Friday, June 17, 2011

Milky Way Stargate

Alright here are the instructions to build your very own Milky Way Stargate! Don't be afraid to send me a message via email (gatebuilder1@gmail.com) or Facebook if you have a question!

First things first, you will need to find a very large, very detailed picture of the Milky Way gate that is foward facing and shows the entire gate not just the part that is above ground. The one I have been using is the most accurate one I could find online and it is more of a blueprint than a picture, which is perfect. It is actually the one that is on the Wikipedia page for "Stargate (device)". Here it is if you want to use it too:

Click to view full-size

Ok, so after you download the picture that you are going to use to your computer you will need to find a program that allows you to make a multiple page poster with an image. Most likely your printer software will have something like this. You will need to make a 16 page poster of the gate. Yeah, that sounds pretty big but the gate will only take up 10 pages and is 30 inches tall. If you want to go bigger or smaller more power to ya! However bigger could mean more work overall and smaller could get screwy when you get to the chevron making (more on that later), but it's up to you!

So once you have found a program to make the poster, you can position the gate so it will be easier to put together when the time comes. You will need to move the gate to the top of the poster. This way, you wont have a four-page meet up in the middle of a chevron. Here is what it should look like before you start printing:

Moving the gate to the top saves six pieces of paper and makes it easier to put together later. Now that you have your poster the way you want it, print it. If your printer is like mine, it may be a while before it actually starts printing most likely because it has to process what goes on each page. So don't worry if doesn't start right away.

Alright now that you have the gate printed the next step is to line and color it. What I mean by "line" it is you need to make the lines easy to see as the picture should be slightly pixelated. Take a black fine-point Sharpie or pen and go over every line on every page (wait to do the chevrons though, there is a detail missing. I'll show you what to do when you get there). For the symbols on the gate, you can use a regular size Sharpie as they are bigger. Here's a video of me lining one of the pages:



As for the chevron add-ons, here is a picture of what you need to add:

Make sure not to line the chevron stripes because it will be easier to color them if you don't. Once all the lining and chevrons are complete you can move on to coloring the gate. What color you use is up to you, I'm going to stick with the traditional orange and gray. I do, however, recommend markers over colored pencils because they are more uniform and vibrant.

Once the entire gate is colored the way you want it, set it aside.

In order for the chevrons to light up properly you will need to make it so only the orange parts are lit. To do that you will need to make chevron-shaped light blockers. Start off by printing just one page of the gate, then cut the chevron out and the parts you want to light up as well. It should look something like this:


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