Foam board set walls

[cardmaverick]

I'm currenlty working on buliding a fake bathroom for a short film. I'm thinking about using some foambard for the walls. My big question is will these bust into flames if I have a 2k about three feet away from them? Has anyone here ever used this stuff before on a set? Here is a link:

http://www.dow.com/styrofoam/na/iso/tuff_r.htm

I'm planning on using this stuff becasue it cuts down on the amount of lumber needed to build a frame for it, and its about 20 times lighter sheet for sheet compared to drywall....so I don't need a ton of people to move walls around. I can also just duct tape this stuff to my frame as well.

Any insight on the flamability factor would be much appreciated.

[khmuse]

I have used foam core (similar but with a skin on both sides) to build flats before, but I would not be comfortable with a hot source as close as three feet. Even if it fails to reach an ignition temperature, it is going to baldly deform very quickly.

I would recommend a different material if your going to run hot lights that close. Better safe than sorry.

[cardmaverick]

What foam material did you use? I still have the sheetrock option, but that intruduces a TON of weight into the equation, though I'm not opposed to sheetrock if it means my set won't go up in flames. Have you ever used sheetrock on a set? I need a to mount it with a minimal size frame. Thanks.

[filmat11]

Do you need to see the floors- tub or stool ?
You could turn 4x8's sideways...Attach a bathroom mirror, waa la. Your walls would only be from knee height to just above the head. Cuts down on lumber, and your frame work would be just out of frame. Easy to light from above.
I did this once for a short film. The actor had dialogue, but only talking to himself in the mirror.
The set walls are built on standard set frames and outriggers, but just open on the top and at the bottom.
Obviously, this won't work if you need to see everything in the bathroom, but it was a suggestion to cut down on construction time and expense.

[khmuse]

What foam material did you use? I still have the sheetrock option, but that intruduces a TON of weight into the equation, though I'm not opposed to sheetrock if it means my set won't go up in flames. Have you ever used sheetrock on a set? I need a to mount it with a minimal size frame. Thanks.

The material that I used is called "GatorBoard". I purchased a carton of 48" x 96" x 1/2" thick sheets. It was very easy to work with and allowed us to texture and paint the panels to look like a standard dry wall surface with much lower weight.

Here is a link to the material:

http://www.artsupply.com/foamcore/gatorboard.htm

[cardmaverick]

wow, that gator board is really expensive....thats definantly not a option for me, and yes, I need to see the whole room. I think I'm probably just gonna buy a single sheet of the Dow TUFF-R foam and point my 2k at it (outside of course). I let you guys know how this goes....If it can beat the heat, others might really like this stuff, you can literally just duct tape this stuff to a frame thats not even very complete or tall! Each 4x8 foot 1/2 inch sheet is only $10.85 a pop at home depot.

[dudeguy37]

What about 1/8" Luan or Masonite? Light weight and right around $10 a pop too (at least over here in the nation's capital which you can't be too far from in VA.) Both are reusable to. I'd use Masonite cause I'm allergic to Luan (pain in the ass for a guy who designs and builds three or four theater sets a year,) unless of course I wanted to stain something and retain a woodgrain pattern. But Luan can also be painted regularly of course, is light weight and if I remember correctly the IATSE reccomendation for film style flats. Hope that helps.
Peace,

-Harry

[Erik Olson]

There was some rather long-winded talk of set construction technique in this thread...

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=37550

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[cardmaverick]

Ok, I finally came to a decision, I bought sheetrock! I went to Home Depot and talked to some guy (former fireman...) and was strongly advised to stay far away from that foam stuff. So I just bit the bullet and bought a few hundred bucks worth of lumber, sheetrock, putty.....oh well, I've got room in the garage to store this thing. On the bright side, one of the production guys were working with got us freebie tile supplies for the bath tub!

[zeke]

I"ve helped build a couple of sets using 1/4" plywood with a smooth side (A) and a rough side (C). Light and flexible and you can put wood putty in the seems and sand them. The smooth side lets you do just about anything you want. We used standard wood framing, but it was still pretty light. On one set, we needed a curved look and it worked just fine, but we used screws instead of nails to hold it.