‘Mine-crafted life’
Recap with updates
The severed Minecraft head is a prop for a halloween costume, acting like a trick or treat basket. Constructed from 1/4″ white translucent acrylic sheets, the head is painted with the signature pixelated aesthetic and features 2 internal RGBW LED Neopixel sticks placed in the center of the cube, covered with an opaque material (like chipboard) on the top and bottom faces. The primary function is to express four distinct “moods”—Angry (red light), Sad (blue light), Disgust (green light), and Happy (yellow light)—by dynamically shifting the color of the internal lighting. The basket includes a red handle and a “severed neck” base, with black paint for the eyes and mouth, ensuring both visual impact and a clear pathway for the light to shine through. The shades of the pixels are created by painting multiple coats of acrylic paint on the surface to help create a opaque and translucent light dispersal. The updated size for the cube is 8″x8″, with 1″x1″ pixels.
Updated Materials List
- 1/4″ white translucent acrylic sheet – For the main structure, laser cut to make a 8×8″ cube. I will purchase this from the VFL once the laser cutting machine is functional on Friday.
- (2) RGBW LED Neopixel Sticks – I had one in my kit, borrowed another one from Jay.
- Poly-fill – To disperse the light inside the cube, already there in my kit.
- Adafruit Gemma board – Already there in my kit.
- Electrical wires – Already there in my kit.
- USB Battery Pack – Already there in my kit.
- Acrylic paint – To paint the pixels on the surface of the sheet and create tonality. I have some at home, will get more from Michaels if needed.
- Solder – From the VFL.
Tools
- Laser cutter (The filtration system of the laser cutter is currently down, it will be replaced on Thursday, I can cut out the structure on Friday. I thought of cutting the acrylic using an acrylic cutter but I have been advised against that by the VFL because of the thickness of the acrylic.)
- Soldering Iron (Available in the VFL)
- Acrylic joining solvent (Available in the VFL)
- Wire strippers (Available in the VFL)
- Wire snips (Available in the VFL)
- X-acto knife (I have my own)
- Acrylic cutter (Available in the VFL)
Progress
- 3D model for box using https://www.makercase.com/basicBox
Making a 4 sides box frame in acrylic with finger joints, the top and bottom will be covered with chipboard with a grey scale pixel pattern.
Laser cutting file is ready.
- Tinkering with the Arduino code
TinkerCAD circuit with my code on it
I made the circuit public but it is showing pending on TinkerCAD.
To-Do list
- Test light dispersion on small pieces of acrylic to see light and shadows with white paint
- Make components
- Final Arduino code
- Laser cutting of structure
- Solder the Neopixel sticks to each other
- Load code on Gemma
- Assembly
Thank you!