a fairground life
Yes we're still in the shed, yes we're still working on the miami and yes we're still waiting on the pump & motors being serviced. So not much movement then. The splats are finally finished, the man hours on them must be around 120. Designing the digital print, picking it up, getting the polycarbonate , monitors,plugs. Then making the monitor boxes and re wiring half the ride to power them up. Anyway after all that we had to find somewhere safe for them to travel that wasn't an operation at pulling down time. Eventually after much searching we decided to hang them on the backflash. With hooks that protrude to hang them on and an eye at the bottom to paddlelock them to. The polycarbonate is supposedly unbreakable!! So to test it we placed an off cut on the concrete floor an "r" blootered it a couple of times with a claw hammer. It survived and only had a slight dent to its surface. So the I put it between two blocks about 75mm from the floor to give it bending room, hit it with the hammer as hard as I could. From the recoil it shot up into the air about twenty feet. I repeated this a couple of times-sure enough it seems unbreakable! The last couple of days have been spent rubbing and filling the paybox ready for re decoration. But NOT with paint- this is the 21st century after all, so it's digital print on vinyl that has been laminated to protect it from UV and other nasty stuff. It looks a million dollars but is a bit tricky to put on. We have managed to do so thus far without getting any creases in it. Only two more panels to do and that will be us. I wonder who will be the first to do a whole backflash in print? It can even be printed onto aluminium sheets now. One thing I noticed though was that the half naked ladies now seemed very explicit and I had to strategically place text to take the edge off. This week coming is the last before starting out, hope we get the gear back soon. The plan (wish list) was for the 24th but I really don't know. I have attached a couple of photos of the paybox and a splat. I wonder if these are the first splats to have monitors fitted into them?
posted by showman @ 19:51
13 Comments
13 Comments:
Looking very nice showman, whats going to be running on the lcds? Also can i ask where you got the graphics made as i have been un able to find a local company that can produce these?
Hope the motors are back soon, sure you will be happier once they are re fitted and running. Hope all the usuals are well, all here very quiet!
"r" and I produced the artwork from hi res images found on the net. we used illustrator and photoshop to organise everything then we got "sign directory" off Leith Walk in Edinburgh to print and laminate them. As for the lcds probably some music vids and advertisement for ourselves unless some super corp like pepsi buys up the space (LOL).
evening gents, great artwork and great job to the paybox may i say looks a million dollars as u say showman, just mid way through lambing now and all is on the go and the house is coming along good. when is your first fair showman and where as i may come up and finally visit u and blakey could sneak away get a day off! cheers borderer hope all well jesters,blakey,ss,skyliner c
Fantastic work showman! The artwork is brilliant and the LCD's, definately a 1st on any machine I've seen! Hope the hard work is rewarded with a good season for you.
Hope all is well with other regs (Jesters, r, borderer, blakey, ss)
Skyliner C
A brilliant job Mr Showman and the next question and I think you have already thought of it was keeping everthing safe while travelling and build up,I often wondered how you keep the panels and rounding boards in good nick through the travelling season, its not always daylight with good weather when you pull down and I just pictured every thing been stacked in the back of the wagon any old how particularly on a bad night.But looking back on the work you've done so far you could even make a good living servicing other showmans rides, good luck to you, Jesters, ss, skyliner, and borderer on the coming season. Flatty
haha John, you always leave interesting comment queries that I'm sure you always know the answers to, are you testing me? (lol) No matter what you pack, from toys in a childrens toybox to rides in a truck, if you pack it properly you will always get more in. All showmens lorries are racked, everything is stacked and packed. Usually from the floor to the roof, including the Luton part of the body (over the cab). All the panels, uprights or what ever go in face to face, back to back or even end to end to minimise damage and space. All racks are usually lined with carpet or sponge and in some cases the panels are covered with sheets or have custom made bags for them to fit into. I remember when I was a kid thinking (while watching a showmen put his uprights in a bag) why doesn't he have two hooplas- one to keep good in the back of the lorry and one to open? Of course that showmen was proud of his equipment and wanted to preserve his expensive gold leaf artwork. The rigours of motion have always been a problem and no matter what you lift by the time you get from A to B in the back of the lorry there's a good chance one of the dreaded four D's has happened- Dropped,Dented,Dirtied or Damaged! The fold up kit has helped minimise this by reducing physical handling and new materials like powder coating, stainless steel and colour impregnated GRP (fibreglass) have helped but at the end of the day FRICTION will always occur and the paint brush will have to come out. How many times I varnished that Howle & Fowle front on the old para before the rot ate it from behind the wooden surface. Alas my Gold Leaf, I knew it well!
Hello again Mr Showman,I think you are right to say I have an Idea whats involved in pulldown and build up, but to be honest I have never been near the inside of a truck. I like to scout round the other side of the lights taking pics and talking to the showman, business permitting of cause, but at that time the trucks are usually empty and the equipment is built up.I marvel at the way everything is measured and set out on the fairground usually to the nearest foot. Some street fairs its hard for the machines to get in and out and I think a magician would come in handy just to help. But on my walkabouts behind the scenes I love looking at the detail of the artwork on the wagons and trucks and just marvel at the time and trouble taken by the showmen either airbrushing or manually painting using sign writing and lining out in gold etc. To the flatties of the world we can only suspect at the amount of time and love given to these jobs as we only see the finished article.
I'm wondering though if the future is to do away with handballing the painting in favour of the plastic panels you have made for the bp and the modern stuff with aluminium fold outs glitter paint and neon strips, but don't get me wrong these modern machines look great and I think a lot of punters are attracted particularly if there is plenty of flash. But I still have to admire the old fairground artists who have created the panels and roundings on the likes of Ron Taylors boxing booth, the Ben Hurs, Speedways and Arks.I would like to think the old craft is still carried on in the future because its this mixture of the old and new that gives the fairground its character and hopfully for a long time to come. Flatty
im in total agreement with john regarding to keep up the old way of painting etc. my friend is a panel beater and licenced spray painter for cars and trucks etc and he does jobs on the side for lorry drivers and it looks a tough job but hes top notch at his job. miss borderer just phoned she has been head hunted for a new job and she has been given it lets just say its a well known petroleum company in europe and the uk begins with s and has loads of forecourts in scotland anyways shes been awarded scotland retail area manager so shes on cloud nine so maybe no time for wedding this year lol.
congratulations to her and when do i come round with my 45 gallon drum for a free sample of diesel ?? LOL
"r" i dunno lol shes so happy she about the news. such as high profile job in such a large company at the age of just turned 20 shes doing well for herself but the other half here slaves away on the farm lol nah i love it really mid way thru lambing and spring cultivation and seeding, good work on the paybox btw "r" im going to have to pay a visit to u and showman etc sometime soon, bloggers meeting all cheers borderer.
trials and tribulations...
we all have them in life but of lately ive had to many with this bad weather nearly finished march but yet another 3 foot of snow on the high grounds of our farms, the consequences were myself and my left and right hand men went up the valley to get every single sheep and lambs off the hills into the shed until the weather goes away during this the snow got worse and miss borderer returned from her buisness trip and decided to help us as i looked back i see the defender slip down the hill and crash into the stream- miss borderer sprained ankle broken arm and we lost 25 lambs due to hypthermia grr i hate snow. hope all well considering lol
When i heard about the farmers and the lambing season being hit with bad weather i fully intended to asked you borderer if you have been hurt by the weather and that i hoped it would miss you. now i see that if anything you have been hit harder not just with the loss of lambs (i can only imagine the heart ache of finding them and dealing with them) but also your family getting hurt too give miss borderer all the best from showman and the rest of us hope so recovers soon. i jumped out of the back of the lorry and sprained my ankle the second last week in the shed, ended up in hospital and on crutches for three days and told to take it easy for three weeks so i can relate to that injury. BUT alas as soon as she finds a bell she will have you run ragged !! (and im sure you be more than happy too for her !!)
"r" thanks for the condolences will pass on u and showmans regards. in relation farmers being hut it was 25 lambs and at prices of hundred pound plus per lamb u dont need to do maths but its not the financial loss that i was worried bout it was the fact miss b had been away for 4 weeks then within seconds of her return she carrers down the hill and does herself harm, she is working from home just now god shes dedicated snow is finally clearing but the fields are like rivers now i may need a boat not a quad. cheers borderer
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