What are the best lights for the workbench? What will really light up the model while working on it?

I use two clip lights with reflectors I picked at Home Depot or Lowe's. I use 50w Halogen floods for bulbs. Good amount of light and pretty good for judging colors. Also use them as light sources for when I take photos.

I like swing arm lamps with daylight balanced CFL bulbs over my work bench with a florescent ceiling shop light above and behind, also with daylight bulbs.

The daylight bulbs can be hard to find in some places, but the big selections at Home Depot or Lowe's usually have a wide selection. These are just as good as the expensive Ott Light, but at a fraction of the cost.

One thing that I would suggest is to position your lights so that they shine on your work from slightly behind your own line of sight, as if from directly over the center of your head, between your head and your work, or slightly behind the top of your head. This cuts down on the glare and shadows that can interfere with your vision.

If your lights are positioned to shine down on your work from directly above the work or slightly to the rear of the work, the reflected light creates a lot of glare and the shadows are all on the side of the work facing you.

HTH,

OTT lights are excellent, if somewhat expensive. When mine shorted out, I went with swing arm, desk top leds. I couldn't be happier and they only cost $20 each.

Thanks for the info. Looks like the swing lights get the most votes. I will go shopping tomorrow.

Be sure to get daylight CFL bulbs for the same true-color lighting that the expensive OTT lights provide.

A lot of light bulb displays have the Kelvin range shown on the sides, and the daylight bulbs are in the 6500 Kelvin range.

Daylight bulbs don't cost any more than regular bulbs, but they do show colors in their truest nature rather than with yellow or blue tints from other types of indoor lights (cool white, bathroom, office, warm yellow, etc.).