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I keep my cars in a couple of wood cabinets. I added glass shelves in-between the wood shelves.
I have mostly 1:43 models, and they need a lot of light to be easily viewed. I put lights on the bottom of those wood shelves, strip-lights in one and very small halogen shelf-lights in the other. That way, a lamp on the bottom of one shelf illuminates the two shelves below.
The strip lights give off a nice yellow light that my wife likes in the living room. But they're a bit dim. The halogen lights are definitely on the warm (as in ouch!) side, and that worries me a bit, plus I think they give off quite a bit of UV. The models don't seem to get too hot, and I use those lights for viewing only. It's hard to tell; I just hope my gems won't be damaged over time. Your thoughts?
I couldn't find any other bright, unobtrusive shelf lighting except for fluorescent, and it gives off a nasty greenish light. My cabinet has "smoked" doors, not exactly ideal for models, but the halogen lights show them up pretty well, even through the dark glass. The bluish light would look better with modern cars than with the older cars that I like. But they're okay, except for that heat/UV question.
Any suggestions about shelf lighting would be much appreciated. Are there any lights that can be unobtrusively attached to the bottom of glass shelves? Maybe something battery-powered?
I would definitely like to put my cars on good looking (polished acrylic?) bases that don't take up too much additional room on the shelves. And models displayed in the open definitely need to be perched on something. It would be nice if all the stages were similar in design, to "harmonize" the whole collection. I'm thinking of fabricating something myself, and I've got some ideas about designs, but I'll need to buy or borrow some power tools to get what I have in mind.
Didy
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