MakingFakeBananaPeelsByJimScott-March2016

CAT(ChamberlayneActors)Theatre'sproductionofDon'tCryForMeMargaretMitchell,inthespringof2016,calledformanybananas,bothrealandfake,aswellasmanyfakebananapeels.HereIaddressonlythefakebananapeels.Thebasicmaterials area roll of yellowduct tapeanda supplyof cotton-backedvinyl fabric.(WhenIsay"vinyl",I'mguessing,basedonappearance.Igotitatafabricstore.)

Inaddition,Iusedsomelimpblacknyloncord,1/4"thick,ofatypeusedashandlesonsomefancy clothing-store shopping bags. (Again, "nylon" is a guess.) Youmay want to substitutesomethingelseforthisspecificcord,afterreadinghowit'sused.

Let'sstartbylookingatsomerealbananapeels.

Theoneonthe left isa freshpeel,andtheoneontheright isabouthalfanhourold. Ineachcase,wehave thepeelof abanana thathasbeenpulled into threepieces, joinedat the littleroundblackbuttendofthebanana(thetopendasshownhere).In each photo, one of the three pieces is still joined towhat youmight call the stem of thebanana,whereitwasbrokenofffromthebunch,andwherethepeelingactionbegan.Wewillnotreplicatethissteminourfakebananapeel.Theprocess ofmaking a fakebananapeel starts by creating the three yellowpieces of peel.Later,wewilljointhesethreepiecestotheblackthing,thebananabutt.Startbyprintingthetemplatedrawingimageattheendofthisdocument,asinstructedonthatpage.Thethreebananapeelpiecesdepictedherewerefromarealbanana,intheordershown.I.e.,piece2wasbetweenpieces1and3,andtheouteredgesof1and3metontheotherside.Theendsshownatthetop(thenumberedends)aretheendsthatmetatthebuttofthebanana.Onceyou'veprintedthetemplatedrawingoncardstock(shownhereasredcardstock,fornoparticularreason),usescissorstocutoutthethreepieces.Thesewillbeyourtemplates.

Nowlet'sstartmakingbananapeelparts!Spreadoutsomeofthevinylfabriconyourworktable.Youmayfinditconvenienttocutthevinylintostripsabout8"wide,andhoweverlongyoulike.Nowcutoffastripofyellowducttapeatleastaslongasthetemplates.Again,8"oralittlelessisplentylongfortheducttape.Carefullyplacethistapeontopofthevinylandsmoothitdown.Ifyoulike,goaheadandsetupthreestripsoftapeasshownbelow.Donotapplythetapetothetemplate,ortothecottonsideofthevinyl.Chooseoneofthethreetemplates,andplaceitfaceup(numberedsideup)sothatitfitswithinthestripofyellowducttape.Drawtheoutlineofthetemplatewithapenorfine-pointmarker.Repeatfortheothertwotemplates.Thenusescissorstocutouteachofthethreepieces.

For the next stepwe need some sort of object to use as the banana butt.Using thecorddescribedabove, startbyusingagluegun toapplya shortline of glue (1/2" or less) at one end of the rope, parallel to the rope.Quickly,beingcarefulnottoburnyourself,foldtheropeoverontopofthegluetocreateashortdouble-thicksection.Thenapplyanotherlineofglueto one side of this double-thick section, and fold the rope back over it tomakeitatriple-thicksection.Cutofftherestoftherope,leavingwhatmightlooklikeaverylargeblackraisin.Thisisthebananabutt.Youmaywanttosubstitutesomeentirelydifferentmaterial.Useyourimagination.Allyouneedissomethingblack,abouttherightsizeandshape,andsolidenoughtohavethingsgluedtoit.Useaglueguntoglueoneofthethreepiecesofbananapeeltothebananabutt.Theroundedendofthebananabuttshouldprotrudejustalittle.Theendsthatcorrespondtothenumberedendsofthetemplatesaretheendsthatshouldbeglued.Theillustrationsbelowshowpiece#3beinggluedtothebuttfirst.

Glue the other two pieces, one at a time, to the butt. Ideally, remember the order definedearlier.Inthepicturesbelow,piece#2isgluedsecond,totheleftofpiece#3,andthenpiece#1isgluedlast,betweenthefirsttwo.Theedgesofthethreepiecesshouldjustmeet,leavingnogaps,butnotoverlapping.

Atthispoint,theundersideofthebananapeelleavesthebottomendofthebuttstillvisible.Toconcealthebutt,andtohelpthebananapeelpiecesspreadmorenaturallywhendropped,cutaroundpieceaboutthesizeofanickel fromsomescrapvinyl fabric.Usingthegluegun,applygluetothevinylsideoftheroundpieceandpressitintoplaceagainstthebottomofthebutt.

Foramorenaturalappearance, the twocurvedpieces(#1and#3)shouldhaveslightridgesdownthemiddle, likethefrontpieceof thisrealbananapeelwesawbefore.Toreplicatethisineachofthetwocurvedpieces,creasethepiecealongitsmidline,makingacurvedcrease.Usingagluegun,putaverythinlineofgluealong this crease, on the cotton side. Re-crease the material, then pull itapartagain.Becauseofthecurve,youmaywanttodothisacoupleofinchesatatime.

Nowlet'saddsomecolortotheplainyellowsurfaces.Usingafine-tippedbrush,applyalittlebitofbrownishpaint(Iusedanacrylicburntumber)hereandthere.Ifthepieceiscreased,drawathinbrownlinealongthecrease.Thensmudgeeverythingwitharagoryourfinger.

Nowwe'realmostdone.Thewhitecottonsideofthevinylfabricistoowhite.Takethebananapeeloutdoors,putitonadropclothwiththecottonsideup,andsprayitwithspraydye(notpaint!).IusedTintItbrand,andfoundthesepiacolortobeaboutright.

Finally, after thedyedries, turn thebananapeeloverandspray theyellowsidewitha clearmattespraytoreducetheshineoftheyellowducttape.

TemplateDrawingPrintoncardstock,sothattheoutlineboxis5.25"wideand8"high.