The makings of a sword and shield
I started this project for comic con. I had always wanted to make a proper sword and shield for my Link cosplay. I had dabbled in making them out of cardboard and other craft materials a couple years ago but I wanted something more. So when I saw this project: https://blog.adafruit.com/2017/09/21/glowing-master-sword-3dprinting-3dthursday/ I finally got up the effort to do this.
My version is lasercut instead of 3D printed. Using Opal acrylic for the blade. mdf and a slightly denser wood for the handle. For the shield I used clear acrylic for the accents and the same denser wood for the back plates.
Electronics wise, I used a trinket, a USB battery pack and a strip of neopixels, programming it with python circuit playground.
I ran into quite a few issues as the project went on, the greatest one being the switch. The compartment size in the hilt of the sword was quite small, this and due to the switch placement made the connections a weak point and I had to resolder the connections many times. Also the battery pack I used would require a button to be pressed on the batery pack after the sword was turned off at the switch for long enough.