If nothing else, you have to agree this blog hasn’t been home to cobwebs as of late. I can now officially say this is the last of the Halloween Haunt 2017 tutorial posts. It has been fun going back through the build process that has pretty much spanned and entire year starting soon after last year’s Haunted Trail was picked up and put away. Today happens to be the day all the Halloween decorations are officially packed and stored away for this year. If things go as planned I’ll start on a new set of props starting … wait for it … next week. That cheer you just heard was from me, that equally loud groan came from Linda.
Before I get to the new ideas, better close out my signature piece from this year. I first must give credit to Graves of the Groves for giving me the inspiration for this project. I watched a video of his for a $20 Haunt project – a yearly competition where you submit your best decoration for under $20 dollars. The link to his video for Hacked in the Box is here. Now, I will say the $20 contest is a bit of exaggeration. Things you already have or ability to re-purpose often do not get included in the cost. If you do not have those same pieces laying around or do not have the skills to complete a specific element in the prop build you quickly find you are beyond the $20. Now in this particular instance, I was so far beyond $20 bucks it isn’t funny – some of that due to design choices, some due to not having the patience/skill he has and well, quite frankly, a whole bunch of screw ups. Let’s start with my concept.
That is my drawing on my whiteboard after an idea session with my friend in haunt Brad (over lunch of course). Pretty simple, box with a pole sticking out of it, some coil to look like a spring, a clown head on the top and a base that would allow a wiper motor to rotate the shaft in a circular manner. Brad had the idea to put teeth on the lid. You might also note the handle on the side – just kind of sitting there not doing a whole lot. By the way, that wiper motor alone cost more than $20 on Monster Guts. Now a shot of the final product out on the trail – yes, I have already enlisted the aid of a therapist.
Hit the jump and I will take you through the build process. Unless you are normal and hate clowns, in which case, you should probably cut and run about now.
