In message ,
Steve TR writes
I'm willing to spend $$$ for this project so I can get a correct look
and it seems a flat panel filling the entire area behind the lense will
work wonderfully. Aside from someone's time, I wouldn' think it would
be all that expensive... You can buy generic blank PCBs and a box of
LEDs and solder away. I just suck at soldering. LOL

OK, here's how you do it.

You take the lens dimensions and create a PCB outline to fit using a PCB
CAD program. You then populate the entire area with the pads required
for the LEDs and matching series resistors, and connect the pads with
tracks to make series multiples of four LEDs and a resistor per circuit
across common power bus tracks. Remember to allow for fixings to fit
the final PCB into the lens or base, and allow a couple of big pads for
attaching the connection wires. If you have multiple circuits then the
LEDs can be wired in clusters, possibly with diodes to allow individual
or multiple groups to be used from a common switch line.

Now print the finished PCB artwork onto a transparent or translucent
medium and expose a piece of photo sensitive PCB material in a suitable
UV exposure unit. The PCB can then be developed in an alkaline
developer based on Sodium Hydroxide, then rinsed and etched in a hot
bath of Ferric Chloride with air being blown through it to cause
circulation and agitation of the etchant. Once etched you can then hand
drill the several hundred 1mm holes required for the components with a
small hand-held drill and then crop the PCB to size and shape before
mounting the resistors on the back, cropping the leads at the front and
then populating the entire front surface with high output (635nm?) LEDs.
If using superflux these are pretty good at self levelling, but 5mm LEDs
are best having their anodes soldered first then hand levelled
individually before having the cathodes soldered. The choice of
resistor value can be calculated as 13.8 - (4*LED-Vf) / LED-I (20mA for
5mm or 50mA for superflux). You can calculate the appropriate power
rating for the resistors by multiplying the voltage dropped across them
by the current and rounding up to the nearest power rating.

Now simply pop into your lens and bingo, there you go.

--
Clive Mitchell
http:/www.bigclive.com