Short answer: three numbers decide everything — colour temperature around 4000K, CRI 90 or above, and UV-free. Get them right and a $10 casting looks like it belongs in a museum. Get them wrong and you have paid extra to slowly bleach your own collection. Everything else about display lighting is secondary to these three.
Updated August 2026.
1. Colour temperature: aim for ~4000K
Colour temperature describes whether light is warm or cool, measured in kelvin. It decides what colour your paint appears to be.
| Temperature | Typical source | What it does to a model |
|---|---|---|
| 2700K | Normal household bulb | White reads cream, silver reads beige, blue goes muddy |
| ~4000K | Neutral / cool white | Paint reads close to daylight — the target |
| 6500K+ | "Daylight" LED strips | Cold and clinical; red dulls, chrome goes blue |
Most collectors default to whatever bulb is already in the room, which is almost always 2700K. That single choice is why so many display photos have a yellow cast.
2. CRI: 90 or above
Colour Rendering Index measures how faithfully a light source shows colour compared with natural light, on a scale to 100. It is the number cheap LED strips almost never publish, and it matters more than brightness.
Below roughly 80 CRI, two things happen to a small model: colours flatten towards each other, and — more damaging — the shadow under the sills stops separating from the bodywork. On a 68 mm car that shadow line is most of what communicates shape. Lose it and the car reads as a solid lump of colour.
Practical rule: if a seller does not publish a CRI figure, assume it is low. Anyone who has paid for 90+ CRI emitters says so, because they cost more.
3. UV: the number that protects rather than flatters
The first two decide how good it looks. This one decides whether it still looks that way in two years.
UV permanently yellows white plastic and fades printed tampos and decals. It is cumulative, irreversible, and slow enough that you never notice it happening. It arrives from two places: daylight through a window, and the display's own lighting.
Ask whether the lighting is stated UV-free. Almost no display case listing mentions UV in either direction, which usually means nobody checked.
Placement: above and slightly forward
Even perfect light in the wrong place looks wrong.
- Above and slightly forward, angled down — the default that works. It lights the bonnet and roof, and creates the sill shadow that reads as depth.
- Directly behind — silhouettes the car and kills detail. Only useful deliberately, for a rim-lit effect.
- From below — always looks unnatural, because nothing in the real world is lit from underneath.
- One hard point source — creates a single blown-out hotspot on the door and leaves the rest dull. Diffusion or a strip beats a single point.
How it should switch on
A practical detail that decides whether the lighting gets used at all. Always-on wastes power and glares into the room. A physical switch gets forgotten within a week. Motion activation with a short auto-off is the version that survives long-term — more in motion sensor vs switch vs always-on.
Built-in versus retrofit strips
If you already own a cabinet, stick-on strips are the cheapest upgrade — but buy ones that publish colour temperature and CRI, and accept that almost none are UV-free. You may be lighting and slowly fading at the same time.
A purpose-built lit case solves all three numbers at once. The Infinity Garage uses a TrueColor™ 4000K COB LED at 90+ CRI that is UV-free certified, motion-triggered with a ~20 second auto-off. Options compared in 6 best LED display cases.
FAQ
What colour temperature is best?
Around 4000K. 2700K turns white cream; 6500K+ reads cold and dulls red.
What CRI should I look for?
90 or above. Below 80, the shadow under the sills stops separating from the bodywork.
Where should the light go?
Above and slightly forward, angled down. Never from below.
Does lighting damage model cars?
Visible light does not; UV does. Look for lighting stated UV-free.
Should it stay on all the time?
No — motion activation with a short auto-off is what people keep using.
More in the full collector's guides and the specification sheet.