DIY 4' bank of flouresecents?

I was wondering if anyone had tackled making their own 4' bank of flourescent lights before. Just brainstorming, why couldnt you cheaply build a box that would hold 4-6 4' flourescent bulbs and use a modifier like a fabric covering the front to soften it up. I would think you could build 2 banks of them cheaply by getting the parts at home Depot. Then you would have a 2 nice constant light sources if you wanted to do portraits at your house. And they would burn much cooler than using halogen shop lights. What do you guys think?

I have seen a few times regular 4 bulb folouresent lights that go in a drop ceiling being used as a soft box. They are hung on a 2X3 in a 5 gallon bucket filled with cememt. Daylight ballenced bulbes and a seprate difuser/scrim. Worked wondefully. Looked ugly as all get out. But you could not argue with the results.