# Using Glow in Dark props under Blacklight



## annamarykahn (Oct 4, 2009)

i'm way into using blacklight in my display and find that glow in the dark props are "washed out" when used under blacklight

so what i do is paint the gid prop with flat black paint and when it has dried, rub some of the paint off 

this has the added effect of making the prop look more 3 dimensional

for example, here's something i picked up at a dollar store

left is original, middle is painted and right is after some of the paint was scrubbed away

please excuse the poor image quality ... i didn't use a tripod









here's something i did years ago










for more black light ideas check out my albums where some pics have been uploaded

http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/annamarykahn-albums.html

amk


----------



## annamarykahn (Oct 4, 2009)

another example

before









after









i also used some black magic marker on the crack in the skull and teeth

amk


----------



## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

Good idea! I'll have to try it. I've always shied away from GID props for my blacklight scenes because they never looked right.

I like your cemetary. What type of bulbs were you using to light it up?


----------



## Saruman of Many Colours (Sep 8, 2010)

annamarykahn said:


> for example, here's something i picked up at a dollar store
> 
> left is original, middle is painted and right is after some of the paint was scrubbed away
> 
> ...


Wow. That makes a huge difference in terms of realism. Just to clarify: You use a wash of black paint for the middle look, and then rub some of that away to achieve the final product?


----------



## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Made them 100X better!


----------



## annamarykahn (Oct 4, 2009)

the bulbs that i use are those compact fluorescent black light bulbs from walmart

the hand on the left is without doing anything, the middle is a light coating of paint and the right hand one is after rubbing some of the paint off

amk


----------



## pinkzombie (Nov 2, 2009)

Great Look. Thanks for the tip. Duh adding more paint than just the GID paint makes so much sense.


----------



## annamarykahn (Oct 4, 2009)

pinkzombie,

these props are glow-in-the-dark plastic, i'm adding flat black paint to tone down the glow, which is too much under black light, and rubbing some of it off so that it looks more 3 dimensional

you can add glow-in-the-dark paints to props as well, i do that quite frequently, but pretty much all gid paints all look the same, so i mainly use neon and fluorescent paints

for example, a couple props from i believe dollar stores, last year


















hope that helps

amk


----------



## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Annamarykahn, your thread had me heading over to Grandinroad for their skeletons. Like others here pretty much have passed on them for the same reason. Nice job. I have a few GID items that I rarely drag out but now will. Thanks for sharing.


BTW in the vampire item above, I assume it was one of those door knockers from either the Dollar Tree store or the 99Cent Only Store. I love how you colored it. Do you remember what paints you used on it? Love the way you made the eyes and fangs glow.


----------



## annamarykahn (Oct 4, 2009)

Ghost of Spookie said:


> Annamarykahn, your thread had me heading over to Grandinroad for their skeletons. Like others here pretty much have passed on them for the same reason. Nice job. I have a few GID items that I rarely drag out but now will. Thanks for sharing.
> 
> 
> BTW in the vampire item above, I assume it was one of those door knockers from either the Dollar Tree store or the 99Cent Only Store. I love how you colored it. Do you remember what paints you used on it? Love the way you made the eyes and fangs glow.


yes, door knocker from dollar store

paints used were 








but you can get similar results with various paints
the fluorescent/neon pinks give the best results for "red", although they look kind or orange in the pic, they look red in real life

take a look through my albums
*http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/annamarykahn-albums.html*
to see some of the stuff i've done for prop usage under black lights

amk


----------



## matrixmom (Oct 29, 2010)

Hi AMK- You said you use compact CFL bulbs. Just how many do you use? This year I bought a fluor tube (blacklight) (about 24") and it just wasnt lighting up our items in our small porch. 
Maybe I have to spray everything with GID spray? I thought white items would light up by themselves.


----------



## Palmdale Haunter (Sep 26, 2010)

Very nice!


----------



## annamarykahn (Oct 4, 2009)

matrixmom said:


> Hi AMK- You said you use compact CFL bulbs. Just how many do you use? This year I bought a fluor tube (blacklight) (about 24") and it just wasnt lighting up our items in our small porch.
> Maybe I have to spray everything with GID spray? I thought white items would light up by themselves.


not all whites fluoresce under black light ... a good example is cheese cloth ... which is why you need to soak it it rit whitener for use in flying crank ghosts

personally i don't like glow in the dark paints & sprays because they are all very similar looking under black light ... neon & fluorescent craft paints are the way to go ... 

for my graveyards i probably have 5 or so black light compact fluorescent light bulbs in reflectors on the ground ... for example









check out my albums for more pics ... 
http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/annamarykahn-albums-2011.html

amk


----------



## annamarykahn (Oct 4, 2009)

Palmdale Haunter said:


> Very nice!


thx palmdale haunter

amk


----------

