Back to the Future Diorama

In the contemporary, nostalgia has been weaponized. We've all seen it, right? There's hardly a movie available or toy on the shelves that isn't rooted in a forty year old franchise. However, this doesn't necessarily lend itself to variety, so even when lost in the sea of reboots, action figures, and ironic mugs, there's remarkably little for the casual fan.

Christmas happened recently (Sorta) and I wanted to give a gift to the casual fan who is responsible for making me a superfan: my mother. She may only be a casual fan of Back to the Future (she saw it in theaters primarily for Michael J Fox), but she has always been my biggest supporter, and a personal gift was always going to win out over anything store-bought.

So, I began with a store-bought DeLorean. I hatched the idea for a small diorama scene when I found a three-pack of tiny diecast time machines for $12 at Walmart. The company that makes them is Hollywood Rides, and I have since found the same three pack on Amazon for $10.

Altogether, here are the materials you will need.

• DeLorean 3-pack: $10, Amazon
• Beading Wire, 18 Gauge: $6, Amazon
• Baseball Display Box, $4, Hobby Lobby
• LED battery kit, $5, Etsy
• Cotton Balls, $4, Amazon
• iLable Sticker Paper, $13, Amazon

And, omitting prices, here are the tools I used that you will probably have at your disposal:

• A hot glue gun
• A pair of craft scissors
• A rotary tool
• An inkjet printer
• Latex gloves
• A bowl of water
• a 9 Volt Battery

Remove the Part II styled DeLorean from its packaging. Don't let me tell you what to do, but the second-movie DeLorean is the only one with it's hover-wheels equipped, so if you use the one or three DeLorean, it's just gonna look weird.

Anyway, unwrap the beading wire from its spool, and cut it at about three to four inches. After that, put the beading wire in a drawer. We won't be using it again for this project, but scraps are always good to have on hand in case of any craft emergency.

Make a small loop in the wire. There is a mounting hole on the underside of the DeLorean, and the wire loop should fit snugly within it. Remove the loop, put a bead of hot glue into the hole, and then re-enter the loop.

There! You have one DeLorean attached to a wire. Set it aside for now.

The display box that I used for this project has small nubbins cast into it that act as feet. It separates into two pieces, a top and a bottom, so first and foremost, ensure that when you begin drilling, you are drilling the bottom half of the display box. It all looks very similar, so mark an x at your drilling point to keep from getting confused.

I used my rotary tool to bore a hole about half an inch in diameter in order to fit the button which activates the LEDs. Depending on whether you would like to add lights to your display, this step may be entirely optional, and may also need to be modified depending on the lighting installation you decide to use. I did not create a method of replacing the battery, since a 9 volt running a single LED will last quite a while, the whole deal will merely be sealed with hot glue, anyway.

At this step, I would recommend wearing latex gloves, and having a small bowl of water at hand. The gloves are to help you keep fingerprints from showing up all over the acrylic cube, because they will, and the dish of water will lubricate the rotary tool. If you drill straight in, the acrylic will melt with friction, which can ruin your bit and throw off your aim.

The included picture regarding this step shows you what it can look like without water or gloves, if you don't want to take my word for it. Please take my word for it. I was lucky I had bought a few extras, and the second try came out exponentially better. We are always going to make mistakes, live and learn and all that, but sometimes it's just easier to learn first, you know?

I ordered the light system from an Etsy seller named LEDLightStore. It's a basic circuit that's one 9 volt battery (not included), a button switch, and an LED. They have many options, but blue or white is probably going to be best for this project. The particular scene I was trying to emulate was the storm at the beginning of Part II, so blue worked perfectly.

Now, of course, its always cheaper if you have these parts lying around, or even if you buy in bulk and assemble yourself. I'm not an electrician, and I'm a fool with a soldering iron, so I elected to take the easy route, and, as is not the first time on this project, I had to buy it twice.

Let this be another instance of learning before live and learning. Superglue is a lot thinner than hot glue, and is thus prone to shorting circuits that hot glue simply cannot reach. Use hot glue, folks. Hot glue is a savior to all mankind.

Hot glue your battery to the base of the diorama box. This is the same side of the box that has your hole and the feet. Make sure to leave room, because next, you will glue the button into place. Glue down the extra wire where it won't get in the way of the box closing.

Finally, glue the strip of wire with the LED attached to it. I glued mine on top of my battery with some overlap hanging off, suspending the actual LED. This will keep the LED from shining brightly and unevenly, as it will be at a more central point when we add the cotton.

Remember the DeLorean on a stick that we set aside? Yeah, bring it back.

You're going to want to form the other end of the wire into a base. Bend it at a 90 degree angle, and wrap the wire in a medium loop, like you're trying to make it stand on it's own. Then, glue it. Where you glued the battery may decide how tall your DeLorean base needs to be. Also, our cotton will take up about half the size of the display box, so mentally separate the box into two halves, and try to center it in the upper one

The cotton is probably the easiest part of this build. Take your cotton balls and rough them up a little, fluffing them like you would a pillow. Then, if you want to add some dimension, hit them in this rough state with a dash of black spray paint. The spray paint is optional, and if you aren't using an LED at all, I would say skip it, because the white looks better when it's turned off, but the black really adds some subtle depth to the light effects.

Hot glue the cotton to the bottom of the box. Use more hot glue than you think you need, but less than too much. Most of the glue points will be covered with sticker paper, so it's okay to be a little messy. Just remember to clean up any spiderwebs that glue guns are notorious for leaving.

I hot glued the cover on. If I were going to redo this project, I would use scotch tape. Scotch tape should hold it together, and will be covered mostly by the sticker labels we will add later, leaving only a small gap where the tape can be cut for re-entry.

If you make yours in a manner that re-entry will not be necessary, by all means, hot glue it. It's a permanent-enough solution that will cover a household object like this for most of its lifespan.

I wanted this to be a quick $30 project. It will not be. Stickers hide sins, while at the same time making the piece look almost professional. Ten minutes in Photopea and you, too, can whip up some high quality clouds.

I made my clouds blue, and added the Back to the Future logo. Obviously, the only limit is your imagination. And your skill with photo editors. Good Luck!

Goodness, it feels like I just wrote a book! But hey, this was a fun project, it came out to be something I was proud of, and it made my mom happy. What more can I ask for?

If you want to see more of the things I create, check me out at patreon.com/hylanos