DIY: Portal Test Chamber Information Panel

Conclusion

What Really Worked
33 FrameThe vinyl lettering was one of my favorite parts of the project. It looks so perfect when compared to the original screenshots. It was also fun to work with.

The printable labels also worked rather well. They were not perfect, and are a bit light for my taste, but there is a distinction between the black and grey icons and they both show up in the light. My biggest concern is that the ink will get scrapped off when someone touches them.

The white glass also worked really well. It makes the whole thing look legit. I think plexiglass would also probably look good, but this lets light through and is just the right color.

What Really Didn’t Work
My biggest problem was getting the glass in the frame. I measured everything carefully, but I never tested the glass. I was afraid if I moved the glass too much I would break it. There were several points where I could or should have tested the glass but didn’t.

The lighting isn’t quite as even as I had hoped, but I think I can improve some of that with the tin foil.

What I’ll do differently *next time*
TEST THE GLASS. AND TEST THE GLASS AGAIN. TEST THE GLASS WHILE BUILDING THE FRAME. TEST TEST TEST. I mean, this is an Aperture prop for pete’s sake. I should have been testing.

Total Cost.
Total cost was a bit more than expected, but I bought 2x as much vinyl as I needed and I didn’t have any good cutting utensils or a cutting board. I could have possibly done better with different lights, but overall I think this was a reasonably priced project that came in just under $200.

Is it for sale?
Yes. Eventually… if I can figure out how to ship it. My plan is to keep it for a few months and show it off to friends and family. (None of whom will understand.) During this time I will onsider the possibility of shipping it and try to figure out a good price (or starting bid) for it. If you are interested in buying it, feel free to drop me a line.

Future Plans
I don’t have any future plans at this time. If I can actually sell this, I think I would like to build another one for myself, if I ever have a house or apartment to put it. The overall labor took me 3 or 4 days, with a lot more in planning and research. Now that the research is done, I could probably get one done in a weekend if I had the material.

That said, at this time I am hoping to make a few more tetris shelf pieces and there are a few other projects I need to finish from many months ago.

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  • Dylanbodner

    want. WANT. Also, nice job.

  • Dylanbodner

    How much?

  • http://apatheticthursday.net/ MrBobDobolina

    How much did it cost to make? Or how much am I selling it for?

  • Dylanbodner

    How much to buy? :D

  • Dylanbodner

    Also what country are you in?

  • http://apatheticthursday.net/ MrBobDobolina

    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.

  • Th3 Claude

    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.

  • Th3 Claude

    Q1: Are the braces on the BACK or FRONT?

  • Th3 Claude

    Q2: Do you recommend using Plexiglass? Or is regular glass better? Also, How THICK would you recommend the glass/plexiglass?

  • http://apatheticthursday.net/ MrBobDobolina

    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.