Split Pineapple

[blueeyesdesigns]

Just mounted a production of Peter and the Starcatcher, and one of the long list of bizarre props we needed was a pineapple that could be cut in half on stage during a fight. I didn't want pineapple juice all over the stage and set, so I took it upon myself to make one.

Started with a hollow resin fake I found on Amazon, then cut it with a band saw, filled it with Great Stuff (in several small doses) and used magnets and pipe flange to keep the halves together.

Came out pretty good; reads well from the audience. If I had to do it all again, I would have used the blue stuff instead of the yellow (I hear it expands less) and be even more careful about preventing shifting - the foam continued to expand after I thought it had cured, and pushed the magnets out a bit, making the split more obvious than I would have liked. I filled the gap a bit with hot glue, but the end result is a little sloppy.

 

[Van]

Those are some really cool solutions!

Filling almost anything with Expanding polyurethane is a challenge. I learned a trick a while back; Spritz the surface with water it will help the surface cure and stop expanding. it may cause the surface to crack though.
Filling the sides most of the way then doing a skim coat of Bondo would give you a cleaner look to each half and you could even texture it with a knife or a dremel. When it comes to Magnets, I love the availability or Rare Earth Magnets now days. you can drill a hole in a surface, put the magent in, bondo over the top and you'd never know it was there but it still holds like crazy. Your solution eliminates the need to precisely position the magnet while in the buil process though, which is probably key ease of use.

Great job!

 

[bobgaggle]

Always cool to see pics of the finished thing. So many threads on here without resolution...

 

[blueeyesdesigns]

Those are some really cool solutions!

[...] a skim coat of Bondo
[...] still holds like crazy.
[...] Your solution eliminates the need to precisely position the magnet while in the build process though, which is probably key ease of use.

Great job!

Thanks! I hadn't thought about Bondo; it's been years since I've done anything with it. I think the fumes killed my memory of it.

Not being too strong was a consideration. It was being 'cut' by a plastic cutlass, and I didn't want them to have to fight with it on stage during the scene.

Yep. I did have a lot of time to precisely position the magnets in place, and getting it easily repositioned if it came apart (or was played with backstage in the dark...) was also key, hence the big target area of the flange.

 

[molly25]

Just mounted a production of Peter and the Starcatcher, and one of the long list of bizarre props we needed was a pineapple that could be cut in half on stage during a fight. I didn't want pineapple juice all over the stage and set, so I took it upon myself to make one.

Started with a hollow resin fake I found on Amazon, then cut it with a band saw, filled it with Great Stuff (in several small doses) and used magnets and pipe flange to keep the halves together.

Came out pretty good; reads well from the audience. If I had to do it all again, I would have used the blue stuff instead of the yellow (I hear it expands less) and be even more careful about preventing shifting - the foam continued to expand after I thought it had cured, and pushed the magnets out a bit, making the split more obvious than I would have liked. I filled the gap a bit with hot glue, but the end result is a little sloppy.

Those are some really cool solutions!

Filling almost anything with Expanding polyurethane is a challenge. I learned a trick a while back; Spritz the surface with water it will help the surface cure and stop expanding. it may cause the surface to crack though.
Filling the sides most of the way then doing a skim coat of Bondo would give you a cleaner look to each half and you could even texture it with a knife or a dremel. When it comes to Magnets, I love the availability or Rare Earth Magnets now days. you can drill a hole in a surface, put the magent in, bondo over the top and you'd never know it was there but it still holds like crazy. Your solution eliminates the need to precisely position the magnet while in the buil process though, which is probably key ease of use.

Great job!

Thanks! I hadn't thought about Bondo; it's been years since I've done anything with it. I think the fumes killed my memory of it.

Not being too strong was a consideration. It was being 'cut' by a plastic cutlass, and I didn't want them to have to fight with it on stage during the scene.

Yep. I did have a lot of time to precisely position the magnets in place, and getting it easily repositioned if it came apart (or was played with backstage in the dark...) was also key, hence the big target area of the flange.

Hello! I am putting on the same show and struggling to find a split pineapple for the scene. I know this is a long shot, but do you happen to still have this prop?? I would love to connect. Thanks!!!

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Note that expanding urea-foam (this is the same stuff?) comes in three expansion gradients, for different uses; you'd want the low-expansion, high-density stuff for this.