# Building A Jumbo Spray Can Prop



## Tyler (Aug 5, 2009)

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## Footer (Aug 5, 2009)

Hairspray I assume? 

I would build a curve studwall with the radius you want. To cover it, you have a few options. Luan Might be able to make the curve. Masonite has a better chance. There are two product made to do this exact thing. One is called easy curve. Its basically a 4x8 sheet of really really heave posterboard. I have not seen or ordered the stuff in a long time, so who knows who makes it. The other, and what I would suggest, is wiggle board or wiggle wood. Its essentially luan, but instead of the grains going opposite directions all grains of all the plys are going the same direction. It bends one way very well and is rigid in the opposite direction. Call your lumber yard, if they don't stock it they can order it.

As for the top, the way I would do it would be to foam it with 3" or 4" foam, then carve it. Cover it with foam coat and paint. It will look much better then chicken wire and plaster.


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## Van (Aug 5, 2009)

I wholeheartedly concur, and support my dear friend and colleague Footer and would add, depending on the diameter of the can you might want to look at using sonotube, which is used for Concrete casting and usually available at a a local construction supply < Not Home despot or Lowes but a good Lumber store should be able to point you in the righ direction. >


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## Les (Aug 5, 2009)

Van is right, Lowe's only has about up to 1' diameter. I was gonna suggest masonite for the'quick-n-easy' way. 1/8" or similar would be best.


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## Van (Aug 5, 2009)

Tyler said:


> .....It's not for Hairspray, but for an event set (the theme has something to do with paint) so it'll be spray paint. ......


 
I can se it now, " Graffiti In Heat; the World Tour"


One small note of caution. An issue that I've run into, and observered one too many times on cheap sets, Sonotube in some diameters has a raised thickness of the paper that spirals up around the tube. If you just paint it this raised area can sometimes show through. My preferred method of dealing with this issue is to either Lightly sand the entire exterior paying particular attention to the raised area, or , wrap the exterior of the tub with Rosin Paper or Bogus Paper, Rosin paper is available at you local home improvement vendor of choice and is cheap. Either way works well. the only other issue is that some Sonotube is coated inside and out with a wax compound < which prevents concrete fron sticking to it> Paint won't stick to this coating and it will need to be lightly roughed up. 
I like the idea of Masonite, Wiggle Board, Luan, etc. The only advantage of using Sonotube is it decreases the amount of framing necessary. 

Ok it wasn't such a small note now was it ? 
Good Luck and let us know how it turns out!


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## FatherMurphy (Aug 6, 2009)

Sonotube would be my vote too - the local building supply store (not a lumberyard, they mostly do concrete stuff and ethafoam rod) sells it by the foot, and is perfectly willing to cut it to length for us (they've got a purpose-built saw with which to do it nice and square). From what I've had, the inside is waxed, and the outside is usually plain cardboard. The paper seam is evident, but any sort of texturing in the paint will hide it, or you could wrap it as suggested. I know it's available up to 48" diameter, probably larger as well, and a full length is something like 20'. If you are going to use a number of pieces, note that they make two actual sizes for each nominal size, with about 1/2" difference between them - this is so they can sleeve them together for shipping, and halve the volume on the truck. Beware of joining leftover pieces, or pre-cutting discs to fit inside....

A heavyweight posterboard type product we used to use was Upsom board, or a thin plastic such as Sintra might be an option as well.


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## scenerymaker (Aug 6, 2009)

According to my measurements, you want a 40" diameter to match a 96" height. If you can get that size Sonotube, you're nearly done. If not, cut a few 40" disks from plywood or OSB, connect them with 2x2 studs, and cover. I would use the untempered Masonite if it needs to be rugged and long-lasting, but if it's a short-term deal and there's no risk in somebody kicking a hole in it, use 3/4" blue foam. Three sheets of it will do nicely.

Let us know how it comes out.


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## TimmyP1955 (Aug 8, 2009)

You can use a solenoid controlled CO2 nozzle to make it spray. Very noisy though!


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## Erwin (Aug 8, 2009)

If you go the wiggle wood route, I had some trouble ordering it when I wanted some. Our local building supply store was able to get it for us, but finding a common language was hard. I tried asking for wiggle wood, wiggle board, snake ply... what they knew it as was bending luan. You may need to try a few names to find the right product.


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## scenerymaker (Aug 9, 2009)

Around here, the plywood is called column-bending plywood if it's stiff along the 8' dimension and barrel-bending plywood if it's stiff in the 4' dimension. Obviously, one is for long skinny tubes and the other is for short fat tubes.


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## BrianWolfe (Aug 10, 2009)

I would use the bending plywood (wacky wood as it is often called, available here at Premium Plywood) covered with a thin sheet of vinyl or ABS for the can body . The top we made for both Broadway and tour productions of Hairspray. We made a plaster mold and vacuum formed it in Kydex and silver Mylar in three pieces and then taped the seem with mylar tape. The nozzle was a wood mold and another two piece vac-forn with a plastic detail and pvc pipe to carry the fog: 



Not a cheap piece. I believe the diameter was about 40" at the bottom. In your design the top looks like simple shapes you can make in wood except for the large curved section which you can make in curved slices of wacky wood(like a globe) and smooth out with bondo or wood filler. You might try to simplify the curved section and add the details with ethafoam tubing or built up wood.


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## ship (Aug 11, 2009)

Wow! The scale of it. Hairspray is long since I left the field as a designer and had no idea such a thing was needed. Wonder if you could rent such a thing from a school or prop house cheaper than you could build it for. Remember my wagon for “Sweeney Todd” hair cutter’s wagon survived long after I left the school and it’s initial production on a rental basis. While it’s a great project to figure out the how to for, do you have the time budget and ability to get it right as opposed to renting it as opposed to concentrating on other things?

Fair question to ask of yourself out of tunnel vision being detrimental to the overall design.

Anyway, initial thughts some form of pressurized cylinder that has effect of spray added to it but later in toughts, less pressurized tube and more tube with spray nozzle that of hazer or fogger in output for it. Say weather tight adaptor to the nozzle of a fogger outlet with pneumatic hose out to the scenery hose might work. Than a question of how to make that proportional size tube as can and spray top part of it. Good solutions above, could also cut out of foam the top part than spray coat to flame prevent and color style.. Sonic tube verses bending plywood or other stuff all a question in making the can.

One might consider in what you do what you can re-use and or dispose of in cost effective and still in being “green” for fabrication. Even if this thing can be made out of a big block of foam and that and those blocks of foam can be saved for later in such a time as flueted and saved for a greek play, will this work sufficiently in doing that option verses sonic tube etc? All good questions a TD need anser in solving well solution, cost, and storage of it for later. A few options as it were for the piller as it were. This and fire code compliant if not if flammable totally sealed within materials that are not at best if used at all.


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