joins on the other side of the strip.

As for fire, it is not any more dangerous than plywood. Regular Foamcore, which is covered with a paper, might be dangerous to wire. Gatorfoam is covered with a plaster-like material. If two wires do not touch it is unlikely there would be a fire. To add more wire to a lamp or bulb, for instance, stagger the solder joints. By this I mean to cut one wire shorter than the other and that will mean the joints are not near each other. Then insulate the joint. This can be done using silicone sealer to surround the joint, or use shrink tubing from an electronic supplier. Use a transformer that is rated for the number of bulbs being used. Count a fluorette bulb as 3 bulbs. If the transformer is not rated as having a thermal protector then it is safer to install a fuse holder in one wire of the lead-in wire.

My house was shown in La Musee de la Civilisation in Quebec City for a year with the lights on all day six days a week and only two burned out in that time. At least, I presume they are burned out as I haven't had an opportunity to check them.

June

Micro Batteries: I made a Mini scene pin 1/144th scale and I used a watch battery. It was in a matchbox and I wanted to it to light up when the "drawer" closed. We used an adhesive backed metal foil on the box inside and on the "drawer", soldering to short wires. We also soldered on the other end of the wire to the same metal although another piece at the battery housing, which was in the roof. Although you have to be in the dark (or close to it)to see the light, it does work. The adhesive backed metal foil would probably be available at a speciality electronics store, although Radio Shack may have it.

The battery was a replacement for a timer, that never worked. A rule of thumb for lighting is the requirement for the light has to be equal or larger than the output of the battery. The batteries have labels stating the volts and so do the lights, which I got from Radio Shack.

I also have seen the 9 volt plugs used for small room boxes. These can have a small push button switch, also Radio Shack. If you use a battery, I suggest the ones that have to be pushed to keep the light on otherwise the battery runs low quicker. If you choose a 12V light the light will last a long time as it will never be used at full brightness.

Preble