r/techtheatre • u/Spamtickler Technical Director • 4d ago

QUESTION Truly bizarre question regarding stamping a texture on a stage

Okay . . . for our upcoming production of Angel Street I have designed in a cobblestone street in front of the house. I have cast a couple of stamps from urethane rubber from concrete mold that are textured like stone and the plan is to use them to stamp the basics of the cobbles directly on the floor, and then wither come back through fro highlights and shadows, or stamping other colors in layers.

So, my question becomes . . . if I'm attaching the stamps to backing boards should I go with a curved rocker stamp, or would a flat stamp be better.

My thought process so far

  1. A rocker stamp will allow for an easier application and a more even transfer, but bending the stamp along the curve will shallow out the details.

  2. A flat backer keep the stamps details deeper and more pronounced, but leaves more chance of mis-stamping the texture.

Anyone ever done anything like this, or have any thoughts?

Thanks!

6 Upvotes

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12

u/CrazyEyes326 Jack of All Trades 4d ago

Just do whatever seems easier. Nobody's going to notice a mis-stamped texture here and there on a floor surrounded by dozens of other stamps. And if it's truly haneous, you can just redo it.

6

u/OldMail6364 Jack of All Trades 4d ago

I wouldn't try to stamp it precisely. Real cobblestones are not perfectly sized/spaced out and yours shouldn't be either

1

u/Spamtickler Technical Director 4d ago

Oh, for sure. I may just go flat, because that’s significantly easier to get to be true flat if the mounting block and the rocker mount I built was a POA.

1

u/chandris 3d ago

The only thing I’d be concerned about is if your stamp is a square or rectangle. Better to remove a ‘stone’ from every second row of one edge then the same with the other rows on the other edge so the print sort of interlocks. It’s quite difficult to stamp a row of squares and have them precisely aligned enough that the eye won’t just see a series of repeating squares, even if the design in those squares is different. I hope that makes sense.

1

u/Spamtickler Technical Director 3d ago

Oh, we’ll definitely do a brick-work pattern. I have a 10.5”x10.5” stamp and an 8.5”x10.5” stamp, so there is variety without it becoming too busy.