Light-up mermaid tail madness
At MerFest in January, I debuted my swimmable LED mermaid seashells. Everyone loved them. I loved them. I talked a whole lot about creating an LED mermaid tail.. enough, in fact, that now I HAVE to make it, instead of just talking about it.
So, I've gone under. If you haven't heard anything from me in a while, it's because I'm up to my gills in electronics and mermaid scales and waterproof boxes and soldering and SO MANY LIGHTS.
Today, after weeks of prep work, I'm starting to feel like this project is actually beginning to get somewhere.
The Universe keeps sending me help. I have Phil, aka "Adafruit guy" - he works for the New York-based company where I'm buying most of my electronics, as a code guru and tech support and development guy, and he happens to live down the street from me. He contacted me a few months back when he saw some forum posts and recognized my name from being a Fremont Community member. He's solved a bunch of problems before I knew they existed, and has been a huge help in recommending batteries and such. I have a feeling he'll be a huge help again soon when I get to the coding phase.
Then, the other night I met Justin, aka "Submarine guy". The biggest challenge of this project is making the delicate electronics robust and submersible. Justin used to build submarines and knows all about waterproofing electronics. He also builds steampunk airships that fly.
I must say, this tail project is launching me into a pretty awesome social circle.
I'm resin casting individual LEDs and LED rings for the top part of the tail. This takes a very long time, mostly waiting around for the resin to harden. But today, after weeks of casting and waiting and cutting and painting and wiring and soldering, I was able to run current through the LEDs on the back half of the tail and watch it actually light up. Granted, there's a whole lot more work to do (and bugs to work out, for sure) but .. it is shaped rather like a mermaid tail, it's got a little bit of color (the base coat is down for the paint job) and. It. Lights. Up.
This is going to be so awesome.
I'm having a blast. I absolutely LOVE having a project to do, and this is definitely one of the more challenging things i've ever taken on. I'm learning a whole lot and making art all the time. It's pretty rockin' great.
I need a light-up mermaid name. Lumi? Glow-mer? Sparkle? Jewel of the Sea? Everything I think of is awful. Any suggestions?
So, I've gone under. If you haven't heard anything from me in a while, it's because I'm up to my gills in electronics and mermaid scales and waterproof boxes and soldering and SO MANY LIGHTS.
Today, after weeks of prep work, I'm starting to feel like this project is actually beginning to get somewhere.
The Universe keeps sending me help. I have Phil, aka "Adafruit guy" - he works for the New York-based company where I'm buying most of my electronics, as a code guru and tech support and development guy, and he happens to live down the street from me. He contacted me a few months back when he saw some forum posts and recognized my name from being a Fremont Community member. He's solved a bunch of problems before I knew they existed, and has been a huge help in recommending batteries and such. I have a feeling he'll be a huge help again soon when I get to the coding phase.
Then, the other night I met Justin, aka "Submarine guy". The biggest challenge of this project is making the delicate electronics robust and submersible. Justin used to build submarines and knows all about waterproofing electronics. He also builds steampunk airships that fly.
I must say, this tail project is launching me into a pretty awesome social circle.
I'm resin casting individual LEDs and LED rings for the top part of the tail. This takes a very long time, mostly waiting around for the resin to harden. But today, after weeks of casting and waiting and cutting and painting and wiring and soldering, I was able to run current through the LEDs on the back half of the tail and watch it actually light up. Granted, there's a whole lot more work to do (and bugs to work out, for sure) but .. it is shaped rather like a mermaid tail, it's got a little bit of color (the base coat is down for the paint job) and. It. Lights. Up.
This is going to be so awesome.
I'm having a blast. I absolutely LOVE having a project to do, and this is definitely one of the more challenging things i've ever taken on. I'm learning a whole lot and making art all the time. It's pretty rockin' great.
I need a light-up mermaid name. Lumi? Glow-mer? Sparkle? Jewel of the Sea? Everything I think of is awful. Any suggestions?