Trading tips for dark displays and prop production.
By Ajax
#51496
wow your getting better and better every year it everything looks amazing.
User avatar
By purple1worm
#51501
Wow, looks awesome!
User avatar
By sloaner
#51506
I LOVE IT. I really cant wait till I get my own house and can do things like this. I also wish more people decorated for halloween like you do.
By OrangeOrb
#51510
All your work is very impressive. The tree faces are really neat. It'll look great when it's all put together.
User avatar
By blueikaos
#51534
I am SO jealous of your artistic abilities!

Everything looks great so far. Can't wait to see finished project!
User avatar
By monstermash
#51542
Fantastic Mes, really fantastic. Those trees are just amazing. I'm glad someone else is tackling a big project. Still jealous of your lovely big sheets of insulation!!!!!!!
User avatar
By mesmark
#51567
Thanks everybody for taking a look. It's nice to be able to share the progress here with you guys. It helps for me to have little successes along the way and not get too stressed out about the whole thing :)
Edinburghzombie wrote:It looks like it's been lifted straight out of a Halloween cartoon, fantastic
Yeah, I asked my wife what she thought. I knew the faces would make it more cartoon-y, but this is a kids party and our costumes this year are a cartoon theme (Pokemon.) And the faces make it seem more like a haunted tree.

I like them and I think they'll be very reusable for years to come.
blueikaos wrote:I am SO jealous of your artistic abilities!
Thanks, but so many people on here really make some awesome stuff. Way beyond anything I could do. I think I have an eye for design and some decent ideas, but my actual artistic ability is questionable :P

These trees turned out pretty good and I'm happy. I think they'll be a big part of making the scene work.
monstermash wrote:I'm glad someone else is tackling a big project. Still jealous of your lovely big sheets of insulation!!!!!!!
Yeah, it's nice to have a partner in crime :twisted: It helps to keep motivation up when I see posts of your progress.

The insulation is nice. It makes all of this much more doable. It's also light for moving around. The trees could be done with cardboard, but they'd look really cheesy and would be rather flimsy. I do have the problem that my party is mid-day and the hall is as light as they come, so there's no hiding details in the dark.

The insulation isn't cheap, though. The 40mm boards are about $18/board. So, those trees cost about $40 each to make if you include paint. Fortunately, this is part of my business (an English school and school Halloween party) so I can write off everything :wink:

The fence posts all together took 2.5 sheets and so they cost about $60 for all 6 with the skull toppers.

Could you order insulation sheets through a local hardware store? there are several different kinds and qualities it seems. I've never used or seen the pink ones a lot of people use. And, I just saw a house near by being built and they had a white kind that seemed really dense, kind of like the foam pumpkin insides.
User avatar
By monstermash
#51582
It's certainly cheaper than it is hear. Ive looked into DIY stores and such but it is still a total rip off, I'd be spending at least £300 on insulation alone if I were to buy it. Luckily there is a rather large building site on the edge of the village and the site foreman has promised me some off cuts. They have yet to materialise though which is a little annoying. I did get a nice pile of it from a joiner who stayed in our holiday home. He was such a gem to bring me it and I should manage to cover the fronts of my pumpkin wall at least.

So far it's cost me nothing to bulid these walls/pillars. It's brilliant but at the same time its sad that I don't know ive got a definate supplier of insulation. I can only get what is given to me.

Your work inspires me and spurs me on with my own. And at least i will be able to hide mine in the dark. :)
User avatar
By Zombie Pumpkins!
#51592
Absolutely love how those trees turned out. I'm always impressed all over again, when I see you building these sets for your Halloween party.

When I see your presence on the web, I often think "mesmark is the guy with the English school in Japan" or "mesmark is the guy with the fun site that has printable projects and such." But then at this time of year I'm reminded, "Oh yeah, mesmark is also that artistic guy that has a knack for crafting some excellent props out of foam etc."

You certainly have lots of artistic creativity. The kids (your own, and your students) are lucky to have a fun guy around that can treat them to such imaginative projects like these.
User avatar
By SuperSonic
#51605
Nice job mesmark! I've always wanted to do something like this.

However, with me in the wood working trade, I would prbably use wood to do such thiings.

Rather than the drawing technique, why didn't you groove foam with the wood grain for the fence? Mind you I know how wood grain looks and to some one who doesn't work with wood, they wouldn't tell the difference.

Just a suggedstion when drawing it. Take a look at some various boards while around the house or a lumber yard for even more authentic grain.

Sorry for nitpicking, but its what I do since like Ryan, I am a perfectionist :)

Great work and keep it up! Can't wait to see it done!
User avatar
By mesmark
#51606
Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate any help or advice. So, nit-pick away :)

I wanted the fence posts to look like stone. So, that's why I made those with foam.

For the house facade, I don't want to use foam. It's too much to store in my already crowded garage. If I use cloth, I can fold it up neatly and place it right next to my Egypt set. :D Also, the foam is starting to seem like a lot of plastic trash some day. If I can reduce the amount I use, I'll feel better about it.

I have been trying to look around a bit and see the aging of wood walls and houses. For the grain on the boards, I really need to make it simple just because I'll have sooo much to do - 8 or 10 sheets, each 2.5m long and 1.2m wide. I imagine one sheet taking about 1 hour with the current plan.

I'm not complete set on the method just yet, so again other suggestions and reference pics are certainly welcome.
User avatar
By SuperSonic
#51608
Wood grain

Here are some blanks you can take a look at :)
By GUS
#51609
The foam is indeed a quandry, (I love insulation foam).
Precisely because it is man-made, recyclability is dubious at best, it uses gas injection (though there are environmentally safer product of this ilk now appearing on the market)

Fact is that used in it's proper environment this is great stuff to have around as insulation slab, saving you a slab of cash on heating & cooling.
Cut like this it renders it's prime use redundant, sadly unless you design whole piece foam boards to line out the building with a ply protective backer, making your garage warmer & more useable, then flip it out for the time required) ,..not likely to happen due to your theme changes.
I eye up your concrete basement garage & think how with a little insulation you could really change the whole feel & warmth of the house in all likelihood.. however even cut out trees of insulation when stored properly could add to your overall insulation & heating / cooling requirements.

I was actually going to ask you how the Nuclear debacle at Fukushima was affecting the nature of folk, obviously we're all aware of the efforts to reduce energy on air con during the summer, shorts & less suits etc, lighting reductions in order that the load is taken off the existing supply to keep brown outs at bay.

Pink foam, which is what you seem to have used in the past isn't (as I recall) as thermally efficient as pir foil / foil boards, so not so bad getting creative with it.
How do you store your gear mark? in the roofspace or similar? ..try & find dual purpose for what you make & where you store it & salve your conscience a bit maybe?
User avatar
By staticfurball
#51632
Thats awesome dude! I like that idea of using that thin foam board it keeps it all nice and ligh.
One thing I use a lot seems to be the spray foam lol man I use that sh**t on everything lol. I use it for carving and filling and so much more. I'ts good stuff.