Need help with Judge Dredd Lawgiver LED lighting

[zenonithus]

Hi, first off I have not dabbled in any sort of electronics, so I'm a total noob when it comes to this stuff, but willing to have a go at it.

I want to light up my Judge Dredd Lawgiver blaster the same as in this clip (jump to 3:18) so basically when you activate the switch, 5 LEDs on the left and right of the blaster, light up in sequential order and stay on until the switch is turned off.

Also there are two LEDs on the actual activation switch (a blue and red) that would need to light up at the same time, seen here on the left http://www.2000ad.nu/termight/lawgivers.html

Any advice on this would be great as I wouldnt know where to start

 

[Laplace]

This could be done with something like the SN74HC174 Hex D-Type Flip-Flop w/ Clear and a 555 for clock generation. Connect the flip-flops as in a shift register and use the Q outputs to drive a transistor switch for each LED. The blue&red activation LED's could be driven by 1Q, with 1Q connected to 2D and so on up the line.

 

[zenonithus]

Cool, thanks Laplace. I haven't a clue what any of this is but I will start to look into it do you think this is something a beginner can wire up?

 

[Laplace]

You might also look at the CD4015B CMOS Dual 4-Stage Static Shift Register. It has the D-type flip-flops already internally connected as a shift register. You would have to cascade the shift registers on the chip by connecting Q4A to Data-B. This is a fairly simple circuit if you can read and understand datasheets; however, I would recommend first building the circuit on solderless breadboard unless your soldering technique is really good.

 

[zenonithus]

Thanks Laplace. Right now its a bit star trek to me but I will look into it. I'm also considering learning Arduino. Do you think this would be a more simpler approach?