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Illuminating my piece of Star Wars...
Hey Guys!
This weekend I finally got around to doing something I've been wanting to do for a while. See I have my own small piece of REAL Star Wars:
Yup. Frames from original prints of each and every Star Wars episode. But it hangs inside a shelving unit and I can never see the film cells without taking it off the wall and holding it up to a light or the sun.
So I decided to backlight it. Here is what I got from my electronics store:
A 4AA battery holder, 10 5mm white LEDs, resistors, a slide switch and a battery connector.
The resistor is colored blue, brown, black and gold. So I worked it out to be (blue = 6), (brown = 1) * (black = 1), tolerance (gold = 5%). So it is a 61 Ω resistor.
Now, how to place the LEDs? The area I want to illuminate is ±40cm long (15.7"). So should I place them behind the cells like this?
Or place them 40 ÷ 10 = 4cm apart?
I decided to go with 4cm apart.
Now you may be wondering what that 9V battery connector was doing in my parts. Well this picture might explain:
The battery holder has 9V connection, so I need that to connect it. It also is quite helpful as a disconnect for testing.
I did a test wiring of one LED, and...
It worked! (FYI: When wiring LEDs, the short pin is the negative, the long one the positive.
Another closeup of the test wiring, with the circuit disconnected from the battery holder:
I also tested it behind a film cell. Guess which scene this is?
Answer here.
Next, I wired the switch in. I also tested my camera's Super Macro feature
I had to run wires from each LED to the next, because they aren't long enough to chain together. (Should have bought more LEDs, (facepalm).
This is pretty much the routine I followed with wiring the LEDs:
Put previous LED in helping hands (I love those things ):
Cut a piece of wire 8cm (3.1") long:
Strip the ends:
Cut in half and strip those new ends:
Wrap one wire around the LED:
Solder:
Repeat with next wire:
Check for shorts:
Take new LED and solder it to wires:
Heatshrink those connections:
Check it still works:
I did this until I had a string of 9 LEDs. I tested it for length behind the frame:
I think 9 will do, and I'll have a spare if one breaks, or whatever.
I taped the LED string to the back of the frame:
I was going to use electrical tape, but mine is black, so it would absorb some of the light, so I went with clear tape.
Finished pics!
Before (without the battery pack):
After:
And the frames:
If anyone can guess which scene each frame is from, then you'll get a prize!
Click here to learn all about me!
The Shoutbox: The only place you can double post!
Anybody who spells it Lightsabre is dyslexic
"Yeah, if I had Skotts face I'd hit it too" ~ Fenderbender
"You didn't buy a toy saber just to break it. You bought an economy sound card with a really complicated wrapping scheme." ~ Silver Serpent
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Well done, that is a truly excellent display of REAL Star Wars indeed...gotta love it!
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Youngling
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Youngling
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Youngling
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Confirmed. The Mace scene is chapter 9 on the DVD.
Thats the thing, Sloda. The others are of quite memorable scenes, the AoTC one is quite random with no background to show any particular scene.
Click here to learn all about me!
The Shoutbox: The only place you can double post!
Anybody who spells it Lightsabre is dyslexic
"Yeah, if I had Skotts face I'd hit it too" ~ Fenderbender
"You didn't buy a toy saber just to break it. You bought an economy sound card with a really complicated wrapping scheme." ~ Silver Serpent
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Youngling
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