Thread: Homemade Lemax Spookytown stuff

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So I can't afford to just go out and buy all the cool spookytown stuff so I decided to try to make a bunch of it....Here is my first attempt which I'm pretty happy with...It's all styrofoam except for the zombie's head and hand coming out of the ground....I used Super Sculpey for those because of the detail and how small they are...This project only has 2 LEDs- 1 yellow flicker I took out of a "tealight" and a red one hidden behind the first tombstone shining on the zombie....I'd like to get more complex as the projects progress.....I've already envisioned wiper motor movements or even cooler yet- lot's of servos controlling pop up zombies,opening coffins,Mansion shutters/doors,etc... with sound of course....As I mentioned above I have no money so I'll have to concentrate on building the stuff for now with complex automation maybe later down the road...Have to start somewhere....Anyway, I hope you like it and hopefully it will inspire a few to start on thier own "homemade villages"...ZR

DSC03211 - HauntUniverse.com - The Haunt Industry Network

DSC03212 - HauntUniverse.com - The Haunt Industry Network

that is really very good!

That's great! You're very ambitious..that's for sure...I don't think I would have the patience for that sort of thing...but totally understand why you would want to make your own...ST and Dept56 villaging can add up quickly....I collect the Dept 56 Halloween series...and it is a bit pricey...

please post more pictures of your progress...

I think Your off too a great start. Would have fooled Me for being home made.

LadyAlthea and Hamm....Thanks for the compliments...I'm glad you like it....

gromit05-I checked out your photos and what a cool house to "haunt"!...The one photo of the guilotine is very intimidating...Love it! You are very creative on your Dept 56 village layout....Love the shrubery,grass,leaves...etc....You have a fine eye for attention to detail on all your props!....

The tree scene did take quite awhile to make but it was very enjoyable watching it come together....I'd say if you don't enjoy building stuff, then it's definitely not something to try...I've got all the foam factory tools and love making stuff out of foam so time isn't an issue, especially now that it's cold outside....ZR

Many thanks ZombieRaider!

You mentioned that you have the factory foam tools...those are pretty cool! I have the engraver and sculpting tool....I have made a couple of things for my village...mostly mountains with the sculpting tool...i still need to try something out with my engraver......

anyhoo you are so creative and I just love what you have done so far....hats off to you!!

That's very cool. I have never thought of building a Spookytown type set-up from scratch. That stuff is a little over priced. I wonder if you could build some of those buildings out of sculpting clay or something. You may have spawned a few new addictions, Raider.

gromit05, Yeah, I have the 3d scroll,hot knife,engraver,sculpting,bow,freehand router,some of the holders,hard coat,etc....I'm finding foam an incredible medium with unlimiting possiblities and it's cheap!....You figure I made that stuff out of a couple pieces of foam I got out of christmas presents boxes before disposing the boxes.....It has taken a little while to grasp how to carve 3d things (like the tree) but it takes practise...The tombstones and coffin was incredibly easy to build...Just trace it on a piece of foam and cut it out....I used the engraver on the RIP behind the coffin...Just wrote it on the stone with a marker and then went over that with the engraver...Easy....I do highly recommend the pro power supply so you can set how hot the engraver gets....If it's too hot it will melt away way more than you want to engrave....I also used it to make the wood grain on the coffin and also the clock for that matter....Just keep dragging it across until there's nothing flat left...You want to keep the "grain" going the same way.... 2 - Non Foam Factory tools I have found indispensable is a heat gun and sand paper....Those 2 things have been the difference in taking away the hard edges and smoothing everything....The heat gun is 1000w, you don't want anything too powerful....The hot tools are great for getting your basic shape but sanding edges makes the form much smoother and heating the stuff creates small pits in the foam so you can use the dry brush technique to get a great finish.....These are a few things I've picked up along the way but the best way you can learn is DIG IN! If you mess it up, it's only a piece of old foam...Throw it away and start over!....I've also started paper machie and am really liking that too....Working on a skeleton chandelier that hopefully will be cool when it's done....ZR

RookieSpooker, You could definitely make one of those out of clay but anything of any size would be alot of clay....Again, foam is my medium of choice...You can make the panels, cut out the window trim, add shutters,etc....It can all be done in foam though it will take time....If I didn't have the foam tools, I'd probably pick paper machie as the next medium though I think that would be more time consuming yet....I've got tons of foam laying around from family and friends saving for me when they buy something....That would really be cool if others started making their own villages as well...More ideas for me to steal from!....ZR

The work looks really good, Zombie Raider, although I am not a fan of that Spookytown stuff. Any labor of love that perpetuates the Horror/Halloween obsession that we all share is all good in my book!
Keep us posted on new work.