# Need ideas on how to keep prop from breaking.



## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

Hey, I have a prop that I use every year, and every year someone breaks the hands on it. Can anyone give me some ideas on what type of strong material I can use to sculpt them out of?


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## Merlin (The Quiet One) (Feb 23, 2006)

What kind of prop is it? I can't imagine something being broken every year. How frustrating!


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## Zurgh (Dec 21, 2009)

What are they made of? The current "hands" I have are made of 1 aug aluminum wire, shoved in gloves. Although they have never broken, I had a kid accidentally pull them off. Solved it temporarily with duct tape.


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## scareme (Aug 29, 2006)

What ba****ds! I'd have to do some yelling. Most of my props are behind the fences cause I hate when people mess with them. With 600 Tots coming through, it's hard to keep an eye on everything. An heaven knows the parents don't. I guess people have no idea of the time, money, and work we put into these things. And we're doing it all for them. The little ba****ds.


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

I made them out of sculpy first and that lasted all of an hour, then I tried paper mache and that still did'nt work.


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

Yeah, I put signs not to touch, but you know how that goes.


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

By the way, the prop itself is a ghost with skeletal hands. The problem is the fingers are thin and I can't keep them from breaking.


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## Hauntiholik (May 17, 2006)

How about making the hands like this Wire frame for hands


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

Thats great, and fairly simple to do. Thanks for the advice, and now I'll be able to bend the fingers and pose the hands! Ya'll rock!


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## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

I make mine out of reticulation tubing since I can't get biros easily. I then use wire cores and cover them with airdry clay. They are a bit fragile but I've just tried some with a kind of epoxy sculpt material instead of the airdry clay and they are as tough as old boots!


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## morbidmike (Sep 11, 2009)

mount his fingers to a loaded shot gun they will only break e'm once in their life muhahahahahaha rember children make a tasty stew


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

Yeah, but then I have to clean up the mess, and you lose a good portion of them, but I agree they do make good stew... wait did I say that out loud?


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## KevinS (Sep 30, 2007)

I used standard NMD12 gauge electrical wire, plastic tubes from old pens, and PVC tape to create the hands on this guy - they can be bent out of shape, but they're otherwise indestructible.


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

Thats a great idea as well I think I'll use that on some of my zombies!:zombie:


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## Bethene (Jan 19, 2008)

great hints here, I need to make better ones this year too, mine were out of clay too, the fingers broke on a couple of them.


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## pagan (Sep 9, 2009)

How big do you want to go? Scourge kinda got me hooked on the whole mold making thing, and I have seen "lifecasting" kits online that will allow you to make silicone rubber replicas of hands, etc. Also the hands I have made following the "skeleton hands" tutorial using bic pens, latex and cotton seem pretty solid. http://www.hauntershangout.com/home/corpsehands.asp


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

I'm not familiar with the bic pens, latex and cotton method, is there a tutorial for that?


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## pagan (Sep 9, 2009)

Yep.. clickee green link in my prior post


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

Duh... I totally missed that!! Thanks!


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

We use the wire and latex hands and have never had a problem. Easy to do and look great.


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## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

You can give your hands a "skin" of liquid nails, just paint it on. Great textures and a durable coating.


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

When you paint it on, do you have to dilute it at all? As you can tell alot of these concepts are new to me and I'm trying to get as much info as possible. Thanks for all the info!!


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## pagan (Sep 9, 2009)

When I have used Liquid Nails for corpsing, I just squirt on a thin bead and then spread it around with a tongue depressor. With a little practice you can get some pretty cool textures (peeling "skin", stringy, etc). It takes stain well and is damn near bulletproof! I have done most of my skulls this way.


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## DarkSilver (Jul 31, 2009)

make the hands out of metal wire hooked up to an electric fence power supply should stop them from touching..


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

Heh... I can see them now... Ow what the @#$%!!!


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