# Lighting question



## Georgeb68 (Mar 26, 2013)

Hello everyone , so here it is I want to make an archway with pumpkins and I want to know where I can get some rigid clear tubing . I want o either run rope lights or light it from the bottom. Also what's a good base color for pumpkins that people use?
Thanks 
George


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## azscoob (Oct 6, 2010)

For rigid clear tubing I would check out McMaster Carr, they seem to have darned near everything you could dream up from tubing, stainless hardware, motors, adhesives, etc..

As for the pumpkin base colour, I would vote for orange..


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

Guess I'm having trouble picturing the confluence of 'rigid' and 'arch', but if you are just looking for 'sort of rigid' as in 'hold up it's own weight and a bit more as long as you don't put too much pressure on it' - you might prowl a local home improvement center for fluorescent tube protectors. They come in various diameters and 4 or 8 foot lengths.


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## screaminscott (Oct 13, 2006)

corey872 said:


> Guess I'm having trouble picturing the confluence of 'rigid' and 'arch', but if you are just looking for 'sort of rigid' as in 'hold up it's own weight and a bit more as long as you don't put too much pressure on it' - you might prowl a local home improvement center for fluorescent tube protectors. They come in various diameters and 4 or 8 foot lengths.


You beat me to it. I was going to suggest the same thing. They are pretty stiff - can be filled with water to make bubble tubes for a laboratory scene too.


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## The_Caretaker (Mar 6, 2007)

look here: http://flexpvc.com/cart/agora.cgi?product=PVC-CLEAR-PIPE-NSF-Sch40


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

For the base, I'd use real or synthetic leaves and vines like pumpkins have in their natural state/growing.
For the tubing, I'm not sure I understand what you plan on using the arch for. Are you going to fasten pumpkins to it for the arch, and if so how did you plan on doing that?
Did you plan on putting rope lights or something within the tubing or...?
If you are going to cover the tubing with pumpkins then I wouldn't bother trying to do the tubing route, instead I'd consider using a couple (or more) lengths of rebar and rap the rebar so that it looks like the natural vines of a pumpkin. The rebar is rigid enough and strong enough to take that kind of use/abuse, and it would allow you to bury the ends to avoid having it tip or tilt. You could still add rope lights or twinkle lights but I think dramatic uplighting would work better for you.
Just thoughts from the cheap seats.


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## Georgeb68 (Mar 26, 2013)

I appreciate that .....I thought if I used a clear tubing like the fluorescent tube protectors...put the rope lights in them , then cut holes in the pumpkins( which are very light) and then put a foot into the ground that should hold it.....make an archway of pumpkins so that people will go under it. Does that help?


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

"Does that help?"
Yah, to a certain extent. I understand the desire to have an archway, that would be fun, but I was wondering more about the type of "finished" look you want when all is said and done. If you want the archway itself to be lit up by the rope lighting, then you could try the protective sleeves, however I don't think they'd hold up under windy conditions or with the way TOTs treat props and scenery. I'm not quite sure I understand how you would have the rope lights used with the pumpkins. Would it be two holes in each pumpkin so that the rope lights can go through, or just a single hole with a loop pulled into each pumpkin then running out to the next pumpkin?


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

George, aside from the lighting question, take a look through the thread I've linked below. There are pictures of a pumpkin archway built by disney-fan-reborn that might help you with putting together a framework that will hold your pumpkins. In his example, each pumpkin was lit by a single bulb, but you could certainly run rope lights through as well.

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=23711


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## Georgeb68 (Mar 26, 2013)

Roxy , that's awesome.......my son in high school is in plumbing class .....so he works with PVC ......I will show him that link......that's way more than what I want to use it for and even if I start now .....it wouldn't be done till halloween 2015! I work 2 jobs and never seem to have enough time......I was just going to stack the pumpkins at diffrent angles on top of one another with the clear piece through the middle......but I am now thinking differently.....thanks for everyone's help.....love this site because everyone has a GREAT opinion!


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

I think that if you used rebar to build the arch, it would allow you to still go through the pumpkins and have your lighting without the wild expense or fragility you might face with the tube protectors or even with PVC. The rope lights can be wrapped into a long "Vine" (where the arch itself is exposed) and uncovered when they are within the pumpkins to expose the lights, if you want the lights exposed between the pumpkins you just need to use wire ties to hold the rope to the arch.
I'd build the arch in at least two pieces, that would make it easier to build, handle, and store, and also give you more control on the angle and placement of the pumpkins and the arch itself. You can wrap the rebar to make it look like the vine of a pumpkin, add leaves, etc., so that your arch looks a lot more organic/natural (well as natural as an arch of pumpkins would ever look).


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