I am fascinated by some of the LEGO LED lighting I have seen. It really adds punch to a creation. And especially to LEGO photography.
This website is based on LEGO photography, so I am very interested in adding LEGO LED lighting to my skill set. But I don’t know where to begin.
Have you done any LEGO LED lighting?
I know there are 3rd party companies offering kits, which I will get into a little later, but I really want to learn to wire my own LEDs. Kooberz Studios posted some pictures of his custom LED lighting. This is what I want to do…
I want to be able to custom wire every creation the way I want it lit. And I’m hoping it’s economical enough to leave in place. Kooberz has promised a tutorial, but I know he’s busy. I want to get started ASAP!
Things I want to know:
- What size LED bulbs to get?
- Any electrical specs to look out for?
- Can I power them with an AC adapter?
- If so, how many LEDs will it drive?
- How many LEDs will a battery drive?
- Where’s the best place to get all this stuff?
- What else do I need to consider?
I want to be able to make beautiful LEGO images for you like this!
It’s just stunning…
As I mentioned, I found kits by Brickstuff and LifeLites.
Brickstuff LED lighting for LEGO models
Of the two, I am most impressed with the Brickstuff brand from an appearance standpoint. They have a beautiful website, and their packaging looks very professional.
I really like their demo videos, too. Look like they work really well, and integrate into LEGO models quite well. Love the flickering gas light effect!
Brickstuff: Lighting the LEGO® Green Grocer from Brickstuff on Vimeo.
The drawback seems to be the price, and they don’t offer any “kits”. It’s not clear to me what I need to order to make the system work. Or how many lights they support, etc. I have contacted them on Twitter and via their website to hopefully get clarification.
If I’m doing it right, it would be at least $35 for me to light 4 LEDs with their products, and i don’t think I’d get any of the cool lighting effects shown in their video. Check out Brickstuff on Amazon.
LifeLites LED lighting for LEGO models
Where LifeLites presentation of their product isn’t as slick, I think their prices are better, and they do a better job of explaining things. And they offer starter kits and tutorials for their products.
The have links to videos of their LED lights in LEGO models, but they don’t have one of their own. I’d like to see an “ad” for them.
With LifeLites, I can get started with 8 lights, with lighting effects, for $20. (sadly, this kit is out of stock as of the writing of this article.)
Have you used LED lighting in your LEGO models? What route did you go?
I am an Adult Fan of LEGO (AFOL) and an active member of the Michigan LEGO User Group (MichLUG). I have loved LEGO for as long as I can remember. I am currently working on the following models:
– UCS Millenium Falcon
– Emmett’s Apartment Building
– Gringott’s Bank
I’m going order from this company
http://www.artifexcreation.com/
see how good they are.
Did you end up ordering these? How do you like their products?
Yes I ordered them, they look good and work well, I have not had time to install them yet.
I didn’t know about lifelights when i started my project, however i think my led project for a technic flatbed truck is looking ok. Check my project page at http://simplicate.weebly.com/lighting-the-room.html
Awesome model you have there! I need to revisit it when I have time to properly take it all in.
I have to say, I was not very impressed with Lifelites. I found Brickstuff much higher quality and their customer service, in my experience, was much better. Like you, I really appreciate the demo/instructional videos and documents available on their site. And their site is just easier to navigate. I also think their prices might be better, unless Lifelites has changed significantly.
I’ve actually been in contact with the people at Brickstuff, and I have to say I agree with you about their customer service. I asked them some questions through their website, and they sent me an excellent, very detailed reply. Sounds like they will have similar guides and such available on their website soon as well.
What Brickstuff products ddid you purchase?
I got their dual-LED self-adhesive strips, a battery pack, some tiny single LEDs, and their “splitter” connectors (or whatever Brickstuff calls them). I actually used them to light my daughter’s dollhouse (non-LEGO), but I have to order some more because I recently got the LEGO winter cottage. I’ve built it, but haven’t yet installed the lights. Brickstuff apparently has a very detailed assembly guide for the winter cottage that I should download.
Very cool. I saw the guide for their Winter Village Cottage setup. It is very detailed. It even has instructions for building a sub-base to hide all the electrical components. Very clean looking install.
Nice oversight! As I said on my own blog. I’m looking into Lifelites. I will let you know the result. But it’ll take a while. I haven’t ordered yet, and I’m ordering in the USA, so it’ll take a few weeks before I get the material. 🙂
Very cool! Would love to know how they work out for you. Can you post pictures of the packaging when it arrives? What all did you order?
I hadn’t ordered yet, and have to say I put the order on hold for now. This because of your article, the reply underneath and a small but very kind twitter-interaction with the people from brickstuff. For now I don’t know what to do yet. they both have good products I think, each different benefits… but the two systems aren’t very compatible… I’ll let you know when I decide 🙂
I must say, I am impressed with the Brickstuff staff so far. They’ve been very responsive to me, and given me some good information.
I’m leaning towards giving them a try now as well.