“Take great care that no wrinkles or creases arise in the cloth while it is being rolled up, for it would be impossible to get rid of them when once they have been allowed to form. They generally originate from the cloth having been lifted during the rolling, instead of being left to bear the weight of the roller evenly throughout its length. If there is a bight in the cloth, roll up till you come to the fold in the bight, and then, after taking the nails out of the fold, strain the part of the canvas that has been folded. Next unroll the canvas till you come to the bottom of the cloth, and let the roller rest on the sill of the frame. Now tighten the canvas as much as you can, keeping it square, and fasten the roller to the sill with some long nails. When you have tacked up the sides, straining out the while from centre, fill up in the bight the part of the sky that is wanting; and, all being dry, roll up again, as before, till you come to the top nails, which you can now tae out, thus removing the picture entirely from the frame.”
These instructions were given by F. Lloyds in 1875 for his publication “Practical Guide to Scene Painting and Painting in Distemper.” Although his instructions are for taking a newly painted drop off of a frame and onto a roller, his recommendations are applicable to the transportation and storage of any painted scene.
At this point in time, I have supervised the rolling and storage of approximately 200 historic drops. That being said, time and environmental conditions also add a layer of difficulty to the process as you are not rolling a flat piece of fabric. Over time the fabric has stretched and buckled in the center, almost creating an hour-glass shape. I have tried rolling drops both on the ground and standing up. While standing, we used a brilliant machine called the “rigger-mo-roll” designed by Brandon Fischer.
Both have their merits, but the “rigger-mo-roll” allows the weight of the fabric to maintain a constant (and fairly even stress) against the roll. Please understand that wrinkles created during the rolling of a drop cannot be removed. I have seen this in already installed roll drops and fly drops. The paint cracks and their is a constant visual reminder. When I have been rolling drops, there are a series of factor that are taken into consideration. Usually the question is, “What will be the easiest repair?” Repainting a crease, or patching torn fabric.? In some cases, I even split the fabric at the bottom of the drop, knowing that a patch along a seam would be less of a problem than painting a wrinkle across the sky. Below are some images of Brandon’s invention as we rolled up drop’s last year. The Fort Scott Crew provided by BellaTex, LLC consisted of Brandon, Mark Wilson, Austin Gray and Todd Whatley
