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All posts for the month October, 2016

day-03

Got some shots in good light this afternoon.

day-04

Remember kids, safety first!

day-01

Finally remembered to take a pic of the punkins.

day-06

day-05

Got most of the window work done. Just one more ghost, and maybe some lights.

Had the idea for the first window soon after we moved in. The owner installed shoji screens for the front windows, and I thought they looked like a bird cage, so I drew and cut out a crow silhouette, and backlit it.  The second window is right by the door. Non-scary jackos. The third window is above the garage, and kinda freaked even me out. It’s just that single slide rocker projector, but man, that’s effective.

 

yard-2016

I meant to get some pics during magic hour, but I napped instead.

The red bit you can’t really see is the packing tape ghost. Ideally, I’d make one or two more. Don’t think I’ll have the energy.  The purple thing is the Home Depot gargoyle I finally broke down and bought. Got a discount because he has some major chips in back, and one crack I think I’ll have to patch. But he works for this season as is. I lurve him.

Tomorrow, I do the windows. I’ll probably just do the ones over the garage, as they’re the most visible from the street. The dormers will just get pretty lights.

Oh, and I can turn on the fog machine from inside the house! Didn’t have any frozen water loaded up, so I didn’t run it for the pic.

Here’s a little video. I has a pretty yard.

maus-01

It’s done! The Spousal Unit is going to help me move it out to the yard tomorrow, so I can spend the day setting everything up.

maus-02

Here’s what it looks like inside. We had to mute the inside light a bunch, as it was overwhelming the projection. Now the skeleton is only visible between projection scenes, and is just a suggestion during.

I added a little ambient light, as it will be on the stones. Also, the mausoleum wasn’t visible on camera. It looks better in person, of course, but this is pretty darned neat.

ten26-03

The mesh is down. I tacked it on and pulled it taut, then laid down a line of foam glue. I was afraid the mesh might keep the glue from the foam, so I pushed it down with a stir stick.

ten26-02

First panel of the roof is on. I’ll probably go out and do the rest later tonight.

ten26-01

Popped the head off my old skelly. Long live the new skelly. You won’t be able to tell the veil plastic in the end. And if it turns out to be obvious, I have other options.  I hope she doesn’t interfere with the projector too much.

ten25-03

And let’s hope they don’t come tumbling down. Got most of the inside painted black. Ish. Doesn’t need to be perfect.

ten25-02

The facade is all painted and ready to go. Just waiting for glue to cure. Tomorrow, I’m going to attach a skelly to the frame on the inside, as I’m not sure I can do it after the roof is on. Then I mesh the front of the mausoleum, and get things glued together. Eee!

ten25-01

frame

So at this point, I’m so far behind I have only the vaguest hope of getting things done a few days before Halloween. I don’t feel too badly–because of the move, I couldn’t have started any earlier.

The frame is glued down to the first wall. I measured everything very carefully for the frame…and still had to cut a few inches off the bottom of the wall. I want the wall to “float” a little, so there’s no extra pressure on it from sitting on the ground.

Also: power caulking gun. Just say yes.

My goal was to have everything done two days ago, but really, that’s impractical, since I need help to put stuff out. So Sunday is fine, right?

ten21-01

The stones are ready to go. I’d put them out, but then we’d trip over them getting the mausoleum out, and there’s enough to trip on. Like bears.

ten21-02

ten21-04

ten21-03

My final step is always dry-brushing with white to bring out edges, letters, and details.

ten21-05

The mausoleum walls are painted, and I got a start on the facade.  I ended up really hating those foam tubes. They don’t take glue or paint well. Grr.

Had a minor snafu with the frame, and had to take another trip to Home Depot for adapters and more PVC. I’d really like that to be the last HD trip…but we know how that goes.

I tried two more makeups tonight. One of them was more subtle, and the last was the least subtle. In fact, I slapped the second makeup over the top of the first.

So, from this tutorial, we get a kinder, gentler ghost:

Pretty creepy, eh? But now I realize those lip extension lines need to go up.

Now, from this tutorial, we go scary:

Got the lips wrong. That’s what I get for not re-watching the video first. Still, I wouldn’t want to see me in a darkened mansion.

So: here are the three makeups:

Basic dead chick

Basic dead chick

subtle

Still dead, but not as dramatically

jesuschristrun

RUN!

Opinions?  Other than I need a shower. Which I desperately do.