The start of UV trials

[Sickie Ickie]

Okay, I'm starting some UV glow trials to see hat works best for me and what doesn't. In other words, different types of paints, etc. for blacklight. My main concern is, as always, cost. I'll share what I find as I go along so my trials and errors may help others.

This experiment used Apple Barrel paints (2 oz.) from Michaels for about .69 ea. In order from left to right in regular indoor lighting:
Neon Red, Neon Pink, Neon Blue, Neon Purple, Neon Green and Neon Orange.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h231/Sickie_Ickie/neondotslightresized.jpg


The next picture is taken only using a 24" florescent blacklight bought from Menards for roughly $10.00 . Again:
Neon Red, Neon Pink, Neon Blue, Neon Purple, Neon Green and Neon Orange.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h231/Sickie_Ickie/neondotsblacklightresized.jpg


The results to my eye: Neon Red, Pink and Orange look and glow very much alike under blacklight. The orange is slightly more pastel looking, and the Pink may be just a teensy tad brighter than the Red. For me, if only using a color under black light for a "popping" orangish, the hot pink does the job well.

I was pleasently surprised that the Neon Blue glowed so nicely under the Blacklight, because in regular light, it actually is dark. The Neon green glowed
nicely, but to me it was no surprise.

What was a little surprising is that the Neon Purple glowed very little and appears almost useless when the blacklight is mounted from a foot or more away. If the light is veeery close, it almost appears dark blood red, but I won't be lighting it from 6" away. For me, it is useless as a blacklight paint.

I have yet to try Neon Yellow or some others. When I do, I'll add to this thread.

[Haunted Bayou]

Nice experiment. Thanks.

[Bone Dancer]

Thanks for sharing the info.

[Sickie Ickie]

I'm finding, of course, pricey and expensive paints, but I'm a cheapskate by necessity! :D

[ScareFX]

Good test Sickie. Thanks for sharing. :)

[dave the dead]

Ickie, you remind me of the scrubbing bubbles commercial....."we work hard so you don't have toooooooo"

Thanks alot for sharing this info....I didn't even know there was a fl. blue.....I have been very upset to find that Fl. Blue spraypaint doesn't seem to exist anymore.....this gives me hope! Thanks again!

[dflowers]

Dave, that was hilarious. Sickie, thanks for sharing.

[wormyt]

hey these are exactly what I used in my dot room. The apple barrel paints. They do very well under the black lights.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v237/Wormyt/Dot%20Room/

I do have the yellow as well. Now try looking at the colors with 3-D glasses and WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now thats cool.

[Dr Morbius]

The purple doesn't show because it's too close to the UV in the visible spectrum. It absorbs more uv than the phosphorous can emit. I'm not at all surprised that purple would look nearly black under blacklight.
3D glasses? EVERYTHING looks cool with those on! LOL!

[Sickie Ickie]

Okay folks, for the next experiments I found .50 paint called Craft Smart at Micheal's and the Neon Yellow Apple Barrell.

As you can see from the photo below, Neon Yellow was added on the far right side of the first row, but wasn't labeled. Underneath the first row, Craft Smart Neon Pink, Neon Green, Neon Orange and Neon Yellow were also laid out.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h231/Sickie_Ickie/UV/craft_smart_dots_light_resized.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h231/Sickie_Ickie/UV/craft_smart_dots_blacklight_resized.jpg

The results are: The Apple Barrel Neon Yellow glowed nice and bright under the blacklight, while the Craft Smart Neon Yellow changed to a bright lime green.

The Neon green did not glow as brightly as the Apple Barrell green, however the Craft Smart orange glowed a brighter peach than did the darked orange of Apple Barrell.

The Craft Smart neon Pink looked almost more pink or flesh than did Apple Barrell neon pink or neon red which tended to look more orange.

More scrubbing bubbles to come soon! :D

[dave the dead]

Lol!

[Big Howlin]

the craftsmart pink is much better than the other. The apple pink was too similar to the red.

[Dr Morbius]

You guys are wierd...but in a good way.

[Sickie Ickie]

Hey, if it saves others money but us spending ours- it's all worth it! :)

[Haunted Wolf]

Boy, I wish I had seen this thread a couple of hours ago. I just bought the same Apple Barrel paints to do the same experiment. Thanks for the legwork!

BTW - the Apple Barrel paints were $.44 at Wal-Mart.

[Sickie Ickie]

thanks for the cost at wal-mart. I may shop there for paints more often now.

[wormyt]

So now with you all seeing this...how many will make a dot room this year???? Come on fess up...anyone. I used the appel barrel paints on mine and it rocks. I will order about 50 pair of 3d glasses this time to go along with my dot room. Last year I used only 5 pair and with 300 folks in line to go through this dot room with the 3d glasses well they took a beating. So 50 will work better. Come on folks.....get some paints and try out a dot room as you will NOT be sorry.

[turtle2778]

Wormy your soo cute. You make me laugh. You certainly show the woman folk here that anyone can do this stuff. Im always impressed with your work. BTW, how many dots are in that dot room?

[turtle2778]

Sickie, where did you get the other paints? Not the apple ones. THANKS

[Sickie Ickie]

Hi Turtle. I must admit that all my neon florescent paints I have tended to get from Michael's. :)

[GOT]

If you are looking for cheap paint, you can find fluorescent green, yellow and pink spray paints at Home Depot for just a few bucks. These work great under black light (for larger props, of course).

[Sickie Ickie]

Thanks GOT. I have to admit that I'm a cheap skate and try to get away with spending the least amount of moola for the look I want. :-)

[turtle2778]

Then ya dont wanna go to Michaels for much. I spent 1.50 more on a foam ball there then i would have at Walmart. Now Walmart doesnt have as large of a selection, but on what they have its almost always cheaper than Michaels

[turtle2778]

Hey Sickie, have you tried mixing colors? Ya know to get a brighter version of something. What about adding white to the purple..think it might glow brighter? Or even to one of the other colors? Just a thought. Oh and Sickie, where did you say you got your blacklights from and was it a complete assembly? Thanks

[GOT]

Not to get political or anything (I won't engage in a tit for tat over this) but Wal-mart is an evil company that sells almost exclusively Chinese goods. Michaels is a Texas based company that, well, it also sells a lot of Chinese goods but it is not nearly as evil as Wal-mart. Costs a few more buck at Michaels, but they aren't turning the US into a 3rd-world economy.
Well, that's scary, isn't it?
Ok, I will shut up.

[turtle2778]

Okay then on that note, for those of you scared of giving money to the big bad WALMART conglomerate...how bout just giving them a teeny amount say 44 cents and buy 1 bottle from them. Take it to michaels and they will price match it with the receipt. I got like 10 bottles for the same "walmart" price. Might want to check with the store manager though, maybe i just got a nice guy. I just did it yesterday because i too hate to support the walmart, but since its the ONLY chain store in town i frequent it often. Otherwise im driving 25 miles to go to anything.

[Sickie Ickie]

Yeah...I understand both sides of the Walmart argument. And while I may support the argument against, I still find myself going to Walmart for the cheap. :-/

I find myself frequenting Micheals because although I may pay a tad more, it deal exclusively in crafts and carries a much larger selection than the W-mart we have here.

To answer your questions Turtle, I've not tried mixing colors. I'm a bit lazy and buy the color I like. LOL I'd love to see some color mixing for UV if anyone would like to post it though!

Complete assembly Florescent blacklight 9.99 at Menards everyday price.

[turtle2778]

Well as soon as i can get some black lights ill be on that for ya sickie. My folks are supposed to be bringing some down since i dont live by a menards anymore :(

[Sickie Ickie]

Bummer! Do you have any home improvement store by ya? Home Depot or Handy Andy?

[Haunted Wolf]

So now with you all seeing this...how many will make a dot room this year???? Come on fess up...anyone. I used the appel barrel paints on mine and it rocks. I will order about 50 pair of 3d glasses this time to go along with my dot room. Last year I used only 5 pair and with 300 folks in line to go through this dot room with the 3d glasses well they took a beating. So 50 will work better. Come on folks.....get some paints and try out a dot room as you will NOT be sorry.

I am...or at least I am planning on it. I am hoping to start painting this week. Now I have a couple of questions:

1. Where did you get your glasses? Cost?
2. Is the Gesso layer necessary? What happens if I paint directly on the bed sheet?
3. You've mentioned that you can wash the sheets, how well does the paint hold up?

Thanks!

[beelce]

This is what I love about a good forum!! Thanks for the testing time sickie

[Sickie Ickie]

We all share here, Beelce. You are welcome, and feel free to share too. :D

[turtle2778]

Hey SI...I did mix up a few colors. The white only makes it look purplie on any color. green and yellow was cool and so were blue and green.

[Sickie Ickie]

got pics, turtle?

[DeathTouch]

Where did you get those Sickie. I need them for my FCG. I bought a foam skull but I want just a simple blue glow like with cheesecloth. Maybe you can lone me some on Sat.

[Sickie Ickie]

They are just florescent paints at any craft store, Deathtouch. They don't glow on their own, but need blacklight. I bought mine from Michael's but I knwo other places carry them too. I'll bring some tomorrow.

[turtle2778]

I did come across some great invisible glow in the dark paint. It was rather expensive, but ill be able to use it on little touches and not harm the looks of the item.