Prop Info - 2006

Home Made Prop list

Hanging Ghost, Scarecrow (retired), Groundbreaker Coffin, Groundbreaker Skeleton (upgraded), Ghoul/Reaper (retired), Zombie head/Hands, Entrance/Fence, Cat, Rat

The hanging ghost

First, I made a paper mache cast of a skull, then cut the jaw out and repositioned as an open mouth. The Teeth were made with Bread Dough. The hands and arms are made with wire coat hangers.  The hands were wrapped in masking tape to form the fingers and thumbs. 4 layers of net in different colors were draped over the arms and roughly cut up to give a ragged appearance. The skull was then secured to the arms and a hook was put through the top of the skull to hang the ghost.

Ground breaker (head and hands)

Originally this was meant to be a hot glue cast of a skull that I had seen on another web site's how to. However the surface was uneven and I was not happy with the result. So I added facial details (Nose, ears, teeth etc). I then painted the entire "face" with red acrylic, and when that was dry painted over in Flesh color acrylic. this gave the appearance of what looked like melting or rotting flesh. (the rough surface of the hot glue helped!). The eye sockets were cut out and ping-pong balls glued in place for the eyes, then the eye details painted in. Some strands of hair cut from an old wig were added. The hands were wire form with beads for the knuckles and joints, wrapped in masking tape then painted. Basically this turned around a failed project into a gruesome prop.

Ground Breaker Coffin.

I was lucky enough to have some odd bits of lumber and some pallet wood lying around. First I drew the coffin shape on a large piece of card. I then made the coffin lid. This was about 2/3 of the size the full coffin would have been. The bottom edge was cut at an angle so it would be offset from the coffin frame. The top part of the coffin frame was built full size (depth) but the sides were cut at an angle so as to give the appearance of the the coffin breaking through the ground. Because I wanted an old appearance the joints did not have to be cut precise. Overall I was more than happy with the result. TIP: if building a coffin and want it to have an aged look, just leave it out in the open for a season or two. The wood ages nicely :)

The Cat

I had looked in most of the stores for a black cat, but most of the ones available were too "comical". So I went about making my own. First, the body was shaped from a plastic water bottle. 4 lengths of dowels were secured to the "body" for legs. A fifth piece was used for the tail. The body was then given a few coats of paper mache. The head was made from Bread dough. tooth picks were used for the teeth. A ball of bread dough was placed on the end of each dowel and shaped for the feet. Then the fun part... I covered the legs, body tail and head in a batting material fixing it to the form with spray adhesive. When this was dry I sprayed the cat with mat black paint. Details were added after the paint was dry.

The Rat

I bought the rat trap at a garage sale... made the rat in the same method used for the cat except I left the middle uncovered and added the bones to make it look like a decomposing rat...

The Cemetery Entrance

The Winged gargoyle ... carved the head from a block of expanded polystyrene. The winfs were made from wings from polystyrene glider.

The Cemetery sign. Took a block of polystyrene and carved out the lettering (this was the second sign made - the first broke loose in the wind and was never seen again)

Both the gargoyle and sign were painted with craft acrylic paints (grey, with black for the detail)

The frame of the entrance was originally a Wedding arch, which had been painted black.

The Fence

Made from strips  of wood and PVC pipe for the railings following many of the how to's featured on other sites... the Posts are 2" pipe with plastic Xmas tree decorations glued on top. The spikes for the railings were made from corrugated plastic that you see signs made from. Cut diamond shapes then cut slots to put into the top of the pipe/railing.

If you would like any further details on any of the props, please contact me using the link below: