Yesterday we recommended that you help save the world by pushing the button. If you followed our advice, by now you'll probably be feeling a little cabin feverish, if that's the case why not pass the time by painting yourself a blast door map? Here's how you can do it.
What you'll need
- Neon paint (glow in the dark paint will suffice) and paint brushes (thin)
- Fluorescent black-light bulb (if you chose neon paints)
- Large (larger the better) black card or paper – that is if you don't want to actually paint this on your wall
- Pencil
- A blast-door (optional)
We picked up some basic glow in the dark acrylic from a craft store, but this didn't turn out well, but the neon paint seemed to work better. As a rule of thumb, the higher you pay for the paint the better it's going to turn out. Also, of course, you can use whatever colours your can pick up. We chose these as they are the closest we could find to the actual blast door map colours.
The fluorescent black-light bulb set us back around $5. This will make the whole thing turn out much better (even if you use glow in the dark paint), but of course it's up to you if you want to make this addition.
Black (or dark) card/paper will look best, especially if you're using the black-light. White card will also glow if you go with this method.
Preparation
You can start by printing out this guide to the blast door map:
Download: Blast Door Map Rough Guide JPG
You'll be quick to notice that it doesn't have all of the detail, but it's only to have handy to act as a reference for the main points of the map, and you can add your own detail later.
Pour your paints into a tray or onto a piece of paper or kitchen towel, and you're ready to go!
Step One: Rough Outline
Make a rough outline of the map, roughly matching the detail on the reference sheet. It doesn't have to be exact, of course; you might even want to make your own version of the map, maybe the floor-plan of your house or neighbourhood.
Use pencil and make only a light marking. It shouldn't be visible after you apply the paint. You'll remember that Kelvin and Radzinsky made their blast door map using invisible UV-sensitive liquid, from memory—you can try it this way for extra authenticity!
Step Two: Adding the Detail
Begin to paint in the main points. Start with the outer hexagon, and let it dry.
Once that's dry, move onto filling in the stations one by one. Again, leaving time to dry.
Then it's a case of adding as much detail as you see fit, and then going around later to add as much of the original Latin annotations as you want, or your own scribblings.
Step Three: Light it Up
Place your blast door map in your desired location. Maybe on the inside of your bathroom door, on your ceiling, or even your garage door as something to look at in the event that you are eventually trapped under there for a prolonged period of time.
Show your friends, and show us! Share your blast door map creations, as true to the original or unique as they may be. We'd love to see them!
Here's how ours turned out, with a total materials cost of about $10:
