# Making cemetery towers look old



## Spider Rider

Here are some answers to a couple of questions asked about my cemetery towers under the showroom thread. 
http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=9205






These are lazy man columns compared to those done by people with a table saw and woodworking skills. The frame is 1x2 and the base is a square of 2x6 wood. I covered the skeleton with insulation board. I can't get the good pink board here in Sacramento. It's foil covered on the outside and kind of crumbly. I glued the insulation onto the frame and peeled off the outer foil. Then using a putty knife to cover it with joint compound (monster mud) in arcs to give some texture. I chipped out notches in the corners to look like chipped stone using the putty knife. A base coat of grey latex, a second coat of darker grey using the rag off technique to make it splotchy and then flat charcoal black the edges and where it would weather under the lamp and sign, I would rag off the black and also squirt water from a spray bottle to make runs like weathering and to blend the brushed edges. 
Those of you in New York know this blackened look on old buildings like the church in featured in National Treasure or the Dakota where John Lennon lived. The key for me was to work quickly and messy in both the application of monster mud and ragging on and off the paint.
The moss I got at Party America cheap since she had rows of it and no one was buying. I used a spray adhesive and stuck it where I wanted. The top is open, covered with square grid chicken wire. This lets the green cfl bulb inside shine up on the gargoyle. The lamps I bought for a buck at a yard sale. I put flicker flame bulbs from Home Crepot in them. 
The frame is just small lengths of pine strips screwed and glued in a tall square. 2 diaganols keep it from flexing. 
To weather proof the top you could use clear or translucent plexiglass sealed with silicone. Proper wiring with a junction box and conduit would be wise too instead of my fire trap wiring.

Be sure to edge light or top light to bring out the texture and create long shadows.




























My colection of little ghosts, 3 of which would rise from behind the tombstones on an fcg frame with longer than normal arms.


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## CreepyCanmore

Thanks for the how to. They look exactly what I would expect to see going into an old cemetery. I might give these a try this winter.


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## Silent Requiem

they look great!THank you.


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## Lilly

Now those are really cool ..love that look 
thanks for how to


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## MorbidMariah

I know this is an old thread, but I just found it. 

Spider Rider, your set up is gorgeous! Very spooky! The aging on the columns is lovely, and I really like the little ghosties that rise in the graveyard. Just wonderful.


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## GrimleeFeindish

I agree, I love these columns. The whole set up really is beautiful. Very nice columns, the aged look is very realistic. I really want to make some like these. Only problem for me is my yard is small. I was thinking of putting them in my driveway and then the tots could walk through them up the drive with the cemetery on the left side. Then the other problem is storage of course.


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## HallowEve

Awesome work, I love the look! Thanks for sharing how you created them!

HallowEve :jol:


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## Spider Rider

Thanks for the compliments. My first project this year (and maybe my only one) is to make a small mausoleum and finish it with the same look. My crank ghost Elizabeth wants to move there from the upstairs window. She is still a favorite among the kids, so better digs for her are in order. Here is a mock-up of what I am thinking.

http://www.hauntforum.com/album.php?albumid=8&pictureid=356


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## thefireguy

*Mausoleum*

This is Chris from El Dorado Hills. I'm also doing a mausoleum. Is there any chance that we get together and help each other? Just send me a PM with your number if you want. Also I was wondering if anybody in the area has gatherings to discuss and build Halloween related stuff? I hope it doesn't rain again this year on us.

Thanks,

Chris


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## Spider Rider

Hi Chris, I still have your email and phone number if they are the same. If you want help in my patented lazy man building technique, I will be glad to share. Here is a Norcal prop building group.

http://www.calhauntsnorcal.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CalHauntSNorCal/


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## lwaldeck

Love these columns. I'm going to try and replicate somewhat myself this year...

What, if anything, did you use to weatherproof these? I'm a novice when it comes to some of this stuff, and I was thinking polyurethane would give it too much gloss and take away from the effects.


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## Mr Grimsley

Oops... I posted this to the wrong thread... supposed to go here...

Spider Rider, I've said before how much I love your setup but this is the first time I've seen your rising ghosts in action! OMG! I have to do this! What a great (and different) use of an FCG mechinism! 

Thank you again for showing us all that! Again, sinply awsome!


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## Hallowennie315

I love your FGC's! I wish I could do that, but i don't have any large trees in my yard! I also love the gate keeper! The face is so creepy!


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## Spider Rider

Iwaldeck, I didn't weatherproof them and this year it rained for the first time. I have heard of drylok being used and also polyurethane. Maybe if you coated the joint compund with urethane and painted on top of that? Thanks Mr. Grimsley! And Halloweenie315 the mask is called the Undertaker and is available from many vendors. Here it is in the *Fright Catalog*

Oh, maybe you're talking about the little guy. I got him at Target. He is one of those door greaters with the head hollowed out to hold the candy dish. I just put a hat on him, repainted his clothes to match my 7 ft. monster and put a black rose in his hand.


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## jaege

I think the columns look great. Very different form others I have seen. The whole mossy fungus overgrown thing makes them look very aged. And I really like the way you have the lights hitting the gargoyles from below.


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## hermitturtle420

awesome pillars, awesome haunt.


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## pagan

Nice columns, KILLER haunt!


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## Spider Rider

Since this is thread is connected to the Haunt Project I thought I would add some pics of the repainted columns. Along with grey I added brown and flat green for a camouflage look. Then I added the flat black with a rag and sprayed down with a water bottle to streak.



















And a daylight video


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## RoxyBlue

You take some of the most gorgeous haunt pictures I've ever seen. They are so beautiful and atmospheric.


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## Dixie

RoxyBlue said:


> You take some of the most gorgeous haunt pictures I've ever seen. They are so beautiful and atmospheric.


I totally agree Roxy!! Spider Rider is a household name around our house, due to just the lighting and photography alone!!! I get such a surge of inspiration and exhilaration just looking at the pictures. I adore the columns, but at night, they become something entirely different in these shots - everything I would hope to see in an amazing haunt!


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## Spider Rider

Thanks, atmospheric and a sense of place is what I like. I get paid to light stuff so Halloween is really fun for me. When the cemetery is set up I like to sit in there and hang with the cats while watching the fog swirl around. It's either weird or therapeutic or weirdly therapeutic. I love your haunts too and Dixie I hadn't seen your latest pics. Wow, a great haunt.


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## Devil

WOW..! They look great..! but i really like the spider he's cool..!


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## kentuckyspecialfxdotcom

I wish you all lived by me I need help in the shop on a big project similar to colums thing, doing some wall panels for a amusment park, its hard to find anyone in my area that can do this stuff.
You would think with the economy being like it is id have my pick and choose of help, the hard part is finding people that can think for themselves, well that and be reliable, lol.
I think ill just sit here and admire the nifty colums for another minute or two.
Thumbs up on the moss touch.


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## rsay

These towers look great. Approximately how tall and how wide are they?


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## CoolDJTV

Nice!


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## Nchaunting

Really nice work, cant wait for the "off season" to revamp my haunt, gonna borrow some ideas from you. Very well done.


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## pagan

Still love the feel of your haunt!


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## Jenguzman

Beautiful columns! But I really love your lighting. In process of creating columns for a Halloween event here in Natomas - hope they come out 1/2 as nice.


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## Spider Rider

I finally got some real Spanish moss for the cemetery this year.


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## creep factor

Wow! The attention to detail, the fog, the lighting. So atmospheric,so surreal, so downright creepy. All I can say is AWESOME!


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## niblique71

Every time I see your pictures, I melt. The atmosphere you capture year after year is amazing. It Screams Creepy..... It's Haunt perfection. If I ever take a year off of haunting I want to visit your haunt in person


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## Haunted Corner

Loved the way they look.


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## Troll Wizard

They incorporate well with the caretaker right there at the entrance to greet you! Great job! :jol:


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