# Rooftop Gargoyle - Possible Witch Tower Guardian



## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Yah, I know I got my hands full this year and this one may not make it till 2009. But I'm considering doing an animated Gargoyle akin to Haunted Ventures Giant Stone Gargoyle. His head turns, wings open, and he spews fog out his mouth.






Keeping it simple I could probably pull something similar off for under $100 bucks. Looking for comments and suggestions on this one as well as just sharing a cool prop inspiration.

-TM


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

Looks awesome. Looks as if the head and body are latex and molded in one piece.


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## Lilly (Jun 13, 2006)

Wow that is cool..
Those wings are huge
Will be a big job Ghoul Luck to you ...
I didn't like the fog coming out of the bottom at first but the after effect is cool


CLICK on the the link above video if it's not working


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

I have a few ideas how I'd approach this and believe it or not the wings I feel (at least for me) would be the easiest part. That monster is huge though if you look up the specs on it, weighing in at 8' tall and about $8000 bucks. If I did this it'd be more like 3-4' tall without a pedestal. I'd probably take a few more shortcuts with the head as well. My thinking is it'd be mounted about 8' up so between low lighting and height from the viewer tiny flaws wouldn't be noticed by ToTs.

-TM


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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

What happened to the video? Says it is no longer available...


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## Hallowennie315 (Sep 5, 2007)

you have to click the link above the video - then it work. This will be a big project! Good luck and I can't wait to see pictures!


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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

Wow that thing would really look cool TM...I hope you have the time to build one. Kinda got a laugh when I saw the fog coming from the backside before it come out the mouth


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

Amazing there TM. I have been wanting to make a dragon with those same abilities. I have a red dragon head mask for scale of the body which should end up in the 6 to 8 ft range plus the tail. Wing span maybe 12 ft or so. I am looking forward to seeing how you design this project.


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Apparently the wings they use are modular - they're used in this cool prop as well:

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiGURt9QXFM"]YouTube- HauntedVentures.com VAMPIRE FLYER Animated Halloween Prop[/nomedia]

Bone Dancer, these guys make a red fire breathing dragon as well. Was a bit disappointed it's wings didn't move like the others though:

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96k6nmObkkk"]YouTube- HauntedVentures.com FIRE BREATHING DRAGON Animated Halloween Prop[/nomedia]

-TM


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

If you're going to build it with deployable wings and mount it outside you better be ready to sink some time and money into it. Even a moderate wind could be severely damaging if it blew at the wrong moment, when you consider the surface areas and leverages involved.... it's a major safety hazard to put something on a roof that the wind might catch and tear off. A really large set of wings would be like a parachute when they unfold; just building them to indoor specs could be a recipe for disaster. Design, design, design and then proceed with caution.


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## tcarter (Aug 18, 2006)

if you want the wings to move continuously, you could use a modified FCG type rig with the motor mounted below and/or hidden behind the base. to create movement. The head movement is pretty simple, you could even hack an oscillating fan for that. you may even be able to figure out a way to move it from the same motor/rig as the wings


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

tcarter said:


> if you want the wings to move continuously, you could use a modified FCG type rig with the motor mounted below and/or hidden behind the base. to create movement. The head movement is pretty simple, you could even hack an oscillating fan for that. you may even be able to figure out a way to move it from the same motor/rig as the wings


Thats kinda the direction I was leaning towards for the wings. Basically for each wing imagine an A frame with over extending at the peak (perhaps an upside down Y would be better). The peak would be hinged and a FCG style cable would pull the piece above the peak in one direction raising the other leg. Maybe an illustration would be better. But I'm pretty sure they're doing something similar but most likely with pneumatics and would explain why the portion of the wing closer to the body is thicker.

Rev, I definitely understand the safety precautions which are always first in all my designs. This guy would have to be bolted down pretty damn good. Even using fabric for the wings I could end up with a killer kite.

-TM


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## midnight_moon (Apr 28, 2008)

Sounds like an awsome project! Good luck!


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

*Basic illustration*

Here's what I was thinking originally thats very akin to what they're doing.










The wings could open by pulling the lower cable pair (blue lines at bottom) in unison using a motor crank.

-TM


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## Lady Nyxie (Aug 30, 2006)

Cool. Keep us posted on your progress, please.


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## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

I seen that Gargoyle in person it looks awesome and the wing mech was very simple


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Lotus said:


> I seen that Gargoyle in person it looks awesome and the wing mech was very simple


Cool! Lucky bastage! How close am I on the mech? I'm thinking the main difference will be the pneumatics setup - if I were to do it that way I'd push instead of pull and mount the cylinders under the lower wing instead of above like with the cable.

-TM


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## higginsr (Oct 4, 2007)

I'm going to be watching this thread, you have my creative juices flowing...


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## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

VERY CLOSE almost exactly the same way like you said they mounted the clyder downwards to puch the wings out and pull the wings in


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

Terrormaster said:


> Cool! Lucky bastage! How close am I on the mech? I'm thinking the main difference will be the pneumatics setup - if I were to do it that way I'd push instead of pull and mount the cylinders under the lower wing instead of above like with the cable.
> 
> -TM


The pneumatics setup would put a LOT less stress on the framework.


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## scream1973 (Dec 23, 2007)

Could you not do the same thing but using a pneumatic cylinder to perform the pull on the cable?


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

True but it comes back to the wear issue that Rev was talking about. It really comes down to: is this gonna be a 2008 or 2009 prop for me. If I have time and budget this year then it will be motorized. If it turns into something for 2009 then I will most likely go pneumatic. I just don't have access to the equipment to pull off anything pneumatic this year (I don't own or have access to a compressor).

-TM


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