Hi Stupot.

The best way to cut the individual fibres is with a very sharp blade like a safety razor blade for instance.
Yes it is true that heating up the end of the fibre will increase the light output, what we are doing is actually forming a bulbous lens at the tip so the diameter of the fibre is increased, transmitting more light.
The easiest way to achieve this is with a simple candle flame, hold the fibre a few inches away from the flame and then SLOWLY bring it towards the candle. When it gets within range of the heat of the flame it will begin to bulge slowly as the tip literally melts into the lens shape. Keep it there for a fraction too long and the tip begins to smoulder or even catch alight! If it does either just cut off the end and try again.
It sounds difficult and even dangerous but don't worry, with a little practise it becomes surprisingly easy to get it right.
You can either make the holes in the hull slightly bigger to accomodate the lens or else counter sink the hole on the outside of the hull, thread the fibre through and THEN form the lens and when cool pull the fibre back in so it sits in the countersink.

Hope this helps

Robin

I've been working with fiber for a long time myself. There are 2 methods I've used. The "mushrooming" method that Plymouth discribed above and the "short length" method, which basically means you leave about 1/4 to 1/2 sticking out of the holes that is predrilled and glue your fibers in place and then do you painting around the little hairs of fibers once its completed. Once the paint is dry you clip the hairs off. The clipped off ends produce a non-even jagged appearance to the lights giving them a more realistic natural looking feel to them instead of a single pinpoint of light.

One thing I can't stress enough is the type of glue you use. I highly stress not to use a superglue (when ever possible) simply because it can actually damage the fibers themselves and in some cases actually melt the fiber itself. A simple Elmer's white glue is totally sufficiant for holding the fibers in place and even thou it takes longer to dry won't damage the fibers at all.

However, one method I developed during the lighting of a Enterprise 1701-D I did awhile back came from the need to light elongated windows. I called it the "scraping" method. In that case a single point of light wouldn't work. I needed to light the entire length of the window itself. I achieved this by drilling the fiber hole at an angle of about 45 degrees at the top of the "window" and then scraping the side of the exposed fiber making a flat section the length of the window and gluing it down the length with superglue (yeah I know, I just told you not to use superglue for fibers, but in this case, it was necessary and since it was down the length of the window at the tip of the fiber it melted the fiber enough to actually light the entire length of the window). The effect was totally worthwhile.

I realize this is an older topic but I hope I've given some new information on how to use fibers that somebody finds helpful in their builds!

I've thought about doing that myself but instead of painting with silver, using aluminum foil and then sanding the light emitting area to allow the most light distribution, you may have to put an LED in both ends thou. I haven't tried it, but it sounds like it would work. What do you think?

I was thinking more along the lines of perhaps a aluminum tape, or better yet, possible using Alclad II silver to bring out a mirror finish (that would probaby produce the best results). But I would definitely sand the surface of the light emitting side to produce the most light scattering and diffusion along the length of the rod itself. Might be something fun to experiment with. What do you think?

Yeah I'd love to see that. I have been thinking about lighting under the floor of the interior myself like in the movie. I think I'm gonna end up using the full length illumination fibers for that. In any event this will be an epic build! Can't wait!

Just for reference... here's a good source for full length side emitting fiber optics.

http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/Sideglow.htm