# Color for your plain bulbs



## The-Hog-Flu

So, I kind of stumbled on this. I had a bunch of plain old light bulbs and lamps, but I wanted colored ones. Instead of going out and buying new colored bulbs, I went out into my shed and grabbed a can of high temp engine block paint and put a coat on a bulb. The result was a nice new orange color on a prop. You can get the paint at almost any of the car parts stores or the big stores like walmart. There are dozens of colors to chose from......yellow, red, blue, green.......etc. Just make sure it's a high temp paint made for enine blocks or exhausts. They are like $4 a can.
So far I painted clear Christmas lights, 2 floos light bulbs and 2 regular house light bulbs.


----------



## Rahnefan

Now that is a useful tip. Thanks!


----------



## RoxyBlue

Do you have a shot of how this looks lit up at night? I'm curious as to how bright it will be through a layer of paint.


----------



## Spooky1

What Roxy said


----------



## The-Hog-Flu

RoxyBlue said:


> Do you have a shot of how this looks lit up at night? I'm curious as to how bright it will be through a layer of paint.


 Sure....., there's a couple other bulbs on either side lighting other props but here it is. You'll have to experiment with how thick to layer the paint. Less paint is brighter but less color. More paint is more colorful but dimmer.


----------



## RoxyBlue

Looks good! I'd never heard of engine block paint and it looks as if it would be a good solution not only for painting clear bulbs, but also for touching up painted ones that are losing flakes of paint.


----------



## Spoonhead

Great tip! Thanks


----------



## austenandrews

Interesting...


----------



## matrixmom

The engine paint doesnt come in alot of colors though. But great idea, will def use this in the future. They also sell paint for glass at michaels but its more sheer.


----------



## The-Hog-Flu

matrixmom said:


> The engine paint doesnt come in alot of colors though. But great idea, will def use this in the future. They also sell paint for glass at michaels but its more sheer.


Sure they do. You just have to go to an autozone or advanceauto.....or whatever chain is in your area. Mine has all sorts of colors. Different reds, blues, yellows, greens, oranges....heck, it even comes in pink and florecent colors.


----------



## randomr8

Have to try that this evening.


----------



## Sytnathotep

This is interesting I'll have to try this as well!


----------



## Fiend4Halloween

Thanks for the info!!! I was walking my haunt last night and noticed that some of the light on the house walls had...WHITE LIGHT! AArrgh....so i got a few markers and tried coloring over the the flaked off parts of the light....dont laugh, you know you tried it before =p So hearing this is a great solution to having to go buy new ones..plus i need paint for a few projects anyway. Thanks again and Happy Haunting all !


----------



## Offwhiteknight

I've done this too. Brushed on modeling paint actually, but it does work. Dims the light just a bit, but does bring out the color more. So it's a really good way of extending the life of those floods or spots that have started to "go white" in the last year or so, as you save up for LEDs or CFLs.


----------



## ithurt

I have used just plain ol spray paint and it worked fine. I am sure it is not as durable as high temp paint.


----------



## mikeythemars

The engine block paint is a good idea, but I wonder if it too will eventually fade/flake like the OEM coatings bulb manufacturers use.

That's why I have gone to using professional theatrical gels on my floods. They don't fade or flake and also provide a more even and fully saturated effect than any coated bulb is capable of. A comparison of a par 38 colored flood vs. a par 38 white flood projecting through a gel is below (the one on the right is through a gel).










One can easily make a can to hold a standard par 38 white flood that allows using a gel for less than $15; the instructons I used to do this are in the link below:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Outdoor-PAR-Flood-Light-Cans/


----------

