# Using UV Paint???



## cbmar

I tried painting a prop w/ Wildfire's clear UV paint. The problem I'm having is that it comes out all streaky even though I'm using a foam brush. Any suggestions? Do you think it would work better if I used a spray bottle?


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## halfcracked

Paint with the blacklight on - that'll let you see how the paint is going on.

Did you mix the paint really well before painting? The flourescent pigment might be seperating out from the clear medium.

I've used sprits bottles & compressed air tanks (usually for spraying insecticide) with some good results. you get a more stippled effect with them than you would with an aresol can. but sometimes this is a good thing.

If the paint is going to be a few feet away from the viewer It'll hardly be noticable.


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## tcarter

the only way to really get an even, streak free finish is to apply it with an airbrush. you could experiment with thining it slightly to minimize brush strokes, but it will probably affect the glowing properties somewhat


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## Xpendable

Try sponge brushing the paint on. It will look more "spackled", but it eliminates the streaks and will help cover the area uniformly. You can apply several coats over time to increase coverage. This worked for a prototype skull I had, until I was able to find an aerosol can of glow-in-the-dark paint.


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## SpectreTTM

Xpendable said:


> Try sponge brushing the paint on. It will look more "spackled", but it eliminates the streaks and will help cover the area uniformly. You can apply several coats over time to increase coverage. This worked for a prototype skull I had, until I was able to find an aerosol can of glow-in-the-dark paint.


Where were you able to find the aerosol can of glow-in-the-dark paint?

People have said Walmart but none of the walmarts in my area carry it.

Only Krylon Liquid, which BTW is not very good. It doesnt stay glowing for too long.


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## Fright Zone

I ordered some of this BLACKLIGHT UV PAINT BRIGHT FIERCE GLOW INVISIBLE BLUE & one in WHITE UV Paint today and should get it next week.

Read what they have to say about the UV paint on that page, among : "Sun light will fade most colors and is likewise quite damaging to ClearNeon paint (it will fade it out in a few hours .... meaning there will no longer be much fluorescence), so it's important not to use it in or expose it to direct sunlight. " and "Also, and which coincidentally also saves you money, only one coat is necessary in normal use (applying multiple coats reduces the paint's effectiveness considerably)."

I've never used blacklight paint, I just know the Kmart flying ghosts and white bed sheets for a ghost with a dowel rod stuck into the ground and a styrofoam craft ball for a head glowed well under the Walmart 18" blacklight bolts.

Here's what I'm going to try with the paint this year and what I shared with Alan at QUANTUM LEAP UNLIMITED who's selling the UV paint. "I plan on making an entry archway tunnel for my yard haunt display out of 1" dia PVC 4.5'w x 7'h x 5.5' d. I'll use strips of black plastic. Eitherthe kind you find in the painting section or the lawn & garden section. Or I may use flat black bed sheets. But I'll be painting on that black material with the UV paint to be on the insides of the 'tunnel' the Trick-or-Treaters will have to walk thru. I'll hang a 24" fluorescent black light bolt and have a mini strobe inside with a fog machine and iPod speakers hidden on the outside. It will only be up for one night. But will be out during the day, so I may test some paint on the outside of the tunnel to see what the sun does to it. I've never tried black light paint on black material but all indications say it should work fine. I basically got the idea from haunted houses I've been to. They even paint the black plywood walls. I have to assume the use UV paint because white spray paint doesn't work (otherwise only material that's bleach white will glow). I've also seen people smear UV hand stamps on their face that you can't see outdoors, but it glows under black lights of a haunted house or night club. That's the affect I hope to achieve. I think by reading the info on the eBay description the paint should work good."


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## Fright Zone

Fyi, Alan at QUANTUM LEAP UNLIMITED says he does sell UV aerosol spray paint. I don't think it's listed on the eBay store, but I'm planning on buying a can of the Clear Neon brand he emailed me about after understanding what it is I'm trying to do wiht the paint. I'll try it and will post my results in a week. Here's what he says: "And it's quite good (about 7 oz, and 14.95 a can but covers about 60 sq ft, and 8.00 to ship 1-8 cans via UPS) Drawback is it can only ship via UPS (airline regulations)....I'm used to buyers getting their stuff via postal in 2-3 days, but 'friggin UPS can take 5 days sometimes. I say 'carry' it, but don't stock it...it'd be drop shipped direct from the factory. It's a new formula that's only been out since late September. I've not heard of any application problems with ClearNeon.....every manufacturer uses their own 'proprietary' formula, so it's easy to see why some brands might be temperamental."


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## Long_Tom

For brush painting, one thing that gives reasonable results is to mix your glow paint into another compatible medium. Then all you have to worry about is getting a reasonably opaque coating of it. It's still a little streaky, but generally a lot better than trying to apply a light, even top coat of pure glow paint. 

I mixed acrylic glow paint into acrylic black, and painted a set of wig heads. They are displayed against a black background. Where the contours remain in shadow, they remain black, and blend into the background, for a pseudo-transparent effect.

You may need to work a little bit to get the right mixture of glow to non-glow base, in order to achieve the right level of brightness. Since you put on a good thick coat with this technique, it glows like crazy, so a little glow paint goes a long way. I'd recommend starting with the pure base color and gradually adding glow paint until you get the glow you want. Don't trust how it glows still in the mixing jar, try painting a test patch under black light. (Mine turned out a little brighter than I wanted. I may have to redo it for next year.)

I concur that a foam brush is probably better than a bristle brush, or even better, foam makeup applicator sponges.


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## Sickie Ickie

Fright Zone said:


> Fyi, Alan at QUANTUM LEAP UNLIMITED says he does sell UV aerosol spray paint. I don't think it's listed on the eBay store, but I'm planning on buying a can of the Clear Neon brand he emailed me about after understanding what it is I'm trying to do wiht the paint. I'll try it and will post my results in a week. Here's what he says: "And it's quite good (about 7 oz, and 14.95 a can but covers about 60 sq ft, and 8.00 to ship 1-8 cans via UPS) Drawback is it can only ship via UPS (airline regulations)....I'm used to buyers getting their stuff via postal in 2-3 days, but 'friggin UPS can take 5 days sometimes. I say 'carry' it, but don't stock it...it'd be drop shipped direct from the factory. It's a new formula that's only been out since late September. I've not heard of any application problems with ClearNeon.....every manufacturer uses their own 'proprietary' formula, so it's easy to see why some brands might be temperamental."


How about a follow up? How was this spray paint? How did it turn out? Was it worth it?


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## Vlad

While I haven't tried that brand in particular, I've always had less than satisfactory results using the clear UV. I have had better success in just mixing Rit in with the underlying colors before applying them.


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## Sickie Ickie

Would you please elaborate, Vlad?


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## Fright Zone

Yes Vlad, I'd like to hear the details also.

For my part, I tried both the UV 4oz paint that's applied with a foam brush on black tarp used as a roof of an entry archway with a blacklight bolt making a random painted pattern glow in the dark.

I had tested small spots of the clear and blue Clear Neon UV spray paint. For my use, the brushed-on paint worked fine. The spray didn't achieve the effect I wanted for my specific use on black tarp. But I only tested a couple small dots. Perhaps if more of it was sprayed on a plywood wall, foam gargoyle type of props, wood tombstones or something other than my black tarp it would be satisfactory. I have no plans to build anything like that.

So if anyone wants those barely used cans of UV spray paint. I'll sell them both for $20 shipped. Payment via PayPal. I paid $40 shipped for both of them. PM me if interested.


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## Vlad

How well something like UV paints work is definitely a subjective opinion, relative to the project involved. I do have brush on UV paints, and although they are highly UV reactive, they were a bit garish for the project I was doing at the time. I bought some RIT whitener in powder form, and mixed it with some acrylic paint. It gave off a more subdued UV glow that I needed. I haven't tested this method with other paints.


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## Fright Zone

Yeah that's a good point. Fyi, Sickie Ickie bought the UV paint above. Hope it works out.


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## Sickie Ickie

We'll see. I'm going to test some types of paint throughout the year on props and scenes.


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## Vlad

I'm sure that the chemical properties that make some paints resistant to sun fade, will also inhibit the amount of glow that UV additives can give. It definitely is an unexplored region as far as I can tell, I'll be interested to hear how it goes.


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## Fright Zone

I think it says on the cans that you can't leave it out in sunlight. I would guess UV spraypaint works better longer indoorslike haunted houses I've seen.

I wish I could find it, but my computer's been screwy and I lost the bookmark, might even be on this site, but there was a guy who went nuts with the UV spraypaint on a fake crypt or mausoleum and tombstones, and the night photos looked great for what it was. That type of thing is a little too much for my tastes to do myself, but admittedly it had impact. He basically painted where there would normally be highlights on 3D objects like gargoyles and doors etc. So from seeing that I know it can be done. But I don't know if he had the paint on it during daylight. He must have. It was too much work to do when it got dark. I just wish I could find the darn web site to illustrate it.


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## Sickie Ickie

Keep searchin for that site. I'd love to see it!


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## Fright Zone

For the life of me I can't find it. But I did find these of interest:

http://www.blacklightattractions.com/aboutus.htm

The paint we bought

http://www.clearneon.com/

Look at the photos, videos and message board

google "blacklight paint" and there's a few other things that come up


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## Empress Nightshade

Yes, Blacklight Productions is run by Larry Kirchner who also owns Haunt World. I spend a lot of my time there and they have helped in so many ways when I decided to go pro.

This thread is of interest to me since my theme this year is Killer Klownz and you can't have such a theme without a UV section happening somewhere. Last year, we had a UV section with approximately 16 cupboard doors of all sizes paint with UV paint around the trim (Monsters would popout from different cupboards). We used Walmart's flourescent paint in a small can and applied it with a foam brush. It worked out fine although we had to apply two coats. Unfortunately, they only had two colors available at the time: Orange and Yellow. I know that some carry other colors so I'll be checking on it throughout the year.

Also keep in mind that your blacklight has a lot to do with your results, as well. The wattage is so very important. Even though our cupboard scene wasn't in a large area, we used two of the 2' florescent tubes. I'm ditching the tubes this year and getting a very powerful Blacklight such as Chauvet's Black Shadow which is 125w. NEVER use the regular looking light bulbs with the filaments inside that claim to be blacklights....they are not.


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## Sickie Ickie

Glad to see you back Empress! I wondered where you went.

This whole UV thing is totally new to me. It ought to add a freakiness that will be unnerving if done right.


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## Empress Nightshade

Thanks, Sickie! 
I always do a disappearing act several months before Halloween and then afterward trying to recover. I have pink eye in both my eyes right now, so recovery is taking a bit longer this time around.

UV Haunting is great! People seem to love it so well. There are quite a few pro haunts that add a 3D UV maze along with their main attraction. This gives them the ability to bill their haunt as having two attractions and thus raise the ticket price a bit. If I had the area, I'd do that, too! Makes good "money-sense." Many haunts also use those Chromadepth glasses to make things POP, as well.


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## Sickie Ickie

Where do you get the glasses?


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## JustMatt

I've used it, works great but you need mucho UV.

http://schie2k.com/id15.htm


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## kentuckyspecialfxdotcom

We do a lot of stuff with UV.
All of the cloth on our ghost products are dyed with the UV dye and the paint we do use on the solid parts is made in house, we buy the raw pigments ourselves since all of the UV paint manufactures are stingy about making paint and we just make it our selves.
I actually thought about selling the paint and dye but I dont feel like dealing with the the whole MSDS crap and disclaimers plus most home haunters dont care about quaility they would rather pay cheap prices for cheap results.
Personally I would rather just do the custom work.
All that Clear Neon and wilde fire stuff is junk, once the sun cooks it or if it gets rained on it fades fast plus the colors dont look true too comical for me.


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## Robbie

Where can I find information and supplies for making my own black light and glow in the dark paint. I love to paint murals but haven't found any satisfactory paint yet. You said you make your own in house paint and get better results. Would love info. Thanks


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## kentuckyspecialfxdotcom

If your looking for info on mixing paints and pigments from scratch a good place to learn is Alsa Corporation, they have some on line videos on some of the chemicals they sell for some of the weird coatings they offer, including the glow stuff they sell, though they dont carry UV or blacklight stuff.
Just be for warned, mixing some paints and chemicals can be a bit......well......dangerous.
Having a degree in Electronics Engineering and a degree in Chemical Engineering kinda helps as well.
I can only offer so much help before getting too technical and one thing I wont do is tell you recipes or formulas, I don't like having that responsibility and plus you have to learn what each item it that your going to mix and understand how or why it reacts with other items along with the hazardous effects it may pose.


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## Robbie

Ok thanks


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