Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: sliceable fake fruit

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DFTDONNA
Walk-On
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Joined: 1/25/07
Location: United States
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Posts: 8

Topic: sliceable fake fruit
Posted: 10/10/11 at 2:38pm

I need to make some sliceable oranges and veggies for a production of Honk. I prefer that they could be reused for multiple shows, so able to connect back together. I have thought about styrofoam with velcro but would love to have something that would look more realistic. Any ideas?

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JoeMc
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Joined: 3/13/06
Location: Australia
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Posts: 832

Posted: 10/11/11 at 12:20am

Why mess about!

Use the real thing & replace for each show!

[western] Gondawandaland
"Hear the light & see the sound!
TOI TOI CHOOKAS
{may you always play to a full house!}

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MartyW
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Joined: 2/02/04
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 555

Posted: 10/11/11 at 9:42am

I'm with Joe.. Whatever you make is not going to be as cheap (and probably not as reusable as you hope)

Marty W

"Till next we trod the boards.."

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Thudster
Star
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Joined: 10/16/07
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 68

Posted: 10/11/11 at 11:15am

Would it work if you took fake fruit from a store, sliced it, and held it together with pieces of refrigerator magnets? You'd be able to take it apart and reassemble it easily.

"Hey look! That's my dad up there whacking himself with silverware!"

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DFTDONNA
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Joined: 1/25/07
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8

Posted: 10/12/11 at 12:57pm

Thanks but my director has decided that the animals in Honk are actually using people sized fruits and veggies so they need to be proportionally bigger than real fruit. I am going to play with some upholster foam and some insulation board today to see what I can create. I will let you know.

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jt7724
Player
Player

Joined: 3/21/11
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 18

Posted: 10/16/11 at 12:39pm

I just made giant fake veggies for a production of honk! over the summer and I ended up learning a lot through trial and error which I would love to pass on so others don't make the same mistakes that I did.

First, avoid velcro if at all possible, I went the Styrofoam pre-sliced and held together with with velcro direction and ended up having to reapply the stuff between every single rehearsal and show because it kept ripping off (and taking little chunks of foam with it) I started out using sticky backed velcro and when it ripped off I began hot gluing it back on, neither system worked. But despite the problem of holding the slices together the carved foam itself worked great, it was plenty realistic and easy enough to do that it didn't take up massive amounts of time, so if you can find an alternative system of sticking the slices together I would highly recommend carved styrofoam to create the physical vegetables

Also, don't lose sight of the fact that a giant knife will have to accompany your giant vegetables, the trickiest part of the knife for me was striking a balance between the handle being proportional to the blade while still being small enough that a human actor could use it. I ended up striking a balance by making a meat cleaver style knife which was, if I remember correctly, 12 inches tall out of luan spray painted silver, and using a piece of 2 by 4 as the handle, the actress playing the cat could just get one hand around it, but it ended up looked good when she wielded it with two hands as well. One more note on the knife, depending on how you connect the blade to the handle it can be extremely flimsy (mine actually broke once, during a rehearsal, thank goodness) when I remade it I reinforced the blade-handle connection with some sheet metal cut out of an old air duct which worked well from then on.

please just ask if you have any other questions, I would be happy to help prevent you from going through as much of an ordeal on this project as I did

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DFTDONNA
Walk-On
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Joined: 1/25/07
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8

Posted: 11/13/11 at 10:29pm

I ended up doing something similar to you but I built my fruit starting with some old plastic half spheres that the kids had used to balance on in a sports class. I filled them with foam and covered the entire thing with paper machet. Next we paited it and covered it with a clear plastic tape to keep it sturdy when chopping with the giant cleaver we made. We have had 4 shows so far and done some minor taping repairs but it worked out well. 4 more shows next weekend but hopefully we will make it through.

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Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup

Author	Message
DFTDONNA Walk-On Joined: 1/25/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 8	Topic: sliceable fake fruit Posted: 10/10/11 at 2:38pm
	I need to make some sliceable oranges and veggies for a production of Honk. I prefer that they could be reused for multiple shows, so able to connect back together. I have thought about styrofoam with velcro but would love to have something that would look more realistic. Any ideas?

	IP Logged

JoeMc Celebrity Joined: 3/13/06 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 832	Posted: 10/11/11 at 12:20am
	Why mess about! Use the real thing & replace for each show!
	[western] Gondawandaland "Hear the light & see the sound! TOI TOI CHOOKAS {may you always play to a full house!}
	IP Logged

MartyW Celebrity Joined: 2/02/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 555	Posted: 10/11/11 at 9:42am
	I'm with Joe.. Whatever you make is not going to be as cheap (and probably not as reusable as you hope)
	Marty W "Till next we trod the boards.."
	IP Logged

Thudster Star Joined: 10/16/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 68	Posted: 10/11/11 at 11:15am
	Would it work if you took fake fruit from a store, sliced it, and held it together with pieces of refrigerator magnets? You'd be able to take it apart and reassemble it easily.
	"Hey look! That's my dad up there whacking himself with silverware!"
	IP Logged

DFTDONNA Walk-On Joined: 1/25/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 8	Posted: 10/12/11 at 12:57pm
	Thanks but my director has decided that the animals in Honk are actually using people sized fruits and veggies so they need to be proportionally bigger than real fruit. I am going to play with some upholster foam and some insulation board today to see what I can create. I will let you know.
	IP Logged

jt7724 Player Joined: 3/21/11 Online Status: Offline Posts: 18	Posted: 10/16/11 at 12:39pm
	I just made giant fake veggies for a production of honk! over the summer and I ended up learning a lot through trial and error which I would love to pass on so others don't make the same mistakes that I did. First, avoid velcro if at all possible, I went the Styrofoam pre-sliced and held together with with velcro direction and ended up having to reapply the stuff between every single rehearsal and show because it kept ripping off (and taking little chunks of foam with it) I started out using sticky backed velcro and when it ripped off I began hot gluing it back on, neither system worked. But despite the problem of holding the slices together the carved foam itself worked great, it was plenty realistic and easy enough to do that it didn't take up massive amounts of time, so if you can find an alternative system of sticking the slices together I would highly recommend carved styrofoam to create the physical vegetables Also, don't lose sight of the fact that a giant knife will have to accompany your giant vegetables, the trickiest part of the knife for me was striking a balance between the handle being proportional to the blade while still being small enough that a human actor could use it. I ended up striking a balance by making a meat cleaver style knife which was, if I remember correctly, 12 inches tall out of luan spray painted silver, and using a piece of 2 by 4 as the handle, the actress playing the cat could just get one hand around it, but it ended up looked good when she wielded it with two hands as well. One more note on the knife, depending on how you connect the blade to the handle it can be extremely flimsy (mine actually broke once, during a rehearsal, thank goodness) when I remade it I reinforced the blade-handle connection with some sheet metal cut out of an old air duct which worked well from then on. please just ask if you have any other questions, I would be happy to help prevent you from going through as much of an ordeal on this project as I did
	IP Logged

DFTDONNA Walk-On Joined: 1/25/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 8	Posted: 11/13/11 at 10:29pm
	I ended up doing something similar to you but I built my fruit starting with some old plastic half spheres that the kids had used to balance on in a sports class. I filled them with foam and covered the entire thing with paper machet. Next we paited it and covered it with a clear plastic tape to keep it sturdy when chopping with the giant cleaver we made. We have had 4 shows so far and done some minor taping repairs but it worked out well. 4 more shows next weekend but hopefully we will make it through.
	IP Logged