[SkeleTom]

I just tried out something, and the visual effect is cool enough that I thought someone else might get some use out of it before tomorrow is done. No time to post pictures tonight, too much to build still. (sorry) But I hope you find it useful.
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Steampunk Mysterious Power Source

The effect is a coruscating green glow within a translucent conical chamber, something like the power source for the Nautilus in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Brain-dead simple to build, and really cheap apart from the light source.

1 - Ikea "FNISS" conical wastebasket - $1.50 (the website shows them in black, but you want "clear")
1 - Gemmy Projections whirling LED spotlight - $20.00
1 - Ikea "BLANDA BLANK" stainless steel bowl, 8" diameter - $4.99

Strictly speaking, the bowl isn't part of the effect, but it fits perfectly over the small end of the wastebasket, and will become a platform for mounting additional bling. My Frankenstein laboratory machinery just got a major upgrade for not much money.

You can do the same thing with a white 5 gallon bucket, but the plastic is thicker and a bit more opaque, so the lighting is more muted.

 

[yardhauntjunkie]

I cannot wait to see pictures!!!! I thought it was freaky that my steampunk steam powered town is powered by a green glow too!!

 

[SkeleTom]

Finally got time to get the pictures off the camera (after day-after-sale scavenging all morning):

Here is a good still of the pattern the effect makes:


And here is the rest of the machine that it is attached to:

 

[Shadow Panther]

Hey SkeleTom how about a tutorial *hint*. I love how how this looks

 

[Ghost of Spookie]

That is a really nice visual effect with the Gemmy light. Is that a Fire and Ice green spot or is it a green LightShow Kaleidoscope? Sometime photos don't capture the lighting pattern but I think yours did in this case. Cool! I have a mad lab theme in planning stages so will give Ikea catalog a look. Thanks and look forward to see what else you've got the works.

 

[FearingtonHouse]

That is pretty cool stuff, folks! Great work!

 

[3pinkpoodles]

I will keep this in mind for next year! Thank you!