Saga of the "Old Vic" - Page 8

Thanks. I'm lurking in your (inspirational) thread too, which reminds me. Has your large pile of lumber got any smaller yet?

Since there is some interest in the star ceiling I'm going to post some pics as a go. I had a bit of a slow day yesterday and today but made some progress.

First thing was to make sure the panels would be flush and level when raised by cutting #10 biscuit joints every 12" along interlocking edges



Then layout and confirm the fit. This is the first time my theater has felt cramped!



I'm going to be covering with GOM black cloth for a couple of reasons. Firstly bpape recommended against my first choice of velvet since it would absorb to much high frequency and secondly because I need an acoustically transparent material since I'll be embedding a couple of oc703 panels at first reflection points. To avoid any possibility of the light MDF showing through I gave the panels a coat of flat black paint:



While wating for the paint to dry I hung the illuminator box. This is in the ceiling of the closet area so any light spill or (very faint) noise of the motor can easily be dealt with:



The fibers will pass though a passage I cut earlier (white pipe)



Next job was to lay out the full size star template (remember this is suppose to be an accurate sky). It wouldn't have been hard to draw this myself but I ended up purchasing from Fosi. I would have felt guilty copying their star graphic anyway. The only thing I needed to do was choose the location of the comet and the couple of shooting stars. One concern is the location of the comet. Whilst cool I don't want it to detract from watching a movie. So, if I have some spare fiber I may end up wiring up two locations and then have options when hooking the fiber to the illuminator. After all, what's another 40 fibers when I'll running nearly a thousand already



And the drilling begins. I managed to get all the constellations done before my dremel started overheating.



That's all for now, got to run to my kickboxing class...

cuzed2,

In2Photos is correct, I'll be hanging them one at a time. The biscuit joints will be left "dry" -- they are there to ensure a perfect level on the front face. I'll also be fitting a couple of compression bolts on the other two panels so that I can squeeze the whole assembly tight when they are all in place. I'm currently stalled on progressing waiting for the delivery of fabric...

Welcome! You have to promise to help me out if you see something going wrong...

Hi, the projector will be vented into the return side of the HVAC system (4"-6" depending on what I can squeeze in). I've documented the HVAC build pretty well but essentially there is about 30' of duct board encased in a MDF/GG/MDF sandwich with lots of bends so this acts as a muffler and the projector feed is no different to the open return vent. Note that my HVAC return is configured to always pull some air from the room so the hot projector air will always have somewhere to go.

Edit: Ted White is one the guys to talk to about soundproofing your HVAC...

Hi, the oc703 will be inserted into cutouts in the MDF. I hadn't made the cutouts when I took the photos. I'll post an update in a fews days, but this illustration shows my plan.

Stars will be installed through the panels -- I'll use the MDF cutouts pieces (with pre drilled holes) will act as a template for placement of the fibers.

Big, Thanks for stopping by. I may have some questions about your fabulous bar row as I put mine together.

No worries guys I unsubscribed from your threads ages ago -- you were setting the quality bar too high

Thanks the for first post honor, I'm glad you are finding inspiration. Frankly I've still got a way to go on my build and there are some fantastic "mega threads" around here that will seriously take all day to read..

PS Don't forget to start a build thread.

Well I got well and truly bogged down in this star ceiling. I now understand why the pre made panels are so expensive -- it is a very time consuming and tedious effort. To relieve the boredom of wiring the final panel I'm posting a few more pics showing the detailing of construction including the embedded acoustic panels.

First job was to cut out the reflection points for the first two rows of seating. The cut out area in each panel is approximately 12" x 8'.



Then using a template I carefully cut the 1" oc703 board and carefully fitted into the cut outs trimming where necessary. I think the secret to getting a flush fit is not to play with the oc703 too much. Once bruised the piece is pretty much ruined.



Once the inlays were completely flush I flipped the panel over and hot-glued the inside seam.



Now all the panels were covered in GOM 701 fabric. I used 3M Super-77 spray adhesive to ensure the cloth would lay flat and never wrinkle or sag. The edges were finished the same way -- I didn't use any staples.



I fitted a compression screw system to the two outermost panels to allow the biscuit joints to be closed tight once all the panels were hung. This is simple a t-nut and 1/4" carriage bolt.



Then the wiring began. Here is my patented quad-barrel dispenser



And after a few hours of work here is the result on the first panel. I used the cutouts (which I had already drilled) as a guide for locating the fibers in the oc703 panels. It took a bit more effort getting the fibers to pass straight through the fiberglass and I found that starting the hole with a hard point helped the fibers run straight (this was important with the shooting star alignment). After all the fiber was run and the shooting star sequences marked I used epoxy to glue each fiber in its hole. This worked great on the oc703.



When it came time to hang the panel I realized I had a problem -- the hook system required that the panel be kept very flat. The solution: my entry for the ghetto tools contest -- doctor my drywall lift into a star panel lifter. The mushrooms prevented the bending of any of the fibers, which had not yet been cut.



A bit more pink stuff behind the panel for good measure.



And the first panel was hung. Phew!



I have four panels up now with one more to go, then I need to wire up then other ends to the illuminator, trim the fiber ends and promise myself that I'll never build such a large star ceiling again . More pics when the lights are actually turned on!

Hi Simon,

Thanks! You got the compression system right -- I unscrewed the compression bolts to compress the panels together. The carriage bolt aligns with the 2x2 framing around the starfield so it has something to press against. I did place a washer under the head to avoid it making a dimple but removed it prior to the final tighten. The panels are aligned with about 1.5" around the edge. This will be hidden by the light tray to be added later. It worked great but I can't claim credit for the idea. This is how Fosi builds their ceiling panels and since I purchased the fiber and illuminator from them they didn't mind me copying.

Simon, you really want to try to eliminate seams so the fewer panels the better. The only drawback is the larger they are the hard they are to manhandle. Mine are each 4'x10'

The pink paper is called Rosin paper (happened to have a roll lying around). It's just to stop the over spray hitting the good side of the fabric and to avoid it passing though the GOM -- it's a pretty open weave. This way I was able to glue the cloth in sections. Note that in the US the 3M Super 77 adhesive will allow for the cloth to be lifted and repositioned -- it does not stick tight until rolled down.