making part of the mesh neon

I found this tutorial and this one .

Hopefully it can help you.

I'd personally clone a floor lamp instead, and then add the necessary slots & change the category later.

Lighting on objects is dictated by the a) light tuning file and b) the vertex paint. I've never tried it, but I presume you could export the light tuning from a light and export it into your package, obviously adjusting the dimensions as necessary. Vertex paint for lights is simple - white is full emission (like a light bulb), grey is partial emission (so a lampshade) and black is no emission.