That's No Moon... It's a DEATH STAR Wall Light

This is a REALLY SIMPLE, cheap way to make an awesome DEATH STAR wall light.

This light is way better in reality than it is in pictures.

Make the force be with you!

@nick_rawstudio instagram

-An old bucket (the bigger the better)

-foam core board (it need to be as big as the base of your bucket. 5mm or 1/4" ish thick )

-flexible led strip and 12V power supply (it needs to be at least the length of the circumference of your bucket. It's easiest if you can get the ones that just plug in and light up)

tools:

pencil , ruler, sidecut pliers & strong craft knife

The rim of the light is made from the bottom corner of the bucket. That's the only bit you need.

The leds strip and foam core needs to fit behind the rim so we need to cut the bucket about 1" from its base.

A simple trick to mark this height all the way round is to put your pencil on a bit of board so it sits the right height , then run it round your bucket.

Then cut round the line being very careful, obviously.

Next cut a circle out the flat base of the bucket, 3/4" in from the outer edge.

You should be left with just a hoop, the bottom corner of the bucket.

If your bucket was a bit mucky like mine was, you might as well clean it now...

Now you can use your hoop to mark out the right size circle for the Death Star.

Place it on the foam core and push it down so it marks the edge. Cut round that so that the board will push fit into the back of the hoop.

Now mark out in pencil the main features of the Death Star surface. It's easier if you have a picture of it to copy from.

The latitudinal lines you can do with a ruler, for the longitudinal lines you can use the segment shapes of a peeled orange to help get the arcs looking correct with perspective.

I found the ideal tool for indenting the surface of the foam core is my small sidesnip pliers.

You could also use the wrong end of a spoon or a fork. Basically anything you can push across the foam core surface that will leave an indent without cutting the surface. Test it on the off cuts of your foam core before tackling the lines you marked on your Death Star.

So the Death Star has loads of indents in it , like showing where stormtroopers randomly left the lights on in the building. It works if you do the single indents relatively randomly in each marked out portion. Luckily the handle ends of my sidesnips make a good point indent. You could do it with anything blunt and round like an M5 dome nut or the end of a sharpie... loads of things will do the job.

For the Death Star gun bit , the big spot, I just used my thumb to push it flatter in the middle so it's slightly dished out.

Stick your led strip round the inner rim of the hoop from your bucket, so all the leds face inwards to the centre of the hoop.

Trim your leds to fit the hoop.

Now you can simply push in your foam core circle behind , leaving the led lead hanging out the back.

Flip it over, plug it in and you should see an amazing optical illusion making the surface look 3D.

On this one I noticed the light bleed through the bucket a bit so I went to the dark side and sprayed the rim black....

Hang your light on a nail on the wall , just hook the nail under the rim of the hoop.

The light has an awesome optical illusion making the flat Death Star surface that you made look totally 3D.

To get the full effect you need to make this light and see it with your own eyes because it looks better in real life than in photos because of how amazing your brain is at processing your vision.

I would encourage you to make this just to experience the illusion.

If you do , please send me a picture to nick@rawstudio.co.uk , tag me in it on instagram with nick_rawstudio and maybe #rawstudiodeathstar . That would be ace.

Make the force be with you!