Material ?s: building light, large door (8x16 range)

[BillConnerFASTC]

Could you go old school and use canvas flats?

Yes I think you could. It's a question of if they are floppy at top and if the movement can be slow enough to not let the air resistance be a problem. I pondered two (or more) flats back to back and 1by on edge around perintere(s).

Of course if you did a steel base and mast, probaby anything would work. Sandwich the pipe of a boom with heavy boom base on casters would probably be fine.

Harder if you can't buy 16' 1by. Scarf joints anyone?

 

[Chase P.]

Thinner luan may be available, though probably not from your local Home Despot. My college found some source for 4x8' sheets of brown kraft paper covered foamcore. I'm told it was sold for use in the RV/trailer industry, so it may have some sort of flame treatment making it ok for stage use. They built some honking big flats out of 1x4 and that foamcore, skinned with muslin. The muslin was largely for longevity, they used opera sets for 20 years or more.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

If they had a slight bow in plan, they could be really light and thin. Almost any thin ply, baybe 1x2 on vertical edges and a 1x 6 or 1x8 vertically up the center. Like an airplane wing. No flop for sure.