Taking the easy road to do anything, is just plain boring to us. If we can create a new challenge and use it as a way to work through some ideas, we are into it! Take for example our concept to build a boat, for use in a quick little promo video with Hellbound Glory. The video is for their upcoming Rebel Soul Tour with Kid Rock and Buckcherry. Instead of just having actors play a role or to show some live footage of the band, we wanted to up the ante and have some fun. This whole project started off with the idea of creating a new set of flags for the band to be used as stage backdrops. The Hellbound Glory logo needed to be sewn on bright orange canvas, to help jump off of all the black on the stage setting. Putting up some crappy banners made from vinyl just felt soulless and we wanted them to have a proper setup, to be seen by the hundreds of thousands of fans on this tour.
Our story needed an interesting narrative to help tie everything together. While conjuring up the the local folklore over in Morehead City, North Carolina, about the one and only Blackbeard, we got to thinkin' on his infamous pirate flag. Creating a flag and or banner from scratch was our mission and we enlisted the help of our favorite upholstery team to sew the various elements together. Our theory was that if the flags were done right and proper, then they should be approved by the one and only Blackbeard himself. Luckily for us, a partner in crime, just so happens to be a Blackbeard stunt double.
Getting the lettering just right, as it was cut out of black canvas and sewn onto orange canvas for a great effect
Ryan is putting the finishing touches on the Hellbound Glory flags, which are Made In the USA!
After a quick sketch in our handy notebook, we were ready to head off to Lowe's, to see what materials, we could procure. Now you might be thinking this is a bit of insanity and yes we completely agree with ya. But then again, that is the whole point of a design challenge. If we knew all the parameters and over thought this idea, then we might even reconsider spending the next twelve hours constructing a faux boat made for a minute long short movie.
Blueprints checked and double checked for accurate measurements on our boat build
With supplies in hand, what better time to start building a ship than 9pm on a Friday night. After working until about two am, we opted to call it a night and start up again early in the morning to finish the task at hand. All in all, it took around twelve hours to get the boat figured out and built. Would we do it again, yep in a heartbeat!
Next up, more movie props for the Carolina Still video series coming up this spring!
Huge thanks to Tams Higgins, Mike Thompson, Buck Thrailkill and Shane DeRuise for helping out on this project. Without their help, there is no way in hell I could have gotten it all done. Also we need to give Blackbeard a proper shout out. His legacy lives on in these parts and growing up by the sea in old pirate stomping grounds, has allowed that part of East Coast nautical culture to be firmly embedded into my DNA. I also shot and edited the short film and put it all together. Life is too short not to try your hand at everything!
Our short film actors ready for their big roles, haha!
Troy Bilt now will become a ship!
Adding in the side frame for the starboard side
Basic structure of the frame is complete
Add the side ribs are in place and ready for the next layer
Main structure is just about complete
Design challenge, hmmm... how to create an axle system with spare parts
There we go, scrap wood and long bolts with sleeves from Harley shocks made just the right fit
Everything is now ready for the paneling to be screwed into place
Buck getting used to driving his new ship. Gotta dig the wood grain on the back side of cheap paneling, fit perfect!
"How is this supposed to be a boat?" Just go with it...
Saw dust everywhere and last minute pieces being finished up
The story about the infamous rider contract with Van Halen and David Lee Roth about brown M&M's is quite high larious. To get the tale told with eloquent sarcasm by the creator is even better. The devil is in the details, especially when it comes to show productions and this can make or break an event. I have seen many contracts that asked for hookers, cocaine, chocolate panties, deli trays to all known varieties of beverages, but without a doubt, mention the word M&M's and Van Halen is forever remembered.
A crazy idea struck us earlier this summer. We figured that building a new setup for all the shows we do at motorcycle, hot rod and music events would be a good idea. Of course this was all on the fly and didn't even really think on drawing up a fully fleshed out idea as our clever concept entailed obtaining all recycled material or at least mostly refurbished steel and wood.
Several sketches and quite a few beers later we posted a note up on the local craigslist looking for scrap steel. Within a few days we got an email from a couple about an hour away that had an old steel staircase that needed tearing down and offered the steel for free if we hauled it away. How could we pass up on the opportunity to spend ten hours and over 30 cut off wheels cutting down an entire staircase? Yes, we are gluttons for punishment as this was all accomplished in close to a hundred degree heat and southern humidity, our normal operating temperature.
With all the steel finally at the shop we could take measurements and really see what we had to work with. The beams were our main interest along with the pipe as that would be our main structural support for the floor deck and poles to support the roof. The steel was under a huge amount of tension with the step supports that were welded on as they had begin to flex over the forty years that the stairs had been in use. As we we were cutting off the support brackets the steel was snapping back into its original shape. If that won't rattle your nerves handling big beams, not sure what else will, as you can guess this stuff isn't light.
Knowing how big our projects can get I cast out a blank series of text messages for "volunteers". One lone ranger opted to show up and help and we thank none other than Jukebox Hank for rolling down for three days for some sweat equity. Without his help in getting all the grinding and metal prep done on the box frame, we truly would have been up shits creek. The setup of the beams should have been a three man job to line things up and weld in the brackets to hold the corner bolts but we did it with two and several cinder blocks. The beams now lock into place with a series of four large bolts and the supports of the crossmember wood and steel pipe hold it all together so its easy to assemble and disassemble. In all actuality, one person can build the entire platform now without any other help as I had to do close to seven times to really dial in the construction of it on the fly.
One of the last pieces that we needed was refurbished floor planks. Luckily we have a Habitat for Humanity a couple of miles down the road and was able to purchase a stack of eighteen 2 x 6 x 10's in a variety of lengths. With the planks, our floor could now be completed and we cut those all to length and placed them in a specific alignment to lock the wood in tight and employed a few shims to really tighten it up.
Our plan is that now with a solid floor we can also use this for indoor shows as a bike platform or a raised deck for a variety of setups. We dig having an old country store feel as it matches the vibe we are going for. This stage has been truly labor intensive to build, but it solidifies exactly what we are doing and doesn't look like a lame cookie cutter tent at outdoor festivals. Add in our wrench knives flags and a variety of roof options and we are set for just about any damn show we need to do. 2012, here we come!
Total Cost, just under $180 bucks with excess cut off wheels, bolts, welding wire, etc. etc. Who says cool things have to cost a lot of money, go out and make life happen.
Soundtrack to stage building 101 provided by Antiseen and Crank County Daredevils
