Show off your pumpkin pics and tells us about the experience.
#97009
You are knocking these out of the park! The Robert Smith carve is just incredible!
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By SuperSonic
#97055
I'm absolutely blown away with shaded pumpkins! These are no exception. Well done!
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By BrookR1
#97071
Two more for the weekend. I have one or two more foamies to finish. Then it's on to the real ones. These were difficult for me. There were so many hairpin curves on the vulture and I'm afraid of manhandling the hot knife. I'm afraid I'm going to destroy the rest of pumpkin.

The sexy witch gave me fits because of her delicate line and dot eyes and single line lips. These were tiny and difficult to cut. I really need to find another hot knife or another technique for cutting out fine details. Also, I used a foamie that I bought from Target that was thicker and more brittle. I'm going to stick with Wal Mart/Michael's pumpkins from here out.

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By Pumpkinfreak
#97081
Another set of great carves! :thumbsup:
I absolutely love vulture shock, such a fantastic pattern.
From looking at the carves, I would never say you had a hard time with the small parts, they look so clean cut and perfect in every detail :o
However I know what you mean when you say that you're afraid of manhandling your hot knife, I also have that problem :wink:
When I'm on small details I always find myself going in a concentration "trance" :D
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By Pumpkinfreak
#97159
That looks so great! great job! :thumbsup:
Always wanted to try one of these but I never really get to it.
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By Zombie Pumpkins!
#97218
You're a maniac with the foamies. Awesome! Clean cuts, I can tell you're using the heat blade. Good tips too, about gliding through the foam, not needing to do a sawing motion.

I agree that small details are tough with the blade, To cut through, you have to plunge it deep enough, and then the blade gets wider. I've contacted the companies that make these blades and asked for help to make a better blade for detail work, but so far they haven't been able to help.

I love your choices for the colored pumpkins. Great white shark on blue, Gill-man creature on green. So fitting. One of my favorites is The Bride, she's a stunner. But the I'm really stunned by the perfection of your Vulture Shock carving. I know it's not an easy pattern, but you were patient enough to pull it off. My hat is off to you.
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By BrookR1
#97223
Thanks Ryan...

And thank you for reaching out to the hot knife manufacturers. It would be so much easier with a thinner hot knife blade. With detailed areas, I currently have to go as deep as I can with the hot knife and then poke that section through knowing that I will have to clean that area up with a regular knife. Uggghhh...something does exist and it totally skipped my mind...Image. I'm going to buy one now and save it for next year. I don't know how well it will work since it's not a knife, but it should be good for doing small circles (eyes) and other small details. But then again, a lot of the non-heated tools such as drills bits and dremels will work also. So many ways to carve a pumpkin!

The vulture shock pattern was actually pretty fun. I'm a sucker for birds and bird-related patterns. I have a whole room full of birds at home.