What type of Stage Flats?

There can't to may of us old Lacer's left these days Logos?

Although I still prefer to use this method, for flats which about 20' high & taller. Because it saves climbing up to fix or Ledger them to top rails together. Also I do love the gasps & expressions on the faces of younger warm props & crew. When after undoing doing the bottom knot, with just a flick of the wrist, let the flat fall down & rest gently on to the stage. They still look on in complete amazement. Ensuring first of course they are cloth flats! [the air under the cloth surface cushions the flat, the last few feet or so, slowing the falling flat down, to a gentle rest on the stage].

I use slip pin hinges in most case, with the joining together the smaller 12' flats ;-http://www.doughty-engineering.co.uk/cgi-bin/trolleyed_public.cgi?action=showprod_T61700

As usual these are not available at local hardwares, so we make them up our selves, using the ordinary flap butt hinges. We file or grind off the top of the hinge pin, then separate the halves. Using just mild steal rod, cut it off into lengths, to form the slip pin, as pictured in the link. they work well & even great for building rostra & also joining on to set pieces & French braces [Jacks]. Also using a short piece of white cord as lanyard, iie one end on the pin grip & the other to the hinge. This ensures the pin remains with the hinge, as they are easily lost or misplaced. the white cord also helps especially when doing it in the dark.

I remember the days days when we used wallpaper size to dope the cloth, gawd there is nothing worse than the smell of it, if some yo yo has left it out over night, in an unsealed container. Thank gawd for plastic paint [latex] which when watered down works much better. Unlike the days of using Poster paint & emulsions. I find the unbleached calico will shrink just as much & become as tight as a drum with the very watery plastic paint, also even after the front cloth paint has dried, you still can spray water on the back of the flat to tweak it up. However one trap to stay clear of, when buying the calico, is to ensure it is unbleached or pre treated any way, including fire retardants. raw cotton fibre is the best for shrinkability.