scenery painting

[paul freeman]

hi, I'm an interior-architecture-student. I'm designing a scenery painting studio for a university project (just on paper, not in reality). I have already come up with a way of hanging the cloths for painting. now I want to design a mobile platform, for painters to stand on, so they can reach and paint the scenery.

my idea is that the platform could be like a window cleaners cradle. the platform could be suspended by cables from the roof-grid system I already designed. the problem I foresee with this idea is that the 'cradle' would have nothing to stop it from moving about or swinging, and hitting the scenery.

does anyone know about systems like this which already exist? or can anyone suggest a way of stabilising a suspended platform?

thanks.

[J Pearce]

The more normal method is to move the cloth, not the painter.

[Ynot]

The more normal method is to move the cloth, not the painter.

True, but as this is a paper exercise, maybe there's mileage in seeing what might occur to the brains in here....?

[J Pearce]

True enough. Just thought I'd point this out to the OP, as its not something that initially occurs to the brain when you first think it through.

[Nat_Keiller]

Traditional paint frames do take up a huge amount of space....ours require space from stage level to grid to travel enough to paint bottom and top of cloth.

 

A solution that provided easy access to all parts of the cloth without taking up so much room, or requiring a large cloth to move such distance, would certainly have merit.

[peternewman]

The one at Warwick leaves the cloth in place and a walkway the length of the cloth moves up and down, on electrically winched cables I believe. Although I've not spent large amounts of time sitting and watching it (just odd glances being impressed at what they're painting), so I may be wrong.

[Ynot]

The one at Warwick leaves the cloth in place and a walkway the length of the cloth moves up and down, on electrically winched cables I believe. Although I've not spent large amounts of time sitting and watching it (just odd glances being impressed at what they're painting), so I may be wrong.

Course - with any system like this you gotta be careful when you're stepping back to admire your work....!

:unsure:

[djw1981]

If it is just a paper exercise, could vertical poles be used to connect to tank traps such that these gave stability to the cradle in one position - it could even have connections which enabled it to slide up and down these stabilisers such that the cloth was painted in vertical strips?

[mac.calder]

If it is just a paper exercise, could vertical poles be used to connect to tank traps such that these gave stability to the cradle in one position - it could even have connections which enabled it to slide up and down these stabilisers such that the cloth was painted in vertical strips?

 

Well if you have an decent budget - use box-truss and self climbing sleeves to raise a platform.

[kim]

The paint frame at The Central School for Speech and Drama uses a fixed frame and the artists move up and down like you describe. The bridge they stand on runs the whole length of the frame and runs in tracks to keep it stable. It may be worth contacting them and seeing if you could come up and take a look.

[paul freeman]

The paint frame at The Central School for Speech and Drama uses a fixed frame and the artists move up and down like you describe. The bridge they stand on runs the whole length of the frame and runs in tracks to keep it stable. It may be worth contacting them and seeing if you could come up and take a look.

 

 

the idea of a platform running the entire length of the frame is good. that way the cradle travels vertically only - I can now position upright pillars at each end for stabilisation - like some kind of pontoon. now the question is - does the electric winch sit on the cradle, on the ground, or on the grid???

ok

thanks to all who replied.

[GridGirl]

The paint frame at The Central School for Speech and Drama uses a fixed frame and the artists move up and down like you describe. The bridge they stand on runs the whole length of the frame and runs in tracks to keep it stable. It may be worth contacting them and seeing if you could come up and take a look.

 

The Playhouse Harlow has one of these as well, and the winch sits on the ground at one end of the frame. There are eight (I think!) steel cables, four down each side of the bridge, and the access gate in the rails has a microswitch built in so that the bridge won't go up if the gate isn't latched properly, and beacons mounted to the underneath that light up whenever the bridge is moving in either direction.

[blackbird]

The other option which can apply if the ceiling is not load bearing enough, are those metal spiral collapsing 'rams' placed underneath and then pushing it up. You then have no problem with preventing swinging.

 

Of course these things are probably prohibitively expensive and I can't actually remember what they're called, but I hope my description makes sense.

[IRW]

The other option which can apply if the ceiling is not load bearing enough, are those metal spiral collapsing 'rams' placed underneath and then pushing it up. You then have no problem with preventing swinging.

 

Of course these things are probably prohibitively expensive and I can't actually remember what they're called, but I hope my description makes sense.

 

I believe you are referring to 'Spiralifts', manufactured by Gala Systems, and yes, they undoubtedly would be rather on the expensive side compared to winches and cables!

 

Ian