help needed in adding stars to my cab

[evilfuzzle]

hey everyone,

i am making a space themed arcade cab and i need you advise on coveringing it with stars. i initially thought that i could just paint each one on by hand but realised that would be very hard . has anyone got any suggestions for me. i attatched a picture of how i want to have it turn out (ignore the generic marquee, the final one won't be  that ,only similar)

EDIT: enlarge the picture to see what i mean

[BradC]

I would get a piece of cardboard or poster board, poke a bunch of small holes in it, then spray white paint through it. If you make the holes different sizes, use a needle for some, a screw for others, maybe even a screwdriver, etc., then it should come out ok. Test it out on something first and see how it looks.

[thatitalian]

Nice idea! Did you do this is sketchup?

[BASS!]

I have produced this same effect using a splatter nozzle for a standard spray paint can. You will need to get some practice before you do that kind of coverage, as I did it on pieces that are as small as a canvas. You will need to go to a paint store that sells spray paint nozzles. You will be surprised how good it looks. The other option is to get glow in the dark paint and a hand full of brushes, along with a book of constilations and just go to town. Then set up a black light in the corner so when your ready, hit the button, and blamo, awesome glowyness. You may also wanna look up glow in the dark moon in google as they sell planets that glow that you could adhere to the side without too much trouble.

[evilfuzzle]

i am liking all these ideas  . i will give them all a go. I do like the glow in the dark paint idea, if only i could find it in a spray paint form. does the black light make it glow even when it isn't dark? where would i mount this blacklight so as not to make my room look like a porno shop?

thatitalian, i did make it in sketchup (took a long, long time though)

[BASS!]

Well the cool thing about glow in the dark paint is that all it takes is a little light to charge it up, and when you turn off the lights it will glow like the night sky. If you were going to hide the light I imagine that you could pick up just a couple fluorescent bulbs and holders from any specialty shop and stick them behind a piece of furniture with a remote light switch to turn it on when you want it. You could also use the marquee light holder to dual purpose fluorescent/black light your room/ cab. Another option would be to build up the bottom a wee bit and install the lights in the bottom sides of the cabinet.

[Level42]

Even cooler than glow in the dark paint:

http://cgi.ebay.de/Sternenhimmel-LED-Set-2m-3m-4m-Licht-Sauna-Design-NEU_W0QQitemZ190238051734QQihZ009QQcategoryZ39010QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

[BASS!]

Wow, yeah I didn't think of that. Something tells me that it would be very expensive though. How much is 59,99eur? I tried Google, but I think I'm missing something. Oh yeah also not speaking German, I have no idea what it is other then from the photos, its a diy fiber optic light kit.

How long are the fiber strands? From that + price per unit we could figure out a price.

[Level42]

Wow, yeah I didn't think of that. Something tells me that it would be very expensive though. How much is 59,99eur? I tried Google, but I think I'm missing something. Oh yeah also not speaking German, I have no idea what it is other then from the photos, its a diy fiber optic light kit.

How long are the fiber strands? From that + price per unit we could figure out a price.

Yep, it's exactly what you think. I'm planning to use it on the ceiling of my Gameroom, but since you want to equip your cab with stars I though of this. I've searched many times in the English language on e-bay but apparently I hit the wrong words, that's why I mentioned this one. 60 Euro is about $95,- now. I'm sure  they are available overthere as well. Personaly I would take one with either white only or white and blue lights because that resembles "stars" the best.  Others go through all colors which looks a bit tacky to me, but if that's your thing....

[Level42]

Here's some idea's how it looks:

http://www.retrospieler.de/e-stars.html

I think that might work out really cool on an all-black cabinet....