Colored Acrlyic and White Light, or Colored Light and Transparent Acrlyic?

[hiredmagmatic]

Hey guys,
I was thinking of making Ser Vesta from Asterisk War and was wondering which combination would give me a better finish. I couldn't really find too many examples of people shining light through colored acrlyic, but maybe someone on here would know.
Thanks!

 

[Mike J.]

Look up some of the Halo energy sword replicas.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hal...ved=0ahUKEwjllfzZ4b_NAhVK2SYKHdyiCjgQ_AUIBygC

 

[hiredmagmatic]

These examples are awesome! Thanks so much!

 

[Duncanator]

I would recommend clear acrylic with a frosted surface to diffuse the light. If you polish it clear and shiny, the light won't show up, so leave it frosted.

If you want to get really fancy, there is a type of colored acrylic that fluoresces! It is called florescent acrylic or edge light acrylic. It is used for signage.
When you shine light through it, the surfaces glow. So if you frost all the surfaces, the whole blade should glow. And the more lumens of light you can pump into it, the brighter it'll glow.

 

[hiredmagmatic]

That's cool. Would scratching up the surface of normal transparent or translucent acrylic give the same effect as frosted acrylic?

 

[JiminSTLouis]

This is a smaller example but I just got this light for Father's Day. It's clear acrylic with colored LEDs below. The lights can change to multiple colors and effects.

 

[drjag]

hiredmagmatic

https://www.youtube.com/user/ammnra

Ammnra's Creations YouTube page is worth checking out; he does a lot of project with lights (and smoke too!) including lightsabers and recently made a glowing shishkebab from Fallout 4 with a hot metal glowing effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2aL61zN2k

Hope these help, and yes, scratching up the surface of acrylic works for diffusing light; using higher grit sandpaper is adviced

 

[hiredmagmatic]

Thanks so much! These sources are all so great!

 

[dementorRain]

Ooooo fun with lights!!!