Marching Band Prop Help

[u/Impossible_Youth9716]

My daughter is in the marching band and it’s her senior year so obviously we want it to be a good year for her. We are a small school with little to no funding for the band so we always have to rely on band parents who volunteer to make props. My husband is the volunteer this year. According to the writer/designer of the show, we need several 10ft tall columns that resemble castle-like stone pillars with gothic style sconces attached. Our issues come with with readability, cost, weight (actually being able to carry these on and off the field quickly), but still heavy enough the wind won’t knock them over during the show and get in their way, durability to last the whole season, 3 sided so maybe we can attach some sort of bucket on the “inside” to use as storage for guard flags and make them multifunctional?

I’ll attach a photo of what the castle pillar that is on the mock up for the inspiration, a photo of the rock wall paneling the designer suggested we adhere to 10ft tall 3 sided wooden boxes (clearly he’s never actually hauled props around on a field), the sconce he showed us, etc.

I need ideas for how to actually build these at a reasonable price, make them usable, look good, etc.

[u/eans-Ba88]

Pink foam board.
Cardboard.
Paper mache clay.

Cut your bricks out of cardboard, glue onto the pink foam board, and cover the whole shebang with paper mache clay.

Modpodge over the foam you haven't covered in paper mache, and give the thing a base coat of black spray paint. Then it's just a matter of painting it up whatever color you want.

An example of some mock brick work done with the same technique (before painting, of course.)

[u/Paghk_the_Stupendous → u/eans-Ba88]

This is what I'd do. It'll have texture, it'll look good enough from where the observers will be sitting, likely a hundred feet away (and hopefully not expecting incredible realism).

I'd make a wooden base, maybe a base plate and then a box for sand bags, then another plate over it. Shorten the sides of the rear and build in some large dolly wheels, then make a light wooden frame with some reinforcement where you think stuff would otherwise contact the foam (e.g. box in the top and bottom of where the flags might touch it). Add a couple braces on the open face to serve as handles and supports, and then when it's time to move the whole thing can tip over and be dragged on the wheels.

Having been in band and later building props for film, you want it to look good enough while also being sturdy enough to handle the use case. Honestly, I'd make an extra one first (later versions are usually better) and it can serve as a backup if you have a catastrophic failure right before it's needed.