# Mausoleum in progress



## tcarter

Just wanted to show off my work, and also some opinions/ advice. I was thinking about using some technique to weather the foam so it looks old and pitted. The look I'm going for is numerous small pits or pores on the surface, maybe a few stress cracks. I've experimented with heat, and don't like that. Spray paint gives a nice texture, but it's difficult to get it consistent, and it takes quite a bit of paint to eat at it enough. any ideas how to go about this or should I just rely on the finished paint job to indicate the effect?


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## grim reaper

wow that looks great !!!!!!! hmmm i have never tried effects on foam lots of other people on here would know.


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## heresjohnny

Wow, very nice. I have had a lot of success dry sponging for a stone look, and using burnt umber or equivalent watered down for staining http://www.johnnyspage.com/images/Picture%20808.jpg. I have also used a jagged cut peice of cardboard as a mask for pitting the foam with spray paint http://www.johnnyspage.com/images/tombstone12.jpg.


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## kevin242

very cool!


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## Gloomy_Gus

Looks amazing. Have you tried wetting the foam before heating. Keeba uses this technique and I think it gives the look you are going for.

Does anyone know if there is a difference between pink foam and blue foam? I've been using blue, but all of you seem to use pink. I haven't seen pink at my local lumber shop.


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## Dr Morbius

Leaving it pink would make it the first Barbie Mausolium I ever saw. If you don't want that, try putting acetone or some other solvent in a spray bottle and spritzing it all over (wearing gloves and a face shield, of course), then paint it. Awesome job!


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## edwood saucer

I know nuthin about effects - but that my friend is darn cool... great job.

I wonder if I could save on my own funeral costs if I just erected a foam mausoleum in my backyard...

hhmmmmm


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## ScareFX

Outstanding detail tcarter. Excellent work.


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## tcarter

Gloomy_Gus said:


> Looks amazing. Have you tried wetting the foam before heating. Keeba uses this technique and I think it gives the look you are going for.
> 
> Does anyone know if there is a difference between pink foam and blue foam? I've been using blue, but all of you seem to use pink. I haven't seen pink at my local lumber shop.


The only difference is the color. The pink is made by Owens Corning and the blue is made by Dow. Pink is a trademark of Owens Corning so they are the only ones that can produce pink insulation products.

heresjohnny, I like your pics. that's kinda what I'm going for. I'm just not sure about using That much spray paint since I'm doing a large piece.


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## Xpendable

That is incredible! I can't wait to see it when it's finished! I use the "cheap" technique for nicks and wear on my styrofoam. I just an exacto knife and a cut a rough, tiny "V" into an edge. No more than 1 cm deep. Then I use my finger nail and scrape/gouge a chunk of styrofoam away. I use a small sanding block with heavy grit to rough things up, too. I would experiment on scrap first!


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## SpectreTTM

Oh My. I bet that was a lot of work. But what a fantastic job you did.

A few questions if you don't mind.

How long did it take?
Any special tools or techniques?
Does it come apart for storage?

Wow.

Thanks for sharing


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## trishaanne

I've used a wood burning tool with the small tip for making cracks and marks in the foam. It works great and since I'm assuming you don't want to stress crack the entire thing, it won't take but a few minutes. You can also use the tip to make little pock marks whereever you want them. Just my .02.

BTW...BEAUTIFUL JOB!!!!!


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## heresjohnny

tcarter said:


> The only difference is the color. The pink is made by Owens Corning and the blue is made by Dow. Pink is a trademark of Owens Corning so they are the only ones that can produce pink insulation products.
> 
> heresjohnny, I like your pics. that's kinda what I'm going for. I'm just not sure about using That much spray paint since I'm doing a large piece.


Just a thought, the spray paint technique might be good for some isolated areas of decay, like it was isolated to part of the tombstone edge. Again, outstanding job on the construction!


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## tcarter

SpectreTTM said:


> Oh My. I bet that was a lot of work. But what a fantastic job you did.
> 
> A few questions if you don't mind.
> 
> How long did it take?
> Any special tools or techniques?
> Does it come apart for storage?
> 
> Wow.
> 
> Thanks for sharing


thanks, and to answer your questions
1. I've been working for about three weeks now, One week I took off for vacation time, the other 2 mainly just weekends and an hour or so here and there during the week. I'm not sure of total hours, but i think it might be around 40.

2. Special tools? well a compound miter saw, and a radial saw. I wouldn't really say they are special, but probably someting not everyone has.

technique? I loosely followed these plans for the wood frame construction
http://homepage.mac.com/nephilim/imagineerieing/2004/crypt.html
I made the bones on the Bat wing out of Caulk, I guess that could be called special. Otherwise it was just measure, cut, miter, screw, nail, glue.I did find my rock mix CD helped, sespecially Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock."

3. Yes. It does come apart for storage, or at least I HOPE it does. I haven't disasembled it since I applied the foam, but the frame cames apart into left and right sides, the front and back, which both break in half, and the roof comes apart in the middle, so I guess that's.... eight pieces?

hope that helps.


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## shaunathan

t carter, this technique I'm about to suggest MAY BE BAD.
so please do not get angry is this eats all your hard work into lumpy useless madness....


GRAB SOME TEST FOAM

and hit it with super 77 by 3m, but spray it VERY CLOSE to the foam, this will eat the foam away and you may get the pitted look you like...

of course, too much arosol and you'll melt it away, not enough, and you just got a sticky surface...

maybe it works? maybe it's a horrible idea, but it's late and it just came to me...


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## slimy

That thing looks very cool. Great job.


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## NecroBones

Man, looks fantastic. 

*envious*


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## Dreadnight

Not sure what you meant by "don't like heat", but have you tried a wood burning tool? You can use the tip to make the pits and vary the size of them by how far you push it in. Also very good for making stress cracks by dragging the tip across the surface. Takes time, but you get a good effect. If you look at the big bat sculpt I made for my 2004 haunt, you can see the type of finish I'm talking about.


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## tcarter

Dreadnight said:


> Not sure what you meant by "don't like heat", but have you tried a wood burning tool? You can use the tip to make the pits and vary the size of them by how far you push it in. Also very good for making stress cracks by dragging the tip across the surface. Takes time, but you get a good effect. If you look at the big bat sculpt I made for my 2004 haunt, you can see the type of finish I'm talking about.


What I meant was applying flame didn't give me the right look. I experimented with Keebas wet technique last night as suggested by Gloomy Gus. I like the results. I'm not sure exactly what the water does, but it gives a pattern not possible dry. I will try the wood burning tool for the cracks.


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## SpectreTTM

tcarter said:


> thanks, and to answer your questions
> 2. Special tools? well a compound miter saw, and a radial saw. I wouldn't really say they are special, but probably something not everyone has.
> 
> technique? I loosely followed these plans for the wood frame construction
> http://homepage.mac.com/nephilim/imagineerieing/2004/crypt.html
> I made the bones on the Bat wing out of Caulk, I guess that could be called special. Otherwise it was just measure, cut, miter, screw, nail, glue.I did find my rock mix CD helped, especially Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock."


40 hrs wow you work fast.:googly:

Thanks for the info. I guess I should have been more specific. 
How did you do the inlay work on the columns?
How did you do the arch way around the door?
How did you do the raised bat wings?

I love the idea of the caulk for the bones.

Thank you so much for your input.


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## DeathTouch

That is just awesome.


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## gypsichic

great job! 

i too am curious how you made the arch on the doorway & the recessed areas on the columns


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## tcarter

SpectreTTM said:


> Thanks for the info. I guess I should have been more specific.
> How did you do the inlay work on the columns?
> How did you do the arch way around the door?
> How did you do the raised bat wings?





> gypsichic	great job!
> 
> i too am curious how you made the arch on the doorway & the recessed areas on the columns


The inlays are just a strip of 3/4" foam with the shape cut out of the center with an exacto knife and then sanded smooth. I made a pattern out of thin cardboard and traced it onto the foam. The cut out pieces were then glued to a solid strip of 11'2" foam which makes the bulk of the columns.

The main arch that forms the door opening was done the same way, except it was 1 1/2 " foam, and I cut it out with a jigsaw. Then I cut a 2" strip of 3/4" foam and bent it around the curve at the inside of the opening to smooth out the unevenness from the freehand cut. There is a kind of beaded detail to that strip, as well as on some of the moulding detail around the columns and the strip that goes down the side. The 3/4" foam comes manufactured with a tongue and groove feature, this "bead is merely the tongue portion of the foam that was cut off and scrap from other parts. actually, all of the moulding and detail is made from just scraps, which pretty much tells one that there is NO EXTRA COST in making this detail, than to leave it plain, and the detail is what makes this differ and stand out from just an ordinary looking project.

the secondary arch was cut out of a piece of 1 1/2" foam and glued on, then hand sanded to even and round it. the straight parts were just 2" strips of foam glued on separately.

The raised skull and wings are glued to a strip of 1x4 wood, which is hidden, so this gives it that raised look. The whole piece is then attached to the front with these plastic strap style picture hangers, so it comes off. as far as how I made those, well I bought the skull. it's a vacu-formed plastic piece that came off of a strip of 3 skull for some decoration, i just cut one off and used it. The rest of it was cut out with an exacto knife and sanded, except, as I already mentioned, the bones being caulk.

I did not use a dremel or a router for anything. It was either cut with a saw, and/ or exacto or utility knife, and shaped with sandpaper. Although, if I had a router, and the proper bits. I would have had more detailed mouldings, and the inlays would probably have had extra depth, but I'm happy with what I have, all that considered.


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## tcarter

thanks for the positive feed back. I hope I can do this without starting a new thread, but does anyone have suggestions how to make the Capitals to go on the arch? This is the last detail I have to do, and although it will be fine without them, I really want to ad them. I've tried carving them out of foam and that isn't working. My carving skill are non existant. anyway, at this point, I think I need something I can purchase, relatively inexpensively, and just stick on there. here's a photo of what I'm talking about and kind of what I want, although, the intricacy doesn't have to be that much.


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## gypsichic

what about a places that sell castings for interior woodwork? 

like the decorative pieces people put on corners of collonades/doorways/columns on staircases

i know what i'm talking about but don't know if i'm being clear to you.........lol


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## gypsichic

might look at rockler.com and just see if you can find what you need so you can search it out locally


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## DeadSpider

Wow..........wow.........


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## tcarter

gypsichic said:


> might look at rockler.com and just see if you can find what you need so you can search it out locally


Zonkers! the ones I saw on that sight were EXPENSIVE!


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## Lilly

yes i agree something like a corner molding would work : home depot, menards, lowes those type places would have some cheaper ones i think


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## Blacksedan47

I am at work sneaking a peek, I have been building a similar mausoleum for a while now.just bought a house and a Daughter in college so I have to scavenge most my supplies. I am so jealous. If only I could get more large sheets of styrofoam. Great work, I will fill in and introduce myself later. I want to see how your inside conruction looks as far as tear down. i live in the North east so Snow is not out of the question for Halloween. This site is fantastic, at least now I feel i am not alone in my disease


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## Ghosttwin

Great job! Can't wait to see the finished product. For a nice pitting effect try rolling a wire wheel ( like the ones that go on a drill for stripping paint) across the foam in different directions. Oh, use gloves the wires will poke you.


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## Georgeb68

Holy crap!! That looks awesome! I wish could make stuff lie that! It looks so professional .


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