Halloween

How-To's
Hello, this is where I will try to give you an idea of how I built some of the things for my halloween displays.


Materials needed. Spray foarm 2 Latex gloves Wire 2 PVC connectors	Step 1 is to cut 5 lengths of wire that are roughly the length of the fingers you want. Then bend a loop in one end (this helps keep the wire from poking through the glove and stabbing you later.)

Stick the 5 lenghts of wire down into each finger of the glove.	Cut another length of wire that is long enough to go around the PVC connector. Bend another loop in each of the 5 lengths of wire. Make sure they terminate inside the glove and all end at roughly the same point.
Now feed the 6th piece of wire through the 5 loops, then bend it around the PVC connector. This will help anchor everything together. Now fill the glove with the expanding foam. Make sure you don't over-fill, unless you want some really bloated hands. I left mine looking a little thin, then it expanded to where I wanted it. Sometime you might have to take another piece of wire and poke it into the thicker areas to let some air in so the foam can cure, or finish expanding.
Now you are ready to use them. I usually use these inside of costume gloves. Put the glove over it, then attach the hand to your PVC frame of the figure you want to use the hands on. With the wire in the fingers, you can bend them to grasp handles of weapons, or other things like that. I prefer bailing wire, as it is more flexible than coat hangers, but still stiff enough to hold where you want it to.


Let me start with the legs. They were the hardest for me to figure out, as I needed them to be flexible. I ended up using the foam tubes that are used for pool toys. I just taped some of the foam in place bridging the gap where the knee would be.	For the feet, I attached wooden blocks to the ends of the PVC. Then I put the shoes over top of them. The blocks of wood were cut to fit the shoes, then drilled out to fit the PVC. It is held on the tubing with drywall screws.

Next I put the frame together. It is a basic PVC frame bulked out a bit by more of the foam pool toy material. The hole in the center is just about the right size for the PVC. A little snug, but that is good.	Next I add the latex appliances that come with the costume. And the hands. If you notice the 2 liter bottles. They help to bulk out the abdomen, and also to hold the figure in place (I filled them with water for weight)

Next, I added the jeans. I already cut the holes in them to show the appliances. I made the edges pretty ragged, and hopefully it looks fairly natural.	Same for the shirt. It helped that the shirt was pretty old to start with (same with the jeans)

Lastly, I add the jacket (also pre-ripped/cut) And the head. Overall, it's not too bad, but I hope to improve it for next year. The head looks a bit too small for the body. So that needs some work, as well as the chest needs to be rounded a bit more. Also I need the weather the cloths some more, so I plan on doing some painting on them. Some black and brown spray paint to darken them up and make them look dirty. Then a bit greens and whites smattered about to give it more of a moldy look.


Here is what they looked like when I started.

Next I went at them with some spray paint. Browns and blacks to get started. Black didn't cover the greatest, but I found if I hit areas with brown first, then went over them with black it really showed well. Just like I wanted it.

Next I used green to help simulate mold. Concentrating on seems and raised areas. As those would be the most likely to hold moisture longer and hence rot faster. After the green I gave things a dusting of white. This blended things a bit more, plus gave it a washed out old look. A word of advice. Do this in a well ventilated area. I worked in my basement with all the windows open, and a couple of fans working. Spray painting cloth takes a lot of paint. Much more than spray painting a solid object like wood or plastic. So there are a whole lot of paint fumes to deal with.