Gary Sconce
04-23-2009, 12:57 PM
My son Matt Sconce needed many car shots for his feature STRICKEN that we have in production. I thought that a sturdy trussed car rig would be a good alternative to any suction cup device in protecting a $6000 set of camera and lenses.
I remembered that I had some old trailer mirrors that I purchased in the '80's for use in towing and thought that they would be good for the start of a rig.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3555/3469048972_19c89264a9.jpg?v=1240511252
I also had a set of Thule racks for the same car that I bought to hold a bike. I though that between the front mirrors and the back Thule rack I could support a pretty good amount of weight if I built a truss rig between them. In the above photo you can see the two small tubes welded to the back of the mirror. The front one was square tubing just because I had it, but I could have used 3/4" EMT for that one too. I made simple 'S' bends away from the mirror and around the automobile's mirror toward the back. I bent the inner tube first and then measured to make sure that it would be far enough from the window to allow for an HVX with Brevis and matte box seet up to clear the window. I then bent up the inner tube and welded a piece of 1" square tubing to it that would slide over the Thule rack. I drilled and welded a nut to this square stock and to the front square stock so I could by placing in bolts, lock the inner rig tube on the mirror and the Thule rack.
I welded another 3/4" mounting tube to the outer part of the mirror and then bent a second tube for the outside of the slider. I made sure to slide on 4" sections of 3/4" EMT over the inner and outer tubes before I finished bending them as they will later be welded to the camera mount and will be part of the adjustable nature of the sliding side rig. I then cut and gound small sections of 1/2" EMT to truss the two tubes together.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3479/3469048966_3b8c9045bf.jpg?v=0
I braced the Thule mount with a triangulation downward for stability and added two downs, one to a new screw hold I drilled on the bottom of the car and another to the rear bottom front fender bolt. I smashed the 1/2" EMT with a hammer, drilled a hole and bent it to mount on the bottom bolt and screw for the two downs. The down tubes are used on opposite sides as up tubes for holding lights later. I cut and welded small 3/4" tubes that allow the down tubes to slide in and be bolted to the main truss. I cut and welded 3"x 4" plate to the two slider tubes on the truss and drilled and welded on nuts so the sliders could be locked firmly into place.
Here is another view:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3083/3469048956_363ab1abd9.jpg?v=0
I used a pipe bender and my knee to bend the truss tubes. Sometimes I blew it and had to unbend them and get them right. You can see all of the side components of the Aftershock car rig here: Braced front mirror, inner truss tube going up to the Thule rack; outer truss tube with slider tubes on both, rear down brace, and two slde down tubes bolted to the truss. I then duplicated in mirror image the other side.
I welded more two more pieces of square tubing to the mirrors perpendicularly and used my plasma cutter to cut notches out of them. I wanted to have a front rig that could shoot backwards into the cab and still clear an HVX with Brevis and matt box. I bent another double tube structure to fit into the square tubing and be locked in by four locking bolts with welded nuts. I later added a third piece of EMT to the front truss to solidify it nicely.
Here a a view of the complete rig with the front truss section clearly visible. Notice that I placed the square stock on the front mirrors widely apart and then bent the tubes from wide to narrow for superior stability. I placed another two 3/4" pair of 4" long EMT tubing on the 1/2" truss tubes before I bent the second side so they would be on for adjustable sliders. I used tiny sections of tube to weld the three front rig truss tubes together for a single solid piece and then locked them into the two mirror sides with my locking bolts.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3571/3469048978_d1414d5e60.jpg?v=0
On the front rig, I bent the front top tube first and then locked it into place, I used the front tube and a level to bend the second rear tube to get it right for a level camera mount. Finally cut and welded the lower front tube for trussing and added in the small brace tubes.
We keep the other side on the roof rack when filming and use it for further bracing by zip tying the other side down braces to the rack and down to the side rig. This allows the mounting of lights, running of cable and other things, but further braces the rig with not only horizontal trusses, but both upper and lower vertical braces too. The rig becomes as solid as a rock and you could actually sit on it and ride around. (Not that you would want to. Hehehe )
Here are a number of BTS shots of the rig in use. Enjoy!
I remembered that I had some old trailer mirrors that I purchased in the '80's for use in towing and thought that they would be good for the start of a rig.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3555/3469048972_19c89264a9.jpg?v=1240511252
I also had a set of Thule racks for the same car that I bought to hold a bike. I though that between the front mirrors and the back Thule rack I could support a pretty good amount of weight if I built a truss rig between them. In the above photo you can see the two small tubes welded to the back of the mirror. The front one was square tubing just because I had it, but I could have used 3/4" EMT for that one too. I made simple 'S' bends away from the mirror and around the automobile's mirror toward the back. I bent the inner tube first and then measured to make sure that it would be far enough from the window to allow for an HVX with Brevis and matte box seet up to clear the window. I then bent up the inner tube and welded a piece of 1" square tubing to it that would slide over the Thule rack. I drilled and welded a nut to this square stock and to the front square stock so I could by placing in bolts, lock the inner rig tube on the mirror and the Thule rack.
I welded another 3/4" mounting tube to the outer part of the mirror and then bent a second tube for the outside of the slider. I made sure to slide on 4" sections of 3/4" EMT over the inner and outer tubes before I finished bending them as they will later be welded to the camera mount and will be part of the adjustable nature of the sliding side rig. I then cut and gound small sections of 1/2" EMT to truss the two tubes together.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3479/3469048966_3b8c9045bf.jpg?v=0
I braced the Thule mount with a triangulation downward for stability and added two downs, one to a new screw hold I drilled on the bottom of the car and another to the rear bottom front fender bolt. I smashed the 1/2" EMT with a hammer, drilled a hole and bent it to mount on the bottom bolt and screw for the two downs. The down tubes are used on opposite sides as up tubes for holding lights later. I cut and welded small 3/4" tubes that allow the down tubes to slide in and be bolted to the main truss. I cut and welded 3"x 4" plate to the two slider tubes on the truss and drilled and welded on nuts so the sliders could be locked firmly into place.
Here is another view:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3083/3469048956_363ab1abd9.jpg?v=0
I used a pipe bender and my knee to bend the truss tubes. Sometimes I blew it and had to unbend them and get them right. You can see all of the side components of the Aftershock car rig here: Braced front mirror, inner truss tube going up to the Thule rack; outer truss tube with slider tubes on both, rear down brace, and two slde down tubes bolted to the truss. I then duplicated in mirror image the other side.
I welded more two more pieces of square tubing to the mirrors perpendicularly and used my plasma cutter to cut notches out of them. I wanted to have a front rig that could shoot backwards into the cab and still clear an HVX with Brevis and matt box. I bent another double tube structure to fit into the square tubing and be locked in by four locking bolts with welded nuts. I later added a third piece of EMT to the front truss to solidify it nicely.
Here a a view of the complete rig with the front truss section clearly visible. Notice that I placed the square stock on the front mirrors widely apart and then bent the tubes from wide to narrow for superior stability. I placed another two 3/4" pair of 4" long EMT tubing on the 1/2" truss tubes before I bent the second side so they would be on for adjustable sliders. I used tiny sections of tube to weld the three front rig truss tubes together for a single solid piece and then locked them into the two mirror sides with my locking bolts.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3571/3469048978_d1414d5e60.jpg?v=0
On the front rig, I bent the front top tube first and then locked it into place, I used the front tube and a level to bend the second rear tube to get it right for a level camera mount. Finally cut and welded the lower front tube for trussing and added in the small brace tubes.
We keep the other side on the roof rack when filming and use it for further bracing by zip tying the other side down braces to the rack and down to the side rig. This allows the mounting of lights, running of cable and other things, but further braces the rig with not only horizontal trusses, but both upper and lower vertical braces too. The rig becomes as solid as a rock and you could actually sit on it and ride around. (Not that you would want to. Hehehe )
Here are a number of BTS shots of the rig in use. Enjoy!