Doing Little Prince. I need planets. I'd like to use a technique I have seen in many productions on-line.
It consists of a half sphere,
flat side down, decorated and painted to look like a planet. Actors can
walk up on top of it.
Looking and about 2.5-3.5 feet in diameter. Any ideas how to frame and
build such a thing?
Thanks in
advance!
@Doug Lowthian Since none of CB's scenic construction gurus have hastened to your aid, YET, I'll tell you one of the Stratford Festival's approach's although I'm not seriously suggesting it's the right / best method for you in your situation.
In Stratford's main prop shop, Frank Holte would often
purchase 4' x 8' sheets of white styrofoam in thicknesses up to 24" then cut, glue and
laminate them as necessary.
One specific example springs to mind:
One 4 by 8 by 2
foot sheet was cut in half and laminated to become a 4 by 4 by 4
foot cube.
1" dowels approximately 3' long were lathed and tapered at one end.
The surface deemed to become the bottom had lines drawn diagonally from corner to corner to indicate the center
point.
Measurements were taken and marks made approximately 1' from the center
point on each of the four radials / diagonal lines.
Pilot holes, perhaps 1/4" in diameter were bored on the four marks with an 18 or 24"
bit.
Glue was glued was poured into the pilot holes and the 1" dowels pounded into each of the four holes with a mallet until they were flush with the surface deemed to become the bottom.
While the glue was drying, an approximately 30" square of 3/4 inch ply was cut, center lines added and #8 or #10 pilot holes drilled through the ply to precisely align with the centers of the four dowels.
With the glue thoroughly dry, 3" or 4" long wood screws passed through their clearance holes in the 3/4" ply leaving 2.25" to 3.5" of thread exposed to securely
grip the dowels; pilot holes were likely pre-drilled into the dowels to accept the wood screws.
AND NOW you'll think I'm totally daft if you're not thinking so already.
If you're familiar with wood and / metal lathes, you'll know materials are normally chucked in a 3 or 4 jawed chuck and often stabilized by a
pilot hole in the end / side opposite the chuck by a live or dead center; you'll also know
face plates can often be located on the opposite end of the shaft rotating the primary chuck. With this
face plate now outside the
lathe's bed, materials far exceeding the
lathe's normal diameter limitations can be spun and machined.
HERE'S WHERE IT GETS EVEN WEIRDER:
When lathing a 4' cube of Styrofoam, you'll want to begin at a VERY slow rotation.
In Stratford's main prop shop they have, or at least had, a basic (Plane Jane) wood
lathe, nothing fancy just a basic bare bones machine.
The
lathe's headstock was securely bolted atop an approximately 30" high wooden
base positioning the chuck's rotational
center line approximately 40 - 42" above the shop's floor.
Frank Holte had a V-belt pulley fitted to permit the
lathe to powered and spun by a long V-belt looping around the pulley AND the tire-less rear wheel of a an old bike mounted on a
base such that a minor
props minion could sit on the bike, with her / his back to the
lathe and pedal at any speed decreed by the person operating the
lathe. Accompanying the
lathe was a shop fabricated steady-rest which the operator could position, stand on the bottom of for
ballast, then select the weapon of her / his choice as their tool begin lathing away. Huge amounts of Styro-foam turnings littered the floor often landing on plastic
drop cloths making for easier collection and dumping into large rubber garbage pails.
You had to see a 4' cube of white styro being lathed into a 4' tall by 47 (ish) " diameter flower pot with its innards lathed out, four legs /feet added to its smaller diameter lower end and all covered with an assortment of fabrics glued in place then sanded to perfection prior to painting to look like a large, ornate, planter suitable for the veranda of a stately mansion in a time long before me. The finished product was considerably shallower within than any real planter of its size and when the piece was TOTALLY finished it'd pass for real while your pushing it on a dolly from off-stage storage to back
stage. The finished piece looked THAT good, even from that close, until you lifted it off its transit dolly and instantly realized it was NOWHERE near as heavy as it looked. The finished pot was painted to appear weathered and aged from decades of service on the veranda of its mansion.
@Doug Lowthian I suspect you could do something similar but I'm confident many of our scenic /
props gurus will be along posting far better options, if they haven't all ready while I've been typing.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
