Ice sculptures

[Tigglet]

I have been asket to light a 4 foot high ice sculpture of James bond for a party in a few weeks. the colour theme I have been told is purple. I am trying to work out the best way to light it without getting the melting ice and the electrics in close proximity and or the best angles to light it from? I will not be able to get lights directly under it as I is heavy so will be seated on a steeldeck platform. I was intending to use birdies mounted just outside the drip tray. any suggestions gratefully recieved

[benweblight]

You could possibly look into an LED solution (I.e several LED fixtures around it)...depends on where it is located and what other lighting is going on in the room (and budget ofcourse).

[whiteair]

I should think an LED fixture would be a must to try and keep the heat to a minimum ?

[niclights]

Clearly a contender for LED. Not just lack of heat but also particularly good at deep blues/purple etc. You have many options ranging from LED birdie through battens etc.

 

Normal incandescent birdies would be quite inefficient given their low colour temp.

[Tigglet]

Tanks for the advice I was thinking of birdies with purple gel. Money is very short but it might well stretch to purple LED bulbs for the birdies I have a mixture of 4 x 12 v and 2 x 240v ones. as regards to the location it will be in a marquee. the chandeliers are dimmable so I will have limited control over the environment.

[niclights]

I do think that's your best bet. You get such poor transmission from dark blues/purples like L120/195/181 and the gels can burn out.

 

You might be restricted on colour options when buying simple single colour LED mr16 replacement (as opposed to an RGB mix) but the standard blue always looks beautiful, certainly through ice. If you shop around on the net you should be able to find some good deals on basic 5mm multi-LED type lamps. They're the least bright but should be effective enough. Luxeon types are unlikely to be cost effective and you can run into problems with size fitting into birdies.

 

Note that with 12v LED replacements they usually need magnetic ballast (electronic won't work). 12v birdie should be basic magnetic type. Also remember you won't be able to dim these.

[johnhuson]

As a potentially cheaper alternative to LED you could look at MCM (Metal Cold Mirror) versions of Source 4 PARs. Whilst they do undoubtedly still generate heat it's largely dispersed out of the rear of the fixture rather than at the thing it's lighting so would certainly aid the situation, and they're particularly good at not burning gels as quick. The success you'll have largely depends on the environment your using them in, if it's a confined space with little ventilation then the heat is still going to kill it, in a larger well ventilated space it could work well.

[JDLX]

It really depends on how long the lights need to be on the sculpture. We have often just stuck a pair of 1000W floorcans on an ice sculpture without a problem, but the sculpture is never there longer than a couple of hours.

[soundo26]

we've successfully lit ice sculptures with birdies, works well as long as you don't set them up too close, you can get some nice reflections/highlights from the flaws in the ice

[Joe Bleasdale]

Could LED blinders be a possibility? I mean they dont acctually "blind" and if you cant put the fixtures too close to the sculpture, they will have extra output. I suppose it all depends on the size.

 

 

hth

joe

[boatman]

Have a look at the last five minutes of "Wild China" which has just finished on BBC2 this evening. It will give you loads of ideas about lighting ice sculptures.

[6th Order]

Given that I'm a noise boy you can igmore this if you like, but if it's a sculpture of James Bond presumably you need to avoid too many shadows on the face, for the same reaon you might on stage?

 

Can you get any light from above?

[a917917]

I agree should be lit from above as well as from below but also led birdies in blue from behind on the floor look great through an ice sculpture

[musht]

Couple of LED colours described as Purple, one is blue 470nm LED with red 620nm(?) phosphor, colour is a startling and dim purple /pink colour beacause its 2 naroow spectra miles apart, fairly new.

 

Other purple is 400nM near UV , usually sold as UV but again a not very bright deep purple colour.

 

On a budget 12 or 240V multi LED MR16 lamps in single colour red and blue lamps will show purple where they combine in the ice, with a narrow white ,LED, keylight might get union jack colours, very James Bond ;-)