Steampunked: Waterproof Flashlight

by Kaiven in Craft > Costumes & Cosplay

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Steampunked: Waterproof Flashlight

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OH MY GOODNESS! MY FIRST FEATURED!! 8-30-08
I'm in a guide!! 12-23-08

I like Steampunk design style, and I already tried it on my pencil. I did this to my flashlight because i though it would be easy with its flat sides.

For this project, you need:
@ Gold, Chrome (silver), copper, and gold (brass) paint, clear coat/paint for finishing
@ One large 6v flashlight (mine is also waterproof)
@ Paper fasteners, Sharpie/permanent marker, hole punch, ruler, scissors
@ Hotglue, epoxy
@ Assorted gears, Small tube, Nut that fits on the tube, Three-way section of pipe/plastic that fits in tube, Screw that fits in three-way, copper wire, small spring
@ Small container

Please remember to rate and comment! Help me with this flashlight, it's my first important steampunk project.

Prepping

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First, we need to prep the flashlight.

Remove all of the parts (lens, battery, bulb, front, and case)
We will be modding the front and case of the falshlight only. Wrap the threads in tape, and if you want to, the button. I found out later you don't need to cover the flashlight. Preferably, paint it.

I didn't know what to do to the handle, but I had everything else though out. I decided to make the handle "fancy." Draw a design on the handle. Follow over it with hot glue, to make it stick out. If you have "puff" or "3-D" paint markers, use those instead of hot glue sp you can get a finer image.

Next you need to use your index card. Cut it to shape so the coners line up with the inside coners (er, inside the curve of the edges, etc) and hole punch out the corners. Keep this card for use later.

Painting

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Now, you need to decide what parts you are using and how they will be layed out. Here, I show what I decided on.

Now you need to paint the parts of the flashlight. Paint the case and front black. Make sure it is well coated, but not caked on heavily. Then spray a chrome coat not as evenly and not as thick as the black coat. You should still see some blackness. Also, spray all accessories chrome. For the case, I decided silver was a good enough color. I wanted the front different, so I left it on the spray board.
Now I sprayed the gears and front copper, the washer and three-way gold (brass), and left the nut and spring plain. I also sprayed the tube a slight gold coat, so it isn't pure silver or gold. Make sure you paint the parts the same way as the case, letting the last coat show trough somewhat. If you don', like i did, it will look too new.

Play with the colors till you get what you want.

Painting (2)

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I sprayed 3 seconds worth of paint (gold and silver) in the container. I then dabbed my finger in it and wiped it on the hot glue. This makes the hot glue stand out. I let the pieces cool inside my house since the sun made them hot and tacky.

Designing the Flashlight

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Using the index card and a sharpie, mark the coners on both sides of the flashlight. Do this BEFORE putting on the accesories. Glue on four fastener heads to each side.
Now you can glue on those parts! For the nut, I had to use epoxy because the hot glue wouldn't hold. Then I hot glued the three-way down to the flashlight (with the whole tube assembly put together first). On the other side, I simply glued the gears on.
For the front design, I just put more fastener heads on around it.

Finishing

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I ended up painting the button the same way I painted the hot glue. I made it a copper color, but didn't let it dry enough, so now it is wrinkled a bit. After everything is on, spray a clear coat of paint on it to protect metal bits form rust and to make the whole thing shiny.

Now put the flashlight parts together and your done! Grats on making your very own super steampunked flashlight.