# Make Giant Mushrooms - progress pix



## Rahnefan

This was an experiment with at least 4 different ways to make a giant mushroom. I'll discuss some things I tried, what works and what doesn't.

The finished products are in this thread: 
Murder Mushrooms

To make what I think worked best, you will need:
chicken wire
bailing wire
duct tape
masking tape
paper clay
Great Stuff
pingpong eyeballs
monster mud
paint
spar urethane or other sealant

For me nearly everything starts out in the sketchbook and rarely ends up looking like what I had in mind. Here's a scan of two roughs, one in pencil and one in ink:









The pencil sketches were too straight and normal-looking, but the ink sketches don't really account for um, shall we say, limitations of physics and experience! But I think it was good for me to have two different examples to work from.

There are basically 4 methods I tried:
1. paper mache, using one of those plastic TP-storage things for the mold
2. rolled up phone books of various thicknesses, duct-taped together
3. chicken wire frame covered in newspaper and masking tape
4. a discarded Pringles can

*Method 1 - paper mache* - made the weakest but lightest mushroom.
*Method 2 - rolled up phone books* - was a delightful way to rid my home of these things and made the strongest stalk that wind is simply NOT going to knock over, but they are too heavy. You cannot pick these up by the cap, which is somehow a reflexive, instinctive thing to do.
*Method 3 - chicken wire* - was the best overall method. The stalks are light and can be shaped in cool ways.
*Method 4 - Pringles can* - is the smallest but was a good way to keep Thing 2 busy and out of Daddy's hair while I worked on the big ones.

About method 3: after you form the frame, you can compare it to your sketches to see if it matches up to what you originally wanted. It is easy to snip a little here or there and then bend/wire the gaps to create bends and wrinkles. The trick is getting it to still stand up when you are done. Not all of mine can stand freely.

When your chicken wire frame is exactly like you want it, you might not even need to tape any newspaper to it. Wrap it from top to bottom once or twice in 2 inch masking (not duct) tape, and it will already start looking close to done. In low light, it could pass for a mushroom. I didn't think I took a pic of that but I did:










At this point you can begin adding some details like additional wrinkles or large eyes. One of mine is Cyclopian. It's carved styrofoam.

As you can see, all the caps were made separately from the stalks. The largest ones, whether bowl-shaped or floppy-hat style, are chicken wire, newspaper, and tape. The middle sized ones are discount store mixing bowls, shaped with newspaper and tape. The smallest one is half of a styrofoam ball. Only one of the caps is paper mache, and it was the most disappointing method. It takes more time and resources than any of the other methods, and is the weakest cap. All of the caps were coated in monster mud.

You can refer to this diagram when cutting chicken wire to make a cap:








Please note that this is basic and you will almost definitely have to do a lot of cutting and bending and twisting before you have the shape you want.

Attaching the cap is the biggest pain in the neck. This is where I saw what was a good idea and what was not.

For method 1, attach the cap to the head as best you can with bailing wire, then turn the mushroom upside down. Spray Great Stuff down the center of the stalk so that it expands where the cap is. That holds it on pretty well. Same thing for method 3 and 4. I do not recommend method 2 at all. I just did the best I could with lots of duct tape and wire. The caps do NOT want to stay on. Edit: I just found a cellphone pic that shows method 2 in progress. It seemed pretty dang clever _at the time_...http://www.mkdavis.net/images/props/2011/downsized_0930092313.jpg

More pix:
http://www.mkdavis.net/images/props/2010/mm-3.jpg

When the caps have been attached to the stalks to your satisfaction, you can add more details. Lumps, more wrinkles, and teeth can be made from paperclay. It is also good for smoothing out problems. You can also use Great Stuff to create veins and tendrils.
http://www.mkdavis.net/images/props/2010/mm-4.jpg
http://www.mkdavis.net/images/props/2010/mm-5.jpg
http://www.mkdavis.net/images/props/2010/mm-7.jpg

I had a bunch of smaller mushrooms made from Sculpey and hot-glued them on to make it freakier looking. Thing 1 and Thing 2 found it effective.
http://www.mkdavis.net/images/props/2010/mm-11.jpg

http://www.mkdavis.net/images/props/2010/mm2.gif

Here is an unpainted pic of method 4 that basically explains itself I think:









Really you could stop there, if your mushrooms are going to be in low light and you are not going to allow any rain to get on them at all. But if you want to paint them, consider applying at least one more coat of monster mud all over the entire thing first. The amount of solidity it gave them was a pleasant surprise to me. I would say more of painting but I don't feel qualified yet! One thing I will say is that I almost always avoid using a truly colorless black on things that are supposed to look quasi-natural. That and I think that using a watery, dripping wash helps them look natural. I think painting it dark and dry-brushing light colors on it might only make them look like statues.

Painted and ready to seal:









Lastly, if these are going to be exposed to rain, you need to seal them. Based on a lot of questions from the gentle denizens of HauntForum.com, I chunked down the $ for some spar urethane and am glad I did. It coats like a skin and goes a looong way.


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## steveshauntedyard

Those are great. Super cool job


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## Bone Dancer

First off you get an A+ for the tutorial on this project. Straight forward and good pictures too. The mushrooms have a very good "look" to them. Great haunted forest material. 
Thanks for sharing this project with us. It's very inspirational for this or other projects simular. They get the "wish I could see them in person" award.


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## daBOOhouse

Great ideas and great tutorial. I can see some of these popping up in my garden...


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## Spooky1

These turned out great. Thanks for the tutorial


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## beelce

Cool........!!


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## niblique71

Thanks for the Tutorial!! I started mine today. I already have a medium and a large shroom all framed up today. I'm going to try using latex and fabric/cotten to flesh my Fungi out.


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## Rahnefan

niblique71 said:


> I'm going to try using latex and fabric/cotten to flesh my Fungi out.


Please post pics! I have never used latex but figured that'd be the medium of choice for people who know how.


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## debbie5

Very nice. So, they are heavy enough to not need to be staked into the ground?

(mumbling) (...I dunno how these people get motivated to work on Ween stuff now..I wish I knew their secret...mumblemumble..)


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## RoxyBlue

Good pointers, Rahn. It's always useful to know not only how someone did something, but what did not work well so the rest of us can avoid those pitfalls.


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## Lunatic

Thanks for the how-to! Those look great!


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## Rahnefan

debbie5 said:


> Very nice. So, they are heavy enough to not need to be staked into the ground?


The phone-book variety is heavy enough to not need staking, if no one is going to be near enough to touch them.

The others will need stakes. Probably I'll sharpen some tree clippings and drive them into the ground and just sit the shrooms over the stakes - what I mean is, there's no loop or hole or tie-down or such. Also since mine are going to be in a brushy area with a lot of ivy, I didn't plan on anything special.

I expect the lower parts of them to erode a bit over time, but that is fine too. Ivy and pine straw should cover a multitude of sins.


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## niblique71

*Latex version*

I'll start my own thread for these once I get a litle further along.

Here are the pics you requested of shrooms I'm making using carpet latex and cloth over a wire frame.



















The smaller one I used a mixture of sawdust in the latex to help with texture and the drying process. Carpet latex is notorious for LONG drying times. I'll let ya know how that went when I start my own thread.

I'll start making the faces using cottenballs and Moldmaking latex when the carpet latex is dry enough to handle (probably July 2013....Kidding)

Thanks for the Inspiration Rahnefan!!


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## Rahnefan

OMG that is awesome!! I love them! This is gonna rock. You dirty #$%^&*


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## daBOOhouse

Just got an idea for these. Put them in a group with a base of mache and have a shiatsu massager in it making some of them move around. The massager can be made to make two of them move directly and others with some invisible thread/strings/wires.


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## Rahnefan

Sounds neat but they are just gonna sit in the ivy! LOL


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## divinedragon7

i'd love to see a yard covered in these! amazing work!


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## morbidmike

those are sooooo dang sweet


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## DeathTouch

Ok, I just saw this and it is awesome. You should pat yourself on the back for this.


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## jdubbya

I'll be gathering materials for these in the next couple weeks! This will make a great winter project to get out of the way for next year's haunted forest scene. Great tutorial! So creative!
Also, I didn't see it mentioned anywhere but roughly how tall are the larger ones?


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## Rahnefan

The taller ones are four feet or more. Glad u like. I look fwd to seeing yours!


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## BrotherMysterio

Thanks for the tutorial! I know precisely how I am going to use them!


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## Allen H

Rahnefan- your work is quite impressive, I wish you lived closer so we could have some shop time.


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## Rahnefan

Thank you sir - I think the same thing every Wednesday!


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## Lis

Those are wicked awesome!!!


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## Lilly

Love them
I've always wanted to make shrooms.. Guess this will be another project to my list


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## QueenRuby2002

Here I was thinking of things to put in the hedge maze. These defintly on the list. There great!


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## Hairazor

Those mushrooms are killer cool!


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## Headless

I can't believe I haven't commented on this thread before now. These guys are amazing. I love them. Not sure I will get time this year but they are absolutely on my to do list.


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## Rahnefan

Thanks guys. Post yours!


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## BrotherMysterio

I'm thinking of using a pop-up version of this in this season's haunt.

C.


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## craigfly06

I really like these. Dont know if I am talented enough to do though!!


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## hpropman

Hey I really like those - they will certainly creep out the kids and some adults.


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## DaMightyOak

Awesome may apply this to a whole garden of creepy vegtables we are doing for our haunt 2013


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## beadyeyedbrat

I had no clue when I started reading this what you would come up with. Creepily surprised. May just have to make some of these.


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