Recreating Prometheus Life Pod Display Panel in Micro Scale

Hello.

I just started getting into prop building a month or so ago after the purchase of 2 original props from the movie. A Prometheus Ampule, and a very larger and heavy Life Pod Display Panel. (has a 26” LCD screen in it!)



Anyway, I have zero experience making props, never built anything, or know how to even drill straight holes, i went about learning a few basics to get started on a small scale version of this big panel. I figured if i mentally took the big panel apart. i could tackle each problem a lot easier. I decided to use base my scale off of an iPhone/iPod Touch screen. As i figured that’s how the graphics would most easily be displayed.

1. Made some measurements off the large panel, and worked it up into multiple pieces in Illustrator. I would be sending these files off to a local laser cutting place to be cut into white acrylic. I was told by a friend who works on films, that these sort of panels are typically made this way, i.e. laser cut and sandwiched together. He also suggested acrylic as a good medium to use. rather than wood.

Here are the various pieces i drew up:



I had 4 different Acrylic thicknesses available to me, so i just picked a few as starting points. my depth measurements haven’t been too accurate yet, as i’m still trying to figure out how it all fits together, and covers over the iPhone’s bulk. In fact i had to extend the height of the panel a little more than the original in order to cover the top piece fully. Perhaps one day i can figure out how to do this sort of thing with off-the-shelf LCD displays. But that would involve a lot of lessons in electronics.

A few days later i received my laser cut pieces in the mail, i weeded off the excess backing sheet to better show the parts:



I did a number of different width pieces because i’ve never done laser cutting, or know how detailed acrylic can be cut without it breaking before, and so i figured this would be my test set. Surprisingly to me, it can be very thin indeed! the cuts are really good!

I’ve also realized that most of these parts are too thick (depth wise), and so i’ll probably need to pick a smaller size for my next order. I’ve also tried laying out where the phone will slot into the thickest part (the back piece). I don’t think this will be the direction i’ll go, because i need to have the phone’s display much higher up to the front. and the bulk of this piece i think is gonna be problematic.



For the lower side ‘button panel’ i want to backlight it underneath a film/transparency of some kind. I also am still trying to figure out what type of plastic i need. And especially how i can print on it, and have the light shine through it. My first thought was to try printing with my home epson workforce wf-7510 (pigment based inks) onto an Inkjet Back Lit Film from Papilio (Inkjet Back-Lit Film), the film hasn’t arrived yet, but if it doesn’t work out, i may need to get this printed properly elsewhere. In the meantime, i’ve printed placeholder displays + fake metal mesh (for the top left area) out on glossy paper. Just to get a feel for the sizing:



If the Papilio back lit film does work, then my original intention was to back light it with a tiny EL sheet. However, after speaking to my prop-making friend, he suggested i should side light it with LEDs through some frosted clear acrylic, suggesting that it gives a better look that isn’t quite so harsh. He suggested i try LED tape lighting:



Given the size/scale of this project, i’d probably only need a 1/4 of that length. And secondly, i have no idea yet how i can mount this in such a small space. I would also have to figuring out a way to cut the power cables down to a better size, or switch to battery power. Basically, i’m concerned about the bulk of this. I really didn’t want there to much in the way of cables + power etc on a project this small.

Here is all the laser cut acrylic pieces, sitting (unglued) on top of the iPhone display, and the printed button panel. It looks pretty good if i do say so myself! (i do!).:



I am also thinking of purchasing a Graphtec CE6000-40 cutting machine for cutting the little vinyl lettering and stuff. (I also want to use it for other projects too! like making stickers, signs, etc). So have been learning about vinyl a lot as well.

But this really is just the beginning. Lots to redo, lots of lesson’s to be learned. I wanted to share this here on this forum to keep me motivated, and to get feedback on the direction i’m taking it, the methods i’m using, and hopefully it’s a project you’re interested in seeing too.


Current Questions i’d love advice on:

1. What type of film/transparency/plastic can i get printed so it looks awesome under backlighting? I’m happy to pay a professional company to do it, i just need to know what to ask for! Any URLs or Businesses very much appreciated.

2. What are your thoughts on my LED tape lighting direction? is there something better suited for this scale?

3. Where can i get a mini hexagonal metal grid mesh from? i need it to be micro scale!


THANKS!!

Mischa

Oh, and in case you wanna know where this panel is, it’s from the end of the movie:

Been working on the button graphics today in illustrator. Getting all the various icons, text, and colors all accurate as i can. And have just now sent it off to a random company i found on the web that prints on backlit films. Hopefully the sizing will be correct. I’d love to be able to do this at home, Is this possible?

Anyway, here is the button array i made.

zyote said:

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I don't have any advice, just wanted to say nice work! Always nice to see Prometheus props!

Thanks! I’m still working away on this. Been focusing this week on learning about printed graphics, decals, backlighted films, etc. Perhaps i might end up replacing the iPhone/iPod Touch screen with a standalone LCD screen, but will need to learn about electronics i guess in order to get the video playback work. But that might solve my issue of the phone being slightly too bulky within this panel. Thanks for your interest in my project though! Was beginning to think no one here is into Prometheus.

Thought i’d update a little here tonight.

So i sent off my Illustrator file for the button area to a company who specializes in printed backlight signs for bus-shelters. It cost about $25 which was a little pricey i guess for just a simple 8.5x11” sheet. But i wanted to see the quality. As it turns out, their blacks and back-lighting properties are really good. -BUT- it seems their output isn’t really suited to high resolution which i’m wanting. Ie, for bus shelters, it looks great, but when you get up close it’s really dotty. I also bought some back-lit film from Papilio to try printer on my Epson printer here. It actually worked out mostly okay, but the blacks for some reason don’t come out at all. They look kinda brown/grey. I’ve tried all sorts of things to get it ‘black’ such as making it 10,10,10,100 (CMYK) instead of just 100% black. It might be the coating on the paper, or the fact i’m using pigment based inks. (Epson DURABrite® Ultra pigment ink)

I think i’ll use the one i got from the supplier for now, the blacks look great, and light comes through nicely.

Example of the supplier printed one (top), and my own printed one (bottom):


If i hold each up to the small desk lamp i have here, you can really see the difference in printing resolution quality, and black quality:

Supplier:


My Own Printing:



I positioned the LED tape light loosely behind the supplier printed graphic, and took a photo of the whole thing, you can see i need to diffuse the light a lot, and also mask out the white acrylic a lot too so it doesn’t flood into other parts of the panel.



Perhaps i might actually move away from this LED tape lighting, and just have one or two small regular white LEDs, or perhaps try and see if an EL sheet might work best.

Another thing i’ve been working on is learning how to use decals. I’ve not used these since i was 10 years old. So it’s fun re-learning how best to apply them. Some of these graphics are going on this model. but some are just for fun:



Next steps are to get back to the illustrator files, and get a better overall design of the parts going.

Thanks for reading!

You can try copper/aluminium tape (the one used for electromagnetic emission shielding) to prevent any light coming out on all sides, except the panels. Just like masking tape, but this one is totally opaque.

Downside is that it is not cheap, altough since it's reflective, it will help concentrate the light, so you might need less power/leds for illuminating the same area, or get it a lot brighter. And it is also very conformable, so you can work and overlap it to all shapes (to certain extent) to cover the interior.

I had the same problem with a Tony Stark business card proof of concept, the led keep lighting my fingers. Both have the same lighting conditions, on the first, you can see my finger is like the one in E.T. XD unlike the second photo (after putting some coverage)

Nixie Guy said:

You can try copper/aluminium tape (the one used for electromagnetic emission shielding) to prevent any light coming out on all sides, except the panels. Just like masking tape, but this one is totally opaque.

Downside is that it is not cheap, altough since it's reflective, it will help concentrate the light, so you might need less power/leds for illuminating the same area, or get it a lot brighter. And it is also very conformable, so you can work and overlap it to all shapes (to certain extent) to cover the interior.

I had the same problem with a Tony Stark business card proof of concept, the led keep lighting my fingers. Both have the same lighting conditions, on the first, you can see my finger is like the one in E.T. XD unlike the second photo (after putting some coverage)

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Thanks so much for the tip on the copper/aluminium tape! I’ll go a wee google search and find some pricing. Your Tony Stark card looks great. Clear acrylic with laser etching? In your photos, did you just tape around the led to make it more directional?

Just to clarify, you have copper OR aluminium tape, both work equal, but the copper one is a bit more conformable (and you can also solder on it, as if it was a printed circuit).

Yup, 1mm acrylic and chinese laser engraver (properly upgraded as of now).

More than directionality, my fingers lit up because they where breaking the total internal reflection (just as if it was optic fiber). So, to stop that, I put a 100% opaque material between the acrylic and my fingers. Altough it is not exactly your problem, it seems the same to me: light where we DON'T want it.

EDIT: Just looked on ebay, and found 50mm*300mm copper tape for $1 (shipped)...that should probably be enough... XD

Where did you get the 1mm acrylic? I need to find some super thin sheets of white acrylic, but have only found slightly bigger. good price on the copper tape! i’ll grab some of that!

Umm, I bought it on UK (hobarts) it was a 600x300 sheet, and as always, they don't guarantee it to be 1mm, more like 1 +-0,25mm

I don't know if they make it in any color other than transparent anywhere. You will probably need to have a thicker sheet milled to thickness, then lasercut. (suicidal option as money goes, unless you have access to a milling machine)

So i’ve been slowly working on this still. I hit a bit of a wall with the thickness of the acrylic that was available to me to use. So i’ve had it laser cut in a much thinner birch wood. (1.5mm), where as the acrylic would only go to 3mm. The reason this was problematic was cause it meant the front recesses and shapes were far too deep and away from the screen below. Doing it with thinner pieces brings it much closer to the screen which is great.





I was also curious about how 3D printed versions might help me prototype the volume/space around the screen. So have started a few passes on the printer at work. Though we had some issues with my 3D model (modeled in Rhino3D, of which i’m very much a novice).



I won’t use 3D printing for the final piece, as in my mind the quality is just no where near good enough, but it’s interesting to test out how it’s all going to fit together.

I’ve also been testing out if it’s possible to use translucent diffusion films to help diffuse the LED tap. The films i got were specifically designed for diffusion, and i got a few different thickness pieces too, but ultimately because of the size of my model, the LEDs just need to be too close to the films for them to work. You can see below:

1x Diffusion sheet on top:


4x Diffusion sheets on top:


Only after i grab the printed graphic film and place it on top of the whole thing (about 10mm away) + 4x diffusion sheets does it start looking even:


I will try learning how resistors work, and if i can just send less power to the LED tape lighting, so it’s not just FULL POWER. This might actually solve the problem. But obviously i need to learn how electronics work better.

I’ve also ordered a small piece of EL sheet too. Which would definitely give it a flat look. Though, i dunno how bulky having the inverter will make this thing. It might look great, but be super impractical.

Questions:
1. If i stick with wood it will of course need painting/treating. I’ve not ever really painted wood before, and certainly not at this sort of size. Any tips on how i might go about doing this? What types of wood would be best for a shiny/flat finish? and on parts with such detail?

2. Any other ideas on how i can spread the light out evenly with such a close distance between the graphics and the LED/Light?

3. Tips on how i might power this thing easily? I’d love the whole thing to be as self contained as possible, and not require a wall plug. The iPhone/Display would just need to run off it’s own charge i guess unless i could get an iPhone cable in the bottom somehow too.

Thanks for reading!

- - - Updated - - -

Also, i’ve taken a class at the local tech shop on Gcode, and am also planning to get a hand converting my Rhino3D file to something the ShopBot router there can mill for me as one solid piece out of perhaps wood too. Depending on how detailed that machine can do of course.. So hoping that might negate me having to glue so many separate pieces together.

- - - Updated - - -

Another 2 questions:

1. Should i end up using different pieces of wood for this, should i glue it all together before painting? or paint them separately and then glue?
2. What type of glue might work best for gluing birch plywood sheets together?

Thanks.

if it were me i'd use MDF available in many thicknesses easy to work with seal and paint, for glue good old pva woodglue should do the job, for lighting if you use el sheet the battery pack will be quite large because of the inverter, you could try thin frosted acrylic sheet behind the transparencies and use a few leds which you can probably run of a couple of nice flat button cell batteries (like the hearing aid type)

Pobbrett said:

if it were me i'd use MDF available in many thicknesses easy to work with seal and paint, for glue good old pva woodglue should do the job, for lighting if you use el sheet the battery pack will be quite large because of the inverter, you could try thin frosted acrylic sheet behind the transparencies and use a few leds which you can probably run of a couple of nice flat button cell batteries (like the hearing aid type)

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Would love to try MDF, but i can’t find MDF thin enough anywhere. For the scale i’m working at it really needs to be 1.5mm, 3mm is too big. Perhaps you know of a good US supplier that i could try at?

PVA wood glue sounds great! simple! Used to use that at primary school.

Also not been able to find a nice frosted acrylic sheet this thin either. But the films i bought i think are pretty good. I just need to turn down the brightness perhaps.

using flat batteries sounds like a great idea though! i wonder how much power i can get with those for a few leds.

Very interesting build; will be following this!

You could get some smd led's from Electronics Goldmine. They are a pain to solder, but very small and
efficient! You could power 3 maybe 4 leds (depending on the ma rating), with a 2032 button cell battery . Then get some model railroad wire, to wire them up. It's small wire, but it can handle the current.

A lot of those led strips are meant to handle 12 volts, or a 9 volt battery. But, each one of those led's
is meant to handle around 3 volts. So a small button cell battery, can power several (by themselves)
very easily. It's just how you wire them. You would need to wire them parallel. Google led calculator, for
ratings, and wireing configurations.

Thanks Jason! Yeah, making it self contained as possible would be great. I shall look into those smd LEDs for sure.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately on this project. I’ve been busy with work. But have been tinkering with paint, sanding, vinyl graphics, and decals. Mostly doing small test pieces. Basically i’m completely new to everything, so even just painting wood with a nice smooth finish is something i need to learn about.

I’m thinking about trying using some basic modeling wood, to help create the form, especially on the reverse side, where i need to just do basic shapes to hold the phone/display in place rigidly.