Babylon 5 Zocalo Chairs

[GamerMechanic81]

I'll post pictures when it arrives. I've acquired a seat back from a chair on the Zócalo set from Babylon 5. These were on metal framed chairs at the bar and also on similar shorter chairs around tables. Any information about what chairs were used would be helpful. I'd like to restore this as much as possible, or make a reproduction based on what is in the mail.

 

[GamerMechanic81]

While I wait. Here are some screenshots of the zocalo chairs. They appear to be round with a black frame, the legs have a cross brace a couple inches up from the bottom. The seat bottom is supported by another cross brace The curved bar around the back appears to be tubular steel or aluminum finished off with rounded off plastic inserts. I think the leggs and cross brace have more of a square profile

 

[Cmdr.Kerner]

As far as I remember most of the furniture used in Babylon 5 came from Ikea. This is what I found on their website: YNGVAR Barhocker, anthrazit, 75 cm - IKEA Deutschland It is similar but a bit different.

 

[GamerMechanic81]

As far as I remember most of the furniture used in Babylon 5 came from Ikea. This is what I found on their website: YNGVAR Barhocker, anthrazit, 75 cm - IKEA Deutschland It is similar but a bit different.

Quite a bit different. I know a lot of stuff was off the shelf from IKEA and other big box stores. A lot of it was inexpensive, which means that it could be very hard to find. If I have to work up a CAD file and design and build this, I might be able to. The curved bar around the backrest and the round seat base are only tricky parts. I can cut and weld metal, cutting round wooden shapes and bending tubing are things I don't have tools for.

Having the screen used back will give me a lot of useful dimensions to work from.

 

[GamerMechanic81]

I'm currently watching season 5 and taking note of everything I see with regards to the Zócalo set. Unfortunately the package containing the seat back has been delayed, so this is still speculation. Season 5 episode 1 shows the Zócalo set but it's been redressed and different chairs are everywhere (these are silver and maybe slightly different in design). The next episode the original black chairs reappear, but they have a purple/yellow gradient to them that wasn't there in the rest of the series. For most of the series they appear to be a frosted translucent plastic of some kind. It may be that my seat back was removed before filming season 5 because it doesn't match what I'm seeing in season 5. It only matches season 1-4

 

[GamerMechanic81]

Here's some pictures of the chairs as they appear in most of season 5 (these are from a scene in season 5 episode 14). My package is almost a week late. I sincerely hope it hasn't been lost.

 

[TheBeast]

So I tried scrolling through a search on my phone until my wrist cramped up, and this is what I found.

VECELO 27.3 Inch Bar Stools Set of 2 with Back Metal

Product Dimensions 20.47"D x 20.47"W x 39.5"H Color Brown/Gray/Vintage Grey Frame Material Metal Item Weight 27.1 Pounds Max load 200-330lb Seat Material Type Metal Brand VECELO Key Features: Wood+metal STABLE& DURABLE CONSTRUCTION: The bar stool chair is made of black metal and high-quality...

www.vecelo.com

I know, I know, completely wrong, except for the curved bar, right?

 

[GamerMechanic81]

Jeffrey Willerth just told me the chairs came from a rental company. That makes sense. Lots of productions do this. Why own the chairs when you only need them for filming and not between seasons or episodes? If I can track down which rental house they used I might get more information

 

[GamerMechanic81]

So I tried scrolling through a search on my phone until my wrist cramped up, and this is what I found.

VECELO 27.3 Inch Bar Stools Set of 2 with Back Metal

Product Dimensions 20.47"D x 20.47"W x 39.5"H Color Brown/Gray/Vintage Grey Frame Material Metal Item Weight 27.1 Pounds Max load 200-330lb Seat Material Type Metal Brand VECELO Key Features: Wood+metal STABLE& DURABLE CONSTRUCTION: The bar stool chair is made of black metal and high-quality...

www.vecelo.com

I know, I know, completely wrong, except for the curved bar, right?

Unfortunately yes. Completely wrong. I've tried Google image search and it only comes up with chairs currently in production.

Chairs are probably steel square tubing with a curved round tube for the back. Seat cushion isn't always shown

In season 5 episode 14 or 15 it looks like it's covered in some sort of patterned fabric. Earlier seasons appear to be upholstered in black vynil or leather

 

[GamerMechanic81]

I found an old website with some photos taken on a set tour. Found a good shot of the shorter chairs with season 5 seat backs. The table height variety do not have any bracing on the legs and are apparently stackable.

http://www.goatly.com/gold_channel/bruce/bruce_pics.html#1

 

[TheBeast]

Unfortunately yes. Completely wrong. I've tried Google image search and it only comes up with chairs currently in production.

...

In season 5 episode 14 or 15 it looks like it's covered in some sort of patterned fabric. Earlier seasons appear to be upholstered in black vynil or leather

To be fair, cutting the outer two uprights of back looks close on top. Not that I would at those prices...

...

I thought I saw some with just flat circles, neither cushion nor upholstery.

I really appreciate the info!

 

[GamerMechanic81]

It finally showed up. I'll post measurements tomorrow

 

[GamerMechanic81]

Oh here's some pictures with a tape measure for scale. The plastic is about 0.015" thick. Its slightly wider at the top, which may hint at the design of the chair it was attached to. For whatever reason the vertical bars this attached to weren't parallel.

 

[GamerMechanic81]

Heres a flatbed scan of it. should be super easy to turn into a vector graphic and then duplicate it using a circut laser cutter to cut some vynil stickers