Deus-Ex: Human Revolution-inspired candelabra project

[THX1138]

There's a game called Deus Ex: Human Revolution. In the protagonist's apartment, there's a candelabra on the coffee table (http://imgur.com/a/BUQ8D#1) and I'd like to make something similar to it.

I tried using frosted acrylic tubes but it didn't turn out that well. For the ends of the tubes, I glued silver mylar film to a clear acrylic cylinder, inserted that cylinder into the end of the tube, sawed the cylinder off and then sanded it down.

http://i.imgur.com/b4ZFSs.jpg (http://imgur.com/b4ZFS)

I used rolled-up cellophane to try to distribute the light better but you can see where the edge contacts the tube.

http://i.imgur.com/xFu10i1s.jpg (http://imgur.com/xFu10i1)

Someone suggested that I could try sourcing parts from TCSS. The acrylic tubes I already have are 30 cm (1 foot) long with a 38 mm (1.5 inchs) outside diameter. I don't suppose it's possible to get suitable tips that will fit into these?

Here's a picture of the whole thing looking bad. I don't know how to maximise the dynamic range of my camera so the picture doesn't appear how I see the scene. Only the middle tube has the cellophane. I haven't yet put it in the others because I'm not yet happy with the tubes themselves (the ends of the tubes, specifically).

http://i.imgur.com/qVlbWoFs.jpg (http://imgur.com/qVlbWoF)

[Eco]

For the ends of the tubes, anywhere you have a hard edge is going to stand out. You could try radiusing the edge of the tube to see if that helps.
The Cellophane looks the most evenly distributed. What is your light source?

[THX1138]

For the ends of the tubes, anywhere you have a hard edge is going to stand out. You could try radiusing the edge of the tube to see if that helps.
The Cellophane looks the most evenly distributed. What is your light source?

Hey. Thanks for the response. What do you mean by radiusing the edge of the tube? How do you guys achieve your smooth transition at the sabre tips?

I noticed that TCSS sells some kind of diffuser film to go inside their sabres. I was wondering whether I could expect that to perform better?

The light source is a cheap tri-colour 3W LED with a lens place on top. I can't remember the specifications of the lens. It was not designed to go with this LED but I bought several types and this one gave the best result. I was wondering whether Mk II should contain a stack of 5 mm RGB LEDs.

[TrypWyr]

I think something like this would just be screaming for a "string blade" technique...

[THX1138]

I think something like this would just be screaming for a "string blade" technique...

Thanks TrypWyr, I'll most likely use that approach for Mk II! Have you got any idea what Eco meant when he said to radius the tube?

Where does TCSS get their tube tips from? Do they make them themselves?

[THX1138]

I found some people in the UK who can provide me with the plastics. I think they get the stuff from people in the US but I'm not sure. They said they could flatten the tips so they're less rounded. Perhaps that's what Eco meant by "radius". Having looked a little way into the string approach, I'm apprehensive since apparently there is a lot of colour variation between LEDs even of the same batch and bin.