# The GraveDigger



## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

*The Grave Digger*

Hey Guys

Just telling you that I have had an idea to make a grave digger for the front of my graveyard, he will be a static prop until I can figure out what I want him to do. Heres what I want him to look like: He will be in all black, with a top hat on, I need some ideas for a mask to put on him, so help me out guys send me pictures or links of masks you guys like, in his left or right hand he will hold a lantern. I kinda want him to have a long gray beard and I might also add RED LED lights for his eyes. I will send pictures when I start building.

Kinda Likes this set up for the grave digger Click Here

or this Click here


----------



## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

I just built this to go with the Grave Digger. I have not painted it yet and I might put a glow message on it. Any ideas on what I should make it say???


----------



## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

Sweet. I still haven't made my own tombstones yet. The ones I bought a few years ago are still holding up nicely, but if they ever need replacing I'll take a stab at it.

Have you ever seen Scary Terry's Grave Stomper? It's a character standing over a grave stomping a corpse back into the ground. The grave digger in that scene talks, moves its head and even blinks. It's a pretty sweet little design, by home haunting standards.

Here's a demo video of the digger's animations:
http://www.cowlacious.com/images/Cowlacious/SCASD-Example2Low.wmv

I know I saw a video of the fully completed scene, but I can't find it for the life of me.


----------



## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

Zombie-F said:


> Have you ever seen Scary Terry's Grave Stomper? It's a character standing over a grave stomping a corpse back into the ground. The grave digger in that scene talks, moves its head and even blinks. It's a pretty sweet little design, by home haunting standards.
> 
> Here's a demo video of the digger's animations:
> http://www.cowlacious.com/images/Cowlacious/SCASD-Example2Low.wmv
> ...


I love it, I really want to make that now but I will have to settle for a stactic prop for now because i am making he stand near the tomb stone and make the grave look freshly dug. Maybe have it on a platform a little bit above the ground and make it look like the ground is shaking :voorhees: :voorhees: :voorhees:


----------



## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

I just ordered a little bundle of joy Mr. Thrifty Skeleton (4th Quality). What to name him    ? any ideas


----------



## dougspaulding (May 22, 2004)

Bones.


----------



## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

Any suggestions with the mask my grave digger should wear


----------



## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

Hey what knind of Skull should I get if I want it to be a TALKING BUCKIE I know it is a Buckie skull but shoud it be a 4th quality or what?


----------



## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

Before you dive head first into that project, can you solder? Read a schematic? If not, then you may not be able to easily make a talking bucky. I do believe that Cowlacious Products will be offering their fully-assembled circuits again in January of 2005 if you lack the aforementioned skills.

But, to simply answer your question, a fourth quality skull is just fine. The only difference between the first and fourth quality is in the appearance of the skull. The firsts tend to be *perfect*, whereas fourth quality can have slight discoloration or be slightly disjointed (missing hardware, teeth, etc). Fourth is the way to go (IMO) as it's the most cost-effective skull to buy, and most people don't even notice that they're not perfect.


----------



## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

I think I will buy the fully-assembled circuits, but I wish I could get it sooner than January, So I can build my talking Bucky and bring it to a Halloween get together at my school. Also which one you think I should get Zombie; Scary Terry's Audio Servo Driver or Scary Terry's Audio Servo Driver with ISD Chipcorder circuitry


----------



## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

Well, how long do you want the skellies monolog to be? If you're only going to have him talking for under a minute (which is the max recording time on the chipcorder) then get the circuit with the chipcorder circuitry. Keep in mind though, that you'll need to build a special circuit to get the sound onto the chipcorder chip before you mount it onto the board.

The easiest way to do this is to get the servo driver chip without the chipcorder and just burn your audio onto a CD for playback through a CD player.


----------



## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

Zombie-F said:


> The easiest way to do this is to get the servo driver chip without the chipcorder and just burn your audio onto a CD for playback through a CD player.


 Yes the message I want it to say is about 1 minute and 30 seconds. I make putting the skull into my monster Mudd (MM) Grim Reaper for the Front Gate.


----------



## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

That would be pretty cool! Just make sure you make the shroud covering his head removable (somehow) so you can get in there and change the motor or do any other repairs that may need to be done someday.

I should also let you know that using batteries with the servo driving circuit isn't advisable since the batteries get drained after about an hour of use. The circuit comes with provisions for using batteries or a power supply, I'd go with using a power supply.


----------



## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

What kind of power supply do i need to get cause I will go out tomorrow and pick up one.


----------



## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

It needs something in the 5 - 6 VDC range, that can provide at least 600mA. The pre-built circuit has jumper (J4) that you connect the supply to. For the circuit I built, I used a Radio Shack 6v 1800 mA AC to DC adapter.

The adapter has Radio Shack's "adapt-a-plug" on the end of it which won't plug into the circuit's jumper as-is. They do have a Hobby Power Leads Adaptaplug that you can solder to the jumpers and then use that to connect the power AC adapter to the circuit.

I'd try and see if the adapter fits over the jumper first though. I don't remember the spacing of the two pins on the end of the AC adapter, but it may be the same as the spacing of the two pins on the circuit's jumper, so you may want to try that first.

Another good option is to just snag a 5v power supply from an electronics store (like You-Do-It Electronics in Needham, MA) and wire it to the jumpers. I like the Radio Shack AC adaper because it's small and easily concealed, but getting a power supply will work just fine too.


----------

