| Author | Message | ||
     R. Blouin Rating: N/A |
Has anyone tried painting a silver screen surface? Not that I would prefer painting a screen to a factory-finished surface, it just seems that for a larger picture (over ten feet), a portable screen, or just covering a wall, the options are limited. I have covered old billboard vinyl using paint found at a larger art store. The label said it consists mainly of ground aluminum in an acrylic base. It worked pretty well, with little ghosting, but can cost up to as much as a dollar an ounce. The surface I used was far from ideal though, revealing many unforeseen wrinkles and a seam. I need to do more research on different material before I offer a full endorsement. Does anyone have any advice or experience? | ||
| ben Rating: N/A |
I have been experimenting with 3d projection and did a bit of thinking about making a silver screen. I have tried several silver paints but nothing worked out satisfactory, than I hit upon the idea to use a silver nylon material which is used to make car covers. I spent 20 bucks and got a cover to fit a large car. Let me tell you that is a lot of material. Than I cut out the desired size and glued it onto a sheet of threeply. It performed better than I expected. Maybe someone would like to try it and let me know what you think of it. | ||
| itsikw Rating: N/A |
Yes, it is possible to paint a surface to get a silver screen. Most paints with the attribute "metallic" and matt finish will do. I personally painted large walls with Creall Metallic Paint Silver, made by Havo (www.havo.com). One can also prepare a paint himself by mixing metal powder with varnish. | ||
| MPlayer2.7 Rating: N/A |
I noticed the dull side of aluminum foil would do the best job if you could get all the wrinkles out, prevent the extreme hot spot in the middle, and eliminate the seams. Gloss spray paint seems to dull reflectivity drastically but varnish works great for an even distribution of light. There are various white reflective rolls of street sign material you can find on ebay but not very large. To see how this would look you can buy a white mailbox letter "I" from Home Depot and tape it eye level to your projector screen. I've also tried reflective highway beads but it is hard to smooth them perfectly even without the machine they use for speed limit signs and line painting. I've got like 30 more pounds of this stuff to waste. Metal powders are hard to find and expensive. Many Metallic paints provide less benefit than Highest Gloss Ultra Pure White (UPW), even it has hot spots so you will have work with the gloss spray and varnish to get it perfect for your viewing angle. Silver backs darken darks but throw off colors and darken whites leaving your contrast the same with messed up colors. Remember you can usually play with your colors, brightness, contrast, & sharpness on your graphics card as well as the projector. Use the largest smoother you can find to fill seams and sand down any visible ruff areas before painting. Paint being the most expensive part, a couple of quarts might cover an 8x6 foot screen you try really hard. I used a gallon for 2 layers, with varnish about $45. You can buy silver screen paint prepped and in prep sets and there are various home brew paint recipes like "MUD" but they are all a bit pricey. |
