Hobbit abode

It involved working in the wee hours of the morning to get the job finished, but the Henshaw Signs crew knew they were part of the Hobbit hype.

The Porirua company were asked by Air New Zealand to put large prints of landscapes from The Hobbit onto four air bridges at Wellington Airport, and make baggage carousels resemble a hobbit’s home.

There was a bit of hush hush around the project, Henshaw’s sales manager Colin Wansbrough says, but the challenge was one they attacked with relish.

‘‘All the guys were buzzing about it but it was pretty full on, with a few late nights.’’

Pictures were placed on the air bridges over two nights in November, between midnight and 6am, while the carousel work was completed in just one session.

‘‘I thought it might take longer but we nailed it, everything went really smoothly,’’ says Mr Wansbrough. ‘‘For us, there was a real feeling of kudos for us and the staff, being asked to take the project on.

‘‘It was something a bit different, it’s the beauty of being in an industry like ours, and the feeling around The Hobbit made it really special. We stood back [ after completing the carousel] and went ‘ wow, this is pretty awesome’.’’

Mr Wansbrough says despite the economy, Henshaw Signs has been ‘‘flat out’’, with 2012 one of their busiest years ever.