Since I wrote about Mulan, I've gone even deeper into the world of fairground rides, I have, for distraction purposes, decided to 3d model a Waltzer (More about that some other time). Whilst looking at random ride artwork for said Waltzer, I kept getting distracted by the lighting of the signs and around the edges of the rides, and I figured, if I'm going to 3D model a Waltzer, I'm gonna need some lighting.
The Cabochons
After far more searching than should be needed, it turns out that those plastic covers over the ride lights are called 'Cabochons'.
After more searching, the only outline of the shape and the dimensions I could find was in the picture below.
I had some doubts about the drawing above and decided to have a look around and see if I can purchase cabochons online somewhere, that way I can take as many measurements and reference photos as I want for the 3d model. I checked Amazon and it had a set of E10 Cabochon outdoor lights and nothing else, and even those seemed super expensive, so I checked eBay and there was a couple of sellers but the prices seemed fairly high again, and they mostly seemed to ship from China, and I'm impatient so I kept on looking.
I eventually ended up on fairgroundlights.co.uk, They sell cabochons in packs of 10 for the price of 2 or 3 on eBay, but I didn't need 10, I just wanted one of each type, delivered quickly (spoiler, they wasn't). They do sell some variants singularly, but most of them are 10 packs, I assume they are mostly for ride owners / showmen, especially with a £30 min spend and £150 min for free delivery 😅
I was high when I ordered so I ended up ordering way more than I needed 😂
1x - Blue E14 Decorlite Cabochon
1x - Green E14 Decorlite Cabochon
1x - Red E14 Turbo (double the price for some reason)
10x - E14 Decorlite Cabochons
10x - E10 Decorlite Cabochons
10x - E10 UFO Cabochons
In the end it cost me just over £50 for all of them, including £12 (extortionate) for shipping, and I just noticed they charged tax separately like cavemen 😑
Now I've got to work out what to do with them...