Star Wars movie set den build

[Demonmaker]

It is the flexible corrugated plastic thing that goes on the back of an office chair. I've connected two pieces of it to make a long piece. It bends, of course, but doesn't stay flat when you let go of it. I can't decide how to attach it to the cabinet bottom. This thing is hollow and I need to stick the backside of the corrugation to the cabinet. The plastic is hollow, so I don't know where I'd put any fasteners. Got any ideas?

If your able to get to it from the inside of the cabinet, how about using plastic "Hollow Wall Anchors" this would avoid making marks on the outer wall of the plastic and give a good firm fix to the wood. Many different types of hollow wall lugs/plugs/screws you could use for this. not designed for exactly what your doing, but if you drill the holes in the cabinet, then into the rear face of the corrugated plastic, you can then insert the hollow wall anchor in the cabinet and then into the back side of the corrugated plastic without marking the face.

 

[Amazing DJ]

If your able to get to it from the inside of the cabinet, how about using plastic "Hollow Wall Anchors"

Thanks for the suggestion, but I couldn't figure a way to get that done. Instead I located a long piece of wood and put it inside the corrugated plastic. This made the plastic stay in a straight line.

Then I used a 2.5 foot long piece of velcro and stuck it on. Boom! Done. Solid. Recycling! BTW That's my raised platform in the background. My computer desk sits up on that, 7 inches high. Can you tell I'm in a "green" mood tonight?

 

[SofaKing01]

SWEET! Love it

 

[Snow Builder]

That's cool!

 

[Amazing DJ]

I have an extension cord that runs up one corner of the wall. It looks bad just hanging there. Might as well hide it or make it blend in. Tonight I cut this cover out of white PVC. The back is open so it will just slide over the cord that hangs down the corner of this room.

And I've been looking at how the wires in Star Wars were very visible. The set designers liked to show off the mechanicals with tubes, hoses, wires and pipes all over the place. So I will combine all those elements.

I have these materials. The big black thing is a sample of a 10-foot corrugated pipe. That's going inside my white PVC pipe. First, I will attach wires to the inside of the PVC, then back it with the black corrugated pipe.

When finished, the vertical PVC pipe will look a little like C3PO's guts. For the colors, I will tone them all down. The PVC will get painted silvery gray. The wires inside will be shades of gray, or maybe weathered/grimy-looking. I have never weathered anything in this room yet. What's your preference?

 

[Demonmaker]

I have never weathered anything in this room yet. What's your preference?

What a great idea with hiding the cable.
I'd stick with keeping it clean looking, having one item weathered would look out of place with all the other bits.

 

[SofaKing01]

I have never weathered anything in this room yet. What's your preference?

DJ,

With the "Death Star" look you're going for I would leave it clean. You don't have to weather the wiring at all - if anything just use a flat clear coat to tone everything down - that might help lend a used look. Total weathering might over shadow all your hard work - then... where do you stop?

I'm getting ready to tackle the near exact thing on the MF "Pit" entrance... pipes, wiring, etc... But I'll let you go first.

As always - LOOKS GREAT!

 

[Amazing DJ]

Tonight I'm experimenting to see how to arrange these raw materials. I've arranged some wires inside the PVC pipe holes. And I snapped the black drain pipe in from the back.

Nothing is painted yet. But whoever thought of hiding wires WITH wires? Ha ha! Do you like this arrangement?

 

[Amazing DJ]

Today while the football game is on, I'm working on this vertical pipe some more. The decorative wires are fastened onto the black drain pipe.

I didn't like how smooth the PVC pipe looked, so I textured the whole thing with a grinding wheel a bit. Then I've begun to paint it with the same pewter metal-looking paint that I painted my desk supports with.

The pipe will need more coats of paint. So far it doesn't look like much, but I have a feeling it will come together ok. The black drain pipe just snaps inside the 4" PVC pipe. No glue required.

 

[SofaKing01]

DJ,

LOVE where your headed with this design! EXCELLENT! Check out this screen grab - this might help with your wire placement. Although - nothing is better than just a natural look and feel . Just place them in there...

Note the wire looms outside of the ring
Shadow of Reflection: Movie Screencaps R-S: Click image to close this window

Great screen grab with various design elements and piping...
Shadow of Reflection: Movie Screencaps R-S: Click image to close this window

Another idea - insulation coming out of the pipe edges?

 

[RvanAken]

You my dear man......

Are a genius

This is a work of beauty

-R-

 

[Amazing DJ]

Here is the finished wire cover in the corner of the room. It hides an extension cord wire, fits right over it. And it's covered in wires. So tricky, eh?

The bottom of it is red because of the red reflection from my raised desk platform lights.

Next, I turn my attention to something else... ceiling construction. I'll build a metal grid that I can attach ceiling electricals, down lights, and lighted "utility" boxes to. Here is an example of a floating grid I spotted at a grocery store.

My version will not be wood at all, but will be 1" medium-duty square steel tubes, painted flat black, suspended by a few thin wires. The frame will float in the center of the room. All my ceiling greeblies will attach to it, including a 12v ceiling fan, seen in earlier photos. Who knows how to build a metal framework out of square tubes? Not me. But as usual, I'll figure something out! :unsure

 

[SofaKing01]

Are thinking about something like this?
super star destroyer bridge

 

[norvon]

I can't wait to see this project finished. Looks totally awesome!

 

[Amazing DJ]

Are thinking about something like this?
super star destroyer bridge

Yes! :thumbsup That ceiling. I now have a few views of that ceiling from movie stills, from pre-production concept art, from video games, etc. Mine will probably be built on a black metal framework of 6-ft x 8-ft. I have begun to construct some of the lighted boxes. No idea how to build the metal frame yet. Here is how I plan to suspend the metal framework from my angled (vaulted) ceiling...

And another view of the hardware arrangement.

The frame would hang level from the center of my vaulted (angled) existing ceiling. I've already painted my whole popcorn ceiling flat black. Who else dares paint their ceiling flat black? :lol

 

[blacksheep214]

this is awsome. I can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Amazing DJ]

Looking around my Star Wars Movie Set Den tonight, here's a new pic...

I kinda made these 4 boxes, below. I'm toying with this here ceiling layout idea. Imagine we're looking up at the ceiling and everything is painted gray...

See this toolbox? That's what I made the ceiling boxes out of. They were on sale for $5 each at Menards.

It was fun to chop up these too-cheap POS toolboxes with the plunge-cut tool. Bzzz!

I have some ideas for lights. I just ordered 4 of these...

I'm sticking one of these downlights in each box. Yep, they are LED's and the lights can be angled down as spotlights. They should provide enough light to illuminate my desk area. Now I can get rid of my vintage Burger Chef restaurant light fixture that used to hang in the center of this room.

Now I'm on the lookout for more types of boxes to fill out the rest of the ceiling area. I'm leaning toward some more ready-made boxes since anytime I fabricate a box from scratch, things can get a lot warpy. For one, I still don't own a table saw where I could cut a long straight line. The only power saws I own are little hand-held saws such as a jigsaw and a plunge-cut tool. I'm open to box ideas! I like thin-wall boxes where I can cut slits or lens holes in them for internal illumination via rope lights.

 

[cavx]

$5.00 each? Serious? I wish we had stuff like that in Australia. Yeah I like where you are going with them.

 

[SofaKing01]

Love the Astromech trash can. I have a trash can with a round top - been tinkering with the idea of turning him into a low end unit...

AWESOME idea with the tool boxes - did you save the tops?

 

[Amazing DJ]

AWESOME idea with the tool boxes - did you save the tops?

Yep, I saved the tops of the cheapie plastic toolboxes. I chopped off some edges for greeblies. There were some plastic hinge things that I will use for greeblies on my computer monitor frames. Yep, my monitors will eventually get a gray Star Wars-y Millennium Falcon hull look. I have part of that built, a stick-on frame that surrounds my monitors. More on that part later.

Today I spent a whopping $220 at the home improvement store. I got some raw materials for my suspended ceiling grid. I got the white metal strut pieces, and every piece of the hanging hardware. In the end, it will end up looking like a gray ceiling in a ship's mechanical room. It will be lit. Here, I laid out some of the stuff in my driveway. It is 6.7 feet wide. I couldn't get a decent overhead shot of it all, so I went and stood on my roof for the pic. It's times like this that make me wonder "What in the HELL am I making all this for?" :wacko

It doesn't look like much yet. I'm just experimenting with the placement of the shapes and examining the scale. I've got corner downlights on order to mount in the black corner boxes. I'm on the lookout for more interesting plastic box shapes. There's room. I'm looking at the bottoms of storage totes, tote lids, wrapping paper box lids, long underbed storage boxes, water softener lids, equipment cases, etc. I don't want a bunch of heavy wooden boxes, just lightweight plastics. Any suggestions?

I think I just sorted out where to stash my surround-sound speakers. Somewhere "In the grid".