# 9 Circles of Hell



## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

this is a prop-making question, but since it's a quest for info and not a tutorial, it didn't seem to fit the Prop-Making thread. 

I want to make an "artistic representation" of the 9 circles of hell to have standing vertically as a backdrop - and I envision a spiral-type vine thingy. I'd like ideas on what materials to use to construct a very thick vine - like 4" diameter vines. Do pool noodles lend themselves to melting and shaping? 

The reason I want a vine is so that whatever I use, it collapses for storage. the other option is a huge drop cloth, maybe black fabric with a painted rendition?


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## scarrycher (May 30, 2012)

pool noodles melt very fast and uneven, they also dont hold paint at all. you could wrap them in masking tape then paint.. I hope that helps


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## JustJimAZ (Aug 19, 2010)

Allen Hopps made some vines....Not that thick, but maybe it will help?


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## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

I made a giant spider using Pool Noodles for the legs. I put fairly heavy gauge wire through the center to enable me to pose the legs and it worked fine. I also tried (unsuccessfully) to paint the noodles but the slightest contact scraped it off, so I ended up covering them with masking tape and painting again. The tape has started to lift at the joins 18 months later, and has also pulled away in spots but can be retouched with glue & paint to repair fairly easily.


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## doggieshop (Jul 15, 2008)

You could probably use Allen Hopps video on making intestines to make vines as well. Just adapt size. ad leaves as he did and paint to your needs.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

Chicken wire??


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## Demon Dog (Mar 30, 2009)

Depends upon how large you want to make this, but a sheet of 3/4 inch foam could be cut into either circles or a spiral and arranged to have an interesting 3-D effect, giving the visual feeling of going deeper into the levels of Hell. The foam could be painted (minimal spray paint as it attacks the foam) with whatever scenes or wording you choose to add. It also could then be stacked in 2-D form and stored more easily. Nice and light too.

Cloth is another option and rolls up nice and small, but is more 2-D and is a pain to paint with a brush (at least that was my experience with painting a bed sheet).


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

Demon Dog said:


> Depends upon how large you want to make this, but a sheet of 3/4 inch foam could be cut into either circles or a spiral and arranged to have an interesting 3-D effect, giving the visual feeling of going deeper into the levels of Hell. The foam could be painted (minimal spray paint as it attacks the foam) with whatever scenes or wording you choose to add. It also could then be stacked in 2-D form and stored more easily. Nice and light too.
> 
> Cloth is another option and rolls up nice and small, but is more 2-D and is a pain to paint with a brush (at least that was my experience with painting a bed sheet).


I like this idea but my first circle needs to be like10 feet tall and wide, (sorry should have specified dimensions I was going after.) That;s why I thought of a vine-ish kind of spiral.

I have painted fabric before - in theatre we made all the walls out of muslin. As I type this I was thinking that a brick type pattern would be appropriate from some renderings I've seen if you google Dante's Inferno, and that led me to the start of the yellow brick road...hmmm, Munchkinland/Inferno mash-up? I have the red shoes...


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## JustJimAZ (Aug 19, 2010)

Wow. 10 feet in diameter = 31.4 feet of material. Assuming each coil of the spiral is 1 foot shorter in diameter that the previous one, you're looking at just over 141 feet.

I know that math is only an approximation of the more complex equations, but I think it will prove pretty close in the real world.

No matter how you look at it, this is shaping up to be a pretty expensive prop. I wonder about cardboard. Maybe there is a local vendor of corrugated cardboard that has 10'x10' sheets? 5'x10' certainly. You could draw and cut the spiral, and bulk it up with newspaper and tape? Oh - you don't necessarily need a "spiral! Just concentric circles. Punch 4-8 holes in the outer and inner rims for string to go through. and you can separate the levels by however much string you want. Unless you are married to the spiral idea.

This seems like the cheapest likely option. Easiest to paint and store too, maybe.

I was thinking of a coil of wire with a long fabric sleeve, possibly bulked out with paper. Then I did the math, and while a 150 foot coil of heavy wire is probably available, I think it would be much more expensive and labor intensive than cardboard.



debbie5 said:


> Chicken wire??


That seems like an interesting thought! I guess you would have to collapse the spiral and suspend it from the ceiling, or put it where nothing would crush it for storage. I need to explore this armature material more...

On the related topic of painting pool noodles, I would think one could paint pool noodles with latex paint, but it might not flex very well. I know for sure something like plasti-dip would work, as I used it to make foam boffer swords once. That might get pretty expensive though. It's the flexibility after drying that is the real challenge.

I wonder if a little naptha in brown silicone would make a paint that would work? You would have to test the naptha - or other paint thinner material - on the noodles.


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

debbie5 said:


> Chicken wire??


I certainly have a lot of chicken wire that I bought to make my scarecrow. It's just so unpleasant to work with (painful) that I wasn't sure where to go with it. It's like 3" wide in a long roll. Maybe roll it the opposite way into a long tube and then spiral it and cover it somehow? I have an outdoor haunt with huge spaces to fill. I want to put this behind my jumbo skull and hell hounds,http://www.hauntforum.com/picture.php?albumid=1297&pictureid=15895

hang it right into the trees there. Entrance to Hades?http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/5200326555_16bef5e482.jpg this link is a pic of the vine size, minus the bottles.


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## JustJimAZ (Aug 19, 2010)

Have you made any progress on this one?


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

JustJimAZ said:


> Have you made any progress on this one?


I have, just as far as deciding the how and what. Most of the work is still being done in my head! I know I want to make signs for each level of hell: limbo, lust, greed, etc. to affix to each circle. Probably out of pink foam for weight.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Giant-Tentacle-Monster/ this link shows the thickness that I want to go for, and gives me the material to use - 6" or 8" HVAC flex duct. Apparently I can get it in 25' lengths. I haven't yet looked for it at Home Depot to see if I like the material, but the tutorial for the serpent says it's paintable. The only other obstacle will then be the cost. don't know how much this will be, given the length I want. I'm already working on 3 props and have the pieces to start 2 more. So I'm plenty busy, but I have time.


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2012)

I like the vines created by Phantom Scarecrow... Search his thread (I don't know how to link it here). He used rolls of loose-weave landscape burlap from Home Depot. It is fairly inexpensive, so his technique might suit your large-scale project nicely. It involves twisting the fabric into gnarly ropes that end up looking like very realistic vines. Check it out.


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## JustJimAZ (Aug 19, 2010)

[email protected] said:


> I like the vines created by Phantom Scarecrow... Search his thread (I don't know how to link it here). He used rolls of loose-weave landscape burlap from Home Depot. It is fairly inexpensive, so his technique might suit your large-scale project nicely. It involves twisting the fabric into gnarly ropes that end up looking like very realistic vines. Check it out.


That would be THIS ONE.
One of his vines made of burlap and spray glue:


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

that may work as the thinner option similar to the potion chandelier pic I posted above. the rings don't actually have to be that "fat" to support the 9 signs for the circles, but I might want them a wee bit fatter - they ARE the display, as opposed to a vine for background effects. I could even go totally 60's with this, and have them multi-colored - have hell look like an acid trip. maybe combine it with a fog/laser vortex? that's getting pretty technical for me though, since I can't even get a home-made fog chiller to work!


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

How and where would the signs be displayed?
How close would the TOT's/guests be able to get to the signs?

I would look at creating physical rings that have "fire" on them with the rings getting progressively smaller as you go up (or down as the case may be) in numbers/levels of rings. Doing the Mylar film with lights and a fan beneath the ring would have the flames licking upwards with the sign itself suspended in the middle of the ring. The amount of flames can go up as you get to worse and worse levels of hell. Maybe having chains, barbed wire, spiderwebs, etc. suspending the sign within the ring, and the whole ring held up by gargoyles or demons sitting in front of or mounted to the front of a pot, planter, etc., large enough to contain the fan and lights. I'd also put a ring of fire around the edge of the pot to help hide the light and fan(s). You could have the sounds of a bubbling cauldron or even people (or demons) screaming and moaning from the pits of hell.


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## the bloody chef (Dec 14, 2012)

I was thinking either hula hoops from a cheap store like OddLots (if you have 'em in Va.) or a Dollar Store... or maybe garden hoses (old ones from yard sales) might work and be cheap enough...but you would need to come up with some leaves - maybe some cheap christmas garland?


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

the bloody chef said:


> I was thinking either hula hoops from a cheap store like OddLots (if you have 'em in Va.) or a Dollar Store... or maybe garden hoses (old ones from yard sales) might work and be cheap enough...but you would need to come up with some leaves - maybe some cheap christmas garland?


I'm not looking to create a realistic vine - just using the vine-making as a way to develop something for a spiral or rings, but the garden hose is a good idea!


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

fontgeek said:


> How and where would the signs be displayed?
> How close would the TOT's/guests be able to get to the signs?
> 
> I would look at creating physical rings that have "fire" on them with the rings getting progressively smaller as you go up (or down as the case may be) in numbers/levels of rings. Doing the Mylar film with lights and a fan beneath the ring would have the flames licking upwards with the sign itself suspended in the middle of the ring. The amount of flames can go up.


I guess I need to look around on the forum to see this - sorry for being a relative newbie, but I'm not sure how this would work. Is the mylar cut into flame shapes?



__ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/299559812684082507/
 this link shows the space I am trying to fill. behind the skull is a tree that I will use to hang the rings/spiral from. the rings will not go down, but "through" if that makes sense, which is why I thought of the vortex effect being useful. think of a cornucopia of hellish delights...the flames would def be good on the outside ring, but that ring will be 10 feet tall. this area is at least 20 feet from the TOT path.


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## JustJimAZ (Aug 19, 2010)




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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

yep, that's the picture I have from Wikipedia too. But mine's going straight back into a corner of the yard. It's just going to be a visual representation of the circles with my hell hounds and over-sized skull. It would make a good theme for a walk-thru, but too big for my single-handed haunt.


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## scareme (Aug 29, 2006)

When I saw the title of the thread, I thought we were discussing marriage. Nevermind.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

The Mylar is typically cut into wedge shapes of various widths and lengths, though you can have several wedges connected side by side at their base, a fan blows from beneath to make the Mylar flutter, and the light(s) reflect off of the Mylar. The Mylar I am referring to is the reflective Mylar used for tinting windows.
For hoops, you can get embroidery hoops in lots of different sizes, the beauty of using them is that they can hold/grip the Mylar without the use of tape, glue, etc, and that you can easily have "flames" coming off of both sides of the hoop. They tend to be light in weight, but amazingly durable, and because they have a fairly thin profile, the Mylar flames would make the hoop itself virtually disappear, if that is your desire.


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

Ah. I used some of those hoops recently for another project. Now I gotcha. I could definitely use them in the center area, where the flames would emanate from. I wouldn't want the whole thing to be flaming, not at 10' tall!


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

You planned on having the "circles" ten feet tall?
I kind of imagined you making an illuminated sign out of the rings with the number suspended in the middle of the ring, and the sign in front of or maybe above and behind the scene. The fire would draw the guest's eyes to the sign.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I think the intention is to make a three dimensional, collapsible, spiral-like prop, pretty much in the shape of a very large ice cream cone


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## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

Anna,
I just finished reading the whole thread and I have an idea for you.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/cat...=None&Ntpr=1&Ntpc=1&selectedCatgry=Search+All
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...word=drainage+pipe&storeId=10051#.UN73bm80WSo








This pipe works well for many projects, I added the link for the fabric sleeve because I always use the sleeves to decorate the pipe- I make vines, tentacles, Bodies, trees, snakes/ everything long and thick with this pipe and sleeves.

The fabric takes paint, monster mud, and spray foam. I did a Dante haunt a few years ago it was a ton of fun. Good luck, and let me know if you have any specific questions.
The HVAC pipe is okay, but it does not take paint well. It also deteriorates in sunlight pretty rapidly. If you use HVAC pipe it would be a 1 season max prop.


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

RoxyBlue said:


> I think the intention is to make a three dimensional, collapsible, spiral-like prop, pretty much in the shape of a very large ice cream cone


 Yes, Roxy, that is EXACTLY my intention, given the location I want to use it in, and the capacity for storage after.

However, all of the suggestions have been awesome, especially if I want my whole haunt to be just the 9 circles...but I want to showcase several authors, not just one.


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

Allen H said:


> Anna,
> I just finished reading the whole thread and I have an idea for you.
> 
> http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/cat...=None&Ntpr=1&Ntpc=1&selectedCatgry=Search+All
> ...


Thanks for this tip, esp. about the durablility of the HVAC pipe. And I should have thought of this myself, since it's ALL OVER MY YARD already! lol. I had not heard of the sleeves however, and it would be nice to disguise the pipe, since it's recognizable as to what it is.


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

After 2 years of thinking about this, the material for a 30 foot circle fell in my lap.

My neighbor threw out his trampoline. 30 foot. Heavy metal circle. Just need some great stuff coals and red lights. And demons, lots of demons.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Good to see you back here, Anna! Sounds like a fortuitous find


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

Thanks Roxy. This past year has been rough but glad to be here again. Ive already come up with a possible way to cover the metal now but it wont work if we get our usual amount of October rain. Ive seen a technoque of using crumpled brown paper bags that looks like rock. Have to play....


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

here's the 2014 version of my hell-hole. I need to expand it of course, and work in the Dante themes.


__ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/299559812688810111/
 Had trouble deciding what my theme was this year. Turned out to be science vs. witchcraft, I think. Next year maybe I'll just stick with the 7 Deadly Sins.


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## Bascombe (May 18, 2010)

prime pool noodles with super 77 spray adhesive. They'll hold paint better that way. I've used it for years on polyethylene plastic and foam with great results


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