Before I head to the US I've been spending some time with the collection. There's been a bit of reshuffling as well as the addition of a few new displays (all of which you'll be able to see when I upload the new Virtual Tour later on this year). Another project I've been wanting to get around to for some time is adding lighting to the main display cabinet. I've been unsure as to how to go about doing this however. Fluorescent lighting causes UV damage, while the heat created by incandescent lighting in such a small space might cause it's own set of problems.
Fortunately, a solution presented itself in the form of the LED lights pictured above. They used to be fitted as reading lights in my apartment in Wellington, but, having now moved out, they were going spare. They each use three AAA batteries and throw out a surprising amount of light for such small units. Best of all, they give off no UV radiation nor heat. The first step was to adhere 3M strips to the back of each light. I really can't rate these strips highly enough, and I use them for all sorts of displaying purposes. They provide a strong and sturdy adhesion, but come off incredibly cleanly.
I then removed the back plate of each light and fitted these to the cabinet. Once the 3M strips had set (I usually give them around 60 minutes to be on the safe side) the lights were refitted to the back plates.
