Seams of Traveling Flats?

[Alec B]

Hi there!


We are taking a show to competition this upcoming weekend. We have 6 hard wall flats we are taking with us, and we have to be able to set it all up in ten minutes. The flats have very tight seams when put together, but you can still notice them. Is there a quick option to covering these up? Each wall is two flats since it is supposed to be a small apartment, and we will have each wall (2 flats) screwed together hours before we have to put the flats onstage. We just need an easy option that hopefully wouldn't require a whole lot of painting or using paste. Any help or tips is very much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[techieman33]

Unless your being scored heavily on the set I wouldn't worry about it. The judges know you only have a few minutes to set up and couldn't care less about a seam. Also remember that sets are usually seen from 30+ feet away where seams usually disappear unless they are really lose.

 

[Alec B]

Unless your being scored heavily on the set I wouldn't worry about it. The judges know you only have a few minutes to set up and couldn't care less about a seam. Also remember that sets are usually seen from 30+ feet away where seams usually disappear unless they are really lose.

I think that's what we've pretty much decided on. Thanks!!!

 

[secretagdan]

Depending on the finish, there are ways that the seams can disappear. What we used to do was have a mottled, or a textured paint job with multiple similar colors. Then we would lay out a board with strips of gaff tape, then paint the tape to match & use it over the seams to make them disappear, with the tape and a touch up paint kit we sent out to clean up a bit. Don't know if this will help & i am pretty sure you will want to test it out to see what the results are before you get to your big show, to make sure that it is what you want.

 

[bobgaggle]

Tangent to this, (not really Theatre related) I'm building a background wall for a wedding ceremony. It stands behind the couple and pastor and has some small floating shelves with flowers on them. The thing is 12x8 and building it in one piece is going to be to difficult to transport, so I'm thinking two 6x8's would be better. The problem I'm having is that this wall is painted gloss white, and the distance from the wall to the guests is only around the 10' range. I feel like the seam is going to be glaringly obvious, and standard theatre tricks (Dutchman, tape+paint) won't work so well with the gloss finish. One thing I did consider was letting the MDF facing overhang the seam edge by 1/16", so when I screw the two together from behind the two are pulled in super tight.

Anyone else deal with an issue like this? How did you overcome?

 

[kicknargel]

For the OP: I agree you're probably fine without treated the seam. But if you'd like to, before you paint you could fill the seam with painter's caulk. Then after painting, when you take it apart, first slice through the caulk. The two sides will then come together pretty tightly.

For the wedding thing: gloss is tough. If you're going for near-perfection, bevel the seam edges of the flats ever so slightly so that the seam is about a 1/8" wide, 1/16" deep valley. (You can do this with a sander). Then at installation, fill the seam with a good, not-too-crumbly filler (maybe vinyl spackle), sand flat and paint. Or even better, incorporate the seam line into the design.

 

[FatherMurphy]

Vertical trims can be your friend for this sort of thing - any time the wall panels can split along or behind some sort of column or door post, life gets easier.

For the wedding wall, perhaps a 3'-6'-3' division might help get the seam pushed far enough to the side to not be distracting, or easier to camouflage.