Model Box Production

The beginning of this process required working closely with the plans drawn up on Auto CAD. Working in 5mm thick foam board I used the plans to produce a layout plan onto the top layer.



Technique 1: Laying the plan out flat onto the foam board and scouring carefully through the top layer. Then removing the plans and finishing off cutting using a set square, metal rule and a sharp scalpel to gain a definite, neat edge.



Technique 2: When drawing a curve I found the paper plan needed to be secured in position in order to produce a neat curve. I used drawing pins to anchor the plan in place - making sure I pierced a section of the foam board which was going to be discarded.

Lighting rig
To gage the distance between each lighting beam I decided to work on top of the plans to speed up this time consuming and fiddly section of the model box. I needed to take care though as each beam needed to be at the correct distance apart - this was in order for the lighting designers and set constructors to understand where I (the designer) wanted the cloths and any specialised lighting to be hung from for the production.



Each individual beam was cut and allocated to a slot in the 'roof' of the model box. This was achieved by cutting into the foam board until the bottom layer of board - excess foam was scrapped out using a ruler to create a hollow space for the beam to slot into and to be later glued in place.



Supports were needed underneath the stage floor - this was to angle the front and back face of the model box correctly and also to prevent warping of the black card I used for the side panels beneath the stage floor.

Underneath section showing supports


Double sided tape seemed to work well here - luckily my tape was 5mm thick and so was the foam board.

Taping two sides of the right angled triangular supports

(Note to self: buy tape at the same or similar width of the board as it will save you a lot of time and pain!)

To achieve a neat finish 5mm strips of black card was cut to fit and applied around the edge of the foam board edges to hide the foam.

Model Box



Lion leaning on Proscenium Arch



Now having completed the basic structure of the model box I was able to concentrate on and realise my set design through the scenographic model. I produced the 'Lion' in 1:25 scale to enable me to gain an instant comparison when making the set - this was done by simply scanning my drawing into my computer and changing the size in AdobePhotoshop. I produced the figure to be the representational size of myself just in a 1:25 scale form! Backing it with mount board and painting black for a professional and sturdy finish.