While I don’t have anything against the appearance of the FlyLEDs circuit boards for their wingtip lights, the white surface doesn’t necessarily match all paint schemes. I asked Paul, the owner of FlyLEDs, if it was OK to paint them, and his response was, “No problem—just mask off the LEDs first!” Masking the flat strobe LEDs was easy with masking tape and an X-Acto knife.
The little dome-shaped LEDs that form the navigation lights are a little trickier, but we solved the problem using liquid latex masking (available at the nearby hobby/craft store) applied with a disposable brush. I used two coats to make sure it would be thick enough to peel off, and that worked out well. A quick spray with color (in our case, flat black) and after the paint was dry, the masking came right off. The result is a nice wing light cove of the appropriate color.
I don’t follow this line of reasoning. White is the backgrond color that has the most reflectivity, why would you want to paint it black? If it’s already white, leave it be.
Well two reasons – first, the white circuit boards didn’t go well with my overall paint scheme, and they are quite noticeable parts of the wing tip. Second, according to Paul at FLyLED’s, the light comes directly from the LED’s without reflecting off the boards, so the total light output (and visibility) isn’t compromised. Background color for light coves is always a great “never ending debate” topic on homebuilder forums!
Seems like some borderline replies were moderated… To try to provide some additional context:
Nav & Landing lights are focused in a cone/beam. Therefore any diffuse scattered/reflected light from the mounting structure (other than a lens or shaped reflector) is likely to have a negligible contribution to the lux/lumens in that specific beam/cone. If you think about it from the perspective of another airplane a half-mile away, the lensed/focused light is really all that you’re going to see from that distance. Any diffuse/ambient reflected light off of the circuit board or mounting structure will have scattered to near-nothingness by the time it travels that far.