monster in a box

[grim reaper]

anyone got any good monster in a box how to's i have an old battery powered 12 volt drill the battery is broken can i link it to mains ???? all ideas welcome

[grim reaper]

i have the powere lead to charge battery so i can use it of of mains

[Frighteners Entertainment]

Why grim, here you go :eek: (http://www.unpleasantstreet.com/index.php?x=/projects/2003/monster_in_the_box&y=main)

This one is done by our own Zombie F.

[Frighteners Entertainment]

And here's another :eek: (http://bananaman165.home.comcast.net/MIAB.htm)

[grim reaper]

lol i forgot zombie did one oops

[HibLaGrande]

I have an old 9 volt drill I was thinking of doing the same thing with it. since the batery melted I figured it would be good for this.

[grim reaper]

here are some pics of my monster in the box so far. at the moment i am waiting for the windscreen wiper motor to arrive so i can have my third prop of this year:eek: finnished:jol: !!!!!! http://www.freewebs.com/matt_newman/prophowtos.htm

[grapegrl]

Nice work, grim!

[Dr Morbius]

Great job so far! I see our little chat paid off.

[grim reaper]

thanks grapegrl

[grim reaper]

it most certainly did thanks for all your help doc

[DeathTouch]

It is just like mom used to make. Awesome job man!

[willise]

You MITB looks great. I made one last year using the specs from this site and a copy of Zombie's cam, but I had troubles getting a motor to lift the lid. Even after I replaced the lid with luan plywood and 1/2" foam "boards", the motor would fail to lift it.

I noticed you are using a wiper motor. Has anyone else used this method? I have a wiper motor in my witches cauldron, but I thought the speed (41 RPM) would be way too fast for this prop.

Also, are there any surplus sites on the internet where you can buy a high torque, low RPM motor for a good price?

Thanks a lot!

[Frighteners Entertainment]

Here's one of my favorite places LINK (http://www.candhsales.biz/CandH/index.htm)

[Nightshade]

Your Beast Box is looking fabulious. Keep up the great work and please keep the photos coming.

[grim reaper]

the lid on my mib is to heavy :( !!!!!!!!!!!! can any of you help me out:D ???? please !!! it works fine without the lid but i need some help :jol:

[Zombie-F]

A stronger motor or a lighter material for the lid would be ideal. This is a problem I ran into when I built mine. I went with a thinner plywood for the lid and it was still too heavy for my motor so I had to "obtain" a motor that would provide more torque.

I can see the problem is you've used dimensional lumber to build the entire lid. Plywood would be more ideal because it's thinner and thus, lighter as well. You could always use a router to hollow out the bottom side of the lid, but I think you'd lose too much structural integrity and the lid would eventually break under the stress of always opening and slamming shut.

The motor I used is described in detail in my how-to (http://www.unpleasantstreet.com/index.php?x=/projects/2003/monster_in_the_box&y=main). It was a rather expensive motor (that I was able to get a free sample from my company) but it has the right RPM and can lift the rod with enough effort to get the job done. However, I suspect that even the motor I used wouldn't be powerful enough to lift your lid as it is.

[grim reaper]

the motor at the side it didnt work i just tryed it at the front still wont work !!!!

[DeathTouch]

I have a picture of my Monster in a box. Does anyone want to see it? LOL.

[grim reaper]

sure

[DeathTouch]

You are not suppose to say that! You have to say, No you perv!

[grim reaper]

Fine NO YOU PERV!!!!!!!

[DeathTouch]

Good, I feel better now.

[grim reaper]

lol

[Frighteners Entertainment]

I have a picture of my Monster in a box. Does anyone want to see it? LOL.
I bet you don't!

[DeathTouch]

I bet you don't!


Well, I can't close the lid if that is what you are asking. :googly:

[grim reaper]

my dads going to get me a dishwasher motor maybe would that be ok ????

[Frighteners Entertainment]

That's an awfully large unit, let us know if it works!

[Zombie-F]

my dads going to get me a dishwasher motor maybe would that be ok ????

Wouldn't that be waaay too fast for an MITB?

[grim reaper]

i dont think so its like just to turn the water sprayer at the bottom. i dont know how big it is and i wil;l let all know how it goes.

[DeathTouch]

Grim you could hook a cat up to the motor and turn it up high. I can image that cat screaming as it spins, meeeeeeeeeeemmMMMMMMMMmmemmmmmmmmme!

[grim reaper]

LOL this made me laugh sooo hard lol. i hope you all dont think i mean a washing machine for clothes i mean a dish washer for washing dishes thats if you thought diffrent.

[Frighteners Entertainment]

Ok, I don't think that will work.
It's just a pump for the most part.

[grim reaper]

o yer lol

[grim reaper]

what about a microwave motor ??

[Zombie-F]

what about a microwave motor ??

Heavens no. That's far too weak to lift a lid as heavy as yours.

[grim reaper]

grr i cant think of a good motor to use without having to spend to much money

[grim reaper]

er way to much and i live in england an i dont think they have a shop here lol

[krypt]

whats price range ill try and find somthing.....how heavy is lid also

[grim reaper]

umm not sure on weight. and probably from free to £30 roughly $40 dollars and a cheap p&p

[gmacted]

How about an icecream maker motor? I'm not sure about the torque, however. I saw one on clearance at my local Walmart for ~$30.

[roadkill]

er way to much and i live in england an i dont think they have a shop here lol

have you searched grainger.com? you should also weight the lid of your MIB so you know how many in/lb rating you need to look for. Of course with some motors if you make a reduction gear system you'd gain in torque (lifting power) . . .

or do I have that bass-ackwards again?

[mrklaw]

I was going to try using a windshield wiper motor. They can function at pretty low voltages (like around 3 volts) to make them go slow and they are pretty torquey. Maybe you could slow it down even more with some scavenged gears from old bikes.

[roadkill]

I have run windscreen wiper motors as low as 3VDC but I have been able to get them jammed with an FCG like that too. You're right, though, mrklaw - they do have a lot of torque.

I think some kind of reduction gear would be easiest. I'm trying it for at least one of my toe pinchers with a bucky to do the old shake, rattle and roll for the TOTs. I also plan on a toe pincher as an MIB. Both will be using windscreen motors.

[gmacted]

I know it's a little noisy, but how about a can opener.

[.id.]

That's a nice looking box! Did you ever get this working? If not, have you thought about using a spring or a counter weight to lessen the lid weight that the motor would actually see? It might slow down the oscillations a bit, but you could connect the lid so that the motor pulls it back down.

[madmax]

I used wiper motors in my triple threat MIB

I've changed it up a little since I took these pictures. Now the first zombie also sticks his head out.

Here's the door action (wiper motor)....since this picture I also added another zombie that looks like he's trying to get out (over the door). And I also added chains on the doors.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/wkuyoungguns/MIB/3TESTMIB.gif

Here's one side (this is the side I changed I ended up cutting a hole so the zombie head comes out of it)
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/wkuyoungguns/MIB/zombiecircle.gif

Here's the other side (wiper motor)
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/wkuyoungguns/MIB/zombiethirdthreat.gif

[DeathTouch]

Oh, Wow Madmax that is awesome. Now I need another wiper blade motor.

[heresjohnny]

Madmax, you are without doubt the master of building cheap animated props! What do you do with all of them? You must have enough for several haunts by now.

[madmax]

Johnny, I change up around 75% of my haunt each year. So most of the moving props gets broken down and I rebuild them into a different theme.

The only props I kept out of these http://www.hauntpics.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=87 is my Electric chair and Grave Zombie. I take the bodies, heads and parts and rebuild them into something else for the next year.

Last year was almost like starting over.....because the year before I gave away over 50% of every thing I had......heads, bodies, mask, linkage, motors, motion detectors, walls...etc

[grim reaper]

jeez i still need to get this bastard working i cant get a motor to work yet god damn it !!

[grim reaper]

WOW just noticed im now fearless lol and finally i have a motor i just need to install it and wire it up. the motor is one off an old electic bike it turns slow and i think it should have enough torque due to it taking a persons weight and maniging to get you up a small hill. ill keep you updated on how it goes.

[dacostasr]

YouTube- FInal MIB

Here's mine...WW motor, battery charger, cowlicious sound chip, big lots hands, a stick makes it rock (hits the lid and lifts it). I had to bolt it to the walls in my barn because it rocks so much it moves.

The motor lifts the lid...the stick just sits in a hole and when the lid comes down it lifts the box...I put a small piece of wood 2 x 3 in the center of the bottom, kind of balanced, so it rocks like crazy

Dennis

[wilbret]

Seems an easy way would be to cut and attach a piece of heavy duty plastic into some odd shape like a half yinyang, so that you get a lifting and dropping motion.

I used pneumatics (one cylinder). I haven't taken a video since I made the last few refinements, such as making the light source less visible, etc.

http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/wilbret/?action=view&current=MIB_3.flv

[gmacted]

I recently completed my MIB prop, but I haven't had a chance to take a video of it yet. I'll be sure to post it when I do.