Attaching Double-Sided Flats to a Wagon

[MightyRedDevil]

Hi folks,

I've tried searching the forums, but I can't find a good answer.

I've got an 8'x12' wagon that rotates to show the exterior and interior of a cottage. So we decided to put some double sided hollywood flats on them. I've got two walls that will meet at a corner, one is 8'x8' (with a door flat), and the other is 8'x12'.

The question is: how do I attach these flats to the wagon? With single-sided flats, I just cut some angled 1x4 and make a brace on the back, but the brace never shows. With this wagon rotating I feel like it would look tacky to have 1x4 going everywhere on one side.

I thought about using carriage bolts on the bottom rail of the flats and just bolting them to the platforms, but I feel like that's putting a lot of stress on that bottom rail and it could break off, especially with that door flat.

I feel like I'm missing a really obvious solution.

 

[Doug Lowthian]

We have done this exact technique for both Alice in Wonderlands Duchess house and Wizard of Oz,'s Farmhouse. In both cases we had a 4x 8 stout wagon on casters, built a stud frame wall, with luan sheathing on one side, and put braces on the sides as you say, but dressed them up. In one case with some lattice and some faux vines, in the other, I placed the wall diagonal and framed a shorter wall as a brace. This gave some depth on the interior side by creating a "corner" in the room. Dressing it up interior and exterior with shingles, shelving, wall pinting etc and hiding the braces and part of the house works well. IN the Alice one we even had a door in the center and as Alice entered the door the whole wagon spun around giving the illusion of her entering the house. Worked well.

So no flats; we just built a house

 

[Van]

You could also simply build a corner unit double-sided flat. The other flats would attach to it using whatever scheme you are currently using and it simply floats in the corner. I'm assuming you already have a plan in place for attaching the other double sided flats to the deck? In the pas I've used cut-outs in the cover material that are then covered by a base board molding or furniture/cabinetry. A low-profile right-angle drill can be your friend in these situations as can Wainscoting.

 

[Amiers]

Add the brace like you normally do and give it to the painter. If you have a good one you will never know there is a brace there.

 

[bobgaggle]

A lot of times I've made double sided flats where the skin is short a few inches from the bottom. Place the flat, screw it down to the platform, then apply baseboard with a few pin nails to cover the gap. (Saves the hassle of assembling it laying down, then tipping the whole thing upright) Mounting them to the wagon isn't the problem. you can conceal braces in other decor, a kitchen cabinet or wood stove can be build around a brace or even act as a brace. Another option is to go brace-less and add some sort of ceiling structure to tie the walls together at the top. This offers lots of design opportunities and gives you a chance to piss off the LD.

 

[DRU]

First, my professor use to say, "Carriage bolts are for carriages, not for scenery." Invest in hex head bolts.

Second, bolting through the bottom rail into the platform is a valid way to attach the two pieces. If you have large set dressing like a dresser, a counter, or shelves in the interior, it can double as bracing if you attach them permanently to the wall and design them to brace as well as function. I've also done smaller cutaway flats as braces at the ends of walls to suggest a third and/or fourth wall in the room, but they also act as jacks for the wall at the unsupported ends.

 

[EWCguy]

Since you mention two walls coming together at a corner, you have most of the bracing built-in to your design -- the walls will hold each other. Then, any of the other suggestions sound great for masking or acting as a brace for the opposite wall ends. I don't fasten the second side facing until I've mounted the one-sided flats to the platform.