Best. Halloween. ever!
Saturday, November 02, 2013
Super Hello Kitty Man!
Sunday, September 29, 2013
MICHONNE'S PETS!
HELLO TWD FANS!!!
Last Halloween, I got the bug to build my own enormous, giant, incredible THE WALKING DEAD front yard display.
I only got as far as this...and collecting all the NERF guns in the house for painting...but it's a start. For those of you who have the time, inclination and ability, here's a few shots of what you can do on the cheap. And I have an idea of how it can be finished...at the end. Hope these ideas help, and I'd LOVE to see the final results you come up with!
Materials:
Styro-wig heads 2 male, 1 female (unless YOU want to be Michonne!) Spray paints of various colors, a rough saw (like a drywall saw),Xacto knive,a braided or dreadlock wig, some fake teeth and fake eyeballs.
Step 1. Hobby Lobby or most other craft stores have these great Styrofoam wig heads. I found these in the same store, 2 male and more "female" model. NOTE: The male heads are very "Clark Kent" looking, hardly the emaciated Zombie pets we all know and love. Don't worry, you will pretty them up in a jiffy!
Step 2. Get some spray paint,(rattle cans for our U.K. friends)- small cans will work great since you wont need much. I used 2 shades of brown and some black, blue, yellow and red all of which were laying around the Zombie workshop. Did I say workshop? I meant garage. Did I say garage? I meant shed.
You wont need any particular skills with painting or artistic background for the next step, in fact the more random you are the better!
Step 3. Pick up some fake teeth and, if you can find them, some plastic eyeballs. It's Halloween...Shouldn't be too hard.
Step 4. MAKE ZOMBIES! Start with the male heads, these will be the "Pets." Using the drywall saw, cut a horizontal slit along the lips about 2-3 inches deep, leaving the top lips intact. I used the drywall saw since it gave a rough jagged cut. Next, cut a few vertical slits from the chin up to the lips cut you made. Then, using your fingers, start tearing away the Styrofoam in chunks. NOTE: This is MESSY! Small pits of polystyrene get everywhere. Do this in a place thats easy to clean up, and have a small vac nearby.
Step 5. Add some trauma, gouge out the eye sockets to make room for the eyeballs, chop off the nose ala Michael Jackson, OR...spray them black for a sunken effect.
Use the saw to make some slashes in the skin, be creative, it's really YOUR pet afterall...
Step 6. Spray paint! Ok...Before you begin, a words about polystyrene and spraypaint. The Styrofoam will bubble, melt and get gooey depending on how liberally you use it. This IS A GOOD THING! You are making a Zombie...let the properties work to your benefit. THIS IS NOT THE CASE FOR MICHONNE!!! Shes a beauty with a nice complexion...keep her that way! If you are painting her, use VERY LIGHT passes with the spray.You might even want to experiment with other paints, like latex. I have not used them so I can't tell you how it will work.
As for the Zombies, you can go nuts. If possible, grab a chunk of Styrofoam from some packaging and practice. Spraying a bunch in one area causes the foam to melt and sink, which you can use around the cheeks and in the jaw cavity.
SPRAY TIPS. Start with the overall skin tone, the brown paint lightly over the whole thing. Then the trauma and the eye sockets by painting them black. Then, over the scars, splotches of blue and yellow for bruising. Black out the missing jaw and add red for blood. Then, let it all dry for a while, and come back and do it all again. The paint will soak in and become flat the first few passes. After it dries, the subsequent layers will hold a better gloss. This is important for the blood!
Using Gorilla glue (careful it foams, use it sparingly) or hot glue, add the teeth. (I actually just pressed by mine into the foam, but they fell out after a good rain)
You now have the basics...the rest is up to you, add blood, bits of flesh, eyeballs (colored white or yellow) go nuts, have fun and HAPPY HALOWEEN!!
Oh, remember when I said I had an idea for the rest of the body? Our local Walgreens has a life size skeleton for sale, sadly it's $50. Way out of my range...but here's what I would do if I could.
Remove the skull and arms, and wrap the rib cage in the shrink wrap window covering sold at hardware stores. Grab a hair dryer and shrink wrap it like thin skin over the ribs. Spray it all with brown, add your head from above and some stuffed jeans and you have 2 perfect pets for your display.
Lucky You!
-Ken
Last Halloween, I got the bug to build my own enormous, giant, incredible THE WALKING DEAD front yard display.
I only got as far as this...and collecting all the NERF guns in the house for painting...but it's a start. For those of you who have the time, inclination and ability, here's a few shots of what you can do on the cheap. And I have an idea of how it can be finished...at the end. Hope these ideas help, and I'd LOVE to see the final results you come up with!
Materials:
Styro-wig heads 2 male, 1 female (unless YOU want to be Michonne!) Spray paints of various colors, a rough saw (like a drywall saw),Xacto knive,a braided or dreadlock wig, some fake teeth and fake eyeballs.
Step 1. Hobby Lobby or most other craft stores have these great Styrofoam wig heads. I found these in the same store, 2 male and more "female" model. NOTE: The male heads are very "Clark Kent" looking, hardly the emaciated Zombie pets we all know and love. Don't worry, you will pretty them up in a jiffy!
Step 2. Get some spray paint,(rattle cans for our U.K. friends)- small cans will work great since you wont need much. I used 2 shades of brown and some black, blue, yellow and red all of which were laying around the Zombie workshop. Did I say workshop? I meant garage. Did I say garage? I meant shed.
You wont need any particular skills with painting or artistic background for the next step, in fact the more random you are the better!
Step 3. Pick up some fake teeth and, if you can find them, some plastic eyeballs. It's Halloween...Shouldn't be too hard.
Step 4. MAKE ZOMBIES! Start with the male heads, these will be the "Pets." Using the drywall saw, cut a horizontal slit along the lips about 2-3 inches deep, leaving the top lips intact. I used the drywall saw since it gave a rough jagged cut. Next, cut a few vertical slits from the chin up to the lips cut you made. Then, using your fingers, start tearing away the Styrofoam in chunks. NOTE: This is MESSY! Small pits of polystyrene get everywhere. Do this in a place thats easy to clean up, and have a small vac nearby.
Step 5. Add some trauma, gouge out the eye sockets to make room for the eyeballs, chop off the nose ala Michael Jackson, OR...spray them black for a sunken effect.
Use the saw to make some slashes in the skin, be creative, it's really YOUR pet afterall...
Step 6. Spray paint! Ok...Before you begin, a words about polystyrene and spraypaint. The Styrofoam will bubble, melt and get gooey depending on how liberally you use it. This IS A GOOD THING! You are making a Zombie...let the properties work to your benefit. THIS IS NOT THE CASE FOR MICHONNE!!! Shes a beauty with a nice complexion...keep her that way! If you are painting her, use VERY LIGHT passes with the spray.You might even want to experiment with other paints, like latex. I have not used them so I can't tell you how it will work.
As for the Zombies, you can go nuts. If possible, grab a chunk of Styrofoam from some packaging and practice. Spraying a bunch in one area causes the foam to melt and sink, which you can use around the cheeks and in the jaw cavity.
SPRAY TIPS. Start with the overall skin tone, the brown paint lightly over the whole thing. Then the trauma and the eye sockets by painting them black. Then, over the scars, splotches of blue and yellow for bruising. Black out the missing jaw and add red for blood. Then, let it all dry for a while, and come back and do it all again. The paint will soak in and become flat the first few passes. After it dries, the subsequent layers will hold a better gloss. This is important for the blood!
Using Gorilla glue (careful it foams, use it sparingly) or hot glue, add the teeth. (I actually just pressed by mine into the foam, but they fell out after a good rain)
You now have the basics...the rest is up to you, add blood, bits of flesh, eyeballs (colored white or yellow) go nuts, have fun and HAPPY HALOWEEN!!
Oh, remember when I said I had an idea for the rest of the body? Our local Walgreens has a life size skeleton for sale, sadly it's $50. Way out of my range...but here's what I would do if I could.
Remove the skull and arms, and wrap the rib cage in the shrink wrap window covering sold at hardware stores. Grab a hair dryer and shrink wrap it like thin skin over the ribs. Spray it all with brown, add your head from above and some stuffed jeans and you have 2 perfect pets for your display.
Lucky You!
-Ken
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