Hi All! I have an interesting project to share with you today, especially for dinosaur lover such as myself. It’s my version of dinosaur lamp from diydinosaurlamp.com, a do-it-yourself dinosaur light puzzle kit made from PP plastic. They have various dino lamps – triceratops, diplodocus, pterodactyl and of course, the T-rex. You can buy the kit at dinosaurlifestyle.com (no, this is not an ad. And no, I didn’t get any commission).

I have made a simpler version of the kit using cheap materials aka poor guy method and I choose triceratops because it’s my favourite dino.

P.S:- Boston09 did post an –ible for the Dino-Lamp few years back. You might want to check it out as well.

Step 1: Gather Your Material and Tools

Craft Knife/X-acto Knife and Scissor.
Printer and Paper .
Transparent Binding Sheet – this is use for the smaller parts of the kit because it’s easier to cut, fold and shape.
Transparent Card Holder – I use this card holder because it has thicker plastic – 2/3 times thicker than the binding sheet. This will be used for the bigger parts such as the body and legs.
Permanent Marker Pen/Sharpie – preferably with fine tip.
Acrylic Spray Paint – White Color.
Lamp Cord with On/Off Switch.
Bulb Holder.
Screwdriver.
LED Bulb.

Step 2: Print & Cut Out the Template

The template consists of 6 pages, the first page is for the thinner plastic (binding sheet) and the rest is for the thicker one (card holder). First print all pages on a normal A4 paper. Place the plastic sheet on top of the printed template and start tracing out the outline using marker pen.

Use the craft knife and scissor to carefully cut out the template. The card holder I use is quite thick and rather difficult to cut – so be careful with that. The template has 5 parts consists of total 15 pieces. The parts are label as Head (H1 – H6): 6 pieces, Body (B1 – B4): 4 pieces, Legs (L1 – L4): 4 pieces, and Tail (T1): 1 piece. Make sure you only cut and remove the continuous/straight lines. The dashed and dotted lines are for folding, which bring us to the next step.

Dino Lamp_template_rev.1.pdf
Download

Step 3: Fold the Parts

Fold the cut-out pieces according to its designated line type as per template. Dashed lines are for mountain-fold; fold it downward to make a ‘mountain’. Dotted lines are for valley-fold; fold it upward to create a ‘valley’.

Step 4: Paint the Parts

Apply white spray paint over the folded pieces. Do it on both sides of the pieces. The idea is to make the paint diffuse the otherwise bright LED lights. I suggest applying 1 or 2 layers of spray paint on each pieces.

Step 5: Start Assembling the Parts

The assembling of the kit is quite straightforward you can refer to the pictures I post in the next few steps. A friendly reminder though, I drew the template based on the original kit but I made few adjustment along the way. It’s a trial and error process and some of the parts might not be fitted perfectly. In other word, it’s not a perfect template yet and you may need to adjust it accordingly during the assembly.

Step 6: Assembling the Parts: Head

Fold and joint H1, H2, H3, H4, H5 and H6 as shown in the picture.

Step 7: Assembling the Parts: Body

Fold and joint B1, B2, B3, and B4 as shown in the picture.

Step 8: Assembling the Parts: Legs

Fold and joint L1, L2, L3, and L4 as shown in the picture.

Step 9: Assembling the Parts: Tail

Fold and joint T1 as shown in the picture.

Step 10: Combine All Parts

Start by attaching the Body to the Legs. Then proceed with the Tail with the Head attach last. The Head part is detachable to access the inside compartment.

Step 11: Final Coating

Apply the finishing coating to the completed assemble body. I need to remind though, the more layers of paint you applied, the less transparent your lamp would be. With thick layers of paint, instead of diffusing the light it will block the light altogether.

Step 12: Add the Lighting

Open the Head compartment to insert the light fixture. Get the lamp cord and push it in through the tail. Terminate the cable pair to the bulb holder’s terminal. Install the LED light bulb and place the holder to its location. You may further secure the wire to the Body using cable tie.

I chose to use LED light bulb because it emits less heat than the usual fluorescent light bulb. I’ve turned on the lamp for few days and there’s no sign of any ‘melting’ of its plastic body.