Sharing knowledge for the art of artificial craft pumpkins.
#86594
OK. I can finally give my review of these new pumpkins. First off, wow are they easy to carve. The dremel went through them like butter. I like the shape/size/color all of that. I would say my only cons were thickness and glow. I had to go so deep with shading to get a really good glow (and its a thick 'kin) that I accidentally broke through in a few parts. I had this problem with funkin last year that it didn't glow (but apparently they did that on purpose?) but even with this years I had to use three of my tealights to really see the pattern. But man is that soft foam nice. If it weren't for me making this pattern ridiculously hard I would have been done weeks ago.

This is the new funkin by itself with 3 tealights
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Next to a michaels pumpkins with one tealight (which looks too bright because I think the camera was trying to get so much light from the minion one)
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I did this pumpkin just in a few days..it's one of last year's Michael's kins and although it was a harder foam to carve I was pretty overjoyed with the thinness of the kin because doing all those details in a thick foam would have been so sad haha
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#86597
dryersheet ,

First Off Excellent Carvers !! :thumbsup:

I copied and pasted your post also on my forum. Hope that was okay. And Changed the Poster to You.
I want to keep all the Shaded Fun-kin Feedback together..

Here's Some Info - for ALL involved. (I just woke up like a few minutes ago, So hope that what I type makes Sense) No Coffee yet - LOL

1) A Few Months back, I got Ryan involved with Funkins , For I value His Opinion/Feedback.
And Wanted him on the Team. Plus it's a Must to have Someone that makes the Very BEST Cut-Out Stencils giving Input/Feedback !
The Thickness is a Major Concern, and it creates Issue for BOTH the shaded and Cut-Though Carvers.

Some Info on thickness: When I first got involved with Funkins - Last Sept. My Main Goal besides the Glow Issue (which I will cover below)
was the Foam thickness. I wanted the Foam a lot thinner. Like the Micheal's Fun-kin 1/4" Many of the other Funkins Customers that they Rely on for their Input wanted the Foam to be a 1/2" thick, For those that Do Use a Dremel or Hot-Knife, Know this is TOO Thick, to do Detailed Carvings. So I compromised, and Came up with 3/8".

With 3/8"s - The foam would be easier with a Hot-Knife (than a 1/2") - And WILL Work for a Dremel using a 1/32" Drill bit for Cut-Outs (Whole patterns, or Cut Shapes in shaded Carvings.) The 1/32" Bit is the Favorite Bit, for Dremel Carvers, to get Crisp Details.

Funkins is having Difficulty - Getting a Consistent 3/8''s Through Out the Entire Pumpkin.
Something I AM still trying to get them to Fix. (Again I would like the Foam even thinner than this 3/8"s, And this is Why ALL YOUR Feedback in important.
Overall the Fun-kin Foam for MED sized Kins is the Thinnest to date, From prior years, So we are moving in the right direction. Just not there Yet.

2) GLOW for Shaded Carving, Last year The Glow was a Much Bigger Issue, and your right, they added a Light Block to the Foam.
The Reason they did that was So the Entire Pumpkin Did not Glow Just the carving Area, But this had a very Negative effect for the shaded carver, the Foam in the shaded area's did not glow at ALL. I personally Carved Dozens of samples, to find the Right Glow for shaded carvings... We decided on the Foam.

At Some Point between the Pick of the Right Glow, and go into production, Someone Decided to add Color to the Foam.
This added Color - Has Caused Yet another Issue for the Shaded Glow, It now Glows Just not as Bright as it Should. This is in all Retail Pumpkins, that are made in China.
The Funkins Sold Online on Funkins Site, and are the Same on my Site, are made in Mexico, these Pumpkins Do not have this Color Added to the Foam, and they Glow Well.

Okay Now for an Update:
The CEO of Funkins is in China right now to Address the Glow issue for Next Year.
He will be bringing Back More Samples for Testing.

I am Working out a Deal with them, that "should" go into Play in the next few days.

They Will offer (2) Models at a Great Discount, for the Shaded carvers... The Price will be around 22 to 23 Bucks (including Shipping).
So the Cost will be like buying the Pumpkin in retail with a Store Coupon. I'm waiting on them to create the Web-page, and go Live with this Deal.
And I will make Sure everyone Knows where to go - for this Deal.

These are the two Models
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Funkins will take the Lose, they want to make sure, Shaded carvers, Have a Good pumpkin to carve on this YEAR..
They're an Awesome Company to do this !

This Deal Will also be extended to all the fine Folks/MINIONS at Zombie Pumpkins ! :thumbsup:

I'll Post more Details When they are Available.

St0ney
#86609
I definitely noticed the thickness when doing the cut out parts but it wasn't as big of a problem for me because like I said the foam was so soft. So I would probably still consider this year's in store ones for cut out patterns. I didn't even think about the color of the foam affecting the glow but that makes sense. That's so cool of them to do that for this year's pumpkins. Definitely bumps them up in my book since last year was my first time with a funkin and it was so disastrous because of the glow haha.

Also thank you :) I told myself I would stay away from your shaded patterns because I knew I would get addicted but I had to try one and now look what's happened :P

Edit: wow just looked at your forum (sorry I don't go there much) and now I feel late to the party lol
#86610
Yep their Like Potato Chips, can't just do one...

Your Carves Are Awesome, You did such a Great Job on them...
I also Like how you used the Minions, And Built the Gru Factory - LOL..

Between Me and Ryan - We'll get a Great Pumpkin for 2015... For ALL Carvers :thumbsup:
As Far As Forums - It's not a big Deal, I just want to keep the shading feedback together - For the Glow Issue.
I only Post in a few threads Here, Time is never on my side... This time of Year..

The Thickness - YES It's a Problem and I'll tell you Why.....

Can I get through it with a Longer Different Bit - YES I can,,, But Like Most Carvers, I want the Carving the best it can be, and that's Using a 1/32" Bit...
It's Funny, but almost everything related to Pumpkin carving, I use Tattooing as an Example, They are So Close in everything involved.
So with that said, there's a Reason they use a Very thin Needle for the outline, Using a Wide Needle will make it look like Crap ! :D

in the case of the Foam - 1/2" and 3/8" is a HUGE Difference, For A Nice Clean Cut, the Piece has to fall on the FIRST Pass.
If you have to go around it a 2nd time, the Shape will not be 100% Perfect... We Spend a LOT of money on this Hobby/Art, and Lots of Time to carve these things, So Yea I want it 100% Perfect...
#86612
Haha thank you. I'm glad it turned out so well because making the minion patterns that small made the carving 10000x harder. I did the same with Toy Story last year but those patterns didn't have the smaller details.

Ah I see your point there. I just went around second times on the cut out parts of the minions, but there weren't too many so I probably didn't care as much as if I were doing a way more detailed cut out.