Topic: A new old 3D artform is catching on more now.
I have had requests for a topic on this not so new of 3D art form becoming more
prominent in commercial use lately. which I myself have used both in my Hobby accessory
manufacturing for home use and sales. as well as in business with a friend of mines local
lighting company. I will start with some basics of this very cool art forms materials.
Plexiglas, Polycarbonate, Plexiglas®, Acrylic, Lexan Etc. are all just brands of plastic
material usually sold in sheets for windows that dont break as easy as glass. among
other uses including bullet proof windows and light/sun filtering.
all have their own blend of chemical make up for specific proposes, some of these have an
ability for an art form using edge lit or even face lit ability to glow where they have had
carved letters or frosted into the sheet or rod if its an extruded shape (similar to how fiber
optics do).
some like Lexan can have colors mixed into the material during manufacture that will tint
the "glass" if you wil. so any white lite is directed onto its edge or face the carved areas
glow in those colors nearly as bright as Neon lighting. making many artistic possibilities
for its use.
some Acrylics can do similar effects mostly from edge lighting but for colors other than a
kind of Aqua you must use colored edge lighting which may be better used for such
things as a sign with lettering or logo etched into it that you want to change colors by just
changing LED colors on edge lit sign. or like EXIT signs that need lit either red or green
depending on local laws.
also some of these materials are used for something called 'relief carving' art. which I also
do albeit in sub miniature size ;^)
I will try to get some pictures of my work in this posted soon as I can make an edge
lighting base to put them on and get some Macro closeups with a tiny known object for
scale reference. (I have some N scale 1/160 house hold items like a 20gal fish aquarium,
microwave oven with Turkey inside, table lamp with shade etc). most people that use
these art-forms do much larger items and commercial signs etc. LED lighting has
advanced a lot lately also making this art-form more popular to add to that market.
if you search/Google key words for images like "edge lit Lexan signs" "relief carving
acrylic" etc you can see some samples of use. also the power drink of a couple years not
called "Monster" uses this on their coolers to attract attention with claw marks in it that
glow green.
some of these materials are becoming available for extrusion 3D printers also plus a CNC
mill can do some of this or a laser device like used to make designs in a cube of acrylic
sold in gift shops.
Pictures and step by step instructions PLEASE.
