Lanterns and Lights

[Steve (Aegis Hellas)]

I will be buying 12 very powerful triple LED spotlight units for next event to light the tent interiors with, these will be very bright but obviously modern so was wondering how to disguise them? Was thinking about storm lanterns with coloured foil or glass in them to hide the obviously electric light but does anyone know where i might get cheap lanterns that look Greek enough or have any ideas on how i might go about disguising these light units? Very keen to bring these as light was a major issue last event and it would be nice to have consistant and bright light but IC enough to not detract from the Atmosphere.

[Trev ( Dorrus of Sparta)]

Hi ,
Don't know the size of your lights but could you knock up some box frames from 1"x1" . Paint them with pound shop stuff ( wood stain , radiator paint etc ) and tack yellow/orange/red plastic to the internal sides or even layered tissue . Ply for base and lid and rope for handles .
Cheers , Trev .

[Kora Children of Perseus]

The only lamps iv seen that are quite cheap are the ones like in the caterporium and where like 2 for like 5 pounds I think from like pound stretcher or something but depends on how big the lights are.

[Steve (Aegis Hellas)]

These are similar in size to kitchen ceiling spotlights and are circular and about half inch deep with an adhesive backing. You press the front to turn them on and off and they have 3 very powerful LED bulbs. They would be for inside lighting and will help avoid us all falling over in the nation tent and armoury just thinking about how to disguise them in a Greek looking way. Lanterns are a possibily though i wonder how old historically the storm lantern design really is?

A box might be suitable as Trev suggests though something with a Greek look would be nice. I am thinking they can be hung from the roof beams to maximise the light they give us and will be a Godsend for those late night Priest meetings and Warleader pow wows. £23 for 12 from JML and actually considering they are JML i know they are decent as i know someone who has some, i thought they were good value for 12 of them.

I did look around at ideas today and found a lot of modern greek lanterns look very Morrocan with the coloured glass but i felt that was a bit too Persian looking really. Anyway if anyone has more ideas please share.

I also considered having some of them hidden in a bowl and covered with glass beads in a dark red/orange colour to simulate a burning brazier filled with hot coals. Does that sound feasible?

[Trev ( Dorrus of Sparta)]

Heyho ,
I think i know the type of light you mean ( if they are what I think then I use a few as under cupboard lighting in my kitchen ) the push button type ? , if so then trawl the charity shops for clay bowls ( or cheap clay flower pots ) , chip them out ( you can drill for thongs to hang or leave for table lights ) cover with flexible orange/red/yellow .
I've got some weaker ones so will experiment .
But clay bowls may be the way to go ,
I camp a lot so may make myself some lightweight boxes anyway , hate that bright white .
Cheers , Trev .

[Steve (Aegis Hellas)]

Yes they are the ones you press to turn on.

They have adhesive backing on them so can simply be attached to the bottom of the bowel then glass nuggets of amber, burgundy and black poured over them, they should look reasonably like embers, or close enough for people playing Greeks in a field in Northamptonshire I think they will work well combined with ceiling lighting to bathe the tents in a soft warm light ideal for those late night meetings where falling over is not on the agenda.

Be interested to hear if you try the ones you have if they work or not with the glass beads. I dont see why they wouldnt really bar them not being bright enough but then it would be easy enough to source brighter ones if the JML ones are too dim.

[Trev ( Dorrus of Sparta)]

There is a bead shop close by , so will test the glowing coals ( actually I think that will work fantastically but won't put much light out ) . I'm going to have a go with a cut off upturned plant pot ( for table use ) , will let you know .
Cheers , Trev .

[Olympaeus, King of Sparta]

This sounds great guys....

@Trev...buddy, we have a couple of bell tents that we use for barracks/command tents that will be in the iC area next time, so we will need a certain amount of IC light for those...plus maybe a Tarpaulined type arrangement for a larger IC comms area. (Oh yeah, some people you may know should be with us next time...Nick Novak, Andy Penney and some of the other old Manchester LARPers!)

[Trev ( Dorrus of Sparta)]

Hey Olympaeus ,
Names are vaguely familiar as are the faces , looking forward to seeing if I can match them up .
LAMPS , bit of a no go with the led kitchen lights , any kind of cover just drowned out the light .
So , I got a few of the " flickering battery powered nightlights " for decent light you'd need a lot but at 70p ish each you can have a lot ( each with about 40 hrs , watch batteries - cheap ). Got a lot of terracotta type bowls to put them in , so card to the wick then beads on top . Won't look too out of place .
Soon as I work out how to take a picture in the dark without the flash going mental I'll give it a go .
Might still need a more powerful light for the overview ,but enough of these would give a yellow/orange glow to make it more palatable .
Cheers , Trev .

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