. I really like the looks of some of the led vu meter projects and thought that maybe hijacking some code from a project like that would work but I am just not sure.
Yes, that would work. Except audio meters are calibrated in dB and you probably want a linear display. (But, linear doesn't mean it has to go down to zero... You might want to just cover the top half of the voltage-range, etc., to highlight the difference.)
So, it usually just a series of if-statements in a loop... If voltage > X, turn the LED on... If you built your plotter design with the Arduino, this should be super easy!
If you run out of I/O pins and you want more LEDs, you can use serial data with [u]shift registers[/u] to address an almost unlimited number of LEDs. I made a stereo VU meter effect with 24 LED on each side with an Arduino Uno and a few daisy-chained [u]serially-addressed LED drivers[/u] (Same concept, different chip.)
P.S.
Depending on the size of your models, don't be afraid of spacing-out the LEDs for a "big meter"... My VU meter effect is 8 feet tall.
P.P.S.
There is a bar/dot meter chip, the [u]LM3914[/u]. No programming required!!! The only reason I didn't use it for my "giant VU meter" effect is that I wanted an optional sequencing effect... And, then I ended-up with several different effects, and the VU meter can reverse or invert so it doesn't get boring.