glowing eyepiece

[HiddenxBlade]

hey all, while my parts are coming in the mail for my omnishield/omniblade (that I fully expect to fail XD), I was focusing on the next part of my costume. The helmet. Since the costume is a mix between Ghost Recon and Mass Effect, I noticed both had a sort of eyepiece that glowed in common. I was able to find a lens, and I know how to add lights onto it, but I'm not sure how to get the frame. First, here are the pictures of what I'm trying to mix:

and

So I was thinking of using these glasses:

And then merely cutting it in half, and attaching it to the helmet on an axis. But this would make the glasses just shatter if I cut it. So I can really only pop out the lens. So now my question is: How would I make a frame for this lens so it can attach to near the back of my helmet?

(i probably sound so confusing...)

 

[robstyle]

why dont you try some reflective tint before attempting any lighting?

 

[HiddenxBlade]

It wasn't that exact model of glasses (can't find it online D: ) I did find some with reflective tint at my local pharmacist store

 

[robstyle]

dont bother with glasses, just get reflective tint on a sheet. You can cut the actual lenses on clear sheet. It will all be much cheaper.

 

[HiddenxBlade]

ah, it will? epicness How would I make a frame though? would that be molding and the such? *is still clueless on how people mold*

 

[Wicked]

If you go and get a cheap digital lcd keychain for pictures, and take it out of the case, you can mount it in such a way as to not have the black behind it. I was going to use this myself once and already got it to work outside of a pair of glasses. The tough thing is lighting it, but in a helmet like that it would be cake. Then you could take a screenshot of the exact thing displayed on the helmet in that little square, and it would glow, and you could even find one with a slideshow feature to make it change. I think if you got some flat mount led's and put them possibly just inside the lens on small additions to the inner frame you could make it pretty bright. Then just mount the circuit board somewhere, cover it with liquid electric tape and BAM instant HUD.

 

[robstyle]

For a frame im not sure which frame your looking to make based on both of those pictures. Look at cheap off the shelf goggles for the frame. Im sure something exists in the paintball/airsoft community.

 

[HiddenxBlade]

I'm actually a paintballer myself XD I just don't know what would act as a good frame for it. I was thinking more of the Garrus mod though. (not exactly the same, but more that style)
And thanks Wicked! I'll see if I can run out to WalMart or Target tomorrow and check that out

 

[robstyle]

if you have a Frys Electronics nearby you can get a LCD key chain photo viewer for ten dollars. They are usually in the digital camera section. However, they tend to be thick. Check ebay for thinner versions. I use them often for projects and have found them wafer thin looking like a mini iPhone for under $20 that also played animated gif files. Your main focus on function with the photo viewers are the timed rotation of the photos themselves. Many are factory set at 5 seconds and adjustable upwards. The difficult ones to find are adjustable from one second and up. Those should also support animated gif files but do your own research to make sure. Lastly, they are most likely to be compatible with Windows 2000 and XP and those operating systems only. If you find one that actually works with Windows 7 youve found an oddity unless the Asian market has actually written new programs.

Search ebay for: digital photo keychain

 

[HiddenxBlade]

well won't that be fun for a mac like me XD I was able to find one at a Best Buy (no Fry's here) and am attempting to take it apart and see how to make it work. I'll try to upload some pics

 

[Wicked]

The thing that killed me when I did it was removing the led. Totally screwed up there. It was still functional just not lit.

Robstyle if you've done this before you might find this interesting. I'm hoping to build a helmet soon with a built in fresnel lens to make the picture frame lcd act as a projector, to project a face onto an opaque visor of a helmet kind of tron style. I'm not sure how it's going to work yet since I'm new to fresnels, but I really think it might actually be possible.

 

[Ozymandius]

As an old Special FX guy, I can tell you two cheap and easy ways to do it.


1. Tape off a square on the inside of the lens and scuff sand it with 600 grit sandpaper so that that area is hazy and translucent. Then hide a small blue LED inside the helmet so that it points down towards your square. The light will pass through the clear part of the lens and 'bloom' off of the scuffed area, making it light up.

2. Use a small square of clear blue acylic attached to a metal hanger. The hanger can be attached to the helmet above the lens area and hold the HUD in place. You can then hide a small LED behind the hanger so that it 'edge lights' the blue acryic. Your HUD is now lit and you can still see through it.

As a bonus, you could even apply a decal to the HUD square so that it appears to be displaying data. Should work for either version.

Oz

 

[HiddenxBlade]

ah, sweet Oz, thanks a million! the first option seems like my best bet right now

thanks for the heads up wicked, I'll make sure to pay attention to the LED

 

[robstyle]

to add to what Oz added, you can also sort of project an image based on the same principal of the old projection toys. There are new versions as small as rings and mini flashlights but your still forced with the same issue, it being readable. If you have the time and money you should be able to find the correct unit to function at the distance and angle needed. I dont believe you will get this effect with the digital photo viewer. The photo viewer is not a projection unit, its an LCD screen. You could reflect the image but this would render the helmet static and not wearable due to space issues.

 

[Wicked]

Ya, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get the necessary distance inside a faceplate for the projection to be large enough. I'm sure the general idea would work, just as it does with people turning old overhead projectors into media projectors using lcd monitors, but I may have get creative with placement. I was going to mount it to a pair of glasses at a downward angle following the slope of my forehead. I guess it would really depend on how powerful a small fresnel I could find. I want to do something similar with one of those round magnifying lenses in a forearm armor piece, to give it a lightning effect sort of like a plasma ball.