I thought cheap waterproof led accent light strands for cars were a good idea at 2011 IRCWCC Nats. I slapped a strand with a dozen or so of those tiny LEDs on each side of the superstructure (of the I-boat Ron Hunt loaned me). I figured they only provided moderate light in a car so they wouldn’t be too bad at a night battle. Everyone that saw it as I prepped thought it would be ok. I turned it on during the late afternoon and the onlookers shrugged. It was absurd. A decided to bide my time for a minute then turn them on. They made every ship visible and mine hard to look at. Multiple howls of derision were heard and I quickly shut them back off. Then I decided to use it to my advantage. I would drive close, let someone attempt to be an aggressor, close my eyes while I blind them, then attack. I did it, more howls and gruff demands to not turn them on again. I think I tangled with a Bismarck (Rob Arena?) and we both sustained moderate damage. As a neat aside. They flickered ever so faintly after being turned on the first time and looked just like portholes. Needless to say. Never again.
Just to be clear, this is explicitly against the rules, especially repeated use to one's advantage. So those considering arming their ship with a deathray should reevaluate and test it out in a completely dark room prior to. A single unshielded LED can be excessive. Given the capabilities of Tyng shipyard, I expect a complete lumen mapping analysis to verify compliance
Mine were assembled on a whim the night before, with a quick trip to autozone, and hooked to a cheap r/c switch. Installed day of event in the late afternoon with any onlookers declaring them fine. Ooops. We were wrong. I didn’t exactly know the rules for night battle and just went by consensus. I figured it was way less “malicious” than those with led flashlight strapped to their superstructure. I just wanted a gentle bath of light around my ship to level the playing field. Got more than I bargained for. I just tried to have fun with it. Two times was one too many. So I didn’t turn them on again.
