Star Wars movie set den build
- Thread starter Amazing DJ
- Start date
Fantastic!
Captain April
Sr Member
That is so cool but I notice that your pattern is a little off, here's what I mean, I hope you don't mind.
Amazing DJ
Well-Known Member
No offense taken. :cool This is going to be a funny sentence: Do you mean that the pattern should be dash-then-dot rather than dot-then-dash-then-dot like I did? If so, I changed the order for aesthetic reasons. Each facet of my platform is a different length due to the shape of the platform. It looked screwy when I went dot-dash with different length dashes all around. So the only way to bring "balance to The Force" was to make dot-dash-dot on each facet. Believe me, I debated on how to dot-dash it for a couple weeks then decided on this layout. Part of the visual compromise trickery involved notching the platform around my Star Wars doorway. :unsure Did I mention there's a Star Wars-style lighted doorway hiding there on the rightside of the images? People want to see that too?
boshwan527
Active Member
Amazing DJ
Well-Known Member
Ready for more? 
opcorn This is the platform propped up for work. The thing is heavy, so the prop board is screwed to the floor with a couple of drywall screws. I think this is the very last time I lifted it. Note how the platform does not touch the back wall or the side walls. This is so the outer edges could be lit and "wash" up the surrounding walls. Note: If you decide to adapt one of these to a home theater stage, you don't want any light washing up your screen. Or maybe you'd separate the back lights with a switch, so they could be turned on and off separately from the rest of the LED's.
This is a Sketchup drawing of how I'll build a lighted chair mat. It shows the layers of materials. Mat > Vinyl logo > White Polycarbonate circle > Wood with holes in it to let the light shine through > LED light source
Make a circle to mount an LED strip to. This is four scraps of wood joined together and sandwiched to get it thicker. You could make this part out of anything, as the circle is not seen.
Mark and then drill a shirtload of holes in your new floor. This took several days, as it got boring real fast. Then every hole was tapered, finished off with a countersink bit on both sides. I wanted the light to be seen easier through the holes so they are basically cone-shaped on each side. To make it easier to measure/mark the holes, I laid a metal grid over the wood and marked the holes I wanted to drill with a pencil, then a Sharpie.
The platform is back on the ground, and now just the middle of the floor wood is propped open. Add additional floor supports that will not block the light. In case 500-pound Marge ever visits, I added some beefy doorstops to hold up the floor. Note how the whole inside of the box is shiny. That is more of that shiny foil metal tape. I wanted lots of light reflection in here, as the wood holes are relatively small. See that white metal thing on the left with the wires. That is a Woon bass shaker. 4 of those provide thunderous vibrations through the floor for gaming. They are not speakers, but subsonic transducers. I have those hooked to a 250-watt amplifier which gets its input from my computer/audio system. Believe me, when I watch a rumbly laser blast happen on my computer screen, I f-e-e-l it through the floor, my feet, and my chair!
More on the audio portion in a later post.
Paint it white. I used a spray can of Kilz white. That brand covers good. See the 3 little blue dots? The LED strip passed under that area, and I didn't want to "waste" that light, so I found a scrap of blue plastic from a 1970's Sherwood stereo and mounted it flush with the floor wood. It sorta makes a visual marker for the edge of the floor, although I haven't accidentally fallen off the edge yet. I eventually will stumble off the edge, but not yet!
Do a light test. Ahh! :lol This is going to turn out okay!
Add a piece of white Polycarbonate. I got this "scrap" from a sign shop and they cut it in a circle for me. It's the kind of indestructible plastic they make the front panels of Pepsi machines out of. Ever try to shatter the front of a Pepsi machine? They don't break. A friend made me a black vinyl Imperial logo out of shiny vinyl for the top of that.
A view of the plastic with a chair mat over it. This was a standard mat, can be cut with scissors. Note you need a mat designed for wood floors (not carpet) because you don't want it to have the sharp nubs on the bottom. This *was* a rectangular mat from Office Depot called "Polycarbonate Chair Mat for Hard Floors" and is their item #671769 for $67.49 with free delivery to your Rebel base. Luckily, it can be cut into any shape with a steel scissors. The edges do not shatter when cutting. This mat is essential to protect the delicate vinyl logo underneath. The vinyl would scratch if anything walked on it. I'm rolling a computer chair across this polycarbonate mat every day and it is holding up well.
Add some carpet squares "Night In Tunisia" from Dean Flooring Company. On ebay, their seller name is "deanflooringco". I had to buy a couple boxes to finish the room.
Next time, I'll show you how to finish off the platform, and design a split Star Wars door. Or maybe a video or something.
opcorn This is the platform propped up for work. The thing is heavy, so the prop board is screwed to the floor with a couple of drywall screws. I think this is the very last time I lifted it. Note how the platform does not touch the back wall or the side walls. This is so the outer edges could be lit and "wash" up the surrounding walls. Note: If you decide to adapt one of these to a home theater stage, you don't want any light washing up your screen. Or maybe you'd separate the back lights with a switch, so they could be turned on and off separately from the rest of the LED's.This is a Sketchup drawing of how I'll build a lighted chair mat. It shows the layers of materials. Mat > Vinyl logo > White Polycarbonate circle > Wood with holes in it to let the light shine through > LED light source
Make a circle to mount an LED strip to. This is four scraps of wood joined together and sandwiched to get it thicker. You could make this part out of anything, as the circle is not seen.
Mark and then drill a shirtload of holes in your new floor. This took several days, as it got boring real fast. Then every hole was tapered, finished off with a countersink bit on both sides. I wanted the light to be seen easier through the holes so they are basically cone-shaped on each side. To make it easier to measure/mark the holes, I laid a metal grid over the wood and marked the holes I wanted to drill with a pencil, then a Sharpie.
The platform is back on the ground, and now just the middle of the floor wood is propped open. Add additional floor supports that will not block the light. In case 500-pound Marge ever visits, I added some beefy doorstops to hold up the floor. Note how the whole inside of the box is shiny. That is more of that shiny foil metal tape. I wanted lots of light reflection in here, as the wood holes are relatively small. See that white metal thing on the left with the wires. That is a Woon bass shaker. 4 of those provide thunderous vibrations through the floor for gaming. They are not speakers, but subsonic transducers. I have those hooked to a 250-watt amplifier which gets its input from my computer/audio system. Believe me, when I watch a rumbly laser blast happen on my computer screen, I f-e-e-l it through the floor, my feet, and my chair!
More on the audio portion in a later post.
Paint it white. I used a spray can of Kilz white. That brand covers good. See the 3 little blue dots? The LED strip passed under that area, and I didn't want to "waste" that light, so I found a scrap of blue plastic from a 1970's Sherwood stereo and mounted it flush with the floor wood. It sorta makes a visual marker for the edge of the floor, although I haven't accidentally fallen off the edge yet. I eventually will stumble off the edge, but not yet!
Do a light test. Ahh! :lol This is going to turn out okay!
Add a piece of white Polycarbonate. I got this "scrap" from a sign shop and they cut it in a circle for me. It's the kind of indestructible plastic they make the front panels of Pepsi machines out of. Ever try to shatter the front of a Pepsi machine? They don't break. A friend made me a black vinyl Imperial logo out of shiny vinyl for the top of that.
A view of the plastic with a chair mat over it. This was a standard mat, can be cut with scissors. Note you need a mat designed for wood floors (not carpet) because you don't want it to have the sharp nubs on the bottom. This *was* a rectangular mat from Office Depot called "Polycarbonate Chair Mat for Hard Floors" and is their item #671769 for $67.49 with free delivery to your Rebel base. Luckily, it can be cut into any shape with a steel scissors. The edges do not shatter when cutting. This mat is essential to protect the delicate vinyl logo underneath. The vinyl would scratch if anything walked on it. I'm rolling a computer chair across this polycarbonate mat every day and it is holding up well.
Add some carpet squares "Night In Tunisia" from Dean Flooring Company. On ebay, their seller name is "deanflooringco". I had to buy a couple boxes to finish the room.
Next time, I'll show you how to finish off the platform, and design a split Star Wars door. Or maybe a video or something.
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Amazing DJ
Well-Known Member
Thanks. Everyone here is so encouraging! :thumbsup
Amazing DJ
Well-Known Member
Here is another photo I found of my lighting tests during construction. It shows what the 5050SMD LED strip looks like when you place it in the center of half a 4" PVC pipe. The pipe has metal foil tape applied in it. That makes a reflector, so the single LED strip looks like 3 strips.
The one on the right just has one LED strip mounted in it, but looks like three. They make a lot of light that way.
Has anyone else used the RGB 5050 LED's? I get mine on ebay in a kit from a user called hkesupplier in a 20 meter length. This has 30 LEDs per meter in a non-waterproof flexible LED self-adhesive strip. And it comes with a power supply and a 46-key IR controller. That supplier is in Hong Kong and I have used them a couple times with success. Note they do not pack the shipments very safely. They just throw your stuff in a basic padded envelope and tape the crud out of it with shipping tape. The package arrives very worn. But both times the merchandise inside still made the 9,000 mile trip with no damage. Based on the low cost I enjoyed from buying direct from the Hong Kong supplier, it was worth it, and I'd do it again. I'm not selling anything, just a positive equipment recommendation.
The one on the right just has one LED strip mounted in it, but looks like three. They make a lot of light that way.
Has anyone else used the RGB 5050 LED's? I get mine on ebay in a kit from a user called hkesupplier in a 20 meter length. This has 30 LEDs per meter in a non-waterproof flexible LED self-adhesive strip. And it comes with a power supply and a 46-key IR controller. That supplier is in Hong Kong and I have used them a couple times with success. Note they do not pack the shipments very safely. They just throw your stuff in a basic padded envelope and tape the crud out of it with shipping tape. The package arrives very worn. But both times the merchandise inside still made the 9,000 mile trip with no damage. Based on the low cost I enjoyed from buying direct from the Hong Kong supplier, it was worth it, and I'd do it again.
I'm not selling anything, just a positive equipment recommendation.
Amazing DJ
Well-Known Member
I've done a little bit to my walls so far. They are painted gray and I have devised a way to hide a Colonial-style chair rail with something more interesting. See this video called "Wall treatment begins"
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View attachment 132087
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Amazing DJ
Well-Known Member
I am now making a window covering. My boring den window will resemble the fullsize Millennium Falcon cockpit window. I want this to be accurate dimensions, so first thing is to grab a still frame out of Star Wars ANH. Once the characters are manually removed from the scene, I have an inch-for-inch representation of the shape I need. The orange parts are the windows and will be cut out. The top portion (78.5" x 48") can be cut out of a 4 x 8 sheet of hardboard (which is 96" x 48") and 3/16" thick.
This is a piece of cake if I can trace the cockpit graphic onto the 4x8 sheet of hardboard. I decided to project the image onto the wood. It's kind of hard to see the hardboard propped up against my movie screen, so I have outlined the board in yellow. Then take a Sharpie marker and trace the orange windows onto the hardboard. This was the easiest part, tracing the lines - which only took 10 minutes.
Next, lay the hardboard down and clean up the lines. I straightened the straight lines with a pencil and a yardstick. And I ended up re-drawing the curves with a yardstick nailed to the floor. Ya just nail one end of the yardstick to the floor (in the exact center of the circle window) and sweep it around while drawing nice smooth curves. This I did with a red marker because these new lines are easier to see on this dark board.
Grab a jigsaw and rough cut the windows. This is starting to look like something. If you aren't good with a jigsaw, you WILL be by the end of this project, cutting left and right, toward you and away from you. Wear all kinds of gear on your head. Use a respirator (important!) and safety glasses, ear protection, and a hat to keep the annoying hardboard dust off your hair.
This is the finished cut propped up against a garage door for scale. The hardboard gets a lot lighter when it is full of this many holes.
I grabbed the graphic image above and superimposed it over a warp graphic. Yep! That's about right. What an interesting view!
Next, I get some black roller window blinds and paint the blue and white "warp" on them. Anyone know where to get black roller shades? :confused
This is a piece of cake if I can trace the cockpit graphic onto the 4x8 sheet of hardboard. I decided to project the image onto the wood. It's kind of hard to see the hardboard propped up against my movie screen, so I have outlined the board in yellow. Then take a Sharpie marker and trace the orange windows onto the hardboard. This was the easiest part, tracing the lines - which only took 10 minutes.
Next, lay the hardboard down and clean up the lines. I straightened the straight lines with a pencil and a yardstick. And I ended up re-drawing the curves with a yardstick nailed to the floor. Ya just nail one end of the yardstick to the floor (in the exact center of the circle window) and sweep it around while drawing nice smooth curves. This I did with a red marker because these new lines are easier to see on this dark board.
Grab a jigsaw and rough cut the windows. This is starting to look like something. If you aren't good with a jigsaw, you WILL be by the end of this project, cutting left and right, toward you and away from you. Wear all kinds of gear on your head. Use a respirator (important!) and safety glasses, ear protection, and a hat to keep the annoying hardboard dust off your hair.
This is the finished cut propped up against a garage door for scale. The hardboard gets a lot lighter when it is full of this many holes.
I grabbed the graphic image above and superimposed it over a warp graphic. Yep! That's about right. What an interesting view!
Next, I get some black roller window blinds and paint the blue and white "warp" on them. Anyone know where to get black roller shades? :confused
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