Trading tips for dark displays and prop production.
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By nosferatu
#71244
Mesmark you are awesome and that hand is just outstanding. It looks stunning. Was it easy to do?

Your Reaper is complete and I doubt you would ever disappoint me.
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By Drayco
#71251
mesmark wrote:I never want to disappoint Nos and Drayco went out of the way to point me in a direction ...
How could anyone be disappointed after seeing those bony fingers! :D I agree with Nos, they look awesome!
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By mesmark
#71368
thanks everybody for the nice comments.

The hands were quick and easy to make. I think it took about 30-45 minutes. I was talking with my wife and sort of watch in the news or something as well. The site referenced (on p.3) didn't have a tutorial, but just a picture. That's certainly enough for something this simple. And, I just gave it a go.

Using a box cutter, I cut small glue sticks in to 3 pieces. Then for the knuckles, I cut the larger glue sticks at about a 45 degree angle alternating. Because I didn't want the pipe or anything to show I added another small glue stick section and then half of a larger one to be the base. I glued them together just trying to keep them somewhat straight. Then, I hot glued on a white wire at the end.

For the full hand, I ended up gluing all of the fingers together at the base. That was easier than trying to get the wires positioned correctly and sturdy enough to hold the form.

One cool thing is the hands glow under a black light :D
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By mesmark
#71401
I think I'm done for this year.

I made a sign to go outside the haunted house display.

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and I made some spider sacks for the devoured meat. I'm going to add a little more loose cotton around the outside when I get them displayed but here they are with my giant spiders. and then the full set of 4.

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The plan is to put those somewhere inside the haunted house. I'll also have 5 of the blood splatter sheets hung up for a splatter room in a different section. When it's all set up, I'll post pictures and this year maybe a video.
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By monstermash
#71412
Ooh that "Hautned, stay out" writing really jumps out at you, its great. Do I see a balloon in those spider sacks? If you were to pop one of those when everybodys in the room there'd be a few screams. :twisted:
It's all looking really great Mes and you've finished with quite a bit of time left to concentrate on your kins. Unlike me, I still have a ton of stuff to do!
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By DeadKing
#71438
Omg mesmark! Your decorations look amazing! I love them all. And those sacks, just great. Also I relly like stay out sign. Great. Giant spider, dont have to tell you... I just love spiders.
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By mesmark
#71526
zombombie wrote:I love that sign!! Used to be welcoming, but now? Not so much.
Thanks! I was trying to make it look like there was an original sign outside the house and then years later the house became the resident of some unearthly critters. I had other ideas, like "Home, Sweet, Home" or "Welcome, to the, Kruger's". I was also going to paint a faded border and maybe some faded flowers, but realized that doing all of that would be way to much. Nobody is going to notice that much detail. Also, since this is Japan, I need just simple and easily understood phrases. So, "Welcome, we're glad, you came!" should work well. If anyone notices, that is.
monstermash wrote:Do I see a balloon in those spider sacks?
Yes, indeed. Some black balloons. With no shortage of big ugly spiders around my house, I get a chance to see what's left after they've eaten. It ain't pretty.

I thought the black with some bones would look disgusting. The cotton inside didn't spread very well, and that's why I'm going to try a thin bit on the outside with some small plastic spiders as well. I'll have a black light in the area to get the web and white bits really glowing as well.

One problem is the balloons make the sacks very light. While they fill the space, you need some bones or something with weight to get the drag. Mine are still very light.

I'm glad to be done with a week to carve and time get cookies and treats ready for my party, but I'm slightly burnt out today. I think I always feel this way on the transition from prop building to party hosting. I need to get involved in some Halloween fun! Maybe a carve or two will get my blood pumping :D
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By monstermash
#71555
mesmark wrote:One problem is the balloons make the sacks very light. While they fill the space, you need some bones or something with weight to get the drag. Mine are still very light.

I'm glad to be done with a week to carve and time get cookies and treats ready for my party, but I'm slightly burnt out today. I think I always feel this way on the transition from prop building to party hosting. I need to get involved in some Halloween fun! Maybe a carve or two will get my blood pumping :D
Don't redo them now because they look brill but at another time if you decide to do them again you could put a bit of water in the balloons as well as air for extra weight. That would help them hang down.

I know what you mean about feeling burnt out between prop making and the party, I get the same way each year and wonder why I bother. Every year I say i'm not going to have a party the next year because its too much work but always give in. I'm sure slicing into your first kin will sort you out.
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By SuperSonic
#71558
The spider sacks are quite delightfully creepy :) I would LOVE to see that in action.

Great work so far!
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By blueikaos
#72276
Such an awesome job! Your reaper is fantastic. (I'm still bitter about my linebacker reaper)

Loving the machetes and the blood stain "walls". How about a backwards Help? Like someone is trapped beyond the walls.
That is always creepy too!

Can't wait to see it all set up and complete. You never cease to amaze me. Everything you do is outstanding!
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By mesmark
#73743
Thanks for the nice comments.

I haven't gotten the pictures posted to my site yet, so I can't post them here, but I just uploaded a simple video walk-through of the haunted house. This is the first time I've tried to make a video in the dark and so I didn't know the camera wouldn't focus, but oh well. If anyone ever does a video of their own, bring a small light to shine and that way the room will still be dark but you can get the camera to focus :D

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I didn't have time to take a second video, so this one had to do. I'm glad that I at least have this and once I get the pictures posted, you'll have a better feel for how it looked.

For the start of the party, the blood splatter room was empty, but once the games started we had two actors in there and one of my friends also hid behind the black ghost and stretched his arms out at guests as they went through.