# Evans Central Halloween 2016



## djgra79 (Oct 11, 2015)

Happy (belated) Halloween all! Having a little look through some of the many posts with pics and videos and I'm starting to feel overwhelmed at the task ahead for 2016. So I thought I'd ask you seasoned professionals how best to start out. 

Are there some basic/easy projects or elements that are good for beginners that have nice effects for a haunt? I was maybe leaning towards a haunted cemetery as a theme as my wife has suggested she'd like to see some tombstones in the front yard. I'd also like to (if possible) tackle a couple of animated props like a moving ghost and/or hands breaking ground out of a grave (wobbling headstone too maybe?)

2015 will see me debut an animated Christmas light show to music with full pixel control, and I intend to extend this into Halloween 2016, but lights on their own just won't cut it, and we'd like to make use of a generous spaced front yard.

Any pointers or links to previous posts would be greatly appreciated :jol:


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Tombstones are a great way to start with a yard haunt. Here in the States you'll often see them made out of foam insulation - makes for a lightweight prop that you will come to appreciate when you have to move a couple dozen of them around Take a look through the Showroom threads and you'll see many examples. If you would like to animate a stone, take a look at Bigant's example. This makes use of a reindeer motor:

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=41066&highlight=animated+tombstone

Moving ghosts are always a good addition to a cemetery haunt. If you want to see the finest that Hauntforum has to offer, check out threads posted by heresjohnny. He is the master when it comes to making animated ghosts. If you want to start simpler and still get a good effect, you can make wind ghosts - basically a head form draped with lightweight cloth or plastic strips. If you get any wind in your area in October, that gives instant animation without a power supply Here are links to some made by Marrow, one of our New Zealand members here:

http://marrowhouse.blogspot.com/2010/10/ghostly.html

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=26888&highlight=wind+ghost

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=31811&highlight=wind+ghost


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## djgra79 (Oct 11, 2015)

Thanks for the links Roxy, this will give me a good start!


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## bjpc2716 (Apr 20, 2014)

dj you are fellow me


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## David_AVD (Nov 9, 2012)

RoxyBlue said:


> Tombstones are a great way to start with a yard haunt. Here in the States you'll often see them made out of foam insulation


For the Aussies, I'm pretty sure this 30mm foam board from Bunnings is what you'd use. They also do a 50mm version.


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## djgra79 (Oct 11, 2015)

David_AVD said:


> For the Aussies, I'm pretty sure this 30mm foam board from Bunnings is what you'd use. They also do a 50mm version.


Thanks David, I'll keep that in mind. Surely there would be a local supplier that does larger blocks however?


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

As Roxy stated, tombstones are a good starting point, beyond that, it really depends upon what you want the finished product to look like.
With it being the middle of spring for you, I don't know what, if any, kind of weather conditions you may have to contend with. Storage of props and such should also be kept in mind, it's way to easy to build all kinds of cool stuff, only to find that you have no way or place to store it during the "off season".
Making your stuff in a modular fashion allow you to change your layout, to keep things fresh, but also tends to make it easier (and cheaper) to build and store too.


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## bjpc2716 (Apr 20, 2014)

done all my one in foamboard few years ago


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## jasonsbeer (Nov 12, 2014)

djgra79 said:


> Thanks David, I'll keep that in mind. Surely there would be a local supplier that does larger blocks however?


In the states, it comes in 4 foot x 8 foot sheets. This looks to be approximately 1219mm x 2438mm. It is either pink or blue, depending on the manufacturer, but either color is functionally the same. There is a link below for reference. I hope this helps in your hunt.

http://www.menards.com/main/p-1444450504310-c-5779.htm?tid=-6284731178941710967


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

djgra79 said:


> Thanks David, I'll keep that in mind. Surely there would be a local supplier that does larger blocks however?


Check this site:

http://www.foamex.com.au/

They even mention getting spooky on Halloween in their blog section


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## alewolf (Nov 5, 2012)

I would suggest you take a good look at your home and see if you can visualize where you want to get. Your home shape etc really will channel some of your options. Hard to do a black light ghost if you have a huge streetlight in front of your house. Do you have nice trees that can be used to mount items etc. Second thing is having a theme, not a requirement. It does however help you with self editing. So many great things on the forums, you can quickly get overwhelmed.


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## djgra79 (Oct 11, 2015)

HI All.
Thought I'd blow the dust off of this thread (or perhaps keep it for the look and feel?!) and get some more ideas flowing for my display this year.
I've decided to get some extruded polystyrene (XPS) boards and make some tombstones, and animate them with some small motors like the link below to make them rock slowly. That bit is kinda easy.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Metal-Re...hash=item4afde704e8:m:mWdYKJFoAz1k-gIT21n5lIw

I also want to create a coffin and a box or crate out of old pallet wood and animate the lids using a car wiper motor. Rather than have them running all night, I think I'll tackle a build that incorporates a sensor, so that when you walk past it triggers the motor to work and make the crate lid rattle etc. But I have a couple of technical questions I'm hoping some gurus can answer on this:

1) will any type of wiper motor be ok? I can attach the crank or cam mechanism hopefully easy enough, but is there anyway to regulate the speed it would spin?
2) assuming all car motors would run off 12VDC? I have 12V PSUs for my Christmas lights
3) What control board would be best to use to trigger this?

Any feedback, links and pics would be greatly appreciated


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## David_AVD (Nov 9, 2012)

Something to keep in mind is that (in general) the output shaft for a front wiper motor goes around in a continuous motion, whereas a lot of rear ones have a back and forth motion as the wiper blade connects directly to them.

I've run wiper motors from 12V as well as 5V. Most have two speed options as well, so that gets you a fair range of speeds before you have to use a dedicated motor speed control PCB.

As for prop control, the 4 banger is a cheap way to go. I have designed a couple of prop control boards for my own use, but am not sure if I will offer them for sale yet.


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## djgra79 (Oct 11, 2015)

So I've made a bit of progress this weekend. After visiting Costco during the week I bought 2x posable skeletons for use behind a breaking tombstone.








Then over the weekend we had a family outing back at Costco where my wife wanted me to buy everything Halloween they had!! We bought a gargoyle and a pumpkin both with light up eyes and sound, plus a fun wreath to hang on the door.









Then yesterday I took apart some FREE pallet wood and cut to size to make a scary crate








Still have a lid to add and I'll just use screws to hold the sides together, so that it all folds down to 4-5 flat pieces during the year for easy storage.








This will be animated with door lock actuators and FourBanger gear, just waiting for the parts to arrive!!


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## David_AVD (Nov 9, 2012)

Nice.  I got a friend to get me 2 skeletons and 1 pumpkin from Costco on the weekend.

I'm thinking it may be possible to mod the pumpkin for separate eye, nose and mouth lights.


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## djgra79 (Oct 11, 2015)

I had to do a quick repair job on the gargoyle as it didn't work when first opened. Turns out there was an extra access panel knocking around inside it and it must have ripped out a couple of the wires during shipping. Luckily I could pry off the battery & control panel with a screwdriver as it was only glued in, and the PCB was easily marked with what went where.
I was kind of hoping the wings would flap but they dont. It's quite heavy so would need decent sized motors if I was to mod it.


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## djgra79 (Oct 11, 2015)

So my actuators have arrived, still waiting on the rest of the electrics. But I'm a little stuck on the lid design. 
To keep the crate looking consistent, I'd want to use pallet wood for the lid, but I'm pretty sure it would be too heavy for the actuators. I could just use a thinner piece of marine ply but then i think it would look odd. I've had an idea of still using pallet wood strips but instead of popping the full lid as one piece, the actuators could pop one end each of seperate strips of wood, almost making it look like whatever is inside is trying to punch out the panels. Think that would look good and suit the purpose? 
Keen for your feedback


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## David_AVD (Nov 9, 2012)

I used a single car lock actuator on my monster crate last year and had no issues, but if the box is a lot larger than mine (~ 500mm sq) maybe one actuator per side would be better?

Don't forget that some pallet wood is lighter than others (pine vs hardwood).


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## djgra79 (Oct 11, 2015)

The lid would be 900mm x 600mm using 6 strips of wood 900x100. All are ~ 18mm thick.
I've bought 4 actuators all up so I could use 2 on this crate, 1 on another prop possibly and still have a spare.


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## djgra79 (Oct 11, 2015)

Thought I'd share a quick update, this weekend I have cut out my first foam board into 4 tombstones, and have just finished cutting out the letters with a Dremel. Now to start ageing then painting


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

LOL, I love punny tombstones:jol:


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## David_AVD (Nov 9, 2012)

Nice work. I've gone the easy route for tombstones again this year and bought another one from Target to go with the Big W ones I got last year.

The bought ones look pretty ordinary, but I've left it way too late to make better ones.


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## djgra79 (Oct 11, 2015)

Started to weather my stones last night, I like how they are turning out. I never thought I'd be so artistic!!


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