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Need help building large Ship Mast

  • 1.  Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-04-2017 11:34
    Does anyone have any ideas how to build a large circumference and tall ship's mast as a set prop on the cheap? No crow's nest or the like needed. 
    Thanks,
    Chip

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    Chip Goff
    English and Theatre Instructor
    Mobile AL
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  • 2.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-04-2017 12:02
    Are there any carpet retailers nearby that have unused carpet tubing laying around?

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    Josh Kauffman
    Teacher
    Winfield AL
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-04-2017 12:57
    Carpet tubes are a good idea.

    You can get larger-diameter tubes at home improvement centers. They're used as forms for pouring concrete piers and come in several diameters: https://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=concrete+tubes

    They generally come in four-foot sections, but you can easily stack them, as the walls are relatively thick.

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    George F. Ledo
    Set designer
    www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.com
    www.georgefledo.net
    http://astore.amazon.com/sdtbookstore-20
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-04-2017 13:41
      |   view attached
    Ship's Mast for Zorro the Musical


    We've just made one on the cheap for our upcoming production of Zorro; it consisted of a long, lightweight wood piece, with a cross bar on the top, then two pieces of re-purposed painters canvas drop clothes. It's fairly small, but it's big enough to suggest 'boat' along with the paint job our techs did on the 'boat' staging. We added some rope around it, just to be extra suggestive-y.



    If you're in Florida this Thursday/Friday/Saturday, come see the show! :)

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    Phillip Goodchild
    Theatre Arts Instructor/Assistant Department Head of English
    Ruskin FL
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-04-2017 13:44
    (What was cool about this one was that there's a hole in the platform to mount the mast into, and then the mast is removable for when the platform becomes 'not a boat' in true theatrical fashion of re-appropriation.)

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    Phillip Goodchild
    Theatre Arts Instructor/Assistant Department Head of English
    Ruskin FL
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-05-2017 11:58
    If you cant find cardboard you can build it out of wood relatively cheap.  

    We cut circles out of scrap plywood connected them together using 2x for interior structure.  You cut Pots in the ply for the 2x to run so the ply ends up looking a little like gears.

    Once that was standing we covered the outside using cheap Wood Lath.  We used pleather to cover the seams and to give it that look.  IT turned out really nice.



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    Kevin Phelan
    Vernon Hills High School
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-05-2017 13:52
    If you can't get large tubes donated--you can buy large sonotubes--we made trees out of them...but I can totally see where this could work for you!

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    Catherine Nelson
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-05-2017 07:01
      |   view attached
    Love the cement forms!  

    When we did The Pirate of Penzance, we built two masts for our ship.  The first one needed to be practical, so we built a 2X4 "ladder" that was then enclosed in the cement forms mentioned above.  (We cut out about a third of the round on the upstage side so the actor could climb the steps to the crow's nest.) The second mast was simply decorative, so while we still built a 2x4 structure for stability and to hold the crosspiece for the sail, it didn't need the strength of the first.

    Since Pirates, we've repurposed the forms as columns for Electra and are now taking them apart (they come in 4 foot sections) and using them as dock pilings for Nice Work If You Can Get It.  Cheap and oh-so-versatile!

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    Jan Romans
    Theatre Director
    South Lyon High School
    South Lyon MI
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-05-2017 07:20
      |   view attached
    ...don't know what happened to the picture of the mast...

    Here it is!

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    Jan Romans
    Theatre Director
    South Lyon High School
    South Lyon MI
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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-05-2017 09:08
    EwYlRXRS4GN3KQcybbCW_mast.jpg
    We used two big round cardboard tubes left over from our prom decorating sponsor plus a stand we had that fit into the tube. They cut holes to slide the smaller tube into the bigger one. It was GREAT until we started handling it for 
    tech and by dress rehearsal it split in two where the holes were cut. We had to reinforce the center with small pieces of wood on each side and it seems to be holding. What ever you use be aware that that center could be a weak point. Looking back, I would have possibly gotten large pvc pipe. It is cheap and more durable than cardboard!

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    Erika Trahan
    Kaplan LA
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-05-2017 09:47

    I've used cement tubes.  You can find them at home depot.  They are about 4 feet long.  Just Duct tape them together to  the height you want.  They come in different diameters.  Then cover in butcher paper or muslin or another type of fabric.  I have found fabric that looks like wood grain even.  They are very light, easy to move and make a big impact. 

     

    Have fun and may all your theatre seats be filled,

     

    ​​​​​

    Kelly M. Thomas

    Department of Theatre

    Dr. Ralph H. Poteet High School

    3300 Poteet Drive

    Mesquite, Texas 75150

    972-882-5300

    Kthomas@mesquiteisd.org

     

     




    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-05-2017 10:36
    Lots of good responses-- Sono Tubes or cement forms come in different sizes and you can block or foam them together so they reduce in size as they go up.  Ask your home center if they'll hold on to some for you-- they often get damaged and or returned-- and would be no big deal in a theatrical setting as the void could be hidden.  You might be able to get them for free.

    Be careful about the height of the tube.  Very tall scenic members need to be secured to the deck and the grid.  Often the illusion of a mast will suffice and there is no need for a really tall piece.

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    Michael Johnson
    Trinity NC
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    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-05-2017 12:08
    Thanks everyone for the suggestions. On the cement tubes, how can they be hooked together -- inside with blocks or with a cement/construction adhesive? They will be inserted into a platform hole, and i suppose some type of structure inside to make sure it doesn't tip? Do they take paint without swelling? I haven't settled on a full design yet, but as it is a mast built by Athena for the Argo, i want it to appear sturdy and capable of being one of the renaming pieces of the Argo after much time has passed. It is also supposed to serve other functions such as that of a tree trunk. 

    Thanks!

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    Chip Goff
    English and Theatre Instructor
    Mobile AL
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    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-06-2017 15:15
    I built a ship mast 12" in diameter, 12 feet tall.  It was a bare mast that stood on a tall platform(part of the pirate ship) and the top of the mast disappeared behind a border curtain.

    First, go to Home Depot and purchase two tubular concrete forms (these are 6 feet long, waxed cardboard)
    Second, fasten these together
    Third, fasten to a plywood circle that is 15" diameter
    Paint the whole thing to look like wood and you are good to go.

    It's easy, the completed mast is light weight, easily transported by a student
    Have fun!

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    Patt Martin-McNorton
    Jacksonville FL
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    Original Message


  • 15.  RE: Need help building large Ship Mast

    Posted 04-07-2017 13:47
    Just adding my two cents here ... do not forget the rope! Wrap it around the mast several times at various heights on the mast. Also there should be some ropes coming from the "top" or the mast to the side of the ship.

    In my production of "The Tempest" a few years ago, I wanted to see the ship in the storm. My designer made the mast, included and very stiff wooden brackets inside, and attached it to a 14' x 4' platform that would rock back and forth with a travel of about 12' on the stage, but the mast and "side rails" of the ship looked like it was being tossed around. We put it behind a scrim, projected video rain on to the scrim and added occasional strobe for lightning. Two deck hands actually were pulling the ropes at the top of the mast to make the whole thing move and it gave the effect of a ship at sea.

    Lots of fun!



    P.S. If I can find a way to attach my video or stills of the scene I will in another post

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    Warren Kerr
    Theatre Arts Teacher
    Auburn School District
    Auburn WA
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    Original Message


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