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The LED Lenser V24 is probably the most sought after tool for use in light painting. They have been out of production for some time now and getting hold of one can be both difficult and pricey. They also have a few drawbacks - they were not designed with light painting in mind so they are a bit fragile when out in the field, have limited program options and can be difficult to turn on and off in time.

I'd built a tool along the lines of the V24 a little while back which has been useful and the time had come to design something bigger, better and brighter. I also wanted to address the issues of the V24 so a custom designed tool with light painting in mind was required.

The result is a solidly built, ultra-bright RGB light wand with 32 built in programs, easy to use controls, and power-off memory to remember which program is selected. This tutorial briefly describes the steps I'd taken to build this tool, which should give you a good starting point if you want to build your own.

The image to the right shows the main bits and pieces I used to build my wand. I used the Pro RGB Controller Kit which can be purchased here, which made the colour changing features much easier. The Kit comes ready to be soldered, which left scope for me to use different buttons mounted in the casing.

Start by soldering some lengths of wire onto the LED. These must be long enough to reach all the way down the handle to the controller at the other end. I used different coloured wires to match the colour they are connected to in the LED.

Attach the LED to the end of your acrylic rod. I used some spacers to ensure the LED isn't touching the end of the rod. Two screws hold the LED securely, and the rod needed to drilled with pilot holes.

The resistors can now be soldered onto the other end of the wires. Ensure the contacts are insulated using insulation tape or off-cuts of wire.

Next, you will need to get the controller soldered up and ready to use. Follow the instructions for your controller and make any modifications you feel are necessary to make the controller easier to use. I decided to use different buttons that can be mounted in the case, and added fly leads from the PCB.

Now it's time to start assembling the case. Cut a hole in the end of a project box large enough to allow the waste pipe through. Cut back part of the waste pipe so only about a quarter of the diameter is left, to a length slightly shorter than the project box. Pre-drill and bolt the pipe into the bottom of the project box. You can now also drill holes for the buttons and insert them.

A switch will be required to turn the wand on and off. The live (+) wire from the battery pack should be connected to the switch, then run into the + connection of the controller. Mount the switch in the handle in a place where it's easy to get to, but ensuring all the components will still fit inside the handle.

Everything should now be ready to connect together. At this point it would be a good idea to connect everything up and make sure it all works! All being well you can then slide the resistors down the tube and connect them up to the outputs on the controller.

The batteries can then inserted into the tube and the rod screwed into the end. Once again you will need to pre-drill for the screws to go into the rod. Test again, then put all the covers on.

I covered the handle with black Duck tape as I was using white waste pipe. This helps to add a bit of grip, but not essential if you opt for black waste pipe from the start.

The RGB Light Wand in use.

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Posted on: Jan 22, 2012
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