So having looked at a lot of failures on my project I began looking for places where I could extract some value. First success, the buttons!
Then checking out the engraved converted to outline fonts turned out quite well.
Then I tried filling it in with paint…
Finally a look at what the panel looks like with the cover paper removed and the LEDs installed.
Wow – the infill painting looks great! I’m glad you’ve been able to get some value out of these initial parts. 🙂
I also learned that the particular blue I used needs to be a lighter blue if I ever want to see it easily… White of course comes out awesome. Orange came out way better than I hoped. In a well lit area it looks fine but as soon as it’s a little bit darker the blue starts to disappear. I expected that but it was way more than I anticipated. When I finish the “redo” I’ll try painting a little better so I don’t end up with any bubbles in it but it worked well.
I’ll dig out my “light box” for photography when I get a final version ready so it’s more evenly lit and use the DSLR to show the finished product. I’m going to start testing my corner assembly pieces to see if I need to move any of the screw holes this weekend but so far it looks like they’re ok. At least this way since I know it’s “screwed up” I can test things to improve my technique or try different glues etc without worrying about “wasting it”.
I’m shrinking up a couple of the cut outs so they fit more snugly this next time and I also figured I need to do something about the power connections. The “inbound” plug is fine but the “outbound” plugs I have are made for thinner panels. The acrylic is too thick so I’ll either need to use different cables/ends so I can screw the receptacles down to the acrylic or else I’ll need to make it have a metal panel that screws to the back side instead. I may just need to switch to different connectors to make it easier. Inbound will be typical male “computer” type cable receptacle and outbound will switch to the female version perhaps.