Create & build a light show - construction stage Part 1

For the adventurous people, this section discusses how to construct your own light show on a panel. You should have chosen a show design and created your scenes as described in previous DESIGN section.

1   Making a panel

The size of your light display is your choice. The bigger it is, the more work to do and the heavier the panel will be.

It's best to use a side of a plywood packing crate as the panel because it's cheap and usually framed for strength. (If not, you will have to build one to required size.) Then cut it to size, clean it, remove excess nails and paint it white (reflects colour best) on both sides. Remember to keep it light weight because you and a friend will have to carry it to site, lift and screw it into position.

2   Transferring image onto the panel

If you're gifted, free hand transfer the drawing onto the board's front side. 

If you're like me, here's an easy way to do the transfer:

• Draw a grid onto your drawing and mark all the curve intersection points with grid lines. HINT: see red dots on grid in above drawing.
• On the board, mark up a scaled replica of the grid. This is easy to do, count the number of cells/ squares in 2 right angle sides of grid, say 20 cells in width, 30 in length. Using a 2B grade lead pencil, draw a rectangle onto board with one corner where you want the bottom LHS of display. Measure out your required width and length of the image, say 1.0m (W), 1.8m (L). 
• Divide each image dimension (width, length) by number of drawing squares to get the cell measurements, ie Width = 1.0m/ 20 = 50mm; Length = 1.6m/ 30 = 53.3mm (I would resize down to 1.5m = 50mm). 
• Make a grid on the panel by marking the appropriate measurements along each side of rectangle, ie along each width side mark every 50mm; along each length side mark every 50mm. 
• Draw the grid by marking from one side to the opposite side, 
• Transfer intersection points from your drawing (as in first dot point), then free hand join the dots to give the shapes - see above example. Repeat for all lines.
• Stand back from board and see if it looks good - adjust as necessary. You can use an eraser to remove the soft lead pencil.

3  Installing LEDs

If you are using LED strips, lay the strips down onto the board and work out where to cut at marked cut points as shown below - for more info ... see BASICs- LEDs. You will have to use discrete LEDs for tight curves because the strip can't bend tightly and lay flat.

Where you are using discrete LEDs, I suggest:

• On the object's outlines, drill holes to mount LEDs every 25mm/ 1" for straight lines, 20mm/ 3/4" for slight curves, 15mm/ 5/8" for moderate curves. This presents a good image for the eye to visualise the object and to easily interconnect the LEDs in series. 
• A cordless drill is best and use a 5.1mm (13/64") drill for 5mm LEDs. 
• If the panel is thick, it's necessary to countersink the LED hole at the rear. 
• Now it's best to draw the object onto the rear of the board (using the drill holes as guides) with a coloured pen for each object. This will enable you to work from one side and remove pencil marks from front side. It's a good idea to paint the holes to seal the timber.
• If the hole becomes too big, use silicone (neutral cure) to glue the LED and allow to dry.

NEXT >> Part 2 of CONSTRUCTION STAGE