Trading tips for dark displays and prop production.
By GUS
#42950
Are you utilising any black lights or similar to max out his neon colouring?
..looks superb thus far, another winner (damn you)! :lol:
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By mesmark
#42951
Looks great!

One way to deal with the print on the foam is to sand it off. That's what I do, but it's messy.

On the comments, everyone here is pretty generous with the kind words. Everybody seems to try to find the good and respond. I think we all just appreciate good ideas, unique attempts, and hard work. It's encouraging and certainly has made me more enthusiastic about trying bigger projects. This is a great place to share anything you might make (before you share it with the neighbors or party guests.)
By GUS
#42953
Well said mesmark.
All nitpicking is positive, we understand the time, & effort involved from conceptual to actual..
Myself i'm permanently stuck with my thumb up my backside projectwise!
I'm jealous as heck but love what you are doing.
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By hkzombie
#43030
Great job! It looks EXACTLY like the real thing @ Disneyland! I wonder how you found the time to do these projects!
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By scully
#43066
So today I am posting here to tell you a precautionary tale. I like to call it, "Know when to walk away" or "test out your idea on something you haven't already invested 6 hours on." It started with me trying to blend fluorescent paint. Turns out, it doesn't blend so well. What does happen is it muddies and then is no longer fluorescent. Ah, things you learn when you turn on a black light.

So, I am giving him another once over with the green fluorescent paint and to me, he's looking more like a sea monster than Oogie Boogie but I am sure once I get his black stitches on and into his "lair" all will be good in Halloweentown.

Off to construct the lair whilst the paint dries!

Check back later when I post on "Why you shouldn't wait until October 19th to go looking for Halloween decorations" its bound to be a page turner. :wink:
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By Zombie Pumpkins!
#43070
Some of the best creations come about when under time pressure. At least, that's how it works in my experience. I'm sure Oogie will come to life wonderfully. Heat up some snake and spider stew, and keep at it!
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By blueikaos
#43110
That looks awesome!

Can't wait to see it finished.

and I must have missed the Pumpkin last year, that is amazing!
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By scully
#48981
Hi everyone, I dont know how I neglected to share finished pictures of the house setup for last year but here they are: Image

I realize my yard is sparce but we had just moved from a smaller house to a bigger one and I tried to fill in the space the best I could.

This year.... still not sure what to make to add to the theme. Thinking of stone columns at the driveway and a fence along the yard. I have been wanting to make the snake for years but I just cant come up with a way to make it the way I want it that is affordable. (this is the downside to moving to a bigger house, bigger house payments)

I have also been really wanting to make the gate of Jack's house because it is just so cool looking.

Julie
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By Zombie Pumpkins!
#48982
Hey Scully, good to hear from you again. Beautiful house, made even more so by all your Nightmare props. I went through all your Halloween photos again... very impressed by the decorations you've made, which only seem to get better each year. Can't wait to see what you craft this year!

And yes, how cool would this be...

Image
By GUS
#49176
yeah, come on scully, you KNOW you wan't to! :lol:

Welcome back!

I had to laugh when you wrote "sparse" ..your gargantuan props make it anything but sparse!

Did you in part buy the place based on set out for Halloween?
Did you ask the owners if you get many Trick or treaters before you signed?
:lol:
Last edited by GUS on Tue Aug 16, 2011 5:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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By CorpseBride
#49183
I would love to have that gate....all year round even. I have been thinking about making it but I would love a metal cast.

Halloweentown is looking great scully! Your attention to detail makes my heart smile.
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By scully
#49215
I talked it over with my husband and I am totally sold on doing Jack's gate. (His job is to pretend to be really interested and then keep quiet when I start asking loudly "why did anyone allow me to take on these projects when I have so many other things going on") I like to pretend I am somehow required to do Halloween decor so its his job to humor me.

I need to figure out exactly HOW I am going to do it and research a couple options. I'm thinking 6 feet tall? (of the top of the gate, the cats would be taller)

I am not going to think about the cats yet, as I know if I run out of time or money I can temporarily make them out of cardboard, wire & black duct tape and then make them properly later.

I know I can do the gate out of copper but copper has gotten to be really expensive so I am going to see what I accomplish with some PVC piping and heat. I made an archway with it one year so I know it can bend but I need to find out if I can make it bend and HOLD the bend.

I will take pictures for a tutorial or a humorous pictorial of failure in the event anyone is interested. :wink:

Julie
By GUS
#49216
Scully, Julie..(& unless you've put on 80lbs) then still looking like Dana Scully! :lol:

If we use the pic as a model then my initial thought is obviously everything in 2 x's...

pillar support & stabilizer, so i'd initially look at making a connecting plate to be screwed into the soil (this is tall therefore needs anchor plates)
As neither is straight weight support is essential (regardless of how light or otherwise, the leaning angle of the top needs taking into consideration within the ground anchor.

I'd use a solid metal bar ground stake within the blue pipe (pipe slipped over it after siting) that takes all weight up to the height of the rear wall, so you'd simply have a straight stake to that point & made it flex from above that point, all below would be bave to be built higgledy piggledy, mere perspective, vs construction required. (see below)

The unsupported upper section would have matural bend from the point of the end of the internal bar stake, this would be accentuated by the build to give the "teeter" effect

(ok bear with me) flight case clips or similar so they can be pulled tight to the body of the upright, but also undone & removed with 2 people instantaneously.

So connector plate, small "connecting box section" containing thickish blue polyprop water pipe lengths allowing a degree of flex & stabilisation as you build up in segments & place them over the blue water pipe.
in other words your blue pipe is "planted" & you make up wall pieces with a central hole & slot them over the pipe which is eventually hidden.

This also provides a good solid screw in point for hinge supports on your pvc gate(s).

For the curve of the wall use a pre bought section of cnc'ed board that has lots of ridges cut into it to allow curvature you see in modern shaped shower cubicles etc, i'm looking for the term but it's "stuck"
..you know those kids snake toys made out of wood but with hundreds of little cut-outs that allow almost limitless flex akin to a real snakes movement, ..well that's the sort of thing this board allows.
Of course you would be left with alot of stone frontage making, but hey, it's a stone piece after all.

Anchor plates temporarily screwed into the ground are the key though!

Without getting too far ahead of things, pipework along the length of the lower parts of the wall to feed seeping fog to the gate frontage down one side
By GUS
#49217
Ooh, forgot to say*

There has been a real drop in price for LED floodlighting from china (where else) & whilst they do coloured led's, i'd personally go for a bright cold white water resistant outdoor led floodlight from 10w upward, though ideally 20-30w as the lumens output on cold white leds is vastly superior to any other colour in terms of ability to kick ass with a "color gel" covering if you were to backlight or give a glow in whatever respect to a finished piece either fog or uplighting the piece.
Obviously a cold white light is excellent for landscaping / security purposes afterwards too!

Wish I had someone nearby who was into making decent props, i'd love to give it a go, (I used to make oversized polystyrene sculptures & stick them on road roundabouts in the night) back in the 1980's ...the old battery wire heat foam cutter, ...now my material of choice would be insulation board but it's so expensive here, i'd have to buy a pallet at a time from around £150 -270 to make it worthwhile ..sad face!




*As one does.

For instance we can now purchase single LED emitter 10w (240v in uk) floods putting out an (unmeasured) 800-1000 lumens equivilent to say 80+w incandescent for around £20 delivered, good times for casting shadow & coloured light on big creations.
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By CorpseBride
#49233
Wow Gus! You never cease to amaze me. I think it may be easier to just marry a welder or carpenter :lol: You have a knack for breaking down designs! What a nice brain you have my dear.