Turning a van into a simple darkroom... assistance required...

[AlexGard]

This is a very simple problem but has me losing my mind.

I have crudely converted my Toyota Hiace van into a darkroom to use for wet plate work, after a fumingly expensive disaster with an inferior eskimo quickfish3 tent.

Anyway, I don't want anything fancy. A blacked-out light-proof space is all I want. I don't really care much for benches/sinks/shelves... just lightproofing. This has been the biggest obstacle in this entire process, never mind mixing the chemicals etc.

The van, with the darkroom, is partitioned in three sections.
1.Front; the drivers cab.
2.Middle: The part where the sliding door opens up and the middle section of the rear cargo cab, where my chemicals/whatever other odds and ends are stored.
3.The rear third of the van is what I want to partition off into the darkroom, with access through the sliding door and a double-flap of black plastic and a third black fabric curtain.




At the moment, I have used black builders plastic sheeting, the kind that is used in concrete foundations. It's thick, pretty heavy, and totally light-proof. Great stuff. I am just having trouble finding ways to make it stick to the walls and ceiling/floor of my van. I feel my want for simplicity is what's causing the problems. I was hoping that enough black gaffer's tape (that supposedly sticks to anything) would work, but no. It holds for most of the day then starts to lose it's adhesiveness as the day goes on, eventually not working at all. It was a cheap 'chinese' option, I soon realised.
I am using a "double curtain" kind of system, where there is just a flap of the plastic sheeting and then another flap of the plastic sheeting going the other way, at the side-door of my van. I've gaffer-taped the plastic that isn't mean to open/close and then used adhesive velcro for the parts that are meant to open/close. This system works Great... for a couple of hours... then the velcro comes away and the lightproofing fails.

The rear section is fine, as it's not being opened/closed/put under any stress or tension it's great (the pic with the red flag).. no problems at that end.

Anyway, to save a long winded rant... does anyone have any suggestions as to how to make this black plastic sheeting stick to the walls, ceiling and floor of my van for this
purpose? Staples? Super glue? Sicaflex? Is there any particular brand or product that would make this stuff work?

As I said, I don't want anything special... just a light-proof van!

[LabRat]

There is a product called Devcon Plastic Welder that can be used to bond the velcro strips to the plastic... (Usually at a home or hardware store) I find it is the only thing that will bond difficult to bond plastics together... There is another brand, (Loctite) but the Devcon band is better...

It is a two part epoxy like bonder, that comes in the twin plunger type syringe tubes... Not too much $$$ for a small amount, but plan on keeping the bonding areas minimal so it does not become expensive...

Steve K

[Jac@stafford.net]

Steve K had the good tip for a bonding agent.

At the moment, I have used black builders plastic sheeting, the kind that is used in concrete foundations. It's thick, pretty heavy, and totally light-proof.

Trivial aside - it might not be lightproof, at least in the infra-red range. Perhaps that's not important in wet plate. FWIW, I have night vision goggles that see through the rubber lens caps.

I can't quite envision the partition you described. Is it such that you are entering the rear through a double drape?

[joselsgil]

Alex,

There is a Sally Mann video on UTube that shows her using the back of her Chevy Suburban Truck, to make her plates. It looks quite simple and I think it has less room than your setup.

Good luck,

Jose

[Tin Can]

This stuff is not cheap but it works great. It is weatherproof, last for years outside, sticks real good! https://youtu.be/JU33xkfagAc

I just installed 5-30x30 inch Coroplast signs over my windows with 6 strips of 3" on each window. I used clear self adhesive 170/400. Reusable well over 1000 times.

Shop carefully for best price. Often used to mount electronics inside Gov vehicles. I bought it in 10 foot rolls, it cuts easily with scissors. Miracle 3M product.

[jp]

I would attach a lath/wooden strapping to the body interior, put up the plastic sheeting, then screw down a wood or plastic strip with screws that go through the plastic. You could dispense with the strip and just staple it to the wood, but it would eventually tear through the staples.

Jac, the OP is probably looking for UV proof, not IR proof.

[AlexGard]

thanks JP, in the end that's what I'm going for. Just got a bunch of flexyboard cut to lengths going to screw a little frame around the interior of the van and staple a couple of layers of black plastic to it, then cover up any gaps between the plastic and the wood with gaffer tape, I also bought some "blackout" fabric (it's pretty good, I held my iphone LED light up against it and couldn't see it through the other side at all) and just use that as a final 3rd safety net, which I'll sew a zipper onto and staple it to the inside of the darkroom.

And yes I'm not so worried about IR light, UV is what I need to take care of.

[Erik Larsen]

Hi Alex, if you can't get satisfactory darkness with your efforts in the van, you might consider this solution. You can work standing up and it's relatively roomy inside. It cost about $75 in wood and fabric. I wish I had a nice van to use! I either put the tent on the tailgate of my truck of or the little table shown in the pic. Good luck with you efforts.

[cdholden]

Erik,
Do you have plans or detailed photos? I'm planning to start building one for the tailgate of my truck this Sunday (weather and creativity permitting).

Chris

[Erik Larsen]

Erik,
Do you have plans or detailed photos? I'm planning to start building one for the tailgate of my truck this Sunday (weather and creativity permitting).

Chris

Hi Chris, I didn't follow any plans. Here's a pic without the fabric. It's just plywood of 2'x4' size and some 1x2's to staple the fabric to. A couple adjustable flag pole holders and dowels.