Star Ceilings... Painted or Fiber optics? - Page 16

I get to Texas a few times each year. I have also trained a couple of people there too. I've lost contact with them since they are doing their own thing... but I can look them up for you if you'd like. Or, if you haven't already... you can email me and I will let you know when I will be out there again. I know that I am working with about 5 people right now that are in different levels of construction or redoing rooms. So, I am sure that I will be out there within the next few months. I really love Texas in the winter, spring and fall. Love it all the time really, but especially those times.

You said Houston... That is one area that I will be going to. Houston is especially nice in non-summer months!!! I've been in dry climate for too long. :-)

Jeff

If you will email me (email is on my web site) I will be happy to give you a quote. Now, as embarrassing as this is to admit, I am very behind on answering emails right now, after a couple back-to-back trips around the country and Canada to paint. If I don't reply to you in a timely manner... please email me again.

Jeff

I know, I know. I have tried and tried... and I am so close to finishing them up. I have a guy lined up who will be manufacturing them for me.. but there are still a few things to fine tune first. I brought a guy on to help with with them but he couldn't wait for them to be finished... so he left the manufacturer and me hanging. But, I will try my best to get it wrapped up very soon.

I just want the stencils to be the best things on the market (and I can promise you that the ones that we made by hand and then used to experiment with are incredible! The finished product (the mural painted with the stencil) is so incredibly close to what I would paint that I was blown away. I want to produce a couple options... one for those wanting a really nice night sky mural... and then those who want to put in a lot more time and have something like I would do. Now, it won't be AS nice, but pretty darn close.

So, I am trying. I'm just possibly a little too anal about the finished product.

Jeff

Oh man, you aren't kidding. Let me just tell you that those things were awesome! But, so was the potato dish, the Ribeye and I know there was another something too... but my mind went blank.

xzener and his wife made the best dinner while I was painting and I actually only painted about half of his ceiling because I wanted to get to the food quicker (just kidding xzener).

I really think that a thread with recipes wouldn't be a bad idea. You know... good recipes for the theater room.

But, in a nutshell... the jalapeños are cleaned out (hot seeds gone) and then cream cheese filling them. Then she wrapped them in bacon and baked them for a while. Let me just tell you... they were extremely good.

Oh, I remember the other thing that was really good. Mushrooms!!!! That's it... it's going to be mushrooms, stuffed jalapeño and party potatoes tonight.

In case anyone is interested in paint, or a quote for a mural - or anything to do with me selling something... I really am not supposed to talk about that in this forum or in the PM's. So, please don't ask me on this forum (or in PM's) those types of questions. I am more than willing to help out this thread as much as I can and help you guys in your projects as much as I possibly can. I was actually told this a while back, but got too careless in my replies. Sorry! But, I will still be able to suggest ways for you guys to do awesome murals yourselves.

Jeff

Sorry everyone... I showed up and then left again. I've been all over the country lately and was in Amarillo last week, then Paris (Texas) where Pace Picante sauce comes from... now in Houston and leaving for Dallas then home tomorrow.

I meet lots of people building theater rooms and had no idea about this forum... so hopefully they'll show up here. I tell everyone I meet about how helpful people are here... and the info you guys put out is incredible!

For those asking for murals or paint... I can't talk about that on here, so you'll just have to look me up online. Or, if you have questions I will. E happy to answer them.

On this forum... I can answer questions, though, and if I can help you guys out in any way, please ask. Plus, there are others on here who can answer about as well as I can.

BTW... Thanks for the welcome back, xzener.

And Tommy... I think that I have some shots of your ceiling in the dark with the night sky. Let me check when I get back home. Very cool theater room too!

I'll try to check in more often to see if there are questions.

Jeff

Hi Jaime...

I got scolded for answering questions about the stencil I am working on, so I can't go into details here, but I would assume that it is OK to mention that it is on hold for a while and I would suggest doing as xzener suggested and getting the one from Ursa Major. It is a very basic stencil and will NOT give you a professional looking mural, or one that is even stunning. But, you will have a nice looking mural that is much better than those dollar store sticker-stars. xzener used one of those and I think that I gave him a few pointers on how to improve what the stencil left him with. His came out really nice... and I would say it was nice enough as it was, but when he and his wife offered a ribeye and
some other incredible food if I'd stop by when I was working i California... I took them up on it and added a few more stars and the Milky Way. Again, what he did was great. I didn't do much to it, but felt like I had to do something for the dinner. :-)

You can end up with a nice DIY night sky mural if you'll just take your time, and possibly be OK with painting over it (if you mess up really bad) and starting over again. I would, however, suggest using a stencil to get your beginners mural up, then add more stars and the Milky Way as you feel comfortable.

If you need some pointers, let me know, or shoot me an email (which I can't give out) and I will try to walk you through some ideas.

Good luck... and let me know if I can help.

And, if you write a question here, or email me... please be patient with the time it takes me to return emails these days or get back on here to answer questions. I've been lucky that Tom and xzener have answered a lot of questions and a few others also. So, if I can't make it back... there are others who can help you through painting a mural.

In fact, when I get back from my upcoming trip (I leave tomorrow for a 6 state plus Canada trip).... and if I remember, I will put some basic instructions in a thread to help you guys.

Jeff

Hello GRBoomer...

I think that xzener has answered this already for you... but unless the black lights are made as "dimmable" (not really sure that's a word)... don't put them on a dimmer.

I painted murals in a Bed and Breakfast 5 or 6 years ago and the they'd put those CFL (spiral, energy-saving lights) on a dimmer and they didn't make it more than a day or two. Most are not made to be dimmed, but there are some which are (at least the CFL's are)... so be sure to check first. I don't think that I have ever seen black lights that are dimmable.

If you have the LED lights for color... forget dimming the black lights and just use those to charge up the paint, then turn them off completely.

Good question.

Jeff

Just so this question doesn't hang out there, I will follow up.

I was also asked this question in a phone call, and as it turned out, it would not work very well in this situation. Here's why...

The bus will have lots of lights in it from many sources (come on, it's a party bus... what would you expect) and they would let off so much light that it wouldn't really be worth having a mural painted. I suggested Fiber Optics in this situation.

A mural would have worked if there could be a black light shining up on the stars the entire time so that the fluorescing mixture in the paint would fluoresce, but the mural wouldn't be visible the way it is intended to be seen. In this case, as in any room that has a lot of light in it... Fiber Optics is the way to go.

Jeff

Why would I even try to improve on this answer? Thanks xzener! I hope this has helped others.

GRBoomer...

Another good question, and another that xzener has answered. I will add a little here though.

The murals, my Night Sky Murals or even a DIY mural, are best viewed after having been charged up and then with the room as dark as possible. If the paint is allowed to charge up for 10 to 15 minutes (with sufficient light) and then the lights are turned out... the ceiling will turn black (even with a white ceiling) and the stars will look just like you would see then miles from light pollution.

But it is possible to enjoy the stars with black light on too. I have a special blend of paints that I use when I paint media rooms that will shine under a black light (kind of like a scorpion does) so the you will see stars with the black light on. But, you should know that the ceiling will not be black... so it won't look very real.

It will look nice, but not as realistic. I have painted for many people, and have had DIY'ers tell me that they light to have a black light on during a movie so that they can see the stars while watching a movie. If you look at the first picture that I added on the first page of this thread, you will see a room that I painted that had 13- 4' black lights around the room. I sat and watched a movie in there when it was completed and watched it with the lights both on and off. The way that theater is set up (with soffits 3 feet out from the side walls) the light from the screen didn't make it up to the ceiling, nor did the black light really interfere with the movie down below. With the lights on, the mural was great, even though you could see the ceiling. But, after 45 minutes of watching the movie and the stars that were lit up with the black light... I asked the owner to turn out the black lights. What amazed me (and again, it could be because of the soffits) is that with no black lights on, and even while the movie was playing... the night sky was visible for another hour and a half. I would say that that is pretty good considering the paint is not meant to be sen in the light.

So...
The murals are OK with lights on.
The mural are best viewed in total darkness.

Jeff

Well, I made it to Azula's theater to help him with his theater ceiling that he said he botched when he tried doing it himself. It had lready even overed over by the time I'd gotten there, but I'm wondering if it was really as bad as he claimed. He showed me the paint that he'd gotten on the Internet, which was high quality and bright, and I'm wondering if the paint might have Ben part of the problem.

Note to DIY'ers: Sometimes super bright paint isn't what you want... Nor one that isn't bright enough. You want a paint that is bright and long glowing... but not too bright. It's a tough thing to gage. Or, if you get some paint that is super bright.... then go much smaller when painting your stars.

After meeting "Azula", I'm sure that it was the brightness of the paint that caused him to think his ceiling didn't turn out right, which is why he had me one out. Either way... it was fun meeting him, and mother great forum member.

Hopefully, those who want to attempt the night ky mural on their own will find this paint advice helpful.

Here's a link to his build thread. And yes, I did complain (I thought it was just making strong observations) about he humidity.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1372999&page=6

Jeff

Here's a picture of Azula's new ceiling... focused on he Big nd Little Dippers, and a shooting star.



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