[Zombie-F]

I've got three props I'd like to have ready by this Halloween. The first is a rebuild of the faux brick entrance columns I've used the past few years. I think I'm going to try and use strobe lights in them this time around so I get a whiter light for my lightning than the floodlights can provide.

I'm also planning on a "Haunt Standard" by adding a Flying Crank Ghost to the yard. Not too sure where I'll put her, but I'll figure it out by October.

Lastly, I'm working on a variation of a monster mud statue by adding fog. I'd like to build a prop that looks similar to the Reaper found on Perfessor Evil's Site except have the statue holding a Bucky skull that will shoot fog via some plumbing I plan on adding inside the frame to it.

What's everyone else got cooking for this year?

 

[Sinister]

I'm assuming Z that you get some things out of the Fright Catalog. That **** must set you back some. Maybe you should set up fliers around where you live so folks could come take a gander at what you've created instead of those ******* folk that live next door to you. It seems a shame to have no one come out and appreciate it except you, Ravens Slave, (wraith) and The Shape. Man, if I were up the Boston way I'd come to check it out, but alas, I cannot.

 

[Zombie-F]

I don't buy all that much stuff, but when I do buy something it usually is from them. Everything in my yard is crafted/engineered by either me, or based on construction plans found on the internet.

However, in the case of some things, I will need an item from their vast collection to accent something I've built. A perfect example would be the entryway pillars I'm working on now. I want to have a decorative top on it, but I lack the artistic skill to carve a gargoyle from foam. Therefor, I'll be buying something from them to put atop it. I do have a $$ limit on stuff like this though, so if they can't accomodate my needs for the money I'm willing to spend, I'll start looking on eBay for stuff as well as finding things on other web sites.

If I had ALOT of money, I would spend a fortune at Fright Catalog and save myself the agony of building stuff, but until I do have much dinero, I'll be sawing wood and shaping foam myself.

 

[Sinister]

I really liked those Reaper wall decorations that cost about a hundred bucks apiece. Like you, if I had the cash, my house would fall just short of looking like Disney's Haunted Mansion every Halloween.

 

[Zombie-F]

...if I had the cash, my house would fall just short of looking like Disney's Haunted Mansion every Halloween.

That's what I'm building towards. It's amazing what you can build yourself with some lumber, "monster mud" and some ingenuity.

 

[The Shape]

That's what I'm building towards. It's amazing what you can build yourself with some lumber, "monster mud" and some ingenuity.

I agree Z, don't change a thing. The thing that makes your yard more amazing at Halloween (to me, that is) is that you made the things yourself. Any yahoo can put themselves in debt and decorate their yard, but not everyone has the time/patience and inovation to do it themselves.

Looking forward to this Halloween!

 

[Sinister]

I agree as well. The only thing really that you can't build or construct from raw material laying around the house, Home Depot, or craft shops are skulls and skeletons. Everything else is pretty much a go. You probably could in some way fashion those things I mentioned, but I doubt the end result would be something you would really care to put up in your house or yard.

 

[Zombie-F]

Just looking back at this, it's amazing how many times I change my mind about what I'm building over the course of the summer. The FCG is still on my plate (the motor platform arrives Thursday of this week), but the MM Reaper just kind of got swept under the rug for other stuff.

 

[Empress Nightshade]

I'm working on several projects at one time which drives me nuts. My mind is running a mile a minute. MUCH faster than my body is able to keep up. I've decided to drag out my first and only MM creation I made two years ago. It definitely was not something to brag about and would be embarrassed to show him to everyone the way that he is. My washing machine overflowed about a month ago and the bottom of him got wet. He therefore wouldn't stand on his own anymore. So, last night I built him a bottom stand out of PVC pipe. I want to cover him with a huge robe, so I'm heading to the garage right now and pull out all the extra material I have, stretch the measuring tape and crank up the sewing machine. I'm not one for cylinders and animatronics(I WISH I had those skills!), but I'm pretty good when it comes to the artistic side of the holiday.

 

[shadow]

I have a few props on the workbench right now.

1) A leaper to jump up from behind a tombstone (mechanics is done i just need to paint and add the mask)

2) Columns for the ends of my fence. Construction will be the same as my entry using the fake stone blocks. I'll have a square cap on top but the top will pop up. I'll add pictures to my site when I get more done.

3)My wife really likes the Monster in a Box so I'll make one of those.

4) Grave Crawler. It's a torso sticking out of the ground in front of a tombstone like he's crawling out of the ground. His hands move forward and back like he's scratching his way out of the ground.

5) I also put together some electronic kits
a) Remote control to activate 12 of the props with a remote
b) Music to light modulator for fake lightning
c) Delay timer......don't know what for yet.....LOL

 

[Zombie-F]

Keep in mind I updated the MiTB instructions to remove the suggestion of using a dayton motor. It just doesn't have the torque to push up the heavy lid. At the original time of writing, I didn't own one, and had assumed it to have more torque than it actually has.

When I get the model number of the Barber-Colman motor, I'll update the instructions with it, but any industrial-strength, high-torque motor should be able to do it.

 

[shadow]

I already have a gear motor. The rpm on it is 49rpm so I'm using a 1.5/8 set of reducing pulleys to get the motion down to 5 motions a minute. The gearmotor is in my shed so i don't have the torque info right here but using the reducing pulleys should give me ample power to lift the lid.
I like the cam design for opening the lid...I think i'll go with that idea.
I have the speakers and 10 second voice recorder.
I'll use my remote control relay board to activate it.
I have some CCM material that they use to make those counter tops that looks like granite that i'll make the cam out of. i wish i had a piece of UHMW or other industrial plastic to use but $$$. I used to work at a shop that had all the iron, plate, and UHMW it ever needed. Those days are gone now.