I was looking for lighting to accent the flames on one of my recent mods and decided to go with the standard flame look. I wanted them to look like real flames and decided on a red and a yellow CCFL. I had a real hard time finding a supplier for the yellow cold cathode. A search on the net and I finally found some at Tiger Direct. When I finished installing the lights and the rest of my components in the case, I was finally ready to turn it on. This is the sight that greeted my eyes. It was not yellow at all, but an off green! The red looked very pink and my new mod was a big let down.

Not being one to give up easily, I decided there had to be a way to achieve the look I was going for. I had to have real flames!! I just had to find a way to mod the lights and get some real color. This is the same case, with the same lights but I spent an extra 5 min of time and about $2.

“Wait just a minute” you say, “Is that gift wrap like my mom uses on the Easter baskets?” Yes, it is. At a cost of 97 cents a roll it’s probably one of the least expensive mods I have ever done. As you can see, a large selection of colors is available: Orange, Purple, Green, Yellow, Blue and Red.

The tools required can probably be found in the junk drawer. Some scissors, Scotch tape and a tape measure if you feel you need to be exact. I have found about 4-8 wraps are enough to give you a full rich color. Add or subtract to you tastes.

After you have cut it to length, use a few short pieces of the Scotch tape to hold it to the tube. I have found that about 6 or 7 wraps give me the dark, rich colors I look for. A simple way to figure the length of your cut is to measure across the light to find the diameter. The formula to find the circumference is Pi (3.1416)x the diameter= circumference or 1 wrap most lights are around 1/2" so approximately 1 1/2"= 1 wrap. Multiply this towards the number of wraps you desire and cut to this length.

Once you have the starting edge taped in place to hold it just roll it on. Give it a test and adjust the lighting effect to achieve the look you want. I have also heard quite a few complaints that the lights are too bright. If you add a few more wraps to your CCFL it will dim them down a bit.

Here is an assortment of all the colors I found. This might get that creative genius in you flowing. Except for the blue light, these were all purchased as white lights and I modded them to the colors you see.

Here is a shot of a little night action. These lights are all wrapped about 6 wraps. They were still so bright with all the lights on that they overwhelmed my camera. I had to turn ON the house lights to get this shot.

I told GruntmaN about this mod prior to MML and here’s what his Fire, from the Elements Group Themed Mod, looks like:

I hope these how to tips can help you get the look you want and Happy Modding from myself and GruntvillE.com!