Recent content by sswift

Way ahead of you! I've tested half a dozen speakers, and the ones used in lightsabers, the smaller silver one on the right, seems like the best bet, with the clearest and loudest audio with the 3W amp I chose. I also tried a small exciter, a type of speaker that turns the enclosure itself...

I'm working on it! It's gonna take a bit longer than expected, and I had some other stuff come up that I needed to attend to last month. I hope to be ready to order a prototype in May. I've got a pretty good idea where I'm going with it now. The plan right now is for the kit to have a 3W...

I'm actually hoping to release this soon after all. I've been working on it for the last week in between some other projects, and since I had all those displays already designed, and I've released several other boards that do all the stuff I want to do with this kit, the work is progressing...

Hey, sorry I never got any email notifications about replies to this post. It was only when KSJ messaged me today that I finally got one. I never ended up manufacturing this kit because there was insufficient interest and other things had to take priority. But I still have an interest in...

Hey guys, I got the automotive vinyl in today and I bought a can of 3M Super 77 adhesive spray and decided to do some testing! My first test was to see how the vinyl would adhere to foam using just the adhesive on the back and a little heat. Result: When cold, the vinyl barely adheres at...

Well, I don't have the automotive vinyl or the barge cement in yet, but I can at least report that the cross linked polyethylene seems like it was an excellent choice! I don't know why anyone uses those EVA foam mats. This is a 3" x 1/4" scrap piece I formed: Note it's just the lighting that...

Automotive vinyl has an adhesive backing on it. The question is whether that adhesive alone is strong enough. That's why I'm looking for folks who have used this specific type of vinyl before. Of course, I'm going to test this myself once the stuff comes in, but that won't really tell me how it...

Hey guys, I bought some cross linked polyethylene foam the other day from FoamByMail.com (it's like EVA foam mats but is smooth on both sides and comes in a variety of thicknesses), and I'd initially planned to paint it... But then I had the brilliant idea that I could avoid most of the sealing...

Photoshop. :-) When I want to build a prop like this, I first need a reference point. Something with a known size. There are pictures of the spy holding the sapper, so the general size of the thing can be gleaned from that. From there I can refine my estimate. For example, knowing that I...

The speaker is definitely from the earpiece of a telephone handset, I took those apart many times as a kid. The grey wire will probably be hard to source, but a ribbon cable would approximate the look.

Sure thing! The small stars are 3.5" wide/tall. The large star is 5 3/4". The tips of the small stars are 1 1/2" from the edge of the shield. The large star is centered of course and the tip is 1 3/4" from the top of the shield. The bottoms of all the stars are aligned and 1/2" from the...

This past weekend at Super Megafest I debuted a pair of secret costumes I'd been working on for myself (Valiant) and a friend: I designed both, and built all the props: The cane was made from a pool cue, on top of which I mounted a skull and snake made from Sculpey and coated in...

Hi guys, I need to make some lightweight hands for a cartoon character I will be making out of foam. Initially I tried gluing two foam hand shapes together as one would to make a glove out of fabric, but inverting it to get the seams on the inside proved impossible. I'd rather not attempt to...

Just came back from the con a little while ago. Got some great pics, and a video too I'll post those once I process them, but here's one a friend took:

So I failed to find a two tone jacket, but I did manage to get a pretty nice new jean jacket on Ebay for $16. It was so nice actually that I decided not to ruin it by sewing fabric to it or attempting to dye it, but I did recreate the fabric on the inside of the sleeves by cutting the sleeves...