Happy Anniversary Apollo 11!!!
Apollo 11 “BLASTOFF TO SPLASHDOWN” Anniversary Edition Lithophane TV Lamp/Light !!!
My Goal in creating this was to bring back memories of the Apollo 11 Mission like you were watching it on July 20th 1969. So, I designed it from scratch and 3D printed a 4-sided TV from that era to create an Immersive feeling and used 4 of NASA's famous photos that I made into Lithophanes. I thought would it tell the story well from BLASTOFF to SPLASHDOWN. The Pictures don't look as well as the real thing in person, since I'm using a smartphone camera and the TV is emitting light, so it is Hard to Capture The Stunning Illusion it produces once the Light is on and it can get bright or dim as a night light. It was hard to get the right lighting when taking the photos. And I do an inspection and touchups before I ship!
What is a Lithophane Print? A Lithophane is a 3D-printed photo that displays the image when it is lit up. This works by printing various levels of thicknesses. It is Kind of like an illusion and really neat. Inside the TV is an LED (rgbW/ Wrgb) Smart light bulb with a Remote that is 10 watts and fits in an E26 socket AC 110V (Regular USA Outlet Plug).
Lithophane Prints are best with PLA 3D printer filament. PLA will start to warp if it is over 155 degrees F. So that is why It is important to have an ((LED Only)) light bulb that DOES NOT produce heat or produces little heat just like bulb that comes with it. I can also ad a different bulb of your choice as long as it is an LED Bulb and under 10-12 Watts with minimal heat.
The Process: The TV parts take about 50 hours to print and contains 4 main parts. M3 screws and brass threaded inserts are used to attach the parts together. I then print each Lithophane which takes about 12 hours each to print. You have to print them at a very slow speed to get the best results. So, this product took about 100 hours of printing time and about about 2 days of Post-processing/Painting and such. I even used a special technique to replicate wood grain.
What if the Light Bulb Burns out? Not to worry, I designed it so you can change it your self with 4 M3 screws on the bottom. Just make sure it is an (LED Bub less than 10-12Watts).
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PLEASE NOTE: The one shown in the picture was sold but I have another one. So the one you will receive will have a flat top and when I make more I may go back to the holes on the top, I will update photos on here shortly. Also since I custom paint them, the Top part of the wood grain will differ, so each one is unique and minor imperfections will be present due to the nature of the 3D Printing & Hand Painting.
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Thanks for Looking :)