well, i did not cover all the led...i used a 5mm led and covered it abut 2/3 of it leaving the end of it free. the thing is that when you put your hand on the led you got to touch the wire too.
another thing...i put a wrong value to R6(origlnally 1K8) if you put the led put a smaller value like 1K or 800R.
about the parts, i dont know, here there are not all the shops that you say.
the ic, the 4011, i used a HEF401BP, from philips. it works fine, i have a small light like that by the bed and i always turn it on at night when i am not carefull(i moove a lot when i sleep) and wake up to turn it off :lol:
about the other components, i used 2 bc171 thats what i had then. for the bc171 you can use a general purpose thansistor, low power, but in place of the bc 140, you can put a transistor that can handle the current of the led. bc140 can hold 1A wich i thing is enough.