Galaxy Lamp With Star Projection

This is one of my best space theamed project. I always longed for making something very interesting and based on space. So many years I just used to check out some projects based on this kind of things. But after browsing for lot of things I ended up to make something of my own, with my own creativity.

Projects like galaxy lamp and star projectors inspired me but I need something very cheap and easily reproducible. Due to this adverse condition and lockdown here in India I had problem with making it more awesome. But soon I will update this project and even I might end up with making an improved version of it. Till then just check the project and make your own version of galaxy lamp.

Supplies

Watercolor (colour tube recommended but Mine was used)(link)

transparent file (from any stationary shop) even plastic sheet can be used (link)

Fevicol (link)

Pair of scissors

Two wires

Small LED bulb (link)

Adaptor or old charger(link)

Paint brush

And that's it:-)

Collecting Supplies

Starting of with plastic sheets, scissors, paint and paint brush and the glue of course and we are ready with our supplies.

So let's start ^_^

Preparation for Case

For this we are going to paint the file and cut out the shape including of Pentagons and hexagons to make a geometric sphere. Instead of painting you can also print out this shape on a plastic sheet.

But due to lockdown I am going to prefer the painting option. But if you want to print it out and don't want all this mesh then I am providing a file to print out the shapes. If you are going on with printing then skip the next two steps and move on with step 5.
shape cut out

Making the Colour(for Those Who Are Going to Paint)

Don't worry if you are bad at painting and colouring. I am also not very good at that. So don't worry this step is not going to be very tough I have made this simple and if you follow me you will end up with a good nebula print.

First of all we are going to prepare the paint. Now you might think that when we are having the colours readymade, then what are we going to do? But we are going to make a mixture of glue and paint. And a interesting fact is that this paints do not mix with each other to form a new colour.

For this we are going to take a small amount of glue and add the required colour.
Here, I am going to prepare with black, blue, purple and red but we also require yellow colour which we are going to use without the glue.

Painting

When you are ready with the emulsion. We are going to paint the plastic sheet. If you are making the project with the real dimensions then I would recommend you to paint just a square of 16x16cm on the plastic. But if you are planning to make a bigger lamp then you can customise the size.

Attention
Dimension of square = (size of side)4
In my case the side was 2cm so the square was 16x16cm.

Start with black colour, colour the two edges with black giving it a eye kind of shape. Then use purple colour now draw a cloud like pattern. For this simply move your brush making circles and give a cloud like appearance. Remember not to cover complete area leave space for other colours and don't paint very thick layer this could make your lamp opaque.

I have painted larger part with black colour to give it a colour mix but before doing so the layer dried up so if you are not good at painting then please don't try this. Just move your brush in circular motion and paint different areas with blue, red and purple colours.

For the final touch we are going to apply the yellow colour but once all the colours get dried up. This is to cover the small areas left vacant while painting the sheet. Once you are done with that you you might think what you have got is a mesh but don't worry just let it dry and then turn it around and see the wonderful print you have created. And once you are done with that please, don't forget to share it below because I want to see the new and interesting prints created by you people. This is also going to inspire me and others.

Cutting Out the Piece

For this part you can print out the shape provided here or you can just simply trace it from your monitor. But before doing so please customise the size of the image by increasing the side from 2 cm to your prefered measurement.

Don't forget to paint larger area respectively. If you have missed this part in the last steps. Then painting areas dimension will be quadrant of the size of side.
L=(s)4

**For those who have printed the picture out just cut along its edges.**

Making the Lamp

Now fold along the lines and extra area provided and start pasting it using the glue (superglue recommended) but don't use hot glue gun. At the starting you can press and paste the pieces easily. But for the last pieces you need to be little careful and you might wait for these parts to get fixed. Don't apply much pressure because this might result in unfixing other parts.

Let the last hexagon be left unpasted. Now you can use 3 volt ordinary LED or even any other 3 volt LED. In my case, I have used LED left from old electronic project. As it had no pen so I have solder two wires in it. After this you need to make to quite big holes in the left out hexagon. I recommend to use paper cutter. Now bring out the wires out of the holes and paste the hexagon with the lamp. If the LED is not fixed properly, you can use glue gun to fix it off. Now connect the wires to the adaptor or old charger and just turn off the lights and switch it on. Enjoy the wonderful glowing galaxy lamp.

Oh! Wait we are not done with it. Stars are left.

Star Projection

This sounds something complex but the process is as simple as turning a switch on. For this you just need to use a pin.

But simply using pin looks something difficult and took me lot of time to make just 4 holes so I played a trick there.
Just use the lighter to heat up the pin and then, poke holes on the lamp.

Warning
Don't poke holes very close to each other and don't make much wider holes.

Again switch off all lights and turn on the lamp to see the magic. Of course there isn't any magic but you are going to get feel of stars inside your room with a night lamp filled with galaxy inside it.

**Just share your creativity below and let me know how your galaxy lamps look like.**

Till then have a good time and Be safe.