Putting wheels on theatre flats, and other ideas for a newbie.

[cmbtch43]

I'm very new to set design and construction, and have just been given job of designing and building the set for the Wizard of Oz for our High School Musical.
My set construction is limited to having helped put previous sets together, so I know how to build flats but that's about it.
Can someone please tell me how I would go about putting wheels on 4'x8' flats so they can be easily moved on and off stage, how I can brace them and what is the easiest way to put a brake on them other than using castors with brakes- can I use a wooden wedge on lever type thing?
We also have to build a "house" with door and window but I think I have head around how to do that as its only a flat with door and window built onto a truck with porch and roof.
My builder is going to be my husband as the teacher who usually builds set is unavailable.
Also any ideas as to how to do the yellow brick road would be helpful. Not allowed to put thinline and paint it on over stage, can't paint directly onto stage as polished wood and varnish. Lights and gobos out as other lighting will wash yellow out and will be ineffective. So that leaves me with vinyl that is painted.
In the past I have been Stage manager so I'm used to moving and storing set in very small spaces - this year I'm doing the lot.
Any ideas and advice would be so greatfully appreciated.

Many thanks
Christine

 

[josh88]

Wagon brakes are your friend.
http://www.rosebrand.com/product65/Standard-Wagon-Brake-4510.aspx?tid=2&info=brake

 

[TheaterEd]

I wouldn't concern myself with putting brakes on anything that isn't being walked on. Unless you happen to work with a raked stage, they will stay put once you park them.

The easiest way I have found to get flats on wheels is to build 2x8 wheeled platforms and just mount them in the middle. You can throw some 2x4s on the sides to stabilize them.

 

[cmbtch43]

Just a nice flat stage, polished wood. Because flats are being moved by kids I was asked to put wheels on flats because they're too tall for the kids to safely lift without tipping over. So making up a small truck wider than flat will do job- great. I have to explain this to my husband who is doing the build - he's an engineer and never been involved in theatre and keeps trying to over complicate things.
Thank you for your help

 

[TheaterEd]

Here is one that I keep on hand for our middle school's shows. Mine is mounted off center so that I can have more room on one side for additional props to decorate it. Also, I made mine short enough to fit out the door so that they can be painted in another room. Being shorter, they use right angle braces instead of 2 x 4 braces. If you go 8' tall, you will need the diagonal braces for sure. Last time I built one of these I added a fence to one side that braced everything so feel free to get creative with set dressing to hide your braces.

 

[cdub260]

If they seem little tippy, add some counterweight to the wagon behind the flat. Sandbags or arbor weights should work fine for this.

 

[Evans Poulos]

I made frames out of one by three for mine 4 x 8. I cover them with quarter inch Louan or quarter inch hardboard. We pain't on the hardboard and I can take them off and change about if I need to.
The bases are 2' x 51" so that the frame sits inside of it. There's a flat 2 x 4 across the bottom edge that the frame sits on. And a pair of flat 2 x 4's across the top edge that the wheels mount to. This led to the wheels be inset into the frame so the 2 x 4 is only about three quarters of an inch off the stage. And I use black sash chain in the corners to keep the frame upright.

 

[cmbtch43]

Have any of you used polystyrene sheets for flats? Tech director suggested this might be easier to use as lighter weight for kids to shift. Would it need bracing like a normal flat?

 

[MarshallPope]

Expanded polysterene could work, but you'll need it in at least a 3/4" thickness to avoid bowing, and even then some additional framing may be necessary. The biggest issue for me would be the high likelihood of it being damaged during shifting or with things bumping against it. In my opinion, you would be better suited just going with sized-muslin Broadway flats. They will be more durable and will only add a negligible bit of weight.

 

[Skervald]

I've made flats out of polystyrene insulation panels when weight was an issue. I like to use 1 1/2" because it's pretty stable and easy to frame. I glue a light 1x2 frame around the outside to protect the edge and provide stability. (I like to pin the frame to the foam with a few screws while the glue is drying. Sometimes I just leave them in place.) If you like, you can inset pieces of 2x4 in strategic locations to provide a place to attach bracing. To finish, I use a watered down glue solution to wrap the whole thing (frame and all) in muslin.
This helps with the durability issue, hides the frame/bracing locations, and provides a nice surface to paint on. With some attention to detail, it's possible to get the muslin down with no bubbles or wrinkles.

 

[TheaterEd]

As long as you are using decent casters, the kids shouldn't have a problem with the weight. I would be nervous about the rigidity of the polystyrene being wheeled around. My 7th and 8th graders have no issues moving mine around and they are 100% wood construction.

Attached is an image of a door unit we built for our most recent show. The picture was taken during a dress rehearsal, so the set is unfinished, but you can see the bracing in it. I ended up adding a fence to that side of the wagon to camo the bracing and it looked great. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the finished product.

 

[cmbtch43]

Thank you for all the info After doing some ringing around polystyrene suppliers it turns out that it will be more expensive than building our original wood flats. I've had a looong conversation with our Tech Director and explained pros and cons of using wood vs polystyrene vs corrugated card and he has agreed the original idea of wood flats on 2x8 trolleys braced behind is what we are doing. I'm sure before we get the set built I'll have more questions

 

[TheaterEd]

Keep in mind that if you mount the flat to one side, instead of in the center, it will be very likely to tip over if you push it the wrong way. Make sure to add a sand bag or two to avoid that. If you mount it central to the platform, you should be good but still be sure to keep your hands low while pushing.

 

[lwinters630]

I'm very new to set design and construction, and have just been given job of designing and building the set for the Wizard of Oz for our High School Musical.
My set construction is limited to having helped put previous sets together, so I know how to build flats but that's about it.
Can someone please tell me how I would go about putting wheels on 4'x8' flats so they can be easily moved on and off stage, how I can brace them and what is the easiest way to put a brake on them other than using castors with brakes- can I use a wooden wedge on lever type thing?
We also have to build a "house" with door and window but I think I have head around how to do that as its only a flat with door and window built onto a truck with porch and roof.
My builder is going to be my husband as the teacher who usually builds set is unavailable.
Also any ideas as to how to do the yellow brick road would be helpful. Not allowed to put thinline and paint it on over stage, can't paint directly onto stage as polished wood and varnish. Lights and gobos out as other lighting will wash yellow out and will be ineffective. So that leaves me with vinyl that is painted.
In the past I have been Stage manager so I'm used to moving and storing set in very small spaces - this year I'm doing the lot.
Any ideas and advice would be so greatfully appreciated.

Many thanks
Christine

That's a big show. Make sure your caster are not the cheap hard kind as they will groove the stage. Band shells painted for oz. Carpet tubes with 2x4 up center for post on house and chairs in oz. Heavy vinyl tarp for yellow brick road. Yes ,it did move a bit.
Here are some pictures.

 

[cmbtch43]

Thank you so much for sharing your ideas and photos. It looked amazing. Director would like a spiral yellow brick rd like in the movie. We've been given 7.5 x2 metres of wood panel vinyl so I'm going to cut it into 3.75 x 3.75 m square paint it yellow and somehow put a red spiral on it to create that look - still trying to work the math out on that.
Our house is just (will be)the wooden porch with a braced back wall with window and door. Front uprights to hold a triangular roof up which is also attached to back wall, side bracing with trellis/ palings. All on a truck 2400mm x 1200mm.
Munchkinland houses just 4x8 flats on trucks (2x8's with wheels) so should be easier.

 

[Kevin Vance]

I'm very new to set design and construction, and have just been given job of designing and building the set for the Wizard of Oz for our High School Musical.
My set construction is limited to having helped put previous sets together, so I know how to build flats but that's about it.
Can someone please tell me how I would go about putting wheels on 4'x8' flats so they can be easily moved on and off stage, how I can brace them and what is the easiest way to put a brake on them other than using castors with brakes- can I use a wooden wedge on lever type thing?
We also have to build a "house" with door and window but I think I have head around how to do that as its only a flat with door and window built onto a truck with porch and roof.
My builder is going to be my husband as the teacher who usually builds set is unavailable.
Also any ideas as to how to do the yellow brick road would be helpful. Not allowed to put thinline and paint it on over stage, can't paint directly onto stage as polished wood and varnish. Lights and gobos out as other lighting will wash yellow out and will be ineffective. So that leaves me with vinyl that is painted.
In the past I have been Stage manager so I'm used to moving and storing set in very small spaces - this year I'm doing the lot.
Any ideas and advice would be so greatfully appreciated.

Many thanks
Christine

I've been using the same flats, made of 4x8 sheets of 1/4" plywood (luan) for probably 15 years now. I found that by attaching two of them together with hinges they could be moved and put in place very rapidly. To
squeaking wheels and roller noises, I use carpet strip stapled or screwed to the bottom and simply pull them across the stage. They are not heavy and even with the kids they can be managed with two or three of them
and a little practice. The nice part about our flats, is that i framed them with 2x2's instead of the standard 3/4" boards. That allow a better place to attach the screws for the hinges and if you want to attach them
together to make a flat wall simply run a 3" screw from one to the other.

I have an 8x12 foot truck that I can also attach them to, to make a building or room on and usually revolve it. I have made up to four different scenes on the truck for one show.

Good luck and may your show be a great success. Thanks too for supporting the arts with our youth.

Kevin Vance

 

[cmbtch43]

We've made up flats 4x8 single sided so far but will end up double sided once all painted up. Made base from 2x4s basically small trucks 1200 long x 360mm wide with ply on top. Going to brace up sides with 2x1 and triangular bracing at bottom going up about 1500 mm high. This will sit on base so kids won't trip over it hopefully. I think it's going to be a case of trial and error to work out heights for bracing. House and porch are built and look brilliant or will once painted.
Thank you again everyone for all your ideas and support.

 

[Wheezy]

Something I learned the hard way years ago is to not mount your casters too close to the corner. When they swivel, it contacts the frame of the flat. Find your location then swing the caster 360 degrees before attaching it.

 

[cmbtch43]

An update: 10 days out from opening night and we are almost ready to go - I hope. The Flats, Gates and House work wonderfully - a huge thank you to you all for your help . The truck we built for fences and Scarecrow, the boys complained was too difficult to swap fences over on (put holes in base of fences so they only had to drop bolt in and tighten) and took up too much space back stage - so they did away with it and of course and now struggling to carry the box and pole for Scarecrow to stand on and fences out in time.
Yellow brick Rd was still giving some headaches until Monday night when Tech Director decided to build a long wooden box to hide it on front of stage and put footlights in front of to hide. Not sure when that'll be built probably friday night when others are packing in. I suspect the truck will be deconstructed for the timber to build box. Yes, any ideas for this one greatly appreciated - box only needs to be 4 metres long and about 400 mm high. TD would like it to lie flat once YBR rolled out.