# Zombastic's Giant Spider Prop



## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

I was inspired by cyclonejack's spider so I figured I'd give it a go.
Here's what I did tonight.










I've got a huge exercise ball, donated by my wife, that I'm gonna paper mache and then cover with Great Stuff Expanding Foam. 
Not sure what I'm gonna do about the head yet.


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## cyclonejack (Jun 29, 2011)

Looking great Zombastic! As for the head, might I suggest that small beach ball there in the corner? I used a balloon for the head, but of course any shape will do.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

I'm using the paper mache technique too. I woke to find the mached cracking on the ball that I did last night.
I'll mache it again tonight and foam it tomorrow. I only hope it can be as great as yours when finished


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## cyclonejack (Jun 29, 2011)

What mixture did you you use for the mache Zombastic? I used a wood glue, flour, and salt mix. Ultimately I dont think cracking is an issue anyway simply because its merely the layer that protects the ball to begin with. I might just try to cover an object in plastic saran wrap and then coat in Great Stuff then. Simplify the process. The structural integrity comes from the expanding foam anyway so paper mache may not be necessary at all.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

I used the flour/salt mix. I think everything is okay now. I mached it again and fixed the cracks. I'll do it again tonight and add glue to the mixture. I hope to foam it all tomorrow. I made the head from chickenwire, mached it and it came out great. I'm off next week and will have it all finished. 
Thanks for the help and inspiration.


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## Lilly (Jun 13, 2006)

Wow that spidey is huge . Looks great though. Nice Job!!
The lighting sounds like it will really pop that thing out.


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## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

Can't wait to see how this turns out


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## Xpendable (Sep 19, 2006)

I did a spider last year that is pretty much the same design. I didn't do the paper mache though. I just did spray paint on the exercise ball so I could deflated it after Halloween. I carved the head from Styrofoam. Mine has a spitter mechanism to spray folks. I have video and construction pics on my website in the our haunt section.


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## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

Great shape so far. Look forward to the finished product.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

I finished a second coat of paper mache with Elmers Glue added to the mix. 
Last night I started with the Great Stuff Expanding Foam


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

I've used Great Stuff before to make guts but never to coat anything.
It dried fast and is much stronger than I thought. It really strengthened the ball.


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## Xpendable (Sep 19, 2006)

Just don't get that crap on your hands, lol! Glad to see you wearing gloves.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

Xpendable said:


> Just don't get that crap on your hands, lol! Glad to see you wearing gloves.


Even with gloves I somehow got it on one of my hands. I work in Haz Waste so you'd think I'd know better


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)




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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

Okay it looks kinda weird right now, more snail-like. LoL!
but I'm thinking that when I add the fangs, legs and paint it will all come together.


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

zombastic said:


> Okay it looks kinda weird right now but I'm thinking that when I add the fangs, legs and paint it will all come together.


It's shaping up and has some terrific texture. You could always round off the top and sides of the carapace (front part) with more great stuff to make it a bit less cylindrical-looking. Might alleviate some of your worries if I'm reading you correctly! :jol:


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

I still need to foam the legs and around the fangs.
I'm not entirely happy with the head so I may round it off more with foam as Sawtooth Jack stated above (good call).
I'm sure the paint job will help set it all off. I hope to be finished by either tomorrow night or early this week.










Bottom view










I'm gonna paint it black with a couple of red spots. 
I'm not sure what color to paint the eyes and fangs. Maybe the eyes red and the fangs grey. 
I don't know. Any ideas y'all?


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

That is one big honkin' lovely spider, Zom

If you're looking for painting inspiration, do a Google image search on tropical spiders. They are many gorgeously patterned and colorful species that could spark some ideas.


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## cyclonejack (Jun 29, 2011)

That spider is looking fantastic Zombastic! Looking forward to seeing it painted! By the way....you are a brave man to work with Great Stuff in your home!! My wife woudlve chased me out of the house with a baseball bat if I did that!


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

You're right cyclonejack. It was sort of crazy to use Great Stuff in the house. 
Luckily the only mess I made was getting some on my hands (which totally sucks btw). 
After foaming the ball I came to my senses and moved it out to the garage.

I still have to decide on a color for the eyes and fangs. Me thinks some sort of a yellow for the fangs.
My son likes it.


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## cyclonejack (Jun 29, 2011)

So Cool!! You knocked that thing out quick too! Great job Zombastic! Yellow sounds great for the eyes and fangs too.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

cyclonejack said:


> So Cool!! You knocked that thing out quick too! Great job Zombastic! Yellow sounds great for the eyes and fangs too.


Thank you. I may have to thicken the legs up. 
Once I painted them, the foam kinda shrunk a little. 
I hope it can take 31 days of being outside in the elements.
I foamed the heck out of it and hit it with multiple coats of paint.


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

The finished spider looks great! Nice work.


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## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

That is one big Creepy spider, nice!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

The shot with your son is a hoot


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## Palmdale Haunter (Mar 3, 2012)

Looks great!


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## The Halloween Lady (Aug 18, 2010)

That turned out fantastic. Love the pic with your son.


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## Rahnefan (May 1, 2009)

That is a big spider. Good job.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

Well, my worst fear has happened. 
I started setting up my yard today and after only 15 minutes in the sun my spider cracked. 
What happened was the exercise ball expanded and cracked the paper mache and foam. 
I poked a hole in it, let it deflate a little and stuck duct tape over it for now, until I decide what to do to fix it. 
I'm so mad I almost wanna say screw it. 
I'm considering buying more cans of spray foam and filling up the ball. 
God I wonder how much that will take?
Okay rant over....gotta get back out there.


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol: So sorry....stupid sun.....


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

If you do go with filling in the ball with foam. Great Stuff make a maximum expansion foam. It comes in a black can I think, not the red can like the regular stuff.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

Silly me...Early in the building I briefly considered this being a possibility but dismissed it quickly thinking "nah". 
DOH! I think I can fix it though. The ball has completely deflated and the outer shell of mache and foam and still holding it fine. 
It's much more sturdy than I thought, just a with big crack across the top.


I stuck 'er back in the garage, out of the heat until emergency surgery can be performed. 
I can either fix the crack with foam, this time leaving a vent hole or I can buy 1000 more cans of foam and fill 'er up. 
I'm gonna skip it for a while today and move on to putting up other decorations.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

Bone Dancer said:


> If you do go with filling in the ball with foam. Great Stuff make a maximum expansion foam. It comes in a black can I think, not the red can like the regular stuff.


Thanks for the tip...I did not know that. I might hit Lowes or Home Depot later.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

I was kinda panicked earlier but I've settled down now. 
I prolly should have drilled a hole in the spider upon completion but I was not sure how the 
mache/foam shell would hold up without the ball.
Honestly, I just really didn't think it would happen. 

I patched the crack with more foam and it's working great so far. 
Surprisingly, it's pretty strong. 
Well actually, I'm not sure it's surprising. This Stuff is Great, after all.
I'll go over it with another layer. paint it again and I think it will be ready to go out into the yard again.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

I painted the eyes and fangs and have it out now. 
I still need to add way more web and a spider victim that I'm working on. 
I'm considering making a rope web.










I tried both red and green floodlights on it and like the green better.
Of course it looks better in person than the crappy pic.


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## kprimm (Mar 14, 2009)

Very cool spider, will look killer with the victim all webbed up.


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## Uruk-Hai (Nov 4, 2006)

That looks GREAT!! Definitely has a high creep factor - even in daylight. Awesome!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Happy to see you were able to repair her


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## Cat_Bones (Jun 1, 2012)

That looks phenomenal!! Awesome job!


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

If you could somehow put a flood light above it (on eaves of house or on a tall pole) it would hide the under-supporting wires and look even better. Did you try lighting it with blue or a purple LED spot? I love it.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

All I've tried so far are red and green lights but I like the idea of elevating the light.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)




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