Search the Community

So I have this plan for my new-and-improved hobby room. I'll be using adjustable shelving brackets so I can reconfigure my display shelves however I please. My goal is to have lighting installed underneath each shelf so it will shine down on the cars below. I'll be able to flick a single switch and my entire display will come to life. The basic idea is that I can turn my display setup into some cool ambient lighting when I'm working in the hobby room or reading my Kindle there. I've worked out how to supply power to each shelf from a single common source and how to add individual toggle switches in case I want to turn the lights off on any given shelf, if for example there's nothing beneath that shelf worth shining a light on. So, being quite happy with electrical wiring in general but totally new to LED lighting, my questions are as follows: What sort of power should I use? I can hook up a 12V DC adaptor to the mains or run from an old 7.2V NiMH pack. Can anyone advise how many LEDs and what type I might need under each shelf to highlight the car below? By "shelf" assume "big enough for a single 1:10 buggy". My shelves are angled so I might have to install the LEDs in reflectors to get the light to shine on the car and not on the wall. Any advice on the best colour LED to use to make the cars look good in the dark? I think pure white might be too harsh so I'm considering a softer colour, maybe yellow or orange like street lamps. Has anyone used colour-changing LEDs and how hard are they to configure, as I'll be custom-wiring them? If they have to be run from a controller board then I could install that near the power source and run all the bulbs from one controller... Right..? I have some cars with lights already fitted. I'm considering having an option to hook the light unit up to the master power source when the cars are shelved, so the car lights come on when I turn the display lights on. Will the LEDs in, for example, a TLU-01 kit, take 12V? Will the TLU-01 controller take 12V or will it go pop? This isn't a be-all end-all, I doubt I'll use car lighting much as the lights will shine out of the display and across the room, which might annoy me. Thanks all