Galaga Mobile

You move the joystick, slamming the fire button and destroying your alien enemies.  They fall before your eyes as you skillfully thwart endless waves of suicidal 8-bit sprites.  These are the memories of Galaga that many have, the greatest spaceship arcade game ever built.  Now games have stunning graphics, and you don't have to leave home to play them.  So to remember those days of alien slaughter,  I decided to build a mobile illustrating my favorite arcade game.

Step 1: Materials

This Instructable requires few tools and materials.  I had all of the supplies lying around my workshop and was even able to get the sheet metal from someone's trash.  The sizes of the metal and pvc pipe were based on the template size, and if you want you could shrink or enlarge it to make a bigger or smaller mobile.

Materials-
2.5 feet of 1/2 inch pvc pipe.
12x8 inch piece of sheet steel (it should be thin enough to cut with tin snips, but thick enough to hold its shape)
Fishing line 
Assorted enamel paints, I used red, white, blue, and yellow. 

Tools-
Tin snips
Drill
Paintbrush
Marker
Scissors
Access to a printer
Measuring tape

Step 2: Templates

Use the pdf to make your templates.  All you need to do is print it out.  Then, you get to access your kindergarten cutting skills to cut out your template.  Try to do a good job cutting because then your metal pieces will be more accurate.  Once you have your templates, draw them out on your piece of sheet metal wit hyour handy magic marker.  Magic markers are good because you can wipe it off easily.  I was able to fit two alien ships, one "good guy" ship, and three darts.  You could fit more darts, but I really didn't feel like it.

Step 3: Cut That Steel

Cutting the steel wasn't too difficult, but it was incredibly time consuming.  Here's a tip, the bigger the spaceship, the easier it will be to cut.  So pretty much, if you have a big piece of steel lying around, make the spaceships bigger.  Focus on the ships one at a time, and pay close attention to detail.  if you do a good job, you will basically think that you are looking at an arcade cabinet every time you look at your mobile.

Step 4: Painting

I pride myself in being a decent artist.  Because of this I really didn't feel that it was necessary  for me to cut out the ships, color by color, and trace the pieces out.  However, I did draw out the general outline with magic marker and cut out the cockpit in the "good guy" ship to trace that out (see picture 3).  As for paints, try to get them as close to the original colors as possible, but as long as its  close, it should look good.  Paint on carefully, and if you make mistakes, wait for the paint to dry and then paint over your mistakes.  Now, admire your work, and hopefully it will look pretty good.

Step 5: Drill Baby Drill

Now, drill holes in the metal pieces.  I made a mistake by drilling two holes in the spaceships. as the cutouts are unable to move freely.  I would recommend drilling a small hole, as fishing line is thin enough to fit through almost any hole.  Double overhand knot the pieces, this knot will probably be strong enough.

Step 6: Tying It All Up

Cut a 2.5 foot piece of 1/2 inch thick pvc pipe out with a hacksaw.  Now, drill holes where they should be based on the holes you drilled out in the previous step.  Cut the fishing line in varying length to make the mobile look nicer.  Then, put the line through the hole and tie a double overhand knot (I really need to learn to tie more knots than this one, oh, wait a minute, I can also tie my shoes) to tether the piece to the pipe.  Now, balance the pipe on your finger until you find a good balance and then drill another hole the attach it to your ceiling with, yet another double overhand knot.

Step 7: Thanks

Thanks for viewing my instructable, now you can relax and enjoy your work of art while remembering the good old days of Galaga, the greatest arcade game ever.