Built Resources
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RCS workshops have manufactured a lot over the years, and some of those things have been kept due to their usefulness. There are modular decking systems, braces, treads, revolves, flats and all manner of other goodies that can be used to make a production more sustainable or make bigger impact shows for much less money.
The resources mentioned below are held in two containers. One is on-site, just outside the workshop doors. The other is off-site and held at Gilmour's yard in Kilsyth. Generally speaking the heavier items, such as the modular items of deck, large treads, and revolves are held in the off-site container, whilst the on-site container holds things likely to be used more readily, like flats and materials.
As well as the images and dimensions below, there are Vectorworks files available for most items. These are housed on the RCS Vectorworks Team, Teams page. If you require another CAD format, please get in touch with your PM, Steve MacLuskie, or Malcolm Stephen, who will make one for you.
There are many other modular resources of Flats, Treads, Scaffolding Pipe, Steel Deck, and Truss that are not mentioned here but can be viewed by clicking their link, or under the Stage Equipment heading.
On-Site Container
Flats
There are a number of different types and sizes of flats contained within RCS. Details of the Hard Black Masking flats can be found on their page.
In the on-site container, there are some large flats, which can be adapted for productions primarily in the Athenaeum.
There are also flats made for the Chandler. These are not covered in black wool serge as yet so can be finished to suit the production. They are designed to fit under the gantry's stage left and stage right (when the space is using the seating bank) as traditional leg masking and they also have extensions so that they can be used as on-stage flats, including making a complete back wall when all components are used. There's also a set of braces for these.
Large Flats
2x - 2000 x 6000mm - Suitable for flying - On Edge Construction
1x - 2000 x 4000mm - This is made to attach to the above to create a 4000 x 8000mm wall - On Edge Construction
Chandler Flats
8x - 1220 x 3200mm - Standard Flats - On Edge Construction
8x - 1220 x 550mm - Standard Flat Extensions - On Edge Construction
2x - 1100 x 3200mm - End Flats - On Edge Construction
2x - 1100 x 550mm - End Flat Extensions - On Edge Construction
10x - Braces for Chandler flats
Other Flats
2x - ?? - Curved Window Flats
4x - 2000 x 1000mm - Flats - On Edge Construction
Merrily Treads
Two sets of metal treads made for the musical Merrily We Roll Along 2022. One large and one smaller.
Large Tread -
Small Tread -
Pass-through braces
Pass-through braces, as the name implies, are braces that people can pass through. The braces in question were built for Street Scene to hold up the main building's walls, whilst also allowing for people to move around freely in the building itself.
The braces are 3200mm tall and 1170mm deep. The 'doorway' that they create is 2200mm tall and 1070mm wide and has a sill iron on the bottom. The braces have bolt plates on them to attach to the upright part of an on-edge flat.
Pass through braces x ???
These rostra allow the forestage to be made into a curve, instead of the usual square-edged pit lift. It's an arc that goes from one upstage corner of the pit lift to the other, with the apex of the arc near the downstage centre of the lift. For full information about this click on the link.
Trap Infill Sections
These infill sections can replace a stage floor pallet in the Athenaeum to create a trap in the stage. They are identical in dimensions to these pallets, and can replace any of the removable pallets (see Vectorworks file for details).
Stock - 2
Other Scenery
Miscellaneous scenery items that can be incorporated into designs. Particularly useful for low-budget shows, such as showcases, contemporary or acting pieces.
Kitchen Sink Truck
A truck with a kitchen sink in it.
Off-Site Container
Chess Deck & Buttress System
The Chess Deck & Buttress System was created for Chess the Musical in 2017. It's made up of some decks, treads, and buttress towers that can make a stable and accessible platform at 2600mm high.
Recommended that these are dressed and painted before use, as there is some surface rust
Chess Decks
There are 8 large decks at the standard 2440 x 1220mm and 4 smaller decks that are sized to work with the Chess Towers. These are 1220 x 1120mm.
Currently, 5 of the large decks and all of the small decks are topped in 2 layers of 18mm spruce plywood.
There are also 28x deck legs that create a platform at 2600mm high. These must be combined with the Chess Towers listed below (in consultation with the relevant production departments) for stability. These are made from 60 x 60mm box steel, with a 48.3mm scaffold top for socketing into the deck. They also (mostly) have a large square footplate that can screw to the floor.
Stock List
5x - 2440 x 1220mm - Topped with 2x spruce plywood - 100kg per deck
3x - 2440 x 1220mm - Un-topped - 50kg per deck
4x - 1220 x 1120mm - Topped with 2x spruce plywood - 46kg per deck
Chess Towers
Recommended that these are dressed and painted before use, as there is some surface rust
Again created for Chess the Musical in 2017, these towers, when combined with the Chess Decks, can create a variety of platforms at 2600mm high. These have been used to make platforms in many productions since they were built, such as Die Fledermaus, Dead Man Walking, Perkin Warbeck and, when combined with the Chess Treads below, as get-offs in productions like Middletown and City of Angels.
The towers are made from 4 frames that are bolted together. These frames come in 2 different heights and 2 different widths. The shorter of the two frames is just the supporting structure, whilst the taller frames support, but also add a handrail to the tower.
There are enough frames for 6 towers, though there are only 4 tower decks. This was due to more towers being required for Giulio Cesare.
Stock
Support Frames
6x - 1220mm - 26kg each
6x - 1120mm - 25kg each
Support Frames with Handrail
6x - 1220mm - 36kg each
6x - 1120mm - 35kg each
Chess Treads
Recommended that these are dressed and painted before use, as there is some surface rust
Metal treads were built for Chess the Musical. These come in two heights, but both are 1220mm wide.
There are 4 large Chess Treads. These have a finished height of 2600mm. There are 7 handrails for these, so if all 4 treads were to be required for a show, it is likely that another handrail would need to be constructed.
There are also 2 smaller treads with a rise of 1450mm. These have no handrail.
Stock
4x 1220 Tread x 2600mm Rise - 100kg each
2x 1220 Tread x 1450mm Rise - 59kg each
Socket Deck
Recommended that these are dressed and painted before use, as there is some surface rust
This deck was built for the musical Urinetown. It is built from 100 x 50mm box steel, so is very robust. It has leg sockets inset into the frame underneath that protrude 105mm below the edge of the deck, and handrail sockets, that sit 182mm above the top of the deck, on each corner. Having the handrail sockets all around means that the deck is best suited to making platforms that are either 1220mm or 2440mm wide, with handrail.
There are two sizes of deck as listed in the stock list below.
Stock
8x - 1220 x 2440mm - 92kg per deck
2x - 1220 x 1780mm - 77.5kg per deck
There are also a pair of gates that fit along the 2440mm side of a deck. It consists of 2 welded gates that are 635mm wide each. There are currently offset to one end, but could be remade with different scaffold lengths to sit in the middle. It would also be possible to have one of these gates in a 1220mm deck side, but you would need to consider how this latches.
Cross-Bracing for Deck Legs
Again manufactured for Urinetown, these braces have Kee Clamps on each end and slot onto 48.3mm Scaffolding Pipe that we use as Steel Deck legs. They fit on the short (1220mm) side of a standard steel deck. Each section weighs 7kg
Use of these alone may not be enough to stabilise a platform, and as such they should only be used in consultation with your PM, Workshop or Technical Stage departments.
Stock - x6
Revolves
Big Revolve
Comes in 3 sections that are 43kg each (unclad and with no wheels)
Small Revolve
Is in 2 sections that are 60kg each (unclad and with no wheels)
Big Ring
This is a large circular flat truss-like structure, that can be used in a variety of ways. It has an outer diameter of 6000mm and an inner diameter 5400mm. It comes in 3 sections, each weighing 42kg. It has lifting points attached.
The ring could be covered to make a circular piece. It could have practical lighting or LED attached. It could be clad to make a doughnut. The options, much like a ring, are endless.
Custom Steel Deck
The deck was edited for a cantilevered balcony in our production of Dead Man Walking. It's smaller than a standard 8x4 deck, but has an 8x4 sheet of 18mm birch ply on it. It also has a 45 degree angle cut away from one of its corners. It weighs 75.5kg