Glow in the dark 3D Mag TWOK mod pics

DaMeatMan

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Hey all, just wanted to share some pics of my latest mod to my 3D mag. It's a 3D mag modded with a Hotlips heatsink, TWOK emitter running direct drive. It's been painted to be visible in the dark with some Aqua glow powder from Ready Set Glow. Here are the pics, enjoy! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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Glow1 copy.jpg


Glow2 copy.jpg


Glow3 copy.jpg


Glow4 copy.jpg
 

vcal

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Neat looking work..and glows like stink. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

p.s.-how much juice does that Lux draw with those 3 D cells?
 

DaMeatMan

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[ QUOTE ]
LitFuse said:
Cool pics, what's the band in front of the switch? Is it painted on also?


Peter

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup, everything that glows on the mag was painted on. I painted on about 4 coats of the glow powder to ensure an insanely bright glow, also under neath the glow powder i used 2 coats of white nail polish to further enhance the glow, otherwise the glow would not appear as bright when painted on a dark surface. And to finish things off i added another nice coat of clear nail polish to smooth out and protect the painted surface.
 

DaMeatMan

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[ QUOTE ]
vcal said:
Neat looking work..and glows like stink. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

p.s.-how much juice does that Lux draw with those 3 D cells?

[/ QUOTE ]

Glad you like it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif, I haven't yet measured the current draw from the lux3 as i don't have a meter capable of measuring that amount of current. I'm currently looking into getting a better meter, quite a few people have aleardy done this 3D mod and perhaps they could shed some light on the amount of current flowing through that luxeon3.
 

ledlurker

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Victoria, Texas -- USA
Direct drive with a K forward voltage (I think about 3.5 to 3.75 volts will yield on average about 1.5 amps. Some people have had failures. It could be that their forward voltage was very low or improper heatsinking. My suggestion would be to use at least an .25 ohm resistor and bring the current down to around 1.3 amps. A 2 watt resistor will be plenty big enough.

P=(I^2)*R
P=(1.3)^2*R
P=.4225 watts
 

ResQTech

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How durable is that glow paint in terms of scratching off and chipping?
 

paulr

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How long will that glow stay visible in the dark, if charged up for a few hours in ordinary room light?
 

DaMeatMan

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[ QUOTE ]
MTFD17 said:
How durable is that glow paint in terms of scratching off and chipping?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well i've tried making it before by mixing it in with clear nail polish, and it wasn't that bad in terms of durablility. I'm sure u could scratch it off if u tried but it shouldn't be that easy. This time i used actual clear acrylic paint to mix with my powder so i have yet to see how durable it will turn out to be. So far the paint is dried but not totally cured, so at the moment it is kinda rubbery. According to the tin of paint it will take a whole week to properly cure it also say's it should be a very hard durable surface when it does cure.
 

DaMeatMan

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[ QUOTE ]
paulr said:
How long will that glow stay visible in the dark, if charged up for a few hours in ordinary room light?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well i've had it sitting on my bedpost before and did not do anything to charge it up that day, it was just exposed to regular room light and indirectly exposed to daylight. At night when i went to bed the light was clearly visible in the dark and could be seen easily from anywhere in the room in total darkness. I will not mislead you though and say that it is as bright as what u see in those pics, it is nowhere near that brightness but easily distinguishable, which serves the purpose of locating it in the dark.
 

DaMeatMan

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I also thought i should mention that i sent my pics into Ready Set glow to demonstrate how i used their product and they currently have a free batch of glow powder on it's way to me now! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

DaMeatMan

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[ QUOTE ]
MTFD17 said:
Also, how'd you apply it so evenly? Did you tape off the areas?

[/ QUOTE ]

Here's exactly what i did to achieve the results u see in the pics. First i masked off the areas to be painted with masking tape. Then i started off by painting two coats of white nail polish to provide a good light surface for the glow powder, this is actually a very essential step and you will notice a huge drop off in brightness if you try to paint a dark surface with glow paint. While that was drying i mixed up my batch of glow paint. I filled an empty nail polish container with just over 1/4 Aqua glow powder, i then filled the rest of the container with clear acrylic paint (satin finish). In order to help thoroughly mix the powder into the clear paint i dropped in two stainless steel bearings and began shaking like a mad man until i was satisfied that everything was evenly mixed. It is very helpful to work in a darkened room with a black light on in order to see the effect of the paint and determine if it is mixed well enough. After i was satisfied with the paint i applied my first coat of glow paint onto the white painted surface of the light using the nail polish applicator. After allowing the glow paint to dry i then applied another 3 coats for a total of 4. After each coat i then charged up the painted surface with the black light to determine how much was enough. You will need about 4 or 5 coats of glow paint to achieve a nice bright uniform glow that will last, but this all depends on how thick you apply your coats. After that was dry i then got a sharp razor and cut along the edge of the masking tape, in order to get nice clean lines u will need to cut them with the razor, I found that simply peeling off the tape will not give you a nice clean line as the painted surface is rather thick at this point. As a finishing touch i then masked off the surface again after removing the tape, but this time i left a small 2mm gap between the painted surface and the tape in order to even out the height between the light and the painted surface. I then applied 2 coats of clear gloss nail polish to help protect the surface and smooth out the grainy finish of the glow paint, this also helps somewhat to enhance the glow. What i had when i was finished is what you see in the pics, i was quite impressed by the results and found it to be well worth the trouble. Not only is it practical for finding your Mag in the dark, it also has the cool WOW factor assosciated with it! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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