Prop Info - 2008

Home Made Prop list

The following were retained from 2007:

Hanging Ghost, Groundbreaker Coffin, Zombie head/Hands, Cat, Rat, Groundbreaker Skeleton, Witch, Groundbreaker Zombie

New for 2008

Columns, updated fence panels, Skeleton Scarecrow (skelecrow), upgraded Grim Reaper, Grave Digger, Coffin Dweller, Tombstones, Upgrade existing witch, new 2nd Witch, Faux Stone Walls, haunted garage, Witches Cabinet, Candelabra,

Columns

These are Styrofoam panels on a wooden frame. The revealed brick is also Styrofoam, brick pattern cut into it, mortar lines scraped out with a screwdriver blade, then painted in a brick red acrylic. The spheres on top of the columns are vinyl play balls, glued in place with Gorilla glue. The columns were painted in grey matt vinyl paint and weathered using different shades of gray and white.

Fence Panels

The fence panels used in 2007 were 2 different lengths. also the timber cross bars were too thin, and some panels broke. So all the timber was replaced using 2"x1" and all fence panels made the same length. Additional panels were constructed to extend the fenced area.

Skeleton Scarecrow

This was a major upgrade on the 2007 scarecrow.

The spine was made from chicken wire shaped to a basic spine shape, then covered with pipe lagging. Then cable ties were used to give the vertebrae appearance. Attached to this was a basic chicken wire rib cage shape. A formed plastic cage was then attached to this after the plastic between the ribs was cut away.

The pelvis was made from chicken wire shaped to a pelvic shape then covered in paper mache. The arms and legs are made from PVC pipe, which was built up at the ends using aluminum foil to give a bone shape, then covered in paper mache. rolled newspaper was added to the arms and legs where required

The hands were made using my skeleton hands how to, and feet were made in the same manner. The skull is a paper mache cast skull. Various materials were used for the corpsing (nylon hose, tissue and kithen towels), after the skeleton was painted in a ivory acrylic , then give a coat of wood stain for the aging appearance.

The burlap was added in places and slashed with a box knife to give a aged deteriorated look and after attaching the skeleton to a wooden T frame, tied in place with some 1/4" sisal rope that was taken from a cat scratching post

The final result was close to the look I wanted last year, and this is probably my favorite prop to date.

Grim Reaper

The frame of the reaper is a mannequin that I bought from where I work. The right arm would not secure so it was going to be disposed. I paid a nominal amount for it (25c!).

After a few different attempts to attach the arm came up with a way to do this using a bungee cord. The head is a black skull mask that was picked up at a thrift store. The robe is from the 2007 reaper. The Scythe is an upgrade of the previous one, using fibre board cut out with a jigsaw, and sprayed silver

The Grave Digger

This is probably one of the easiest props I have made and one that has made the biggest impact..

Its a basic pvc frame, Pool noodles used on the arms and legs to pad them out. Chicken wire used to form the chest. Styrofoam head with a mask purchased from a thrift store. The mask was repainted in areas to make it look more realistic. Hat coat and pants again from a thrift store. The gloves are an old pair of leather working gloves with hands made from a couple of wire coat hangers and bent into shape. The lamp is another thrift store find, with a flicker tealight in, and painted to look rusty. The spade is my gardening spade.

The reaction I got was that most people thought it was a person standing in the cemetery, and kept an eye on it waiting for it to move !

Coffin Dweller

Needed this guy to replace the existing one as the mask was on it's last legs.

Used a styrofoam head to use as a basis, which was covered in kitchen foil then details built up using crumpled up foil. paper mache was then used to cover the foil and to add the final facial details. The shoulders and neck were cardboard base, built up with foil, then covered with paper mache. Painted in acrylic paints and added some fake hair. Need to add an arm and hands for 2009, but in all was happy with the result.

Tombstones

Made tombstones using my mask and spray method

Al Bebach, Barry D'Alythe, Diane Rott, Myra Mains

Also made a tombstone for Edgar Allan Poe as a tribute

2nd Witch

Again used a polystyrene wig head for the basic shape. built up with foil then covered in paper mache

The body is a floor stand oscillating fan. With the guard and blade removed, the head is attached to the motor. PVC pipe is attached to the stand for the shoulders and arms are again from PVC pipe. A basic chicken wire frame makes the witch's body. The witch robe was $2.99 at a thrift store where I also found the witch hat with hair attached. The hands are from a tree hugger prop I purchased at a rummage sale for $1.

....

The witch from last year was given an overhaul - the arms were adapted so that they could move freely. A rotisserie motor is fixed to the bottom of the cauldron. After playing around with different ideas, finally came up with a way to get a stirring motion going.

So now we have two witches, one stirring the cauldron and the other moving her head from side to side.

Faux Stone Walls

Using sheet styrofoam, I cut 1/4" grooves to form the stone shapes. The sheet was painted black then the "stones" painted grey and sponge painted with contrasting colors to give the appearance of stone. These were used to face the garage entrance, and flagstones added around the entrance. Finally the winged gargoyle from last years entrance was added centrally above the entrance.

Cauldron lights hang in front on either side of the entrance, creepy cloth and skull garlands hang at the entrance.

I made a rather huge mistake with this. I only had 1" sheet available, which worked fine except it was a flimsy and was prone to breaking (then repaired with Gorilla glue and tape)

Unfortunately, this was not stored away, but propped up in the back yard. Two weeks of snow and ice took its toll on the panels and most is now broken up ... 2009 will need a revamp.

Haunted Garage

We decided this year, after buying a job lot of halloween props etc at a garage sale, to use the garage as part of the haunt. First the chimney stack was painted with faux stone look. then, using 2"x 1" timber, built a frame inside the garage. Black garden cloth was tacked to the frame to form the sides of the haunt, then more black cloth run across the top of the frame given black walls and ceiling. This was decorated with various hanging props, masks, etc. The faux stone wall was made to look like a dungeon with skeleton hanging from shackles.

Witches Cabinet

I wanted somewhere to show off some of the smaller props bought and made. Originally I was going to use a storage shelf, and cover this to look like a set of old shelves. However after adding to our existing garden fence and making some of the fence panels redundant, I thought I would use this to make some shelves. This expanded to Dresser/Cabinet.

My stepson and I, actually made this up as we went along. Made mostly from fence panels and some 2" x 4" (used for the legs and cupboard frame). No plans were used except for a couple of rough sketches. It took us two evenings to complete the project. All we had to buy was the hinges for the cupboard doors, everything else, including all the timber used was already on hand

The shaped fascia board hides an 18" black light. Inside the cupboard is a small red lamp to give a glow to the inside.

2009 may see some fence panels replaced so a table can be built

Candelabra

This was an idea that came to me after seeing a tutorial for PVC flicker candles. For those that have not seen this tutorial, please feel free to contact me for info.

The frame of the candelabra is a cycle wheel rim. the edge was divided into 6, and a holes drilled at these points. Using 3" wood disks drilled at the center, these were bolted onto place on the frame. 3 Holes were then centrally drilled between alternate plates. The frame was then spray painted with a matt black paint.

A 12" length of black plastic chain was attached to the frame at the three positions drilled then all three lengths connected together with a larger single length of chain.

6 PVC flicker candles were made and each one glued onto one of the plates. this was then suspended from a hook in the ceiling.

The light from the tea lights was just enough to give a little atmosphere to the room.

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