Aliens Movie Book Nook Diorama

I've been meaning to do a diorama from the movie "Aliens" since i bought STL files of the aliens xenomorph and i wanted to make a diorama out of it.. but i didnt want to make a big diorama piece because i dont have anymore room on my display shelves.. as always, while surfing youtube i found one of my favorite youtuber maker made a book nook.. and that's where the idea for the book nook diorama came in.. its compact and easy to make and it can fit right in my bookshelves..

i took reference images from the movie and try to recreate the scene as best I can.. I split the book nook into 2 parts..

1. upper floor hallway
2. underground sewers

Ripley and newt will be on the upper floor hallway trying to runaway while being chased by aliens from below the underground sewers.

I added lights on the hallway's railings and overhead ceiling for the upper floor while a dim flickering lights from the underground sewers.. Lights from the railing cast shadow on the floor grills and slightly lit up the sewers..

This is my first instructables that include outside 3d models that i brought to fill in the diorama.. links to buy the models can be found below..

and so for this instructable, most of the build i will be using tinkercad screenshots..

You can find more of my 3d printing stuff at https://www.instagram.com/fay3dlab/ or https://www.myminifactory.com/users/Fay3DLabs

Difficulty level:

1. 3D printing - Easy (almost all parts printed without support)
2. Assembly - Easy
3. Wiring - Easy
4. Painting - Easy

so let's us begin..

1. Plywood 3mm thick - 40cm x 40cm
2. MDF 3mm thick - 10cm x 25cm
3. LED light strips 5v - white or warm (your preference)
4. LED diode lights
5. LED flickering lights
6. 47ohm resistor
7. Electrical Connector Block
8. TP4056, DC-DC buck converter - USB to lithium battery with protection
9. Lithium battery 18650 3.7v
10. Lithium battery 18650 1 cell holder
11. Wires - AWG24
12. Rocker switch 2pins - 15x10mm
13. Super glue & glue gun
14. Soldering iron (to connect the LED & PCB to the wires)
15. Epoxy resin - around 300g
16. Resin coloring - blue and green

And of course a 3d printer to print all the parts.. all part will be able to fit into a 200x200mm printer.. and a resin printer to print all the miniature characters..

If you do not own a 3d printer.. I'm also selling the 3d printed parts as well as the electronics on my ETSY page..

Upper floor Hallway

The model of the upper floor is quite straight forward.. i added a channel gap on the railing to add led strips and on the ceiling as well to run wires for the ceiling LED.

Underground Sewer

The sewer is the best part for me since i always wanted to play with epoxy resin and make the sewer look like its filled with sewer water. I also added a corner wall to hide the LED in the background of the sewer so the light will fill in the background with Aliens on the foreground

I also added a gap at the bottom of the sewer to add all the electronics and closed it with a grill from the front

The assembly divided into 3 parts:

1. the plywood case
2. the 3d printed environment
3. the wiring

The case for the whole book nook im using a thin 3mm plywood board.. i brought them in 45x45cm size here in my country.. and i just need to cut them to size.. you can use any board you like that is durable enough to hold the whole book nook upright..

The side panels will be 25x20cm and the top & bottom is 10x20cm.. The back panel im using 3mm MDF board measuring at 24.4x10cm

Paint the panels before assembly..

The diorama splits into 2 part.. the upper hallway and the underground sewer

All 3d model stl can be found here:

1. Thingerverse
2. Myminifactory
3. Alien Xenomorph - from gambody.com
4. Ripley and newt - from cult3d.com

As always.. print and paint everything before assembly

All environment 3d stl are straighforward prints since im the one making it using tinkercad.. the Alien Xenomorph is from a diorama of Alien queen from gambody.com.. you'll need to 3d print the alien footsoldier number 18 and 19 using a resin 3d printer..Ripley and newt were also 3d printed using resin printer with its base cut off using meshmixer..

First up is the underground sewer.. we will be using epoxy resin to make the waste water in the sewers..once the sewer is painted, i closed off the front part of the sewer using a small acrylic board and glue gun it water tight.. if you're printing using PLA, you might need to support the base with a strong plate cause the heat from the epoxy resin might warp the base sewer..

The epoxy resin im using is 1:1 part so i measure about 100gram of each part and mix a bit of coloring to it.. one part i mix it with blue coloring to give it a look like water and the other green coloring to have it look like sewer water..

Add in one of the painted xenomorph alien in the sewer and mix the 2 part colored epoxy resin and slowly pour the resin into the sewer base to avoid bubbles.. wait 24 hours to dry and hardens.. that will depend on the type of epoxy resin you used.. i waited 24 hours just to be sure..

tip: make sure to protect the resin from outside particles.. mine had a bug land on it and made epoxy smudge.. its a good thing it was sewer water so look acceptable..

Once dried you are ready to glue it to the bottom panel.. there is a gap mount for the bottom of the sewer base to run all the wire and electronics

Glue in the left side panel of the sewer and insert the rocker switch in front hole of side panel left..

We'll need the left side to do wiring so we'll use the right panel as a guide to glue all the parts together

Since the sewer right panel is in L shape so its easy to install.. above the panels will be the floor grill.. make sure the smooth surface is on the bottom..

My crude diagram of the wiring of the electronics should help when you start wiring the electronics. The wiring is easy to understand since all the LEDs run parallel to the USB battery charger.

Solder the USB battery charger first to the battery holder.. Next run a positive wire to the rocker switch.. when wiring the rocker make sure that the wires are from the inside of the base and the the rocker is on the outside.. bring the other wire from the rocker switch and install a 47ohm resistor to the wire after running the wire to the connector block.. glue the connector block to sewer left panel.. run the negative wire from the usb charger to the rocker switch as well..

Align the USB charger PCB into place at end of bottom plywood panel and put the battery holder in place somewhere near and glue everything together..

Now if you dismantle the flickering battery operated candle.. u will find a single LED inside connected to button batteries.. take out the LED and install it the back of the left sewer panel where there is a hole on the back wall..

Connect 2 LEDs together parallel and install it at the back of the sewer left panel wall.. run the wires to the connector block.. these LEDs will light up the background of the sewer..

Charge the battery using normal micro USB charger and test out the LEDs

Now.. both railing has an opening that the LED strip will shine through and need to be closed with semi tranparent or frosted panels.. I just used paper that i cut into the same length as each opening of the railing and make a U shape and insert it into the opening.. to give it strength i add super glue the paper to make the paper hard and permanently stick to the opening..

After finish prepping the railing.. insert 18.5cm long 5v LED strips or 11 LEDs long into the opening from the side.. solder the wires.. make sure the wire is long enough to reach the connector block at the bottom.. wire should be longer than 20cm..

Once finished installing LED strips on both side railing.. glue the right railing to the floor panel as well as the plywood side panel together.. align the left side with the grill floor and glue it together as well.. use the ceiling as a guide to align both side of the railing panel

The ceiling also needs to install a single LED and have the wires long enough to reach the connector block.. there is an opening from behind the to run the wires.. glue the ceiling to both railing panel and the top plywood panel..

Once all wire have been connected to the connector block.. test out the LED lights.. if everything good than you can close the back hallway with the back wall panel and glue them together

Now once there is no problem with the wiring or LEDs.. you can close up the plywood panel on the left side and glue everything together..

For the back panel.. measure the location of the USB charger and make a hole to match its location on the MDF back panel.. install the panel and glue it together..

There is also a small grill to be inserted in front.. below the sewer base to close the bottom part where all the electronics are hidden..

You have completed the environment diorama of the book nook

Now you can glue the 3d print and painted alien xenomorph and ripley to its final location..

So in conclusion.. i had a blast doing book nook and i'm gonna try and make more.. but i will need to find a way to include motorized puppet in them since most of my stuff has an automata in them..

Have fun making the book nook and happy 3d printing..