smoldering ashes

[Meeps]

Hi Everyone,

I've been creeping and meeping around the forum looking for ideas to make a smoldering ash effect. Our theme this year will be 'hell' with a hellavator. To create a more 'hellish' mood, I want to have piles of smoldering ashes...some with a small flame. The flames shouldn't be that difficult using a fan, lighting and silk material. The smoldering ash has me stumped though. I want it to look kind of like what's IN the baskets in the flame tutorial but then in ash instead of a basket. Any ideas on how to make the ash so that the lighting glows through?

Thanks :)

[fritz42_male]

Wood shavings painted dark greys and black? Get the wood shavings from a petshop.

Tinting should be easy, mix up some cheap acrylic paint with water and dump the shavings in

[jaege]

Then would you pile onto red or orange flicking (xmas type) lights?

[Bone Dancer]

The painted wood chips sounds ok. I have seen spider web material used also. Both the white and white with a bit of gray spray paint on it. And you can always just use wood ash dusted on bulbs .

[RoxyBlue]

For our stirring witch's cauldron, we've put strings of orange lights under cellophane at the base of the cauldron. Up close you would see that it was cellophane, but from a little bit of distance, it looks like glowing coals.

[Lunatic]

I too have used lights under cellophane but it was clear lights with orange cellophane. It was used in a cauldron to give a firey effect. It works well and it's safe. I would imagine that placing the cellophane under the ashes and having the cellophane peaking out in some areas would look like glowing embers. I found lights with adjustable pattern effects so it looks like it's flickering.

[Warrant2000]

Spray Great Stuff in a criss-cross pattern leaving gaps here and there. Once dry, paint orange, then black highlights. Put orange string or rope lights underneath so the light peaks through the holes.

Like Lunatic suggested, the flickering lights would work well, maybe even use lights that have a fade in/out effect for a slower glowing effect. Can't wait to see the video of this!

[wickedwitchwest]

I have a devil's den in my haunt and have smoldering ashes. I took small plastic coke bottles and melted them with a heat gun (Do it in a well ventalated area because of the fumes) into irregular shapes. Then randomly taped them to a big piece of aluminum foil. Next added red christmas lights close to the coke bottles and taped them down. Next I spray foamed around the bottles to form small rock like shapes covering the tape and light wires. Once the spray foam was dry I spray painted the foam with black paint. They are light weight and the red glow between the black looks like drying lava. I will try to post a picture of them later. I'm at work right now.

[Allen H]

depending on where this is going to go (guest reach or not) a great look can be achieved with crushed up auto window glass misted with spray paint. If guests can touch it, thats a no go.

[Head Spook]

Do you have a charcoal grill? Why not use the ashes out of it if you do? Real thing always looks the best to me.

[Meeps]

Thanks for all the quick and creative reactions :)
Wickedwitchwest: I'm having problems visualizing what you mean. Do you happen to have pics?
I want to put the smoldering ashes where we normally put up our small graveyard. Its a small section of the garden under the tent. A friend of mine gave me the idea while we were brainstorming. She had this fake cigarette with an ash on the end of it that looked lit.