# 2012 Prop Goals



## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Hello All,

Life got in the way of my haunt ambitions this year. I was originally intending to do a lot more but have settled on focusing on establishing a sick graveyard. 

Any suggestions on techniques to build REALLY quick tombstones I can use as filler, or any other graveyard props that are that are quick would be greatly appreciated!! 

Goals for 2012:
1. Obelisk
2. Mourning Statue
3. As many small tombstones as possible
4. Mausoleum w/ FCG
5. Entrance Archway
6. 150ft of fencing

I have started the mausoleum, I will post in a separate thread. 

Thanks for any suggestions!!

-jimmy


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Wow! Sounds very ambitious given the short amount of time left.
As far as tombstones, scrap pieces of foam insulation board (or buy sheets of new stuff and you can get 10 or so stones from each one). The Dollar stores sell cheap small tombstones that are good for fillers. PVC armatures make good frames for ground breakers. Get inexpensive clothes from Goodwill to dress them up.
How are you making the fence? pvc/wood/other?
Looking forward to your progress.


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

I want to see how this turns out. Let us know what the other thread is called.

If you make your fence using pallets, check out your local rock/boulder/brick yard. They sometimes give damaged ones away free at least for me.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Mausoleum progress is @ "*2012 Mausoleum for the Noob"*

Thanks again for checking it out!!


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

I'm using the "How to Haunt your House" technique. 2x1s and pvc. My finials finally came in so I'll work on that after after I finish the mausoleum.


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## Dr. Scarecrow (Mar 14, 2011)

Ambitious, I like it. I wish I could just get one project done. You must not have kids'


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

When I mentioned "life" got in the way, kids were a large piece. We just took in three foster kids!! They have a strict bedtime so dad can work on props, and they can have the best Halloween they will ever have.

Good thing cutting foam with Hotwire is virtually silent!!


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## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

I like the finials - where did you find them?


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol:Hey NG! Can I say I love your ambition? You can achieve anything you set your mind to and if you are like me....you work better under pressure....LordH is right, you can find wooden pallets at car dealership's parts departments and they give them away. They usually stack them up near their dumpsters and if you ask they them they will give them to you. I agree you can make inexpensive foam tombstones from foam or you could take some of those pallets, tear them apart and make crosses, sort of like a potter's graveyard. They would be cheap and definitely set a mood of woefulness. I saw your thread on the mausoleum....I have never done one, so I am not much help, but it looks like it is going to be fantastic. And can I just say you and your wife are a great couple to take in foster kids? Giving them structure and stability in their lives is a wonderful gift to give. 
P.S. Oh, and giving them the best Halloween ever??? You will probably be creating new home haunters for the Halloween future.....


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## discozombie (Jun 21, 2012)

You are very ambitious, I too had a long list of thing to build but have since trimmed it back due to budget and time. Cant wait to see how it turns out. Like others said foam board makes easy and quick tombstones. I think you biggest project will be your fence, its very time consuming.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Headless, King Architectural Materials @ kingmetals.com. Pretty good selection, super fast delivery, and pretty affordable. 

Thanks Pumpkin, very kind words. We need to plant the seeds. Making this holiday special for kids is really important to me. In fact, I'm not even doing my haunt at my house this year. I'm moving it to my parents because they get like 500 kids. We will convert the masses!!!! (insert sinister laugh). 

Disco, I just did the math and you're def right. Not only will it take significant amounts of time, it will eat up significant resources, aka. be mad expensive. Thanks for heads up, I'll be heading to HD this weekend to get started. Hopefully if I spread it out it won't be as bad. 

I will be posting my build schedule this weekend to this thread. I need to declare it publicly amongst my peers because Im a glutten for punishment and need more pressure in my day to day. 

One again, I appreciate the feedback and the encouragement!! If I don't post for a while I'm either elbow deep in office politics, baby crap or monster mud. 

-jimmy


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

One more tombstone to paint, and have to finish my fence prototype and I can sleep!! I made pretty good progress this weekend but definitely took a hit on my sleep quota, I guess that's what September 1st is for. 

Updates with pics tomorrow!!


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

A lesson learned better in July than in October. I assume the avid haunter knows not to underestimate mother nature. I came home to half of the foam panels ripped off my mausoleum due to high winds. I was intending to start the front wall but instead took all the rest of the panels off and reinforced them. Not to mention I was racing a thunder storm that's raging as I speak. 


















I was able to work a bit on the 4 tomb stones I started this weekend.



















More pics after i get caught up tomorrow. Cheers!!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Wind - almost never a haunter's friend unless it's a gentle zephyr that helps your ghosts sway eerily in the breeze

Glad you were able to salvage and I like the look of the flowers on the face of your tombstone.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Updated the mausoleum post, made a bit of progress.


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## MommaMoose (May 15, 2010)

Love the flower tombstone. Been watching the thread about the mausoleum. Those kids sure are lucky to have gotten you as a foster.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Thanks Momma!! I get to live vicariously through them so it makes the holiday even more exciting for me.


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol:NemGen, so sorry about the wind....we've all had props mangled by bad weather though. Hey, great job on your tombstones, they are looking 'sick' already! Hey why don't you host a tombstone making party? Get all your friends together to come over and each make one tombstone...it probably won't be up to your standards (cause few people can actually make the stones you see in your mind, well, at least that is true for me) But talk about making "fillers". Just a thought....I also love the stone with the flowers, you are very clever!


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Great idea pumpkin!! I can probably pump out a bunch if I make an event out of it.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Quick status update.

Not sure if I mentioned but I'm super ADD. Although the medication helps I still have a tendency to start a million things at the same time. With that said, you'll notice I'm juggling pretty much all my projects at once.

Mausoleum: Finished the outside walls and the entrance. Made my wife dance around like an FCG to illustrate the effect, lol. She's a good sport. Still need to add some trim/detail, paint, and design how the FCG will fit. 








I also had a pretty neat idea I'm hoping will pre to be effective. I really wan a rolling fog coming from the stairs on the mausoleum. Since the fog stays on the ground if it is cooler than the air around it, what if I tried keeping the air around it as warm as possible as well as chilling the fog? I would keep the fog chiller outside of the mausoleum and blow it in. Since the entire mausoleum is built with insulation, what if I stuck a radiator space heater in there and used clear window insulation film to cover some of the door opening?
I'll experiment and let everyone know if it makes a difference.

Tombstones:
Two more done.

















Entrance Archway:
I finished the design and started building the frame. This thing is going to be 10ft tall, 12ft wide, and 2 ft thick. It is designed to come apart into 4 pieces for easier transportation and storage. See design below.








Started building the frame and bending the 1inch foam board. 









Also, I've decided it's best to keep all the stuff I'm doing under one thread so I don't clutter up the forum. Unless of course it doesn't make sense to post to this section.

As always, feedback, suggestions, or comments are much appreciated!!


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Made some progress.

Finished rose tombstone:









Mausoleum:
Reinforced entrance and started on detail work, more pics to come this weekend. 
Found decor for the gable of the mausoleum








I'll just monster mud it.

Obelsisk:

This thing ended up huge, like just under 12ft.

Just need to finish up the base and add the top piece.









Entrance Archway:









I've also decided on a name, purchased the URL, and started on a theme song. It will be called Autumn's Gate. I'm going to post the music and site progress elsewhere as it doesn't belong here, but I'm looking for a website designer that won't significantly impact my foam board budget.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

You've set some ambitious goals, but you're making good progress. Good luck.


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol: Good GOSH! You have done so much! Wow, kudos to you for going so hard, ADD or not! We're pulling for you!

P.S. I don't know which I loved more; you asking your wife to pose as a FCG for the photo op, or the fact that she did it, and actually pulled it off quite well!


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Started a new thread about my marketing/media goals.

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=32181


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2012)

I am fence building this year too. I expect that one project to eat up all of my free time (based on SpiderClimber's instructable). Next year I'll have to start earlier.


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## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

This thread has been great to follow. Looking forward to more


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

I'm WAY behind on my fence!! Good luck in yours Stari.

Thanks harazor!!

The obelisk just needs a coat of dry lock and I'm in the home stretch on the mausoleum I need to finish the bottom of the columns, the gate for the doorway, paint the inside, mount the lights & FCG, and design how the fog chiller will fit inside (there's plenty of room so I'm not worried)




































Two more in the post below...

Massive amounts to do still!! I'm behind schedule but it's for an awesome reason. In the middle of all the other craziness, I'm closing on a farm on the 15th. A Halloween fanatic couldn't happier being able to spend Fall on a farm, unless the farm had a beautiful new 7,200 square foot riding arena on the property (with a fricken sprinkler system built in, eat that fire marshal)  I will start a new thread on my new house and plans for 2013 soon!! Autumn's Gate is about to get way more legit.

I've also decided I'm going to start using video more often. Seems silly to not. I'll be documenting my progress for 2012 and my move on my YouTube channel.

Thanks again for all the input, comments and encouragement. You guys are my motivation at 1am to keep pushing forward.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)




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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jolang! You dream BIG! Woohoo!


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## Lilly (Jun 13, 2006)

wow big archway ..everything is looking good ..seems your on track . I like your obelisk with the tombstone in the front ..


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## MrGrimm (May 19, 2009)

Wow, just getting things DONE! No messing around at your place huh?

Awesome stuff so far! It's a break neck pace but your doing very well 

Keep it up! (Easy for me to say... the slacker who got NOTHING done on the weekend!)


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## epoweredrc (Aug 6, 2012)

Wow that arch looks huge. Nice job on everything


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

The obelisk and mausoleum are beautiful. I like the faces you added to the facade.


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## gthorpe2 (Jan 20, 2010)

Just wondering what size PVC you used for the fence. And how much modifications you had to do to the finials if any. Things are looking good too.


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## MommaMoose (May 15, 2010)

Ok, can you adopt me? You are getting sooo much done so quickly and with so much going on in your life! Everything is looking so great.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

"what's this guy doing?"


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## Acid PopTart (Oct 29, 2007)

Congratulations on getting so much done and doing such a fab job. Things are really taking shape, and I cannot wait to see the very end result. Congratulations on the new farm as well, this is fantastic news! My mum owns a small 10 acre farm place out in the country an hour from me, it's fantastic there and it's where I've been building and storing all my larger props. We just got the fun house walls,doors and ceiling done.

Plus 3 foster kids? I commend you good sir.


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## LittleBlueBMW (Nov 4, 2010)

damn impressive. I need a good kick in the pants to get going on my more modest projects. Can't wait to see it all done.


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## Saturday8pm (Sep 5, 2012)

My goal, as Lead Prop, is to be out there in time to hand out the candy! Always fussin' with _something_ last minute. Quick ... where's ma beer?


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Started to work on mechanics for FCG in mausoleum.

Started 12 smaller tombstones, just got them cut and eroded for the most part. 

















...and let the fencing begin!!! 








..no wait...








First panel done thanks to my handy little piece of **** drill press









...lots more to come. Studio next week.


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## cerinad (Jun 23, 2008)

Wow! Ugh. I'm way behind. Everything looks great.


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## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

WOW I've just taken a look at your progress. Amazing job! Well done.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Thanks everyone for the comments and encouragement!! I'll post more details on how I assembled the fence tonight. I will also be hopefully posted finished pics of the obelisk & mausoleum (less the mechanics/lights/fog machine components)!!!


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Oh man!! I haven't looked at this thread in a long time! You are doing some fantastic stuff! Can't believe the big projects you have going and they all look great! A 12 foot obelisk!? Now I have tombstone envy.
Just awesome. I need to check back more often. It all looks great!


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Haha!! I'm not compensating for anything.


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## EverydayisHalloween311 (Oct 14, 2011)

I'm only in my 2nd year home haunting so I gotta ask a few questions.. Foam board bends like that?? I've never used it but I thought it would snap. How exactly do you get the aging and color of those tombstones? And what's the foam board actually called And est price? You have done a stellar job And a true inspiration!


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Thanks EIS!! I'm on year two as well, just learning the ropes so don't take my word for gospel. 

I didn't know it bent like that either. I Put it between two cinder blocks a little closer each night until it was where i wanted it. It still has tension where it's mounted. Can't wait to start working on that thing again, been knee deep in fencing!!

You can age tombstones like eight thousand ways. There are tons of tutorials on this forum and YouTube, def check out terra, scarylady something is her username. What I did was pretty basic, 

1. Cut out the shape
2. Use spray paint or pure acetone to erode (be careful with this stuff, it eats it up quick)
3. Coat of dry lock or monster mud.
4. Dry brush white
5. T-stain greens and browns

Foamboard is can be found at homedepot or lowes, HD is cheaper where I am. You can find it in the insulation aisle. I used 1inch for the structures, that was $10 for a 8x2 panel, and I used the 2 inch for the stones, that is $30 for an 8x4 panel. 

Hope this helps!!! And happy building.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Almost bedtime, and man is my pillow calling me.

Updated pics on the mausoleum and FINISHED obelisk (that's right,I actually finished something).


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Tonight I finished up two more fence panel. It's not as painstaking as I thought it would be. I am ripping through materials though. Def gonna be mad expensive. Better hide those homedepot receipts. 3 down, 16 more to go.


















Looks like some ghosts got in this shot. I told them unless they plan on materializing on Halloween as part of the display, to get the hell out of the shot.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Daytime shot.


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## MommaMoose (May 15, 2010)

I always feel like such a slaker when I look at your progress. Love the fencing and well, the whole set up you have going there.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Vlog 1

Highlights some other stuff I have going on.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

I can never get these to work.


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## mrdonl (Sep 5, 2012)

@ Nemisis, I would go for the gateway. It is reletively inexpensive and looks great when done. I would post a pic but I am too new to get one out there. 1x2"s, 2" pink foam board, 1" pink foam board, 1/2" PVC pressure pipe, some baling wire, misc fasteners, paint , and some imagination are mat'ls needed. Mine took about 3 days to make. It was 2 pillars 7' tall with an archway with CEMETERY inside it.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

My gate way is going to take a little longer 

I did get motivated to start on it over the weekend. Since its modular I had giving ire out how to fasten the bottom pieces to the ground (and have a place to stack cylinder blocks) I also went and got those lock things people use for windows to attach the pieces together and Velcro to remove panels to get to them.

I am reinforcing all the pieces here but I fastened it together with zip ties to see what it would look like and make it easier to work on.


























4 more panels done. I decided I'm going to make some shorter ones to save on resources.


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol:Wow NemGem...this is just looking terrific! I love everything and I continue to be blown away by your diligence!


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## mrdonl (Sep 5, 2012)

Nemisis, that's huge dude. Looks good.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

5 more to go!!


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