FCG tips?

[TearyThunder]

I'm in the process of doing my FCG and am a little iffy about it since it's my first non static prop. I've read and read the how to's on Monster List but am still uneasy about what I am doing.

So far I have got the ghost done and am working on the rig. I just realized today the head pulley goes towards the back of the rig! I am making it out of a rotesserie motor and the frame will be 1x3 wood.

Is there any helpful tips any of you can pass along to help me out along the way. I don't inderstnd why the FCG has got me so confused. I understand the the others I want to make (MIB, stirring witch, and Axeworthy) with no problems. Some reason I decided to do the most intimidating (at least to me) animated prop out of the four first.

Thanks in advanced for the help.

[Gothikim]

DH and I had the same trouble last year, TT. For some reason it just didn't make sense until I started putting it together, and even then there was a LOT of fiddling to get the proportions all right.

Given your materials, try this website for guidance: http://www.geocities.com/hillbilly_n...LOWEENfcg.html. It helped me understand what went where as well as or better than any other I found.

Here are some quick pointers that we learned last year:
1) The crank arm needn't be really long. Ours was only 8".
2) The distance between the hand/arm pulleys and the head/body pulley doesn't have to be really far. Ours is perhaps 18-20".
3) Make sure your crank arm rotates below your pulleys and that it won't tangle in the lines. Learned that one the hard way
4) We used a replacement patio door roller (Lowes or HD will have them) instead of a washer assembly on the end of the crank arm. It has ball bearings, so it rotates smoothly. We drilled holes in the perimeter for the lines to connect to it, and used swivel connectors for fishing line to actually attach the lines to the roller.

Anyway, I hope that helps. I don't have pics of my platform handy, but if I find some, I'll post them.

[Gothikim]

Quick correction, since I can't edit the previous post...

3) Make sure your crank arm rotates ABOVE your pulleys and that it won't tangle in the lines.

If your crank arm rotates BELOW your pulleys, the lines will wrap around the shaft that supports/turns your crank arm.

My bad--whaddya want at 1 something in the morning?

[TearyThunder]

Thanks Gothikim! I will keep those tips in mind when I get started on the rig. I plan on building it tonight if I get time.

I have seen the site you pointed me to. It's actually one on the M. List. I have been reading the how-to's for about a little over week over and over trying to make heads or tails of them. I am hoping things go somewhat smoothly. I am expecting some hang ups along the way.

[DeathTouch]

Hey Tearythunder. This might be a little late since you already built the ghost, but I decided this year to upgrade the ghost to something else. Vile things has a flying skeleton on their site and a how to. So I started to build him last Jan. When I got to the head, I started gettting lazy. I found a foam head on sale at terror syndicate. It should do nicely. So maybe next year if you get board with the ghost, you can try this out. This is what it might look like when I am done.

http://www.terrorsyndicate.com/

[Dr Morbius]

I used a rotisseri motor and the patio door roller. Both work well, but If I had choice at the time, I would have used a windshield wipermotor instaed..the rotisserie motor works, but it is very loud, and turns very slowly.

[TearyThunder]

DT I saw a flying skeleton somewhere on the net too and thought about doing one but want to try the FCG version first. Who knows I may end up with both eventually. I think I saw a spider one too. I will have to look through my history to see if I can find it again.

Dr M. I decided to go with the rotesserie since I am all AC power. I know there's a way to hook up a wirper motor to a pc power supply but I'm not that experienced yet. I plan on venturing out eventually with other options but for now I want to keep it pretty simple.