LED Conversions - Light That Sucker Up

I came across this good walk through a while ago on a wargaming website for lighting up vehicles with LED (Light Emiting Diodes) and might give it a whirl -

Welcome to installment one of the LED conversion articles. In this article, I'll guide you through installing LEDs into the headlights of a Predator or Rhino.

Materials:
-Brain
-Two LEDs; colour doesn't matter
-Wire; insulated copper preferred
-9V battery and battery clasp
-47 OHM Resistor -REQUIRED
-Soldering iron and solder (easy way); Krazy Glue (very hard way)
-Drill and misc. drill bits -Small switch - NOT REQUIRED but BIG HELP
-Large sombrero

Step One : Drilling/Preparation OK. The first thing you need to do is remove the vent panel/thing that supports the turret. I hope you haven't glued it on yet...if you have, get it off somehow. Just be careful. I had the same problem. Once that panel is removed, it's time for drilling. Other than that panel, the tank should be fully assembled. Choose a drill bit that is about larger than the LED you are using, and drill straight through the headlights. It should poke through the tank's hull.

Next, drill through the top with a smaller drill bit. Size does not have to be accurate, but it should be just large enough for the two leads on the LED to fit.

Step 2 : Inserting LEDs This has to be done a specific way; Notice that the LEDs have two differently sized leads - a long and a short one. Forget them. Look instead inside the LED. You will notice that one of the leads ends in a "flag." This lead is negative. Curl the leads upwards, so that they form a semicircle. Make sure you are curling them the same way. Now, with the negative lead on the left side, (of the front of the tank), gingerly insert into the headlight casing, and ease the leads through the hole on the top. Do the same thing for both LEDs. If you wish, put a small dab of Krazy Glue on top of the hole. DON'T let the leads touch!

Step 3 : Battery Clasp and Battery This step needs to be done in a specific way. Drill two holes into the corners of the vent plate that you have removed, and thread the battery clasp wires through them. The BLACK wire is negative, and should be on the right (of the front of the tank). Once you have it threaded in, Krazy Glue the ends of the wires to the top of the hull, and glue the vent panel back on. DO NOT glue the exposed wire to the hull!

Step 4 : Soldering it all Together Now, pull out the soldering iron and the solder. If you don't know how to use them, practice heating up the end of the solder onto something unflammable, and melting it into a blob. Take the resistor, and solder one end of it to the black wire of the battery clasp. Cut it down if needed. Solder the other end of the resistor to the first LED, on the NEGATIVE lead. This should be on the right, as I told you to do. (You didn't! You foo'! *rips out your chest hair*) Once this is soldered on, spread a little bit of solder onto the tank to hold the wires down.

In case you're wondering, I put glue from a hot glue gun over the switch back, to make it more appealing.

Step 5 : Getting the Battery In Connect the battery to the clasp, and gently insert it backwards.
This can be replaced when it dies. If done right, you should now have a beautiful, lit-up LED-ready predator/rhino!

Just a tip I bought some LEDs from Dick Smiths and the guy there reckoned I wouldn't need a resistor using a 9 volt battery. So I tried it and it flashed like a roman candle before blowing. Looks like resistors are necessary. I'll play around with them first before applying it to any model.