Evans Central 2020

[djgra79]

Been a while since I've posted on here my display progress and I've done a bit already this year so thought I'd share.
Last year I bought a sleigh and 2x reindeer from @Troy ELD but ran out of time and funds to get them all loaded with pixels and into the display. I only managed to get the sleigh painted and fitted with pixels and sat it in front of our bedroom window:

Sleigh painted.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Sleigh lit up.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

So mere hours into 2020 I placed an order with Ray and then got the deer painted up and filled with nodes:

Deer painted.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Deer lit up.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

I also added 2x more of my spare metal Kmart stars, so now will have 6x in total to place near my front door:

New Stars.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Along with the sleigh & deer, I also bought a few different stars last year. I have a few of the smaller ones filled ready to go, but this year I populated the larger stars:

Large Star.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Large star lit up.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

TBC...

 

[djgra79]

As most of these new props would be mounted on the roof I wanted to ensure they would be very secure and safe. So I bought some C channel aluminium and used this as framework behind the props to create legs.

Deer Frame.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Sleigh Frame.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Star frame.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

I then purchased some solar panel bracket mounts and secured these to the roof. I needed to grind off a little clearance from a couple of tiles but the roof which is normal for this type of installation. I could then bolt on some scrap timber beams I had lying around from a house reno we did a few years back (painted up black of course)

Tile grind.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Roof supports.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

It was then time to mount the props to the support timber. I had to notch out on an angle so the props would stand near upright, to compensate for the pitch of the roof. I used 3mm aluminium flat bar as back supports, secured underneath the roof battens with a screw.

Mounts.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Roof mount 1.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Roof mount 2.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Happy with the final result. The large stars also have their own brackets and timber support beams but no angled back flat bar brace.

Roof mount 3.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Roof props.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

TBC..

 

[djgra79]

Next new addition are some column matrix panels to cover the brick areas across the front of the house, replacing the flood lights I have used previously.
These are 36h x 12w = 432 pixels each x 4 columns.
I cut the panels to correct height then use cableties to secure to a conduit frame:

Column pixels.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Column PI.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Column place.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

Column test.jpg

• djgra79
• Jul 5, 2020

I'll post future progress later in the year, but feel free to ask any tech questions you may have

 

[Dreamin]

Looks amazing mate, a lot of work and effort there with great results! The sleigh and reindeer look great!

I've used 75 pixabulbs to create a column like your, not as dense but they will do for my first year! and 10W floods which aren't that bright on the garage door.