Lee Brennan Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Got a production coming up, and most of the set is scaffolding. The director want's the scaff poles to be coloured, red, blue and yellow. So far so good, until I contact the scaffolding company and they won't allow the scaffolding to be painted. Now I have a problem, the material used obviously has to be fireproof, but non-slippy as cast members use the scaff frame to climb, move etc. Anyone any ideas? Cheers Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slim_mcslim Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Find a different scaffolding company....Buy the scaffolding tubes, they are not overly expensive, especially second hand ones....Other than that you would need to make up some kinda long sock/sleeve to slide over them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 My preferred way of blacking out scaff pipe is with 2" (50mm) PVC tape. It's not the cheapest way of dong it but it looks very neat and if you are careful you can cover a pipe with three strips lengthways. Don't over stretch the tape though. Le Mark (and probably others) do 2" wide (50mm) PVC tape in "all colours". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Brennan Posted January 13, 2005 Author Share Posted January 13, 2005 Cheers, Would change the scaffolding company, it's just they are returning a favour and loaning it as a freeby! Thought about covering it with PVC tape, just thought the de-rig would be a nightmare, but if it's tried and tested then that may be the way forward. Thanks Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 If you're going to take my words as proof of "tried and tested" then I feel obliged to point out a few possible pitfalls as well. Apologies if this is grandmothers and egg sucking territory. Cost it up as it could work out quite expensive. As I said, you can probably get away with three strips per tube, particularly if you can live with a slim uncovered strip on the US side. But give yourself an allowance for mistakes as well. Depending on your design, I would have thought it would be easier to cover the tubes before they are rigged. It will save you having to cut around all those clamps (Hmm - as a side thought though this may mean you get into problems with having to earth each bit - not sure about that one but no doubt others will leap in here). It's not overly robust - moving clamps around, particularly if done unsympathetically, will tear it. However, it'll be pretty easy to patch. I'd have thought it will stand up to being climbed around on, though if anybody's wearing heavy soled boots they may rip it. In my experience, scaffold from building companies tends to be dirty and covered in splats of concrete. You may well need to wash it before use. The clamps tend to be horrid and rusty and half of them don't work. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksm Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 I suppose asking the director to reconsider his colour request is out of the question.....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 I suppose asking the director to reconsider his colour request is out of the question.....?<{POST_SNAPBACK}> ....or to cut the scaff poles...or maybe cut the set and do it all in a black box... or just do a reading...or just forget the whole thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilly Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 In my experience, scaffold from building companies tends to be dirty and covered in splats of concrete. You may well need to wash it before use. The clamps tend to be horrid and rusty and half of them don't work. Good luck<{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'd add to that, that if you ask for specific lengths, they may well give you nearest lenghths, and not necessarily tell you. Also 4m length "A" may not be the same length as 4m length "B". But you can't realy complain if its a freebie can you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Brennan Posted January 13, 2005 Author Share Posted January 13, 2005 I'll suggest not doing it all - just keep an eye out on the job oppertunities to see if my position comes up!!!! I'll price up PVC tape thanks for the idea, point taken about the dirt, plaster cement etc. on the scaff poles, it has been a nightmare when I have had to rig scaffolding from companies. But like you said, I can't complain at a freebie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northlass Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 Got a production coming up, and most of the set is scaffolding. The director want's the scaff poles to be coloured, red, blue and yellow. So far so good, until I contact the scaffolding company and they won't allow the scaffolding to be painted. Now I have a problem, the material used obviously has to be fireproof, but non-slippy as cast members use the scaff frame to climb, move etc. Anyone any ideas? Cheers Lee<{POST_SNAPBACK}>depending on the intensity of the colour required and how dishonest you are feeling you could use a thin emulsion/rosco wash. It comes off with a bit of elbow grease ( I believe Flint's supply large cans of same), a scubby pad and lots of water. If you are having to clean the scaff before hand it doesn't seen like too much extra effort. Of course it does depend on the size of the set...... :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baldwin Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 A small point of shocking pedantry, but was it the director's colour scheme the scaffolding company objected to? When I've used scaff on loan from scaffolding companies before, they've been quite happy for us to paint scaff white (helps stop people walking into it when it's being used on pavements etc) but wouldn't allow black under any circumstances - solution: repaint it afterwards in their preferred colour. Hope this helps. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gil-galad Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 Not being kinky but have you though about latex paint. It allows you to put on a good grip coating that will just peel off at the end of the production. I couldn't tell you the colours it comes in though. Or How about paint mixed with that glue you used to paint you hand with at school and the peel off. May work the same as the latex idea but don't take my word. It may be best to try it first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 PVA is the glue. But could you not paint on the liquid latex and then paint over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Some Bloke Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 We used a similar effect for Peter Pan recently where the scaffolding was made to look like trees etc. We got long lengths of coloured fabric, wrapped it round the scaff then sprayed it liberally with flame retardent spray. Didn't take too long and looked quite effective. Chose your fabric carefully to allow clambering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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