# 2012 jack in the box!!!!!!!!!wip



## gooffy87

Hello all!

I have been anxious to share this build with everyone and I finally got the time to post some pictures! it is still a work in progress but should be done shortly, the pneumatic mechanisms are all in place and all box reinforcement is done, all that is left is paint and soundtrack. check out my chronicle of the paint job (very proud  more pics and videos to follow!

btw, the box is 4 feet by 4 feet and when the lid pops it stands at over 8 feet to reveal the demonic jester inside!

I covered the box in red Behr paint (mixed with primer)


----------



## gooffy87

*update*


















viola! I will be painting thick yellow and orange borders around it shortly









a sneak peak at the reinforcement of the side walls and the 6 inch stroke cylinder (there is one on the opposite side mounted the same) it runs off of one solenoid that i bought 2 Y valves to split the send and return air


----------



## gooffy87

by the way, this runs off about 60 psi controlled by a monsterguts nerve center and motion sensor!


----------



## RoxyBlue

I like your painting - he looks very kid friendly, which makes me suspect that the actual Jack is going to be much scarier just for contrast


----------



## Hairazor

Can't wait to see the finished project.


----------



## Pumpkin5

:jol: Very Awesome! I can't wait to see what the guy inside looks like! Hello everyone, meet Mr. Creepy-Creeps-a-lot, I am sure...


----------



## gooffy87

Thanks for all the kind words! Their will be a strobe on the box, green light inside, fog inside and an evil soundtrack! also, i am programming the nerve center so that the lid rumbles before it pops open, almost as of it is a caged monster trying to get out! Video and more pics to follow soon!


----------



## Lord Homicide

i hate your jack-in-the-box..... in a good way! it looks menacing.

i hate anything clown related so i hate jack in the boxes. they scared the hell out of me as a kid and i guess i was scarred for life. please don't bring this thing near me 

awesome work!


----------



## VexFX

Looking good! I like the retro style of the clown painting.


----------



## gooffy87

I hate it too! Hahahaha thats why i chose this theme lol. I haaaate clowns, this Year will be my second go round of my own walk thru home haunt and i figured, "what scares me the most?????? CLOWNS!". LOL. I am going to be careful not to advertize on the outside that it will be full of murderous clowns becuz i want people to at least step in.....then go screaming out hahahahaha. Im so glad their is a community for this hahahaha


----------



## Lord Homicide

gooffy87 said:


> I hate it too! Hahahaha thats why i chose this theme lol. I haaaate clowns, this Year will be my second go round of my own walk thru home haunt and i figured, "what scares me the most?????? CLOWNS!". LOL. I am going to be careful not to advertize on the outside that it will be full of murderous clowns becuz i want people to at least step in.....then go screaming out hahahahaha. Im so glad their is a community for this hahahaha


hilarious man. with this clown box, your haunt will be freaky


----------



## gooffy87

VIDEOS! Keep in mind, I am still in the process of bulking up the clown body, painting the under hood, and probably painting outlines of yellow and orange around the character on the front as it appears on the real JIB it is modeled after, so this is a taste, with audio, lights.....and FOG!!!!!!!!!! below are two seperate animations, two seperate audio tracks, all audio tracks were pieced together by me from stuff I found around the net, they actually sounds pretty good in person, suggestions welcome, just keep in mind it is still a wip!  Happy haunts!

post1.mp4 video by wakekid2001 - Photobucket

post.mp4 video by wakekid2001 - Photobucket


----------



## RoxyBlue

I think you've done a good job so far. I like the build up of movement to the full appearance of the creature inside the box.

I agree about the need to bulk up the clown. At his current size, he's more demented, fun evil that demented scary evil, although there's always a place in any haunt for demented fun


----------



## Hairazor

I like the suspense build up before you see the evil one, kind of made me shiver


----------



## gooffy87

Thank you all for the kind words! definately makes my day! I am thinking of putting a colored spotlight on it(infront of it) instead of a strobe to see the effect, the box has a turning crank on the side but even in person it is hard to see under the lighting conditions. I might also put a strobe on the inside, we will see. As always, suggestions welcome!


----------



## Lord Homicide

i still hate it!!  it's awesome that the thing flops up and down before jumping up. how hard would it be to have the jackass in the box catapult out at you? catapult meaning lunge out of the box on a trajectory, not flip out. i've never done pneumatics so i don't know what is actually involved.

as far as lighting goes, would you consider a slower strobe effect? i wonder how hard it would be to do a slower strobe until the thing comes out of the box then switch to the strobe you currently have.

you could use mechanical/HVAC flex duct as the part covers the "spring" in the a real jack in the box.

just throwing ideas out there man.  regardless, it is a great looking project. awesome work!


----------



## gooffy87

Thanx homicide, i have a 4bar mech built that is capable of catapulting the clown out towards people seperately from the lid opening, this would require (as far as i have figured it) another compressor with a seperate solenoid to direct the air, i am kind of at the upper limit on the budget for this prop lol. I built this with all new parts and reinforced the heck out of everything. I have seen the mechs that attach a bar to the 4 bar mech that drives the lid open as the mech extends and i decided to go with my design instead, i really wanted the shaking before the pop and i knew that i could conceptualize a strong mechanism in the manner that i made it with the dual cylinders , one on each side, the 4 bar didnt seem like it cud handle this type of movement (built with my skills at least). i appreciate the input tho! The ideas from all of you have my creative gears turning and i love it! who knew halloween cud be so fun in May! Thanks all!


----------



## Lord Homicide

the reason i pitch ideas upon ideas to teach myself about all this. as much as i have loved halloween, i never built anything to decorate or been on a forum until now - yeah i know, sad.

so without further ado - another lighting idea.

blacklight until the thing comes out of the box then cut blacklight and go to strobe. the blacklight could create an illusion of a dreamy place (the colors blacklights produce) and the strobe could snap the observer out of that world. trying to play with the emotions.


----------



## Hairazor

As far as having the bad boy catapault, you could save that idea to add to it next year and it would be a whole new experience with the same prop


----------



## gooffy87

Good point hairazor, this is definately not a "one use" prop because of the cost, i will think of adding it it or "reinventing it" next year. It is def built to last and i absolutely love it, it scared the hell out of me running it as it is in the video for the first time


----------



## Lord Homicide

speaking of budget... construction sites (job sites) usually generate reusable waste (meaning building materials) for people like us. anything in a dumpster would legally be up for grabs but its location within the jobsite would mean you'd have to trespass. just find the general contractor (GC) or construction manager (CM) (they would typically be considered the site owner) trailer onsite and ask their superintendent if you can go look in the dumpsters. They might let you, they might not... the worst that can happen is they say no. You would be amazed at the stuff that gets thrown out.

** Go straight to the GC or CM trailer first. We have a hard enough time just building...
** DO NOT STEP FOOT onsite without, at minimum: Jeans, boots, long sleeve shirt. Contractors are leery about OSHA safety regulations...


----------



## gooffy87

Hahahaha, i will try that. for my haunt i am going to build a torture table with a hidden compartment for the actors mid section so that he can be "mutilated" infront of guests lol. Wood is soooo expensive.


----------



## Pumpkin5

:jol: So far I am loving your clown from hell. Really cool looking. I know that you can get wooden pallets from car dealers for free. Just call them up and ask if they have any pallets you can have. They just throw them away and the wood although not first class is my favorite thing...FREE!


----------



## gooffy87

Wow, thx for the tips all, my creative spidey sense is tingling!


----------



## CenCalHaunt

NICE!! I like the little build-up as well.


----------



## CenCalHaunt

Appeciate the heads-up on the reject wood thing, I never knew about that.


----------



## Lunatic

Looks great...nice and creepy with good action! That will be fun.


----------



## gooffy87

Thank you all soo much for the kind words, as u all kno how much work n time go into these things, it means alot to hear the kind words! Btw, this prop will be in the entry to my "yet to be named" killer clown walk through maze. I also got the idea from someone here to extend my haunt by adding an outdoor cornstalk/hay bail lined portion with clown scare crows, some real, some props! This area will link the two large tents my haunt will be in


----------



## Lord Homicide

try this also, the weird jack in the box tune when you crank it, find it on the internet and slow it down to play in the background. everyone knows that sound and it would be scary to hear a slower, demonic version of it


----------



## gooffy87

:-O! Great idea! That would work so well! I am using mixcraft right now and ive seen an option to do that! Great idea!


----------



## Lord Homicide

gooffy87 said:


> :-O! Great idea! That would work so well! I am using mixcraft right now and ive seen an option to do that! Great idea!


i guess you'd be looking for a Pop Goes the Weasel melody now that I think about it because if i'm not mistaken, that's they played when cranked.

let me (us) know how it ends up!


----------



## gooffy87

I have a pop goes the weasel audio track that is kind of demented, its pretty good. I think im gonna set up an ambiant sound system playing it as the nerve center does not play ambiant sound, it only plays sound when it is tripped.


----------



## HOSTEL

*How to*

You should post a how to. I would love to build something similar to this but I am not sure where to begin. I bet this was very expensive so I may not be able to do it in the end but I would still like to know because I appreciate a creative build.


----------



## gooffy87

Hi! Sorry i havent updated this project in a while, busy with life i guess lol. I will begin updating it again soon. The running total is about $550 in materials (not including fog machine, lights, and p.a. audio system inside it). I will continue to chronicle the rest of the build and hope to have it finished mid september, all that is really left is the clown body. Next year i plan to add a second pneumatic feature to it that lauches a clown out independently of the lid opening.

If i had anything to recommend, it would be to pay for the parts needed from fright props instead of trying to find stuff cheaper or to adapt strange parts. It saves time and ultimately money and frustration hahaha. Happy haunting!


----------



## Xpendable

You mentioned that you would need a second compressor to add another action. Are you running a bunch of other pneumatic props off the same compressor and are at the max you can get out of the one you are using? I'm assuming you know you can run T's off the lines and run more than one thing off a compressor, assuming you have the capacity.


----------



## gpawood

Great idea and very good prop,,,, I have a clown prop this year and will add this JIB beside it next year,,,, should give 'em a good scare.... thanks for the idea!


----------



## gooffy87

Xpendable said:


> You mentioned that you would need a second compressor to add another action. Are you running a bunch of other pneumatic props off the same compressor and are at the max you can get out of the one you are using? I'm assuming you know you can run T's off the lines and run more than one thing off a compressor, assuming you have the capacity.


Hi expendable, i know that you can run a T to split the air, i am just worried about controlling the lid and the clown itself off of one air hose. The lid is very heavy and rerequired about 65 pounds of air, the clown would be alot less weight and i am thinking it would shoot it at the same air pressure and make for a violent, unnatural scare. I am going to make that addition in 2013 and will definately post pics and let everybody know how it works out. I really broke the budget this year lol. and again. Thanks for all the kind words, i scare, because i care


----------



## Haunted Spider

You know you can put an inline regulator past the T to regulate the air lower on one side and it will be much less money than another compressor right? Just a thought to keep the cost down. 

Also, you used a monster guts nerve center for the control, but what did you use for cylinders, solenoids, etc. I am very interested in this build.


----------



## gooffy87

Thats a good idea with the regulator. Currently, the lid operates off of one monsterguts nerve center, one pir trigger, two double acting cylinders(found kn ebay for a great price), stroke is about 6 inches on both, 1" bore, solenoid is one 5 port 12 v solenoid. I bought 2 Y splitters(one for the sending of air, one for the return) hooked up to the solenoid each cylinder. It took 4 4x8 foot panels of plywood, one vent motor attached to the side wall for the crank, half a gallon of red behr paint with primer, some thick gaskets to line the lid so that it doesnt break when it is slamming, the hinges that attach the cylinders to the lid are custom but can be bought from fright props. It works beautifully. Any other questions or pics wanted let me know!


----------



## halstaff

In addition to using regulators off the T branch of the air line, you can further control the air flow to each side of the cylinder independently with the use of flow controls such as these -http://www.frightprops.com/pneumatics/fittings/push-on-fittings/male-connector-push-on-with-flow-control-0736-0017.html
I use these on all my cylinders to really dial in the speed of the cylinders.


----------

