Glowing Silhouette Wall

A glowing silhouette wall or "glow wall" for short is an inexpensive way to entertain a lot of kids for a long time.  It is a wall painted with gloss black paint and then painted with Fast Zinc Glow Powder.  Opposite of the wall is a charging light.  You ask the kids to stand in front of the wall and make poses.  You "flash" the light and a clear silhouette of each child is left on the wall.  After a few minutes, the wall's glow returns to black and you can do it again.  Kids will always want to "do it again" to try out different techniques.  They will soon also figure out that they can make hand shapes.

Glow walls can be made to be permanent or temporary.  Some can be folded up and stored.  Components can be made out of a variety of materials you may already have, so costs should be low.  It also uses the most inexpensive type of glow powder and inexpensive over the counter paint.

Construction:

Walls:  Walls can be made out of a variety of materials.  Almost anything will work.  For a permanent wall, use drywall, plywood, or medium density fiberboard (MDF).  Smooth surfaces work best, so rough surfaced wood may deteriorate the effect.  This can be solved with sanding, but that is a lot of work.  For a temporary wall, use canvas tarps, plastic tarps, or 6 mil black plastic sold for paint protection or gardening.

Paint:  Make sure that you let the paint fully dry as per the instructions between each of the following steps.  Unless you are using a plastic wall, first paint the surface with a sealing primer and let it dry.  Next, paint a coat of Black Gloss paint and let it dry.  Paint several coats of Black Gloss until you can not see any variances in color.  Asking your paint salesperson for assistance can usually get you a paint that can accomplish this with a coat or two.  Finally, mix your Fast Zinc powder with the cheapest clear paint you can purchase.  Just make sure that it does not have any UV filters in it.  You will want to add approximately 10% powder to the paint.  Mix only small amounts of the paint.  Remember, you can always mix more.  If the final glow wall is not bright enough, you can add more layers and increase the glow.  When you are happy with the glow, we suggest that you paint one layer of clear as a sealer.

Light Source:  The flash of light can come from a variety of light fixtures.   First you need to decide if you want a fluorescent fixture or a regular incandescent fixture.  Fluorescent fixtures are usually more powerful and easier on the eyes.  Unfortunately, they are also slow to turn on and off, which can ruin some of the fun.  The next decision is if you want a regular white light bulb or a black light.  The black light is more expensive, but really super charges the glow paint.  It is also easier on the eyes.  We have found that a typical 6 outlet power strip with an on/off button is a great switch.

Main lighting in room:  Since the glow powder is charged with light, you want very dim lighting in the room.  You want just enough light to allow the children and the operator to move around safely.  For advanced walls, very dim lights can be mounted above and slightly behind the wall.  The angle of light never directly impacts the wall, so the the glow is not effected.  Of course if the light is too bright, it will reflect off of the other parts of the room.  In a permanent setup, we suggest that everything in the room be painted flat black except for the glow wall itself.

Notes:

On a 4' x 8' wall, you will need the following paint:

Quart of Primer

Quart of Black Glossy

1/2 Gallon of Clear, no UV filters

6 Oz of Fast Zinc Glow Powder

If you build a glow wall, please consider sending us photos.