Newest Project: Acrylic Cityscape with RGB

Ok so in order to not completely lose my momentum for being productive I'm going to get right back into the garage after making my silly robot head to figure out how to put together a project that I've had in mind for quite a while now . Its going to be a gift for a couple good friends of mine that are recent first-time homeowners and have lots of empty wall space .

The picture is rough; it might not match the final shape or dimensions very closely at all . The basic idea though is to have a piece of wall art about 2x4', mainly composed of two layers of acrylic and two separate lines of RGB LEDs, with two simple controllers .

The rear-most layer will be the same basic outline as the front layer but with smoother angles and larger to overlap or border the front layer on all sides . It will be cut from black acrylic, probably 1/4" . I have no idea how I'm going to cut this yet . This piece will stand off the wall just enough to have a line of LEDs behind it to illuminate the wall and create a sort of selectable color splash behind the whole thing .

The front layer will be offset from the back just a bit, probably no more than 1/2" . It will be cut from clear acrylic, probably 1/4" also . It will be the same basic outline as the rear layer but with sharp 90 degree corners . This layer will have a separate line of RGB LEDs so its color can be set independent of the color splashing the wall behind it; it will be edge lit with the LEDs shining into the bottom of the plexi and windows or other bits of detail lighting etched into the front surface . I'm not sure if this will be cut as one piece like the background or if each building will be cut separately and offset slightly so the edge of each building is illuminated and distinct . I'm not sure if the edges will look best clean or frosted . I'm not sure how I'll cut this if its all one piece . I'm not sure how I'll do the etching . I'm not sure if the LEDs will be bright enough to nicely illuminate the edges that could be 2' from the LEDs . I'm not sure if the LEDs will only work with simple 90 degree edges or if I can illuminate more complex shapes (my original idea had some palm trees) .

The base will need to somehow securely hold and space the two layers and mask the LEDs from behind viewed from the front or sides, as well as containing the two controllers . I'm thinking it would be best to use a wall wart as a power source and just have a modular plug on the bottom of the picture . Should make it easier to construct and lighter . I don't have a good idea about how I'll do a lot of things, including actually mounting it to a wall and making the power wire as low profile as possible since I doubt they'll want to route a power wire inside their walls .

Anyway.. many things to figure out, which should be fun . I'll post pictures as I try things out and definitely when its finished .


Does anyone have any experience with having larger sheets of acrylic or polycarbonate laser cut ? I'm thinking that scaring up a sign shop with a laser cutter might be the easiest way to get the cutting and engraving all done at once, but I have no experience with this and I'm wondering what to expect as far as results and the charge for cutting . Couldn't be too unreasonable just for two big cuts and a run of engraving, could it ?

You should definitely get them laser cut, the edges will be amazing. The highschool I went to had one and I used to do acrylic all the time. You can engrave and cut plexi on a laser.

If I were doing it I would place the 2 pieces as close together as possible.

edit: cooper if you have aim, hit me up sometime