The Sheikah Slate From Breath of the Wild

by Mastering Me

18K19756

Intro: The Sheikah Slate From Breath of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Nintendo Switch is one of the most popular video games of all time. With its stunning vistas, beautiful music, and vast amount of quests and adventures, it feels like you are transported into a new world! To say that this game has many different items would be an understatement. In fact, there are hundreds of items throughout the game that you can discover and collect. But no item is quite as iconic or useful as the first item you get in the game: the Sheikah Slate.

The Sheikah Slate helps you defeat enemies, solve tricky puzzles, and gives you access to cool functions like a camera or a map! Along with all of these interesting features in the game, the Sheikah Slate also looks really cool.

In this Instructable, I will help you make your own Sheikah Slate that really lights up! While it won't be able to produce bombs or stop time, it will look great for your next Halloween Costume this year or even as a devoted fan's display piece!

If you liked this Instructable, please consider leaving a like and a vote for this Instructable on the Make It Glow Contest page. I really appreciate your feedback and your votes!

Let's get started!

STEP 1: 3D Modeling/Printing

To model the Sheikah Slate, I used Fusion 360. It is free for students and hobbyists who are looking to get into 3D modeling. The platform is user-friendly and there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube and Instructables to get you started! So if you want to get involved in 3D modeling to create props like this, consider using Fusion 360.

I have also included the STL's for your convenience as well if you aren't quite to the point where you can create your own models yet. Once you have downloaded the STLs, slice the files on your preferred slicing platform and 3D print them.

Remove the support material and sand down any sharp edges.

STEP 2: Add in Nuts in Order to Screw the Two Halves Together

In the inner face of the back piece, there are 4 hexagonal holes. These holes were purposefully modeled a little smaller than the actual size of the nuts so that they would be very tight and wouldn't come out under pressure.

To set the hex nuts in their respective holes, take your hot soldering iron tip and push down on the nuts. As the nuts get hot, they will begin to melt the plastic around it and sink into their correct spots. Make sure that the top surface of the nuts lay flush with the surface of the back half of the piece or it will not close properly/entirely.

This is a pretty cool trick to quickly and efficiently add threads into your 3D prints.

STEP 3: Pour Hot Glue in the Holes

Some parts of the Sheikah Slate have a really profound glow to it. I thought that if I were able to get some hot glue into some of the holes where the light comes through, it would diffuse the light enough to shine vibrantly but still maintain that glowing effect.

With a piece of flat plastic (you can find this plastic just about everywhere if you look for it - I just used a piece of plastic from a strawberry container), create a seal at the bottom of the hole you are trying to fill so the glue won't leak through. Note that you may want to use a towel or something as a barrier between your hand and the plastic because the glue gets really hot. Once the glue cools down, you can remove the plastic with ease by simply peeling it off. I noticed as well if you gently tap the piece onto the surface you are working on, it will settle the glue down into whatever hole you are pouring glue and will lay flat. This is also helpful to release any air bubbles that might be trapped during the gluing process.

Continue to repeat this process until you have filled all of the holes, the front eye, and the eye pattern on the back of the Sheikah Slate. If anything spills over, just take an Exact-O knife, and trim the excess glue off.

STEP 4: Circuit Diagram/Wiring

Attached is an image of how you are going to wire the circuit together.

Basically, you are going to follow two simple rules of thumb:

1. Wire all of the resistors to the positive (longer) terminal of the LED. The resistors make sure that the LEDs due not immediate burn out when exposed to a voltage source. All of the resistors (the positive side of the LED)will share the same node.

2. Wire all of the the negative (shorter) terminals of the LED to the same node.

Note that the diagram provided does not have a lot of space in between LED lights. This is just a convention for making it more visually understandable. In your actual circuit, you will want to include longer strands of wire since each LED will be fairly spread out from the next. Be sure to reference my photo if you have any questions regarding light placement.

Finally, solder the LED circuit to the battery pack and switch as shown. The negative node of the LED's is soldered to the negative side of the battery. The positive side of the battery is attached the outer pin of the switch and the middle pin of the switch is attached to the positive LED node.

Be sure to test the circuit to make sure it works before you tie up/glue down any wires. If everything seems to be working properly, glue the switch and any stray wires into their proper place.

STEP 5: Creating a Partition Between the Orange and Blue LED Lights

In order to prevent the orange and blue light from mixing together, it is necessary to create a partition between the two. This is done by simply measuring the area where the LEDs are, and cutting out a black piece of paper according to that measured area. Then, cut a hole from the center so that the blue light can enter into the front eye - despite the front eye being on the orange side.

Make sure that the paper is glued down to the center eye supports or orange light may bleed into the blue area which would make the final product look inaccurate due to color mixing.

STEP 6: Painting the Main Body of the Sheikah Slate

Take the brown paint and cover the pieces with several coats until the surface completely blocks out the LED lights. Otherwise, the lights will be able to shine through the surface of the filament thus ruining the glowing effect.

Next take the orange acrylic and fill in the handle piece and the small cavities on the various surfaces.

Then, cover the back piece where the eye is locate with black paint as shown.

Finally, take the tan-ish acrylic and paint the final handle pieces, the accent pieces, and the small pieces found throughout the piece.

If there is any confusion what color certain areas need to be painted, just look at your reference photo or look at my final product as a reference.

STEP 7: Glue on the Accent Pieces

With your plastic accent pieces painted and ready to go, it is time to attach the pieces to the surface of the Sheikah Slate.

Before gluing, carefully line up the pieces where you want them to go. Depending on the strength of the glue you use, you may only get one shot at it - so make it count.

Some people like to use bondo, others like to use cements, but I just used plain old hot glue and it seems to hold really well and is a lot less messy.

STEP 8: Close the Two Halves With Some Ancient Screws!

Take your 6/32" x 1" long "ancient" screws and close the two halves together. If you ever need to change out an LED or exchange the batteries, you can just remove the screws to access the interior.

STEP 9: Done!

Now that you have finished the Sheikah Slate, turn off the lights and flip the switch to activate it!. The blue and orange lights give off a fantastic glow - fitting for the heroes of Hyrule. Now you are ready to take on bokoblins, guardians, and lynels.

Use the Sheikah Slate as a night light, a display piece, or a prop for your next Halloween costume!

If you liked this Instructable, please consider leaving a like and a vote for this Instructable on the Make It Glow Contest page. I really appreciate your feedback and your votes!

I hope you had fun learning how to make the Sheikah Slate! If you have any questions, I will try to answer them all! I will see you on the next one!

-MM

45 Comments

Vamp3yre 2 years ago

This Sheikah Slate is one of the absolute coolest things I’ve seen anyone make!! I mean the fact it lights up has a whole next level wow factor to it.. adds to the mystical feel of the slate.
Very very well done!!! 👏🏻

Ziasebay767 3 years ago

AMAZING... anyone here waiting for breath of the wild 2?

Pythonkev007 3 years ago

Hi There! Well done, that looks INCREDIBLE! My friends and I love Zelda: Breath of the wild plus, I own a Flashforge Finder 3D Printer, so I am starting to print this design! You have really inspired me with 3D printing and I hope to see you make some more 3D prints in the future! Fantastic work! The only thing I was a tiny bit confused about is the wiring... The diagram was super helpful, but when you glued them onto the Slate I could not figure out where to bend them to. Thank you so much for the enjoyable experience of 3D printing!

Mastering Me 3 years ago

Thank you for the kind comment! It made my day! Yes, the wiring can get a bit confusing. It looks like a rat's nest toward the end XD. The reality is, you can bend the wires anywhere to get the light where it needs to be so long as the the negative terminals of the LEDs all share the same node, and the positive terminals share the name node. If you can make sure that happens, you are golden. Hope this helps - so glad I'm surrounded by such a great community of makers!

UnknownPro 3 years ago

This is super cool - can you share the Fusion file?

UnknownPro 3 years ago

Thanks - I was thinking of a remix and it's a bit easier with the original fusion file rather than the STL

merana33 3 years ago

Nicely done! The only thing I'd suggest is relocating the switch to inside the opening for the handle. Where it's located now you're likely to knock it against things which at best can turn it on accidentally, worst it can damage the switch! Relocating the switch to a location that is more difficult to hit will lead to less accidental activations or damage. Plus then you can rest it on whichever side or edge you want and it'll lay flat.

Mastering Me 3 years ago

Thank you! That's a good call. If I ever make another one I'll have to consider moving it. :D

EricK62 3 years ago

Another idea for the switch is to leave it where it's at, but inset it so it is flush to the outer surface. You could do this by adding thicker wall in just the area where the switch mounts.

Mastering Me 3 years ago

Good call - I will have to take a look at that if I ever make another one. Thanks for checking out the instructable :)

JennyT131313 3 years ago

Looks awesome, I'm planning on buying a 3D printer sometime soon, so have favourited and followed for future find ability. Always looking for projects that will get young girls interested in electronics. Might have to make myself a Zelda costume for Halloween one year!!

Mastering Me 3 years ago

Glad to hear it! 3D printing is a fun hobby and this is a fantastic entry level project. Thanks for checking it out!

Nikolaos Babetas 3 years ago

Great work and really detailed instructions! I really wanted a skeikah slate back in 2017 and I would love to have one now as well! Good luck with the contest! You got my vote!

tyler.thornborough03 3 years ago

Hey all! Just posting early in the comments to let you know I'm happy to comission a few 3d prints for people. Send us a message thru discord! I have large quantities of white PLA from other projects.

Lettuce#9733

Mastering Me 3 years ago

Thanks! This is a great! Projects like these are hard if you don't have access to a 3D printer.
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