This article contains a lot of back story, planning and thinking than a typical DIY article might. It’s as much about my process as it is about my steps. I hope you are able to find it enjoyable or helpful.
The Idea
When I got It (The Idea)
With the advent of Portal 2 I found all kinds of links (re)-surfacing with Portal creations. Lego Aperture Science Sentry Turret, the Aperture Dual Portal Device, ThinkGeek Portal Shirts.
Somewhere along the line, my brother mentioned that I should make a Aperture Science Test Chamber Information Sign. I did a few initial searches online and only discovered one person who had done anything similar. He just modified the sign from the game and had it printed on an extremely large canvas. So I decided to make one that lit up.
Initial Research
The first thing I did was fire up Portal 2 to find a sign. (I don’t know why I didn’t do Portal 1, it would have been quite a bit easier to find.) I ended up with this screenshot.
From the tiles on the wall I originally concluded that the signs were 3 feet wide by 6 feet tall. Later I decided that the wall tiles are probably not 1 foot square, and the total height is probably 8 feet, which would mean it is 4 feet wide. The important thing is that the sign is 2 times taller than it is wide.
I decided that 2 feet by 4 feet would be an acceptable size to work with. Not too large for a wall hanging, but not so small that you couldn’t see any of the details.
Plan and Sketches
Using a my screenshot and another from a Google image search, I made a sketch of of the sign in my notebook. (My original screenshot had a sign size of just over 9 cm, so I drew the sign to centimeter scale in my notebook. When designing logos for the sign I usually stayed in centimeters, rounding up or down when convenient. A few measurements went from exact centimeters to rounded centimeters to rounded inches for their final placement. You can’t tell.)
For those interested in the math… My sketch is 9 cm, actual glass is 2 ft, or 24 inches, also known as 60.96 cm, rounded up to 61 cm. Each centimeter in my sketch accounted for 6.77 actual centimeters, or 2.66 inches.
Pingback: Portal Test Chamber Sign IRL | Apathetic Thursday
want. WANT. Also, nice job.
How much?
How much did it cost to make? Or how much am I selling it for?
How much to buy?
Also what country are you in?
I’m in the US.
As for price I would probably have to say somewhere around $400 USD due to all the supplies and time it took to craft.
My biggest concern is shipping. The unit is very heavy and I’m afraid that the plate of glass on the front might break durring shipping. There’s a number of things I can do to help insure that the glass is safer durring transit, but I don’t know if I can guarantee it’s safety, nor can I predict what the shipping charges might be.
If you’re truly interested, I’m willing to look into the cost, though.
do you know what portal is ?
HI!
I want to thank you for posting this. I’m incredibly interested in making this myself, although I am no handyman. This would make for a fun project on my days off. The work you did is stellar and while I would love to take the lazy way out and buy one, I think I need to suck it up and go ahead and make one myself.
Wouldn’t be able to do it if you hadn’t cracked the code.
Q1: Are the braces on the BACK or FRONT?
Q2: Do you recommend using Plexiglass? Or is regular glass better? Also, How THICK would you recommend the glass/plexiglass?
Glad this was helpful! Hope your project turns out well. I had a ton of fun with mine.
I used real glass, but I would probably remend using Plexiglass, if you can get it in white. The reason I would suggest this is due to weight. The glass is heavy, and my biggest concern with the unit now is that the glass will break at some point in time.
That said, you might try experimenting on a smaller scale with the coloring. I don’t know what white plexiglass costs, or what the light coming though it looks like. I think my glass is 1/8 inch thick, which i’m pretty sure is standard for stained glass. (Note: I have no idea what I’m talking about here.)
All of the bracing is on the back of the unit, if I understand your question properly. Due to the extra weight of the glass, I put in a few extra bars on the back to brace the frame and keep it from bending or breaking.
i want it ! for under $100
Glad you like it. You could probably build yourself a smaller version for less than $100. I say go for it. It’s a great project.
As for mine, it’s sentimental value keeps going up.
hellllloooo. anybody?
I know how to make one with just 5 things for cheap, you will need: about 5-6 sheets of paper, sicsorrs, glue, a black sharpie, and a big rectangular piece of card board
Yes. That’s nice. I use mine as a night light.
Woah! That looks amazing! Do you know what font that is or did you just copy the numbers from the ingame sign?
I used a grid and screen shots to estimate the font. So it was all hand cut from what the in game sign looked like.