Trading tips for dark displays and prop production.
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By amandap80
#100139
I like the hole in the wall - I think it provides great detail and depth! :thumbsup:
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By mesmark
#100164
amandap80 wrote:
Fri Oct 05, 2018 11:43 am
I like the hole in the wall - I think it provides great detail and depth! :thumbsup:
Thanks for the vote of confidence!

And with that vote, I went ahead and made more holes! :ghost:

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And I also got to add my little peeping guy that I've been adding to all of my backdrops.

We finished painting all of the sheets for this year. So, next I'm going to stencil "zombie virus" on my drum can and start work on the door.

Only 3 weeks left! :shock:
amandap80, shaft28, S.A.M liked this
By Ajax
#100171
Amazing stuff, this is defineitly my favorite Theme you have done.
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By mesmark
#100174
Ajax wrote:
Sat Oct 06, 2018 7:16 pm
Amazing stuff, this is defineitly my favorite Theme you have done.
Thanks! I think my favorite was the vampire theme, but this is slowly turning into something.

So, I drew that "Zombie Hunters only beyond the defense wall" sign and my 9 year old now wants to be a zombie hunter, not a zombie. AND I've been given a full costume design and props I'm supposed to make ...

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So, I guess I have to dust and clean up the armory. A bow and arrows, a couple knives and two hand guns ... :poop:
Last edited by mesmark on Sun Oct 07, 2018 4:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
S.A.M liked this
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By mesmark
#100175
I've been dreading stenciling the drum, but it was next on the list ...

The drum is blue and rusty and I wanted to keep that. I also wanted to use some label paper for the stencil ... which would make application easier?

I also wanted it to be a little colorful. And so, here it is:

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I went back later in the afternoon and made the "zombie virus" part a little more bold, but I didn't take new pictures.

Oh, no! Someone tipped it over! I wishe we would have used a stronger container.
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I'll paint the blue foam spill a lime green later. I think I'm going to go run and/or hit some golf balls. I'm done halloweening for today. Skull and Crossbones
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By mesmark
#100176
Ok, well, I lied. I did a little more halloweening today.

It was too early to start drinking, so I decided to paint the zombie slime.

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I tried to make it look like it's still sort of oozing out.

I'm hoping it dries a little more subtle. It always does ... And the pictures will be taken from a lot further away. If I make the details too subtle, they don't show up in pictures.

It was good to finish that and now I can move on to the fence posts or stage door.

And I lied one more place above ... at my house, it's never too early to start drinking :ghost:
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By Mayor of Haddonfield
#100186
All that you’ve done is absolutely amazing! This looks like a ton of work, and you are killing it so far!
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By S.A.M
#100187
WOW! :surprised:
I admire how you always do something new each year, I can see just how much effort you put into it and it shows with fantastic looking props and scenery. I'd be tempted to break out the fog machine and chiller to get some creeping fog illuminated with green LEDs but I've no idea how readily available that stuff is in Japan, if I was local you could've borrowed it from me :grin: Mind you if it's a small space you'd have to be very careful as it's too easy to create a fog out.
I hope everyone has an awesome time at the Halloween party, can't wait to see the photos :thumbsup:
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By mesmark
#100218
MoH, thanks! I feel like I'm doing less and less each year, but I hope I can keep up the quality. Kids don't really care anyway and all of the adults just comment on my wife's work :lol:
S.A.M wrote:
Mon Oct 08, 2018 2:52 pm
WOW! :surprised:
... I'd be tempted to break out the fog machine and chiller to get some creeping fog illuminated with green LEDs but I've no idea how readily available that stuff is in Japan, if I was local you could've borrowed it from me :grin: ...
SAM, thanks! It's been fun seeing some of these things turn a corner and start to look decent.

I would love a fog machine, but I'm worried about a fog-out and possibly setting off the sprinkler system. I tried dry ice one year but it was too much maintanence. But I'm going to think about it and see if it's possible. Some fog would look great coming out the stage door or sitting behind the drum.

One more piece completed. I put together and painted the fence posts.
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I painted 3 last night and ran out of time. I finished the rest this afternoon.
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Now to just figure out how I'm going to get them to stand ... and stand straight.
Maybe that's a fun puzzle for the volunteers coming to help set up :lol:
amandap80 liked this
By Zee
#100282
Wow! Everything looks incredible. Can’t wait to see it all put together!
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By mesmark
#100315
Zee, thanks! This year's decorations should at least keep up the rep. It's all BIG and should fill the space well. I have a box of zombie stuff for games that shipped from the States last Monday. Hopefully, that will get here soon and I can stop worrying :ghost:

I painted the door and I'm trying to decide if I should stencil something on it or leave it as is...
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The door will be left slightly ajar for photos. The lock is a bit old school. I would hope the Defense Force would do a little better, but time restrictions often cause us to cut corners ... :jack_o_lantern:

I can't think of something simple to write ... I was thinking "keep closed" but that's not making me jump up and down ... Maybe the scene sells itself as is ... :thinking:
amandap80 liked this
By Zee
#100318
You could write something like “dead inside”, but I think the door looks amazing as is! Very envious of your creativity.

Do you store all the hand made props to reuse each year?
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By mesmark
#100322
Zee wrote:
Sat Oct 13, 2018 10:07 pm
Do you store all the hand made props to reuse each year?
Zee - thanks for the door idea. I'm going to hold off writing anything for now and see how I feel about it later. The door is good as is and if I don't write on it, I can probably reuse it in some other theme.

So, to answer your question above, yes. I try to keep as much as I can or break it apart and reuse the pieces. But sometimes I need to make room and I throw stuff away. Recently, I try to make less and make things that I can reuse. The last 2 halloweens we did a vampire theme and ghost theme. I think almost everything from those years is reusable.

Here's the start of a prop that I'll probably throw away after this year's party - the broken power box
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and painted
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I cut the back corner off so that it will sit like you see it in the first image. - a little like it fell and hit the ground like that. I could just lean it up and hope it stays, but my party guests are always touching my stuff and it's only later, after I look at the pictures that I realize "it's all wrong!" :smile:

Tonight, I'm going to work on some broken and frayed wires for the top pipe that's been cut. In a couple days I'll stencil "Power Box" onto the front.