Star-shaped light box?

[richardash1981]

It's me again, asking questions about an outside display for church (last year's thread was this one:

), and a picture from the year before. Apparently I haven't uploaded any pictures of last year yet!

Anyway, the theme this year is stars, so I want something I can put in front of my deep blue backdrop (which has some LEDs drilled through it a little like a starcloth) which will make a focal point star / comet (the one the Maggi followed). Ideally it needs to look presentable in daylight and eye-catching at night - I have 12V DC power cabled out to provide illumination (the road is streetlit but not very close).

I was hoping to find a Christmas decoration of some sort with a translucent white plastic front (which will look OK in daylight) and interior LED illumination, but all the ones I can find are either outlines (rope light etc) or wire frames which I expect to be underwhelming in daylight. Suggested search terms or suppliers? Size wise I'd like about 400mm across (the aperture in the front of the "stable" wooden box is 800mm wide and the box 600mm deep from memory). The backdrop board is 1100mm wide by 1000mm tall I think.

Thanks again for ideas and suggestions (running a little late this year!).

[themadhippy]

make yer own, wooden frame covered in white diffussion(#119 maybe) with leds inside,maybe have have clusters of random flashing leds at the  star points

[Ynot]

Depending on the timescales and budget I MAY be able to put something together for you.

Would you want the LEDs inside to twinkle, or just be 'on' as a static colour or have a colour fade facility?

Makes a difference to the practicality of a standalone thing or something that needs a bit more control mechanism...

 

[sunray]

2mm White Acrylic Sheet Cut To Size (sheetplastics.co.uk)

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[richardash1981]

I should have said, static white (cool white probably) colour, no flashing lights is part of the requirements! The 12V supply is currently through a DMX/PWM dimmer, but that could be bypassed out to feed directly from the SMPSU.

Thanks for all the input. Any suggestions on how deep it would need to be to diffuse LED tape successfully? Previous posts on here have suggested about 100mm?

[richardash1981]

Here is what we ended up with:

(Lots more pictures in the same album).

As the deadline approached, the e-waste bin produced a 600mm square LED light panel (the sort which fit into a suspended ceiling), with external mains driver. I hope the driver was dead and the reason for it being binned, as the panel was fine and is now running at about 1/3 rated power for the main star, with a cut-out over it to make the shape.
I was really surprised how even the light from the panel is, although the whole thing is only about 12mm thick! It must have lots of tiny LEDs or something ...

[alistermorton]

Just seen on controlbooth a project using a large self adhesive led sheet that can be cut on a grid with diagonals to fit inside boxes like this.

[timsabre]

11 hours ago, richardash1981 said:

I was really surprised how even the light from the panel is, although the whole thing is only about 12mm thick! It must have lots of tiny LEDs or something ...

 

The ones I have been inside are edge lit but with a clever variable thickness diffuser which keeps the intensity constant across the panel.

[sunray]

11 hours ago, richardash1981 said:

Here is what we ended up with:

(Lots more pictures in the same album).

As the deadline approached, the e-waste bin produced a 600mm square LED light panel (the sort which fit into a suspended ceiling), with external mains driver. I hope the driver was dead and the reason for it being binned, as the panel was fine and is now running at about 1/3 rated power for the main star, with a cut-out over it to make the shape.
I was really surprised how even the light from the panel is, although the whole thing is only about 12mm thick! It must have lots of tiny LEDs or something ...

What a wonderful idea.

I have a paper8 pointed star which I hang in the window which I have been saying for years is the last time due to the age and state of it. but have beenn unable to find a replacement. I think I now have.

[musht]

Light Guide Plates

https://hackaday.com/2023/03/13/a-hackers-introduction-to-diy-light-guide-plates/

[alistermorton]

Here's the cuttable sheet I referred to earlier LED Sheet