Portal 2 Button Pedestal

I built a Portal 2 Themed VR room when I was getting my HTC Vive and when I had finished that I decided to add some Portal themed props to enhance the room. First on my list was a button pedestal and I found one that had been done on Instructables previously you can see here . Which I followed but changed quite a bit as some of it was not suited for what I was after. The button Pedestal I was after was more of a prop and did not need a working button and I changed the materials used and the base to the project.

Material:

1 x PVC stormwater pipe 1m x 100mm

1 x Stretch Drain 100mm End Cap

1 x PVC pipe adapter 100mm x 50mm

1 x PVC 100mm M-F PVC DWV Bush

1 x LED strip lighting with Blue coloured LED

1 x plastic packing tape white

1 x 1.2m x 600mm x 50mm of XPS polystyrene

1 x 1 lt of paint colour Dulux Lexicon 1/2 strength

1 x 1 lt of paint colour Dulux Domino

Tools:

Jigsaw

Straight edge

Dremel

circular saw

measuring tape

Pencil

Glue gun

Masking tape

Level

2 x clamps

2 x 3m x 250mm timber

First I used masking tape to get the top angle right I found this better than a pencil as I could adjust the masking tape to suit. I used a circular saw to cut this angle in the PVC pipe. Next I measured up the 3 light shafts I made them 75mm x 5mm with a top angle on 2 of them, 1 was just a straight cut across the top. I used a straight edge to get the lines as straight as I could then taped them with masking tape and used a level and measured again to make sure they were even.

I drilled holes at the intersection of the lines and used a jigsaw with a flexible blade to gut these out. It's quite hard to do and make sure you have the PVC pipe secured when you do this. I used clamps and 2 pieces of long wood and clamped PVC piped in the middle of the wood for a flat surface.

I used a dremel with a 120 grit sanding discs to sand smooth all the edges and give them a little angle for a more realistic look.

I then painted the PVC pipe in a low sheen paint in the colour of Lexicon 1/2 and also painted the 100mm M-F PVC DWV Bush in Domino and placed the PVC pipe into the PVC bush.

The PVC pipe adapter 100mm x 50mm I painted Red for the button and cut a 50mm hole in the Stretch Drain 100mm End Cap to make the button assembly.

I inserted 4 LED light strips which already had double sided tape on them onto the interior sides of the PVC pipe. I stuck 2 on one side and 2 on the opposite side with a loop just above the cutout shafts to get them from one side to the other.

I cut out a square from the XPS polystyrene for the base, then I cut out some little rectangles to make the small shafts that extend from the button pedestal. I glued this with a gluegun and painted in the colour of Domino. I made a hole in the base from top to bottom and a little canal so I can thread the power cable for the LEDs through.

I glued the base of the PVC pipe to the polystyrene in the centre of the shafts and placed the LED transformer inside and threaded the power cable through the hole and connected to transformer.

I used the glue gun to make sure the LED strips stay where they were supposed to. The LED strips I chose had a remote and different colours and effects. I chose the colour closest to Portal and always on.

As the stretch drain cap was made to seal off PVC pipes it was not hard to push the cap into the pipe and leave at an angle similar to the cut you have made at the top of the PVC pipe. It fitted snugly and no gluing was needed.

Lastly I needed to add the cover for the light shafts, this had be stumped but I happen to find some white plastic tape that was transparent enough to let light through but also dark enough to hide the interior of the PVC pipe. It ended up being perfect, took some time to get tight enough but worked a treat when finished. Just take your time and stretch the length and get someone to stick down then cut with a sharp knife the excess.

After that it was all finished time to sit back and enjoy!