# Cemetery columns - work in progress



## discozombie

Im in the middle of making a fence for my yard this year. These are the columns Im making. 
Thanks for looking
DZ


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## Lord Homicide

How are you cutting/shaping those? It looks real


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## CreeepyCathy

LOVE the look of these!


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## The Pod

Very nice! I like the depth and texture of the bricks/stones.


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## discozombie

Lord Homicide said:


> How are you cutting/shaping those? It looks real


Im using a drill press with a wire brush wheel. Very messy process discovered by accident when my son asked what would happen to the foam if I used the wire wheel.


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## BioHazardCustoms

Nice! I've never used a wire wheel on foam, but I may have to give it a shot now. Gotta be faster than sculpting by hand, then sanding.


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## Hairazor

That looks soooo good!


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## fick209

Those are looking great!!!


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## RoxyBlue

I really like the rough texture you got with the wire wheel.


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## The Halloween Lady

I have to agree with everyone above. I LOVE the texture you have on these bad boys. I also really really like the column shapes. They look interesting and very realistic. I'll be sure to check back and see the paint job. Nice work, great innovation.


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## bobzilla

Very nice work!


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## fontgeek

these do look good, I think that it's not just the rough texture, but the extreme changes in shape and size for each "stone" that really make this stand out.

If you have one, use a box fan with a fiberglass furnace filter on the suction side, and point it away from you/your work. It should help you eliminate a great deal of the mess when you are working.


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## Jack Mac

I really like the texture you achieved with the wire wheel on the foam. The stacked stone look you have on the columns is very realistic and that is without painting it yet. They are going to look amazing once completed.


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## remylass

Is it hollow on the inside, or are you attaching to plywood? I am very excited to see the finished product.


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## Pumpkin5

:jolZ, you are just so talented! WOW! I really love these columns, such a nice design and so lifelike...I can see the graveyard now...with all your ultra nice groundbreakers coming out of the ground...it is going to be a masterpiece!


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## jaege

Very nice work.


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## BIGANT

Very cool looking!


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## discozombie

remylass said:


> Is it hollow on the inside, or are you attaching to plywood? I am very excited to see the finished product.


the frame was made with 1 x3s then covered with 1/4 plywood underlayment. The foam is glued on using foam adhesive.


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## spideranne

Those are super nice. I love the wire wheel technique.


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## stick

I look forward to seeing the finished product. They look great so far.


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## jdubbya

A great deviation from the traditional columns. I remember seeing some foam work done by another haunter using a wire wheel and the results were fantastic. Looking forward to the progress. These are awesome!


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## Rich_K

Nice work! Those are going to look great!


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## Lunatic

Thats really nice DZ! Love the individaul block shapes and texture. The wire wheel technique works quite well. You must look like a snowman after working with the foam.


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## Sawtooth Jack

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Love the asymmetry and the rock texture. :jol:


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## GCWyatt

I've been wanting to make pillars to mark the entrance to my graveyard. I love yours so much I might just steal the design!


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## discozombie

Pink basement update....As far as construction goes these are done. I used 4 tubes of foam glue (calk style) and ran out before I could attach the last top stone. Im sooooo glad the construction is done, Im sick of pick foam dust being everywhere. The photo is from when I was figuring out the gate placement height etc. I was going to make two more columns for the corners of my fence, definitely not this year!


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## [email protected]

Nice!


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## bobzilla

Excellent job. Very realistic!


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## Hallomarine

Your sign looks so authentic - nice job
HM


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## RoxyBlue

Nice job of cleaning up the basement Now on to the painting!


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## Sawtooth Jack

Yeah! Can't wait to see the paint!


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## Haunted Whitman

Wow!! Fantastic!!!


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## fontgeek

Are you going to do anything with the interior on these, like mounting speakers, lights, etc.?


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## Bascombe

Nice work. Looking forward to the paint job


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## discozombie

fontgeek said:


> Are you going to do anything with the interior on these, like mounting speakers, lights, etc.?


Not sure yet. I may hide my power supply for my 12v props and lights. I have also been kicking around the idea of a wiper motor inside one to make the gate appear possessed. The backs of both have hidden removable panels.


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## Front Yard Fright

Absolutely GOREgeous! Love the style of these!

What are you planning on using to cover these with? I'd be sure to hardcoat them somehow to prevent dings and nicks!

:jol:


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## Bascombe

I like Total Wall for a hardcoat. I can get it at the paint store, mis-tinted for five bucks a gallon usually. It comes in a five gallon bucket, so that's 25 bones, but still cheap at twice the price.

Total Wall is an exterior acrylic based stucco medium. Great for hard coating exterior props.


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## discozombie

Bascombe said:


> I like Total Wall for a hardcoat. I can get it at the paint store, mis-tinted for five bucks a gallon usually. It comes in a five gallon bucket, so that's 25 bones, but still cheap at twice the price.
> 
> Total Wall is an exterior acrylic based stucco medium. Great for hard coating exterior props.


I did some searching for this product, found the manufacture website but couldn't find a local seller, is this something I can get at Home Depot or Menards or a specialty paint store like Sherman Williams?


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## Headless

You've done a fabulous job on these. Can't wait to see them all painted up!


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## Bascombe

I get Total Wall at Columbia Paint, which is a northwest paint company. They were bought out by Sherwin Williams a couple of years ago, but they still operate as Columbia. I don't know if Total Wall is specific to Columbia, but I imagine there are any number of stucco products out there that would work just as well.

I like Total Wall because it's an acrylic based product. Dries fast, cleans up with water, and is slightly flexible when dried and cured. If I were looking for a product to replace, I'd be looking for something with an acrylic base.

That being said, it reminds me of the old scenic dope recipe we used in the theatre industry forever. Here it is if you wish to make it from scratch. The proportions are "to taste" (but don't really taste it) If you want it more grainy, add more sand, if you want it more smooth add more clay etc... Here's the ingredients

Flex Glue
Clay
Sand

Flex Glue used to be available in five gallon buckets from the manufacturer. I haven't found it like that since the 1990's. Back then you had to buy a whole lot which was 23 gallons and out of the price range of the average home haunter. Rosco Corporation bought the recipe and sell it as Flex Bond or Flex Coat or something like that. Still pretty expensive. There is another alternative, I think craft stores may have a flexible glue available in gallons. Try Sobo or Tacky Glue or some other flexible craft glue.

Clay. We used Fullers Earth, which is dry, powdered potters clay. Comes in big bags. Be careful and use a particulate mask when working with this because when you scoop it out it creates a particulate mist that has a half hour hang time. While not necessarily a carcinogen, it will give you "black lung" and make it hard to breathe.

Sand. Just regular sand from wherever you get sand.

I like the stuff that's pre-mixed, like Total Wall because, well because it's pre-mixed. I can change the consistency with water


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## discozombie

Bascombe,
This stuff sounds very similar to DryLock. Which is what I was planning on using for my base coats.


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## Bascombe

I haven't ever used Drylock, and am not familiar with it, but it sounds like something I ought to try sometime. Thanks


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## fontgeek

How tall are these columns?


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## fick209

They look amazing!


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## Lucky Th13teen

DZ....the columns look AWESOME! I am trying to come up with a redesign on my columns to make them lighter and/or managable when moving them in and out of storage. Love the texture and they look light. What do you use to keep them from falling over?

I use Drylock (gray) for ALL my outdoor creations....especially things that need a stone like texture (i.e. gravestones). It works great and holds up to weather.


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## discozombie

Lucky Th13teen said:


> DZ....the columns look AWESOME! I am trying to come up with a redesign on my columns to make them lighter and/or managable when moving them in and out of storage. Love the texture and they look light. What do you use to keep them from falling over?
> 
> I use Drylock (gray) for ALL my outdoor creations....especially things that need a stone like texture (i.e. gravestones). It works great and holds up to weather.


The bottom of the columns have 1/2 plywood base. I plan to drill four holes and use 12" nails. These are giant nails like 3/8" round. I've used this method on other props and have never had them fall over. After a serious storm with lots of wind Ill check and pound the nails back down if they became loose. The columns I would guess weight around 15 pounds each.


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## discozombie

Painting has begun. Im using black latex applied via spray gun for the base coat to get into the cracks and crevasses. I also took some pics of the hidden panels, the wood blocks Ill be using to mount the gate and fence panels. The blocks are 4"x4"x1 1/2" plywood that I hid by surrounding in foam, covered the wood with adhesive and foam dust.


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## discozombie

The hidden panel









Wood Blocks


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## Sawtooth Jack

Looking good DZ. How is the surface texture of the foam holding up from your steel brush technique?


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## discozombie

Sawtooth Jack said:


> Looking good DZ. How is the surface texture of the foam holding up from your steel brush technique?


It holds up nice, the texture is very rough which is what I was looking for. The paint has smoothed it a bit.


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## Sawtooth Jack

Well it looks great. I'm hoping to make a well this year for my forest things, and your method looks like something I might try for the stone look. Very convincing. :jol:


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## GCWyatt

I am very impressed. Stunning craftsmanship.


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## Palmdale Haunter

Looking great!


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## fontgeek

If you reduce your air pressure and or increase your paint's viscosity, you can get a stippled look using lighter shades of paint. Using a hand held shield, you can shade or tone each rock a little differently than those that surround it. This is even easier to do with a small HVLP or an airbrush.
Are you going to make the "plaque" look like stone too, or maybe brass or aged bronze?


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## scubaspook

Columns are looking great


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## Haunt2530

The fake rock looks really good. Great work.


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## Joiseygal

I really like the texture the wire wheel gave. It is looking fantastic!


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## discozombie

First off thanks to everyone for their kind comments. 
I finally had time to get back to this project. I have the first column nearly done, I chose colors based on the stones native to this area, mainly sand stone. I did take some creative liberty to exaggerate to the color contrast. All that is left if adding a wash to give it that old weathered look, some moss etc.


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## discozombie

fontgeek said:


> How tall are these columns?


They are about 4' tall. I would have gone bigger but storage always has to be taken in to account.


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## Pumpkin5

:jol:That is amazing work DZ! Really some of the best foam work I've seen...and I have to say it...your dog is adorable! What a gorgeous mug on that baby! (lovely coat too)


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## discozombie

Pumpkin5 said:


> :jol:That is amazing work DZ! Really some of the best foam work I've seen...and I have to say it...your dog is adorable! What a gorgeous mug on that baby! (lovely coat too)


Thanks Pumpkin, Im very happy with the results. As for Luna... she is an amazing dog. Half golden retriever and half Pit bull. The Pit is where she gets her brindle coat, and her demeanor from the golden.


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## CreeepyCathy

wow! wow! wow! Beautiful!


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## stick

Looks outstanding on the paint job and work.


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## RoxyBlue

Top notch painting on those stones!


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## Sawtooth Jack

Paint, texture, everything really came together for an amazing look! I am inspired!


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## [email protected]

Time to kick this thread back to the top. I'm making some columns this year and plan to piggyback off of some tricks you've used here. Love these columns. I'm curious how you were able to make many of the stones wrap around corners to create the illusion that they are one large rock. I haven't worked with pink foam before, so maybe it's easy to conceal joints? Where are yours joined? Are they just lapped and then artfully blended, or did you do some sort of mitering?


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## discozombie

[email protected] said:


> Time to kick this thread back to the top. I'm making some columns this year and plan to piggyback off of some tricks you've used here. Love these columns. I'm curious how you were able to make many of the stones wrap around corners to create the illusion that they are one large rock. I haven't worked with pink foam before, so maybe it's easy to conceal joints? Where are yours joined? Are they just lapped and then artfully blended, or did you do some sort of mitering?


To make the stones appear to wrap around, I glued two foam blocks together making a right angle. After the glue dried I shaped them with the wire brush method. The seam can be seen at this time, the glue is more like rubber and didn't get sanded down by the wire brush. To fix this and I only did this on the front facing stones, I cut the little line of glue off with a razor then applied adhesive over it with some foam dust then lightly sanded. Once painted they disappeared. I didn't see it as necessary to do the back and sides since no one will really see these, not to mention most folks will see this at night with colored lights and many other distractions. Id love to see your when you have it done post some pics!


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## [email protected]

Thanks for the tips! I bought 4 big sheets of pink foam so I'm committed to the project. I'll let you know how it goes. (Let the pink blizzard begin.)


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## fick209

That stone work is the best stone work I have seen! Absolutely awesome!!! Great, great job on these!!!!


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## Kraken

That is amazing!! I feel like I could do the foam work, but no way on the paint!!!! You didn't spray the stones did you? Or is it a dry brush? You have to do a video!! Amazing work again!


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## discozombie

Kraken said:


> That is amazing!! I feel like I could do the foam work, but no way on the paint!!!! You didn't spray the stones did you? Or is it a dry brush? You have to do a video!! Amazing work again!


I did spray them black but I used a paint gun (spray paint melts foam). The rest was several coats of earth tones done in layers dry brush style.


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## discozombie

I do plan to make two additional columns for the corners of the cemetery. Tutorial may be in the works but not till well after Halloween. Its almost showtime!


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## discozombie

*Cemetery Columns and Fence*

I posted some pics of my columns awhile back. Today I was doing a mock setup of the columns, gates, and fence. Its nice when things work out on such a beautiful day.


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## tjc67

Very impressive


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## Hairazor

Looks old and established and just begging to be haunted!


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## discozombie

Fence Posts were a concern of mine. I was worried the post would wobble too much if I just place the 2" PVC over the rebar. To fix this I created rebar guides for the inside of my fence posts.
Rebar Guide - 1/2 Plywood, PVC and Gorilla Glue








Guide inside of Fence Post








Fence Posts

__
https://flic.kr/p/2


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## [email protected]

Amazing job. I wish I could articulate it more cleverly but I'm blown away. To me, that is perfection. I'm slowly making my own version based on this concept.


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## tjc67

[email protected] said:


> Amazing job. I wish I could articulate it more cleverly but I'm blown away. To me, that is perfection. I'm slowly making my own version based on this concept.


 lol yeah, when I saw the pics my first thought was "damn my fence sucks in comparison"


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## RoxyBlue

The columns and fence together look beautiful.


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## medicf43

How did you connect the fence to the columns


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## mys197gt

discozombie said:


> I posted some pics of my columns awhile back. Today I was doing a mock setup of the columns, gates, and fence. Its nice when things work out on such a beautiful day.


These are gorgeous!! Excellent craftsmanship.


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## MapThePlanet

Those are fantastic!! It is on my project list for next year! And if mine look like those, I might just leave them out all the time!!


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## strynite

Awesome job on the columns and fence. I might be driving around North Aurora come October to check them out in person...lol.


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## RoseHillManor

Wow! these are awesome, great details!


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## kprimm

In the words of the famous Darth Vader....Impressive!....most Impressive!


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