# A Large Evil Creature Build



## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

Hey yall,

Well, I've been working on this year's Halloween yard display, a rather large (9' tall or better) evil creature based on a character in "The Lord of the Rings" movie, and I figured I'd share the progress of the build on here. I uploaded pics to Photobucket and I'll include the link here so anyone interested can get up to speed quickly. I am using an armature made with 1" PVC pipe with corner braces at each joint for extra strength. (I had a feeling it was gonna be needed) The head and one of the arms will be animated using oscillating fan motors and all appendages will be lit from inside for a particularly cool effect. (This is assuming the methods I use will work as planned) I am up to the stage of perfecting the setup for each arm, after which the build should go faster. I suspect a major expense will be a fabric I want to use as the 'skin' because it will simulate the texture of the creature's skin pretty well while saving some tedious work and time. It costs $14.99 a yard, and I will probably end up using nearly 10 yds. of the stuff! The sacrifices I make for my art...  
Anywho, here is the link to the photo album of my build so far: 



I've actually gotten the body armature glued together and with a 9' plus length of PVC pipe down the back to keep it steady. I had a heck of a time getting it all in place and glued, as it had a bad habit of trying to fall apart as I worked on it, but I eventually managed to get it all positioned and glued and braced. Whew! Then, I went to work on the arm assembly. I wanted to backlight all the appendages, which you'll understand why later, so I used an old 24" fluorescent light, some steel strap and some chicken wire to make a reasonably realistic arm. You'll see what I ended up with in the pic with the assembly painted all in red. So, that's where the build stands... :jol:


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## hedg12 (Jul 6, 2008)

The link takes you to a log in page - says the album is private.


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## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

ooops! I'll fix that, thanks!


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## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

Okay it's set up, the password is "Halloween". please let me know if you can get in okay.


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

Nope, still showing it as a private album.

Ok, pass word work, but you have to be quick or it kicks back to the original password and goes private.


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## nimblemonkey (Aug 21, 2011)

I got in using the password- so far it's looking good! I like the idea of using the clear light tube for the arms- Are you putting leds inside the "arms" to light it? or string lights? can't wait to see the next step.


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## nimblemonkey (Aug 21, 2011)

Sorry- just went back and looked again and saw the fluorescent tube with the chicken wire armature. looking forward to the rest of the build


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I just tried the password and it says it's incorrect. Let me suggest you make the album public and that will solve the problem.


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## hedg12 (Jul 6, 2008)

The password is case sensitive - halloween, lower case. But yes, a public album would be easier.

I like where you're going with this. I'd love to build something like this one day.


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## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

Well, I took your advice and made the album public... I appreciate the encouraging words and I'll do my best to keep yall up to date. I just got through watching a documentary on Netflix called "Sci-Fi Boys", it's all about the great special effects people and directors of classic sci-fi and monster movies. A great source of inspiration if you are as big a fan as I am! What I found pleasantly surprising is that the greats like Stan Winston and Ray Harryhausen started out just like us, making stuff out of household items and our own ingenuity and the results of their labors became the stuff of movie legends! :devil:


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## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

*A Change of Plans*

Well, I've decided to go yet another route to making body parts... This week I am covering the chicken wire over the arm with papier mache, then a layer of claycrete to fine-tune the details, then brush on several layers of fiberglass resin in an attempt to make a translucent shell. If I am successful, I will remove the lower layers, leaving just the resin as the 'skin' of the arm, which I will paint appropriately to get the effect I want. Wish me luck, and there _will_ be pictures by this weekend! :jol:


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## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

*One Arm to Rule Them All, errrr...*

Ok, I've got a few more pics of the progress with the arm-building, having gotten as far as being almost ready to apply the resin. To form the arm's musculature, I started with the chicken wire armature, then paper-mache'd it until everything was covered. Then, I went to Home Depot and bought the following items: 1-18 lb. bag of GreenFiber brand blow-in Natural Fiber Insulation & 
1-18 lb. bag of Sheetrock Lightweight Setting-Type Joint Compound. The insulation is simply recycled, shredded paper pulp which is, along with plaster, the basic ingredient of claycrete.
You will see in the pics that I started with a couple of scoops (the kind that come with a box of laundry detergent) of joint compound, mixed it with some warm water and stirred it until it was smooth. I intentionally made the mixture thin because I would be adding insulation, which would thicken it. I just grabbed a good handful of insulation and kneaded it into the plaster mix until it was well blended. I experimented with the consistency and found that I liked it when it was about like squeezing ground beef between my fingers.
So, I applied the claycrete by hand, slathering it generously along all available surfaces. I made a point of filling in anywhere the hexagonal pattern showed, and adjusting the shapes of the muscles as I went along. The joint compound was fast-setting, so I had to work fairly quickly. I would keep making small batches, applying the claycrete and making a new batch immediately until I covered the whole of the paper mache. At first, it didn't look much like an arm, but with subsequent layers of claycrete, I built it up to where it started looking more realistic. I have fans blowing air across the arm so the claycrete will set faster. Later tonight I plan on applying a 'finish' layer of joint compound to smooth out details and when that is dry I will give it a light sanding and prep it for the resin. More to come... :jol:


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2012)

Good luck with the prop. I'm a LOTR fan, so it will be great to see it completed. It does look heavy. I hope you can mechanize it as planned.


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## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

*One Arm...*

Well, my plan is to make a shell of resin, and then remove the rest of the form and use only the resin shell over the PVC pipe 'skeleton'. So, all that paper mache and claycrete and chicken wire will be gone, along with all that weight. I hope it works, because time is going to start running short and I need to really get moving on getting the body finished. :jol:


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## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

*Eeeek...*

This is the nature of such ventures, that sometimes things just don't seem to go we planned... I took the arm outside, waxed it down with carnauba wax, then promptly broke it near the wrist.  Didn't even panic, I just figured I can make two parts that will be joined later. So, I mixed a batch of resin, eight ounces with 80 drops of hardener as the instructions indicated. I brushed it all over the upper part of the arm down to near the break, making sure I gave the entire arm a good coating top to bottom, with just a small area underneath undone. I quickly realized that this coat of resin was probably not going to be enough to stand on its own, so I broke down and on the next batch, I went ahead and added strips of fiberglass cloth that I had in stock, thereby making this a fiberglass arm. Shoulda figured on doing that in the first place  Ah well, I can deal with it... :jol:


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## Jaybo (Mar 2, 2009)

Hmm...no pictures. Your photobucket link in the beginning of this thread no longer works. You now have the minimum 10 post count required by Hauntforum, so you should be able to post the IMG links from photobucket directly in your posts here.


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## zombastic (Aug 27, 2012)

If you click on it, it works.


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2012)

I've never worked with fiberglass, so I'm interested in the process and your progress. Remember to take photos of the various stages. I hope it continues to come together!


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## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

*Pics*

Here are some pics:

Close-Up of Arm Detail picture by MarxNutz - Photobucket

Another View of Forearm picture by MarxNutz - Photobucket

Placing the Tub picture by MarxNutz - Photobucket

Pizza Cardboard for the Back of Hand picture by MarxNutz - Photobucket

Covered with Papier Mache and Claycrete picture by MarxNutz - Photobucket


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## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

*More...*

More pics, showing the hand, the unfortunate break in the wrist and the fiberglassing... I sure hope this method works!

Adding Fingers picture by MarxNutz - Photobucket

Right On! picture by MarxNutz - Photobucket

Arm with Broken Wrist picture by MarxNutz - Photobucket

Fiberglassing picture by MarxNutz - Photobucket


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2012)

Thanks for the new pics. You'll glaze the claycrete arm with fiberglass then remove the resulting exoskeleton? That sounds tricky, but will certainly make the arm lighter and easier to mechanize. Good luck!


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## Jaybo (Mar 2, 2009)

You've probably realized by now that fiberglass resin is brittle on it's own without the glass mat. I was going to recommend making Rondo, which is fiberglass resin mixed with Bondo, when I realized you wanted a translucent effect. Looks like you will have to stick with the glass mat and resin.

If you change your mind about the translucent part, then take a look at the link below on how to use Rondo. It's very cool stuff.

http://protagonist4hire.blogspot.com/2012/01/prop-building-101-part-1-building.html


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## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

Thanks for the info Jaybo, I will definitely try that on another occasion... this is what i like about the forums, everyone sharing their knowledge and ideas to the benefit of all. I appreciate all of the feedback yall! :jol:


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2012)

Good link Jaybo. I have to try this stuff myself.


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## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

*Update: Some success to report...*

Sorry for the delay on an update, but Life has a way of interfering with Fun...
I've have a small amount of success with the experimental arm build. Although it didn't come out as nicely as it should, it still proved the basic methodology I was using. After the first arm's fiberglass had cured, I cut a line lengthwise along the back of the arm with my angle grinder fitted with a 1/8" 4 inch wheel, then cleared out all the materials within. This was a pretty mess, and I ended up using a garden hose to clean the inside of the fiberglass shell. Once it was clean and dry, I placed the pipes with lights back inside the shell and lit it up!







As you will see in this pic, there was certainly enough light passing through to serve my purposes. Don't let the pic fool you, there was not THAT much light coming through. In fact it was near perfect! So, when I started the second arm I made some changes in the way I did things. First, I skipped the use of flour and water mixture and used straight plaster for the paper mache. Secondly, I added some more PVC pipes to make the stand more stable, which was certainly needed when the claycrete application made the whole thing so heavy that it caused the stand to sag precariously. I also decided to pass on forming a hand, instead I will use a set of 'Hulk hands'  lol... Before applying the fiberglass this time around, I will coat the arm with several coats of paint to seal the plaster, then slather on several coats of carnauba wax. I will attempt to remove the fiberglass shell and save the arm to make copies. Also, I am starting to form the deltoid portion of the shoulder, which I hope to use the same method on so I can make a copy to save time and effort. :jol:


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## MarxNutz (Aug 9, 2012)

*Btw...*

I updated the photo album, and got everything in proper order. Here is a link to it: http://photobucket.com/halloweenbuild
Best to view it in slideshow mode with Alan Parsons Project's "I, Robot" album playing... :jol:


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

good stuff


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