PINBALL MACHINE
Replica BRONZE Bar Sign
So, I had some free time on my hands and decided to take on another little project - The Bronze bar sign. This is the sign that hung over the entrance to The Bronze for the first few seasons of Buffy. For years I have wanted to make one of these to hang over a bar in my basement, but for many reasons (mainly never getting around to building the bar in my basement) I never did it. Well, now I have, and I must say I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. I did my best to figure out the size and construction using only screen shots from the show. I tried searching for others who have made this for pointers, but came up empty handed. Could I really be the only person that has tried this so far?? At any rate, I believe it is extremely close to the original in size and construction, but with some lighting upgrades. Read below for more info.
Construction
​This sign is rather large, approximately 4 feet wide, 1 foot tall, and 8 inches deep. It's constructed out of 3/4" sanded plywood. The plywood has been notched to accept the 1/4" wood back panel and 1/4" plastic front panel. The entire box is finish nailed with the exception of one side which is held on by 6 screws. This detachable side allows access to the removable plastic front, as well as to the lighting inside. The entire box is then finish sanded, primed and painted. The inside of the box has been painted white to help reflect the light. The outside is painted satin black and then is slightly scuffed to dull it more and give it a more industrial look. Below are some pictures of the construction process.
Mounting
Once I had the box completed, it was time to move on to the mounting hardware. It was hard to tell from the screen shots exactly how it was hanging, but it was for sure using some sort of chain to hang it up. I decided to use some heavy duty black chain that attaches to large eyelets that mount to the top of the sign. This chain set-up is COMPLETE overkill, but it gives it that rugged industrial look that the Bronze sign needed. Each side of the chain is 2 feet long, giving me plenty of options for how high to hang it.
Lighting
The lighting is where the original sign was lacking big time! I decided to use LED lighting for a few reasons. It is brighter and weighs next to nothing when compaired to traditional lighting set-ups. Seeing as the sign is not light weight to begin with, anywhere I can save weight is a plus! The LED lighting I chose gives me the option to make the logo pretty much any color I want. It has a wireless remote to turn it on/off and control all the color options. You can set it to strobe different colors, or even fade between them all (my personal favorite)! Check out the pics below of the lighting set up and a video of it in action!
