benash Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Howdy Folks, I have a show coming up shortly and the director has asked that the (currently black) stage be painted white. Having never had much luck covering dark paint with light (without doing lots of coats) I was wondering if anyone had any hints on the best way to go about it. One of the guys at work tells me that if you mix a little black paint in with the white (just a little, not so much that it turns it grey) the existing paint won't show through as much. We've only got 2 nights to paint so we're pretty limited in the number of coats we can apply. Thanks Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GridGirl Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Don't do it! You'll never get rid of the white, even if you get decent coverage of the black in the first place. Get some 3mm thinline, paint that white and lay it over the top of the existing stage - you can pre-paint it to save time as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingwalker Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I agree, don't do it. Instead use some other type of covering such as hardboard or lino that you can paint without it becoming a problem to you. David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benash Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 Thanks for the comments. The show's fairly low budget so forking out for a false floor might be out of the question. Off to see the director... Cheers, Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 hardboard isn't exactly expensive - and white paint costs how much a can? If you do paint, then you will need quite a few coats AND plenty to constantly touch up as scuffs and scratches reveal the black again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benash Posted August 6, 2009 Author Share Posted August 6, 2009 hardboard isn't exactly expensive - and white paint costs how much a can? If you do paint, then you will need quite a few coats AND plenty to constantly touch up as scuffs and scratches reveal the black again! One question, how would you go about joining the pieces of board? I doubt we'll be allowed to nail or screw through into the existing stage. The show is an all singing all dancing musical so we're going to need a fairly good surface without edges that the cast can trip on. Is taping the under sides of the joins going to cut it or do we need to look at something else? Thanks for the help folks. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GridGirl Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 So the venue will let you paint their black stage white, but not screw or nail a false floor into it..... :) Even if you can't screw or nail the floor down, the venue might let you staple the floor down - compressed air staplegun and it shouldn't take you long. If you're just taping, then I'd both under- and over-tape it for it to be better secured. 3mm hardboard isn't really a trip hazard - just tape the edges to the floor and it should be OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benash Posted August 6, 2009 Author Share Posted August 6, 2009 So the venue will let you paint their black stage white, but not screw or nail a false floor into it..... :) It's all good. I just talked to the head tech there and they are fine with us screwing down a false floor so we'll do that! Thanks again to everyone who's contributed. I was having nightmares about painting the stage but feel much better about it now... Bump-in is Sunday so I'll be back then crying or celebrating depending on how it goes. In the mean time if anyone has any other helpful tips I'd be most interested. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin D Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 If you are going that route, look at using white faced hardboard. You might find it too slippery, but get that on the floor with a good coat of acrylic hard matt varnish should mean that dirt marks will wipe off with a damp cloth. Robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomHoward Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 I recently painted around a 30x10m MDF black stage white for a production and it was a nightmare. We used bottom quality emulsion from Wilko due to cost and it was a nightmare; it went on stiff and thick and didn't dry very flat. Took around three coats to cover the black though. If I was to try it again I would try Flints white, although obviously there will be availability issues your way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyP1955 Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Either rent some white Marley, or leave it as it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Sorry I'm late. White to black, we used a vinyl matt for a base and a vinyl silk as a top coat. It was something like £20 for a 10l tub maybe more, but was amazing. Photoshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/62615014@N00/...57611621156549/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/62615014@N00/...57611621156549/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.