Today I finished the backlighting on some of my NOVA panels I have to say it deff. is he best way to go in my opinion as I have tried many diff. solutions I am hapiest with this one.I wanted to go with yellow backlighting but due to some problems with the transformer due to diff. power voltage here in europe ( from what I understand) I get green backlighting but happy with the result and descided to keep the green.Hope u all agree with the result.Nihad

Looks good Nihad.How much did it cost to do all your panels? Do you have any pics taken from behind the panel so we can see how much EL sheet is used on each one.ThanksGaz

LOOKS GOOD - PLEASE SHOW PICS FROM BEHIND? lOOKS LIKE THIS BEATS RUNNING A CURCUIT WITH A TON OF LED'S, WHICH HAS BEEN MY PLAN.(Please excuse all caps... I just noticed and am too lazy to retype!):)

I added some pictures of the back of my panels to show how the El sheet is cut , I actually cut each sheet as required on the panel no use in some cases to cover the entire panel if it only has a small section that needs backlighting.How much it costs to do every panel I have I do not know yet as I do not have enough for all my panels will get back on that question.Nihad

Looks like a great solution... what is your source for this stuff? Also - does anyone have a feel for the life of this product?

Mitch,An EL panel can last for years if properly sealed. When cut, the interior can become exposed to moisture and degrade. I have no experience re-sealing a trimmed panel, but have read of people using lacquer successfully.Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

Very nice, Nihad.Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

So where can you get the critter?

Thank u Mike ,and what one needs to do when cutting this sheet is re-seal it with some kind of plastic transparant sheeting I used Miler (not sure if written correctly) but works great.Same with making holes one needs to cut the holes a bit bigger and after sealing it make another hole in the material that is used to seal the sheet.I got my sheets from http://www.beingseen.com/ regards,Nihad

Nice work Nihad. How is the lettering cut out? Is it a vinyl mask with the letters cut out on top of the EL sheet or some other method?I haven't come across this EL sheet before.Ian

The panels u r seeing r the NOVA panels from http://www.flightdecksolutions.com/ I have orderd the ELITE panels and will show them when they arrive as those look even more like the real thing.The method I use is attache the panel with plexibacker to in this case the MIP that is made out of MDF and on the back of that I attache the EL sheet cut in shape.To be sure u wont get electrokuted after u make the sheet the right size and have all holes cut out as needed u have to cover it in some kind of adhesive transparant film.That is the way it works and from my understanding the guy's at http://www.beingseen.com r the only once who sell it this way what I found out from other companies is they will cut it in the shape one needs and that way it gets way too expensive for this.regards,Nihad

Nihad,Please advise what package you purchased from these guys? Thanks...

Ok this might be a bit of a problem as they have alot of diff. stuff the best thing u could do is ask them for the same sheet I bought (use my name Nihad from Holland) not saying this for any aditional benefit as I have bought all I needed already its just because I am not exactly sure what to name it as I explained what I needed it for by showing pictures of the panels and by phone and we descided to go with what I have now.So just ssay same as Nihad and then u figure out what color u prefer or want.regards,Nihad

Nice idea these EL Sheets Nihad,Did you put them between the plexi backers and the front panel?These sheets are not cheap, so if you are planning mip, center pedestal and overhead it is going to be expensive.Did you put these sheets on the whole surface of the panels? On the pics it seems as if you did so.Do you think it would be possible to put them only on the place were there are inscriptions on the front?Regards Norbert(from holland too)

Hi Norbert,I did not put them between the NOVA panel and plexibacker as I wanted both those surfaces to be joined without anything in between and also make it easier for the power wires to run true. What I did was put them behind the MIP as u can see from the picture and did the same on the pedestal.I only coverd an entire panel if the backlighting was needed like the gear panel shows on most of the other panels I only used enough to cover the letterd part.Expensive well building your own flightdeck is a comitment one can spend as much money as he or she thinks is nescesary to get the result one hopes for and with this type of backlighting even though it is not the cheapest way the go the result for me was worth the money. With this descision I also toke other things in consideration like easy attachment uses less space and of course heat that comes of regular lighting.And as we both r Dutch speaking hoi is er soms een club of iest waar Nederlandse bouwers bij elkaar komen waar van je weet?regards,Nihad