Godzilla Ocean Diorama with smoke + lighting effects

[mrhodes]

Hey Folks!

Just wanted to share a build I just finished and am quite proud of. It's a custom Godzilla diorama, with built-in electronics.

I 3D Printed Godzilla from an amazing file by Chaos Core Tech (available at Godzilla! No Supports!) on my SLA printer in a clear resin, sliced completely hollow, and then once printed inserted a neopixel strip along his spine.



I also inserted a brass tube from his mouth, which allowed me to hook up a vape cartridge and a air pump. All of this connects to an Arduino, a relay, a battery and a button. Hitting the button triggers lightning to travel up his spine, then peaks with a 5 second blast of white smoke from his mouth.



The base is a custom design by myself printed in PETG. Covered in bicarb soda and superglue for terrain, and then an epoxy pour for water. Waves simulated with with silicon products brushed on.



The finished project stands about 25cm tall. The ocean, the model and the effects all tie together really well. A great project that I learned a heap from!




I'll be making my Arduino code, the schematics, custom base STL and the parts list available online once I publish the build video on Youtube in coming weeks.

Cheers!

 

[thegnome]

Amazing man!!!

 

[mrhodes]

In case anyone is interested, the schematics, arduino sketch and base for 3d printing are all available for anyone to use at marhod/GodzillaDiorama

And I have a build video up over at

 

[stussy]

that's cool.

 

[Madhatter]

thanks for sharing this - I learnt a few things too from your video, like how you created the waves and the damming technique you employed. What did you use to tint the clear resin? I'm guessing you could also paint some parts of the base darker or lighter blue to emphasize depth as well.
That lighting effect is awesome and really looks the part. Good idea to scrape the paint away - liquid masking fluid is great for covering holes in masking tape but as you found out, not so great at fine detail - although in saying that, it does make for good chipping effects when applied with a sponge
Thanks again for posting this. I found it very useful

 

[Analyzer]

Excellent work and thanks for sharing everything!

 

[mrhodes]

thanks for sharing this - I learnt a few things too from your video, like how you created the waves and the damming technique you employed. What did you use to tint the clear resin? I'm guessing you could also paint some parts of the base darker or lighter blue to emphasize depth as well.
That lighting effect is awesome and really looks the part. Good idea to scrape the paint away - liquid masking fluid is great for covering holes in masking tape but as you found out, not so great at fine detail - although in saying that, it does make for good chipping effects when applied with a sponge
Thanks again for posting this. I found it very useful

Thanks for the kind words!

RE: Resin Tint. From memory the tint I used were just a couple of drops of blue and also of green alcohol ink sourced from a local store. Definitely could have emphasized depth by tinting the base as well, great idea!

RE: Liquid Mask. Never again! I have tried to use it for chipping effects too, and had okay results, but think it's easier to just use a chipping medium. Much more control!