Sweeney Todd: Finishing the Barber's Pole.

Having secured the joints I finished the surface detail around the top section of the pole. As the design at the very top was really detailed I decided to come up with a much simpler design that fitted with the rest of the structure but incorporated the same style as the top-most section of the scales. Having drawn out this design on paper I secured it around the circumference of the pole's top section.

Design drawn out on paper.

The finished design for the surface detail.

With this in case I reinforced it with papier mache and allowed to dry. Once the piece was dry I then sprayed the whole structure black. Having finished the construction elements of the barber's pole, and securing the joints against sagging, I began to consider the colour scheme.

Once undercoated in black I painted the surface with a brown base. Once that had dried I dry brushed a dirty mustard colour over the surface. This brought out the surface detail, adding depth and giving a more realistic finish. I chose the colours based o the rest of the set and props, so it would blend well with the victorian, aged theme we were trying to establish.

As well as the 'metal' sections of the barber's pole I also decided to age the striped pole itself. As it orginally stood out and looked too pristene I dry brushed it with black and brown to give it a more delapidated look.

Finally I touched up the surface detail with a slightly brighter shade to give the surface more definition and depth. I found that the use of the builder's coat had left a textured surface that perfectly allowed me to add layers of colour to the piece. I was particularly pleased with how the dried newspaper had left a surface that, when dry brushed, looked like sheets of metal. With this completed I had finished the barber's pole.

The finished surface detail.