Glowpaint

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 2:28 am

We are planning to bring a game to share that consists of wooden pieces almost-but-not-completely-unlike bowling pins, and we need to paint those buggers so we can more easily see them on the playa. Now I thought ot would be nice to use some glow paint, so we could also maybe play in the dark, but I don't know anything about glow paints.

How strong is the light they give - is it easily strong enough to locate a piece of wood about a 20 cm long from about 5 meters away in a moonless night, or just a faint glow? Am I correct that they work by absorbing light during the day and then release it in the dark? Does the effect weaken when the paint grows old? How easily does the paint chip (the blocks will strike each other repeatedly in the game)? If very easily, is it practical to repaint on the playa - say, paint in the morning for the next night's game?

Thanks.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 5:54 am

I don't know of ANY glow-in-the-dark paints that have any degree of oomph....The time-honored tried-and-true playa glow method is blacklight-reactive paints and a UV source. Too bad they're wooden pins....you could get some of those Fisher-Price plastic kiddie bowl sets, and install diodes or other lights inside each pin. They glow very nicely, and you could weight them with sand. Or marinate the wooden pins in kerosene and light 'em. (Bring extras....)

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 6:18 am

Thank you for the information.

I was afraid glow paints were exactly like that - we had some supposedly light-recharching glow-in-the-dark stickers at a party recently and they were kind of a disappointment. Bowling pins won't do, unfortunately. We'll explore the UV option, I suppose, though for practical reasons we are supposed to travel relatively light and on a reasonable budget (flying from Finland to probably Canada and driving down, etc...).

It could also be that it is enough if they just give a faint glow... one option I intend to try is using those stickers of glowstick-like material on the top of each thingy, block, pin, whatever.

(I notice I need to decide what to call them in English if I am ever to explain the game to anyone in BRC.)

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 6:34 am

Here's a thought....could you make grooves or drill holes into the pins that would hold little glowsticks? They make them in a zillion sizes nowadays, and you could probably find ones to fit. Or those teenytiny blinky LED widgets that get made into magnets, earrings and rings and are all over the dollar stores...

Kudos on wanting to bring a fun game to share, especially from such distance! You get the Extra Brave Burner Award for bringing weird stuff through international airports!

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 6:43 am

Hey, the drilling idea might just work... I had thought about ways to attach glowsticks or leds, but had not figured just how to do it, but when you said "drill" and "groove" in the same sentence I realized one way that it could work. Requires some fine carpentry I suck at, but we'll see if I can make it work.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 6:58 am

Got a Dremel tool? They even make teenytiny router attachments for 'em, which would made a nice neat groove.....

hunter S · Post by **hunter S** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 8:27 am

you can save a step, bring glo-sticks cut open and paint! process would require a new application every night but it's bright and go's for 4-5 hr's

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 9:18 am

Oily, sticky glowstick goo plus playadust equals mess.

Chai Guy · Post by **Chai Guy** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 10:18 am

I think your best bet here is to go for UV reactive paint and a portable battery powered black light. They should glow very brightly and look great.

http://www.glassmart.com/UVBatLamp.asp expensive kind

http://www.24hours7days.com/Science/Por ... light.html cheap kind

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 12:38 pm

More and more options, cool. The cheap-kind of UV lights look affordable and portable enough. Any idea from how far the smaller flashlights still makes the paint glow? The light can't be too close, for practical reasons (as in "will get hit by flying pieces of wood" - and no worries, it's a safe game, really ;)).

Icky stuff won't do; the things are bound to get dusty.

(If I cannot make it work, I will just paint them in funny colors with regular paints, and play by daylight. It's fun enough like that. But I'd prefer glowy.)

robotland, I don't have any kinds of tools, planning to make my father-in-law-to-be to borrow me his and show me how to best get where I want to with them (that will please him to no end, too). *grin*

Sorry for my stupid questions; I've never made any glowy things before. :)

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:04 pm

Does that make your father-in-law a Finnish Carpenter?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Another option: UV LEDs. I'm not sure of the setup for your game, but if it's something like bowling then you could suspend UV diodes above the pins, lighting them from not-too-far away. (They don't work well at distances, but are OK close up.) They're also sturdy enough to withstand close proximity to flying pins....

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:38 pm

Ok, I give up, you lost me there. "Finnish carpenter"? Huh? :) (Some language or cultural joke I do not get, apparently. Google and three dictionaries did not help. I love your language, guys, but it's bit too much to ever learn well as a second one. :))

UV leds, cool. We'll explore.

Chai Guy · Post by **Chai Guy** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:48 pm

What about putting the game on a piece of plexi glass and positioning the lights underneath?

Or what about hanging the lights from a tripod or similar small portable structure over the game?

swampdog · Post by **swampdog** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 5:53 pm

check out these folks for glow stuff. http://www.readysetglo.com/ I'm working on some black light bubble stuff, I got some small amounts of their glow powder and it's pretty potent, comes in colors, and a little goes a long way. You can get a small amount (1/4 oz) for a few bucks and see if it does what you need. This place might be good for hardware: http://www.blacklight.com/

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 1:21 am

Hanging something over the things won't work, you need to have clear airspace around them, to be able to throw another piece of wood at them. Plexi *might* work, but would have to be relatively big, and I'd rather have the playa as the playing ground.

Thanks for suggestions, again. I am certain that with all the options we can figure something that works, even with practically no previous experience in glowy thing work. :)

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 9:39 am

When I was at Mallwart the other day they had a quart sized can of Kid's glow in the dark paint! My eyes went

and then I started thinking of the possiblities!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 11:01 am

Are you planning to Contribute To Playa Science and Burner Humanity by testing that glowy paint? There's a medal in it for you if you discover GITD paint that actually "puts out".....

lothien · Post by **lothien** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 4:48 pm

i made a staff for someone who needed a lighted non-incendiary staff for twirling, and i wound up using a drill and (for this purpose) 1.5"/4cm glow sticks, and drilled throught the diameter of the staff in a sort of spiral pattern, so that the glow sticks showed through both sides. we just replaced the glow sticks as they wore out by poking a new ones through the drilled holes. more holes, better light.
the holes need to be snug enough to hold the glow sticks in place, so they don't come flinging out and make MOOP, but you probably want to be able to replace them.

also, fyi...
and i am american, a quarter finnish, and i got no clue what the "finnish carpenter" joke meant either...

[quote="Janka"]Hey, the drilling idea might just work... I had thought about ways to attach glowsticks or leds[/quote]

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 9:54 am

I got a hint about the joke in PMs, Lothien ;)

We have ordered and/or bought some things to try out on the game, I'll let you know how it goes once we get to testing stuff (or after BM, when I know if it worked, or whatever). Might be a couple of months, it's still not very summery here...

spork_the_magical · Post by **spork_the_magical** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 5:07 pm

I believe the joke was a play on the field of "finished carpentry", but I could be wrong.............

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 5:18 pm

I have used GITD acrylic paint and had success with it. I put some on my lightswitch years ago and it'll still glow.

Dang, I was at wallyworld today and forgot to get some GITD paint!

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:02 am

Martiansky, do you by chance remember the name of the brand that you have found to work well? (If it was a couple of years ago, I understand completely if not ;)).

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 9:48 am

Janka, it was a small bottle....like AppleBarrel or something like that.