Light boxes for Arcade Marquees, Translites and Movie/Arcade Posters

You can disassemble those fixtures and just mount the part that holds the bulb and then put the ballast elsewhere. When I did retail displays, we did a huge wall installation this way with different sized tubes that each had a different colored gel on. Looked pretty sweet because the bulbs appeared to float on the wall.
 
pmichelsen said:
You can disassemble those fixtures and just mount the part that holds the bulb and then put the ballast elsewhere. When I did retail displays, we did a huge wall installation this way with different sized tubes that each had a different colored gel on. Looked pretty sweet because the bulbs appeared to float on the wall.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm, where does one buy the gels?
 
Alright, pretty much finished with the first of 3 of these 27" x 41" lightboxes. I just need to order some frosted vinyl to put on the inside of the inner acrylic panel to diffuse the light a little more. Total cost on this (not counting the poster):

$150. A little more than I thought it would be, but oh well. No wonder they sell these for $200+ online. Other than the washed out look the last photo shows, I like the way mine turned out:

SSL11737.jpg

SSL11740.jpg

SSL11742.jpg

SSL11741.jpg

SSL11746.jpg
 
That came out great Phet.
One thing you need to do,if that is a permanent location,is put an outlet behind the light box to hide those unsightly wires.
You might also be able to just cut an opening and fish wire up into the attic and then run them over and down to the switch on the left.
Then just put a cover over the hole,kinda like those for cable T.V. cables.
 
jimkirk said:
That came out great Phet.
One thing you need to do,if that is a permanent location,is put an outlet behind the light box to hide those unsightly wires.
You might also be able to just cut an opening and fish wire up into the attic and then run them over and down to the switch on the left.
Then just put a cover over the hole,kinda like those for cable T.V. cables.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jim and yep, got the wires covered. This is temporary to make sure everything works, fits and is placed where I want it. Its gonna be cool to have 3 of them up.
 
I almost forgot about this cheap MS Paint mock-up I did:

cinema-1.jpg


It's amazing how long it takes for what's in your head to become reality sometimes. But I do so love it when a plan comes together.

SSL11740.jpg
 
Out of curiosity are your 1-sheets double sided, or just white on the back? I'm guessing they're original because of the fold marks on them. I can't remember when they started making them double sided, but I'm guessing some time in the 80's.
 
mhanlen1 said:
Out of curiosity are your 1-sheets double sided, or just white on the back? I'm guessing they're original because of the fold marks on them. I can't remember when they started making them double sided, but I'm guessing some time in the 80's.
Click to expand...

You know your movie poster history. Yep, original one-sided TRON poster, stored folded just like the old days. I am going to be experimenting with different frosting/tinted vinyls on the inside to diffuse the light a bit more and prevent the wash out that usually comes with back lighting 1 sided posters. It really isn't bad as is, the camera makes it look more washed, but I want it to look stunning. I only have 1 two-sided poster and it is of Van Helsing. Cool poster, but doesn't exactly fit in an 80's arcade/theatre area.
 
Phetishboy said:
You know your movie poster history. Yep, original one-sided TRON poster, stored folded just like the old days. I am going to be experimenting with different frosting/tinted vinyls on the inside to diffuse the light a bit more and prevent the wash out that usually comes with back lighting 1 sided posters. It really isn't bad as is, the camera makes it look more washed, but I want it to look stunning. I only have 1 two-sided poster and it is of Van Helsing. Cool poster, but doesn't exactly fit in an 80's arcade/theatre area.
Click to expand...

My 1st job was a movie theater. I'm sorta a movie nut- even going as far as wasting money on a film/video degree. When I began working there, I raided the poster vault. Unfortunately all the really cool 80's posters were all gone. I still got some good 90's movies though. All rolled up and safe in tubes.

I was mainly asking because I don't think this would work well with double sided posters. I may be wrong, but I think most modern theater's lighted 1 sheet frames don't seem to be back lit.
 
After I hung this lightbox, I fired up TRON in my home theatre. When it was over, I walked out of the theatre doors into my arcade, which was illuminated only by the TRON poster. What a cool feeling. I felt like I was leaving a real theatre after seeing the advertised flick. When I was a kid, our local theatre only had one screen, so what was on the poster out front was the one you were seeing. Now I need to make mini light boxes with 'Coming soon' mini signs to place above or below these posters.
 
That is going to be quite the job to change the poster for every movie you watch Phet.:p
 
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