Multipass From the Fifth Element

In this Instructable i will show you how i made a Replica of the MULTIPASS from fifth element movie.

I'm sure there are better ways to do some of the steps but this is how my experience told me to make them.

I love SciFi and action movies (as you will see when looking at my other instructables.) and one of my favorites (and one of my wifes favorites) has always been The Fifth Element.

As fans of the films will know one of the best scenes in the movie is the LeeLoo Dallas multipass scene. So with that in mind i decided i wanted to make a LeeLoo Dallas multipass and then thought i would make one for me and one for my wife.

So here we go. take a look.

Step 1: Research.

I looked online for pictures of the multipass and found some screen grabs. Screen grabs are usefull as they give you a sense of scale and help you size the prop.

I also found that The PropStore.com Had an original screen used Multipass listed for auction. This is great as the listing contains some really detailed and closeup photos of the prop. I used a front view and back view to make my plans.

Step 2: Tools and Materials.

Tools

Laser cutter (you could cut the parts out bu hand but it would be very fiddly)

Files , sand paper or electric belt sander

knives or sharp cutting tool.

Ruler or straight edge.

Soldering iron.

Computer with a photo editing program

Printer.

Materials.

Acrylic sheet. 1mm and 2mm

Clear acrylic hemisphere 25.4mm

yellow plastic rod. 2.4mm diameter

red plastic rod. 1.6mm diameter

Plastic glue.

spray paint, primer and colour.

HLMP-2300 LED Bar Graph Array. (if you dont have this part you can use a white block)

if you dont have the HLMP you wont need the electronics

thin electric wire.

flat watch battery.

Step 3: Making the Plans.

Using the front and back views i found online from the prop store I drew up some illustrator plans.

I took the photos into adobe illustrator and drew over them to create some plans.

I will use these illustrator plans to cut the designs out on a laser cutter.

Step 4: Cutting the Parts.

Using a laser cutter i cut the parts out of acrylic.

The white parts (its coloured by the protective film.) are 1mm thick plastic, and the green parts are cut from 2mm plastic.

The 1mm parts are very delicate and you will need to be careful when removing the protective film as the parts might snap.

Step 5: Gluing the Parts.

I started by gluing some of the parts and leaving some unglued.

The parts i glued were the main card base (2mm plastic) and the front 1mm parts. I didnt glue the back parts as of yet as there are parts that need to go inside the card which will need work before gluing all the parts together.

The front parts consist of the main card body (2mm) and the front C frame.(1mm) and the small bullet shaped part, the LED frame (1mm) and the Ring frame (2mm)

The back parts are the rear C frame, and the battery/electronics cover (these can be glued) which are a disc and circle with a rectangle (1mm)

Step 6: Painting the Parts.

Give all the parts a coat of plastic primer paint. Paint both sides of the main card body, this is because there are parts on the rear of the card that wont be covered by the rear C frame. Paint only one side of all other parts.

Once all the parts have dried its time to paint the parts the final colour. In some screen grabs the Multipass looks quite light in colour and in the images i found on Propstore.com they Multipass looks like its painted in a relatively dark metallic colour. Seeing as i wanted to get it close to the images i found from propstore i used a dark metallic paint.

paint all the parts again, both sides of the main card and one side of all the other parts.

Step 7: Fitting the Yellow Bar

The Yellow bar down the side of the multipass needs to be put into the notches put in the main body of the multipass.

The yellow light gathering bar i had was 2.4mm and the middle section of my pass was 2mm so i had to file a little notch into the back of the bar so when the two sides of the pass are glued together the back isnt lifted off the surface by the rod in the middle.

Step 8: Making the Yellow Dome.

The yellow dome that sits inside the hole on the left of the the multipass is a little difficult to make as finding a low profile dome that fits perfectly was difficult.

I got a full hemisphere at 25.4mm. using this hemisphere sand it down so it is small enough to fin inside the hole in the multipass. The dome needs to be small enough to fit in the hole and protrude out the front. you may need to sand down the sides as well as the back.

Once the dome fits in the hole cut out a yellow circle that covers the rear of the dome and glue it to the back of the dome.

Now place the yellow backed dome into the hole and glue it in place.

Step 9: Making the Red Bar Detail.

The red bar needs to be cut to the length of 10mm to sit along side of the LED array hole.

The small red bar needs to be sanded slightly on one side to give the round rod a slightly D shape.

The D shape will aid with keeping the rod in place and give a larger surface area of contact when gluing the rod to the Multipass.

Glue it on with some Acrylic glue (solvent glue) i used this glue as it wont leave any residue or frosting like superglue will leave.

Step 10: Detailed Parts.

When i was drawing up the plans using the photos i saw the LED section and as i was trying to work out how to do it i saw one of the photos from the propstore and saw a little white box with a item code on the side.

I googled the code and found out it was a part i could buy on ebay. it is a HLMP-2300 LED Bar Graph Array.

This is quite fun as its always nice to be as accurate as possible when making movie props. It also means that i can make it light up like it did in the movie.

Step 11: Designing the Graphics.

Using your favorite photo/graphic manipulation program, I used illustrator (with some Photoshop) if you aren't very good or don't like making graphics there are templates available (just google it)

I printed it out on standard printer paper (as that's what i had) but you can print them on photo paper if you want.

cut out the graphics, make sure they fit into the space on the card and glue them in place.

I used spray mount to attach the printouts. Spray mount wont make the paper wet and make it pucker up or distort so its very good glue for applications like this.

Step 12: Wiring the LED Array.

Fold the the wires that come from the rear of the LED array at right angles towards the yellow dome.

There are 4 wires to power 2 LEDs i chose to only to power the top LED as it is powerful enough to light the whole thing up, you van power both if you want.

I Soldered a wire to the top two pins which are positive and negative for the top led. the wires were then stripped to expose the wire to make contact with the button battery. The bottom wire is just placed down and the battery is placed ontop of it, the second wire to make the full circuit will be placed on top but bent slightly up so it wont make contact until pressure is added.

I glued the back panel of the Multipass down on only one side so that it will move up and break the contact to the battery unless it is squeezed.

There is definitely a better way to make the switch or button etc. but this is how i did it and it works pretty well for me, and it doesnt spoil the line of the prop.

Step 13: Finished Item.

With your finished item you can display it proudly with your other props or use it along side a costume and pretend you are in the world of Korben Dallas and the Supreme Being.

There is one final touch that would make these better is a chain to hang the cards off like in the films. I have ordered the chain and it is on the way but i wanted to post the instructable now and was to impatient to wait for the chain, i will post some pictures of them with the chain when it arrives. :)

Thanks for looking.

If you have any questions please ask them in the comments and i will try my best to answer them.