UK based 5 Star Cases has delivered its third batch of flight cases to leading French lighting and sound rental company Arpege, bringing their total to over 100 since the first order last year.
The 57 cases in the latest order were to house Clay Paky's Alpha 300 and new 700 range of Spot, Wash and Beam moving light fixtures - both the 300 and 700 fixtures fit into the same case.
The Tour Grade trunks each house 2 luminaires and provide storage space for the removable hook clamps. The latest set of cases featured modifications to include a larger allowance for the bracket of the Alpha 700s.
5 Star's Tour Grade cases are robust, reliable and a favourite with rental companies. It's a professional range of cases constructed to the highest quality and strengths, built to withstand the rigors of the road.
The Arpege cases were made from 12mm birch plywood, with a high pressure laminate bonded exterior in a smart black finish. They also feature heavy-duty casters rated up to 180 Kg, more than double the rating of the standard ones.
The project was handled for 5 Star by Andy Harford, who explains that although the delivery date was brought forward by a week, despite the added pressure, 5 Star was able to make the deadline. This is due to the company's streamlined production lines which includes the latest CNC machining facilities.
Delivery speed and great customer service is something for which 5 Star is renowned, and Harford also recalls the initial order from Arpege, which was initiated by Enrico Caironi from Clay Paky, who was visiting Arpege in Paris at the time. "I received the phone call from Arpege, and they had the quote 20 minutes later while Enrico was still in the office!"
The latest cases were delivered to Arpege's crew in Reading, UK, loaded up with the lighting fixtures and flown directly out to Saudi Arabia for the inauguration of the new King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) on the shores of the Red Sea in Thuwal. A total of 168 ClayPaky Alpha 300's are being used on this event, for which Arpege's lighting supply is being co-ordinated by Christophe Mortelette.
Tour Grade specified cases are particularly suited to the entertainment, event production and conference sectors of the industry. To date, 5 Star has produced Tour Grade products for a wide variety of uses including as stage manager's script reading racks, as wardrobe trunks for touring theatres and as complete exhibition display systems ...... plus for the more conventional specification as lighting and effects trunks.