my experience with fibre optic cable, from when I installed it for many miles, is that each strand has a plastic protective coating on it.
if at all possible, I would suggest, testing a piece that is extra before dedicating the whole part.

 

That's a good suggestion. I'll try it out. Thanks!

 

I can't imagine that any water-based hobby paint, or it's additives, could react with fiber optics filaments. They're made from organic compounds, after all. But a test can do no harm.

 

Thank you Mark and alpink! I did indeed do a test, with Tamiya Flat black acrylic. I actually made the mix 2:1.5 paint to thinner, just to put the fiber optic cable under slightly more duress. As it turned out, after completely drying, the cable was transmitting light equal to a cable with no paint attached to it's sides. So, the test was conclusive that acrylic paint with acrylic thinner does not affect the integrity of fiber optic cable, at least when applying acrylic paint within the guidelines of the manufacturer.

 

aotino, good.
glad it worked and thank you for the follow up report.

 

All righty then! I never thought that a coat of paint would affect the transmission of light within the filaments, only the filaments themselves. A little light does escape the outsides of the filaments, though, so by coating the filaments with white paint before the black, you could reflect that escaping light back into the filaments. It would be interesting to see whether or not a white outer coat noticeably increased the output of light from the fiber optic filaments. My own preference is to thin the plastic of a spaceship hull from within a model and then throw as much light as I can inside. By masking the windows and painting the hull opaquely, I can get precisely arranged windows with relatively little work. "Cause I'm getting lazy in my old age. 👴

 

Anybody know if enamel paint might work, I don't use model acrylics

 

On my NX-01 refit I sprayed black and grey enamels on the exterior of the hull with short fiber optic strands sticking out of the round window ports prior to trimming. I did not notice any degradation of the plastic fiber during this process.

 

It would still probably be a good ideal if you tested a spare piece of your fiber optic line and paint/thinner mixture you are planning to use @Richard Baker

The last time I painted over fiber optics was back in the late '90s....

 

Anybody know if enamel paint might work, I don't use model acrylics

R.B.,
Fiber optic filaments are made of pretty tuff stuff; some of them from glass. I don't think any of the materials would react with hobby paints the way a plastic like acetate would. But as our Super Moderator has suggested, you can't go wrong by make a quick test, just to be sure.

 

Thanks!
I am pretty much enamel based and prepping to build the large Bandai ISD (I have the lighted kit but want to enhance things a bit)

 

Paint the cable with silver instead of white before you add the black over it to kill outward light dissipation. Silver will reflect more than white if it's right. Why instrument gauge cluster packages and brake light assemblies on cars always paint the insides silver or vacuum chrome them. The brightest most reflective you can find, I use imitation chrome spray for best effect. Gloss instead of flat too. If the silver is dull, white is better, but if really bright the silver then reflects more. I've restored instrument packages and taillight assemblies using it before, the silver puts out more light if it's bright. The same applies to headlight assemblies which I have done the same with.

They usually cast the light backing parts in white because silver casted plastic does not reflect well, but if they choose to add cost for more light they then vacuum chrome plate the inside of a light fixture to bright up reflectivity.

 

The color of the optical fiber shell is only an addition to the labels applied by the manufacturer. However, color coding significantly increases the efficiency of working with fiber, allowing you to determine the cable's ownership at a glance and reduce the probability of error.12 different shell colors are used to facilitate fiber identification. In theory, this allows the specialist to quickly determine the type and purpose of the fiber, even if it is part of a large bundle. I once encountered a device without a vols passport and can't find the exact cause of the failure. Since I bought this device on eBay and was confident in its performance, I decided to look for a solution on the Internet. There I came across fiber optic network solutions and decided to entrust them with the device so as not to waste time as I needed it in the near future. You know, I'm not sorry I decided to trust them.