Piranha Porthole Light

by egreer1

4.1K544

Intro: Piranha Porthole Light

These are the steps I used to make an in wall porthole lighted scene. This went extremely well with the TIKI room I am working on. See my other posts.

Video attached shows if from multiple angles.

STEP 1: Plan Your Spot

Find a good spot to place this since you are cutting in the wall. Try to use a stud finder and avoid spots with studs. Also plan how you are going to wire this. Behind this wall is my art studio, so I cut in and pulled the cord through a tiny hole in the bottom above a baseboard to an outlet on the other side. Patched the wall to hide it all. Used the porthole inner ring to trace a circle. Angle your pencil so you draw in under the lip hiding the wall after the cut.

STEP 2: Prep the Bucket

I put the bucket in the cut hole to the wall. Traced the edge to the opening and cut it off to when inserted in the hole the edge is flush with the opening. I spray painted the inside of the bucket a basic ocean blue. I then mixed up resin with blue n green pigment and poured a thin layer through out to make it sparkle and glow. After it dried, i glued led strips around the outside opening on the bucket. Drilled a hole and run the cord through it. NOTE is using a remote powered led, ensure you mount the remote sensor visable, if you drop ith through the hole it wont work. Then I brushed layers of glue and sprinkled sand and rock on the bottom in layers. I did this until it had a good ocean floor to it. I mixed in fake plants and rocks in layers to make the scene feel more real. I glued the fish to the back to look like its floating. I had to cut of this ones tail end for a better fit, but you dont even notice.

STEP 3: Mount in the Wall

I plugged mine in with the lights on to install it. I wanted to make sure it all worked before securing it. My LEDS originally had all colors, but bending them too tight, left only the blue working. I would invest in ones more durable than being used in back lighting. Luckly the blue was the most desired for the project. I liberally coated the back of the bucket in gorilla adhesive, pulled the cord down through the wall and pressed it firm to the inside of the wall. If the bucket was cut right it should rest just on the lip on the hole, I spackled the gaps between the bucket and the hole to give it a clean look. Then painted the wall to match once dry.

STEP 4: Finish It Up

I put a little gorilla adhesive on the back of the porthole. I opened the window to expose the screw holes and secured it with 3 screws. Once mounted I can click a remote to turn it on. Different views posted. Have fun and enjoy while putting back a few cocktails Check out my other instructables to see different monster and tiki projects.

4 Comments

The Cardboard Kitty 4 years ago

This is incredible! I kind of want to do one in the theme of Disneyland's old Submarine Voyage!

egreer1 4 years ago

That would be legit, especially wrapped by a giant squid

Tye Rannosaurus 4 years ago

Oh wow I love this! I'm totally stealing this idea someday and putting it into my bathroom. What a brilliant idea! The only thing I would change is adding a bubbler and sealing some water between some plexiglass panels to make it look like it really was deep underwater...but other than that...this is amazing!!!