Newbie Question - Flashing LED

Apologies if this is a silly question I am very new to this and would like some advice.

I have one of these http://www.maplin.co.uk/52mm-red-led-cluster-12696

I would like to use a 12v input and use a 2 position switch to have the LED on constant or flashing at say 2Hz

Is this something that is easily done using Arduino ?

Please be gentle with me, my knowledge at the moment is basic :stuck_out_tongue:

Its the usual type of thing we all start with when we first get the Arduino , in fact the board has a built in LED to practice programs ( called sketches ) on .

Get the board, and work through all the examples, its very rewarding !

What would be the best board to start with ?

I have been looking at the Leonardo or uno

Thanks for the quick response

My other concern was the size of the LED that I am trying to control, will this cause an issue ?

Luapno:
My other concern was the size of the LED that I am trying to control, will this cause an issue ?

You'll probably need to control it with a transistor as explained here

Do the normal "blink" sketch first, then just extend that thinking to have the Arduino pin switch the transistor, not the LED itself.

You can also use a ULN2003 to control up to 8 higher power LEDs or relays

Luapno:
What would be the best board to start with ?

I have been looking at the Leonardo or uno

Uno.