Marthony
Active Member
Hello all,
I’m building a glowing prop for April’s Calgary Comic Expo – Optimus Prime’s energon axe from the ’84 Transformers cartoon. This will go with my existing costume though with silver top & pants, and no rifle this time. (the rifle needs to be resurfaced to look good, and is mis-balanced against the thumb requiring changing hands every 10 minutes)
My present plan is to conceal multiple colored LED’s within the prop’s shaft to light each side of the axe blade. There will also be a 24-LED puck just below the shaft within the grip structure to light the shaft. After all parts are adhered the outside acrylic/plexiglass will be lightly sanded to show the light. I will then also adhere 1 layer of colored transparent cellophane plastic sheets to the outside surfaces so that the prop still looks colored when in bright sunlight. The LED’s will be either yellow or red, and cellophane either yellow, orange or amber. The colors will be chosen through prototyping. A prototype with sanded 1/4" acrylic, 2 yellow LED's with 15 degree angle of light & red cellophane is encouraging. The 5mm 'straw-hat' LED's enroute to me are 120 degree light and 8000mcd brightness.
The grip ‘box’ and shaft will be made with ¼” acrylic, and the blade will be a single piece of 1/8” thickness. The grip will conceal a simple 3/8" or ½” dowel bolted into the acrylic. The shaft structure will be 2 pieces of ¼” acrylic 2’ long, 3.5” wide at the base/grip box and 1.5” at the tip. Between will be a ¼” space for wires to run, and ¼” thick acrylic lengths on either side to seal the sides of the shaft. Closer to the end the space between the ¼” pieces will be occupied with the 1/8” ‘blade’ plus a 2nd 1/8 thick filler piece. The tedious part will be cutting out spaces each ¼” for the LED’s to be mounted in, as well as building the circuits.
The shaft & grip box won’t be curved…that would be way too much sanding..! Vs. the reference image, the grip box will be 6" wide & across at at least that long. The shaft will be a trapezoid with sanded edges.
Though I’ve done some prototyping with sanding acrylic & lighting it from the edges, I’m hopeful you have some other thoughts? Presently I don’t plan on etching the surfaces for more detail, but that could be an option later.
I am also curious about suggestions for translucent paints as an option vs. my idea of adhering cellophane film.
(there's one error in my diagram; 1/8" axe piece is 15", not 14")
Thanks!
I’m building a glowing prop for April’s Calgary Comic Expo – Optimus Prime’s energon axe from the ’84 Transformers cartoon. This will go with my existing costume though with silver top & pants, and no rifle this time. (the rifle needs to be resurfaced to look good, and is mis-balanced against the thumb requiring changing hands every 10 minutes)
My present plan is to conceal multiple colored LED’s within the prop’s shaft to light each side of the axe blade. There will also be a 24-LED puck just below the shaft within the grip structure to light the shaft. After all parts are adhered the outside acrylic/plexiglass will be lightly sanded to show the light. I will then also adhere 1 layer of colored transparent cellophane plastic sheets to the outside surfaces so that the prop still looks colored when in bright sunlight. The LED’s will be either yellow or red, and cellophane either yellow, orange or amber. The colors will be chosen through prototyping. A prototype with sanded 1/4" acrylic, 2 yellow LED's with 15 degree angle of light & red cellophane is encouraging. The 5mm 'straw-hat' LED's enroute to me are 120 degree light and 8000mcd brightness.
The grip ‘box’ and shaft will be made with ¼” acrylic, and the blade will be a single piece of 1/8” thickness. The grip will conceal a simple 3/8" or ½” dowel bolted into the acrylic. The shaft structure will be 2 pieces of ¼” acrylic 2’ long, 3.5” wide at the base/grip box and 1.5” at the tip. Between will be a ¼” space for wires to run, and ¼” thick acrylic lengths on either side to seal the sides of the shaft. Closer to the end the space between the ¼” pieces will be occupied with the 1/8” ‘blade’ plus a 2nd 1/8 thick filler piece. The tedious part will be cutting out spaces each ¼” for the LED’s to be mounted in, as well as building the circuits.
The shaft & grip box won’t be curved…that would be way too much sanding..! Vs. the reference image, the grip box will be 6" wide & across at at least that long. The shaft will be a trapezoid with sanded edges.
Though I’ve done some prototyping with sanding acrylic & lighting it from the edges, I’m hopeful you have some other thoughts? Presently I don’t plan on etching the surfaces for more detail, but that could be an option later.
I am also curious about suggestions for translucent paints as an option vs. my idea of adhering cellophane film.
(there's one error in my diagram; 1/8" axe piece is 15", not 14")
Thanks!
