Lutso
Sr Member
I am making another custom Star Wars costume and am currently building up a chest box/flight box which will dominate the front chest area of the final costume. The chest box is based loosely off of the X-wing pilot chest boxes.
always eager to further develop my skills, I thought it would be fun to try implementing something that I have never tried before - LED lights.
I have the wiring and construction figured out - that is not where my question lies.
My question is about the actual technique.
On the front of the chestbox I want to have a large light-up display (think targeting computer). I plan to have some sort of semi-transparent/white opaque plastic with the LEDs behind it, giving it a "glow" when switched on. The area is roughly 2 1/2 in. by 6 in, and I want to use a bright orange/yellow for the glow.
In addition to this large center display I also want to have a smaller, similar display off to one side. This one will be green.
This is sort of the look I am going for:
Remember, the colors I will be using are orange and green.
Now this is where I turn to you guys. What are your recommendations for accomplishing this?
What type of plastic/cover material should I be using for this? I was thinking that the plastic screen used to cover florescent kitchen lights might be a good start...but not sure on that one. I would prefer it if the material remained a "white" color when not switched on...but that's not a big deal.
And what should I be doing with the LEDs themselves? Will this work properly if the LED's shine directly under the display or should they be diffused somehow?
My target look is a totally even, spread-out glow. I want to avoid that "lite-brite" look that I've seen on other projects - where you can clearly see that there are just LED's in a row behind the object and you can basically count each bulb through the material. I've noticed this on stuff like Tron costumes and Republic Commando helmets.
Is there a particular type of LED I should be using. I was looking to purchase the basic "bulb" style, but in the process of doing so I was made aware of a wide-angle model too (they called it a "straw hat" style). What should I be looking for in this department?
Please give me all you've got. Like I said, this is my first time working with lighting, so I am definitely thirsty for suggestions.
It should also be noted that I have more than enough room for the components (the chest box is completely hollow at a good 2 in. deep), so running out of space should not be a problem.
Do your worst. Thanks in advance!
P.S. This thread got posted on the fake forum initially. It took me a while to figure out what the heck was going on.
always eager to further develop my skills, I thought it would be fun to try implementing something that I have never tried before - LED lights.
I have the wiring and construction figured out - that is not where my question lies.
My question is about the actual technique.
On the front of the chestbox I want to have a large light-up display (think targeting computer). I plan to have some sort of semi-transparent/white opaque plastic with the LEDs behind it, giving it a "glow" when switched on. The area is roughly 2 1/2 in. by 6 in, and I want to use a bright orange/yellow for the glow.
In addition to this large center display I also want to have a smaller, similar display off to one side. This one will be green.
This is sort of the look I am going for:
Remember, the colors I will be using are orange and green.
Now this is where I turn to you guys. What are your recommendations for accomplishing this?
What type of plastic/cover material should I be using for this? I was thinking that the plastic screen used to cover florescent kitchen lights might be a good start...but not sure on that one. I would prefer it if the material remained a "white" color when not switched on...but that's not a big deal.
And what should I be doing with the LEDs themselves? Will this work properly if the LED's shine directly under the display or should they be diffused somehow?
My target look is a totally even, spread-out glow. I want to avoid that "lite-brite" look that I've seen on other projects - where you can clearly see that there are just LED's in a row behind the object and you can basically count each bulb through the material. I've noticed this on stuff like Tron costumes and Republic Commando helmets.
Is there a particular type of LED I should be using. I was looking to purchase the basic "bulb" style, but in the process of doing so I was made aware of a wide-angle model too (they called it a "straw hat" style). What should I be looking for in this department?
Please give me all you've got. Like I said, this is my first time working with lighting, so I am definitely thirsty for suggestions.
It should also be noted that I have more than enough room for the components (the chest box is completely hollow at a good 2 in. deep), so running out of space should not be a problem.
Do your worst. Thanks in advance!
P.S. This thread got posted on the fake forum initially. It took me a while to figure out what the heck was going on.
