Project 3 Terra's Beloved Tombstone Students Thread

[Terra]

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Terra, we are planning on making one of these this year. However, I was wondering...

We have made several life-size props using the Duct Tape Dummy technique to provide the realistic shape, contours, and poses of an actual human body. Our latest was the Mummy we used in our home haunt last year. It started as a DTD but then we corpsed it (layered paper towels saturated with paint & glue mixed 50/50) to make it more sturdy before wrapping it. The result was an accurate human shape, sturdy, but very light weight. The lighter weight (and resistance to cracking) is why I prefer corpsing to MonsterMudding.

So anyway, I believe for our attempt, we will start with a DTD (at least from the hips up) to get the proper underlaying shape, then dress it in an appropriate gown, corpse it, and finally paint it.

Do you approve?

Sounds really interesting. So, you are going to show more of the skeletal structure of the woman from what I'm gathering. That is intriguing and a cool take...even more scary. I've never corpsed before so I'm a bit at a loss in advising you on that.

In my tutorial, you see that her torso and arms are basically hallow chicken wire forms with a little fabric and tape around the outside. So she weighs nothing at all. I liked the fact that she was hollow because when I put her on the tombstone, I wanted her to look like she fell asleep and then died and her body inside the dress wasted away to just a skeleton. So, I pressed down on the form when it was on the tombstone to get a little bit of that story across. Also, when I put her on the stone her butt stuck up too much and I needed to mold the form around the edge of the stone. So I smashed her butt down. Wish I could do that to mine... heh. You can see how I flattened her at her hips/butt in this picture:

[Terra]

Explain Monster Mud please since I have never used it before.

Monster Mud was created by Terror Syndicate. At this link, they explain it http://terrorsyndicate.com/tsp_mm.html

I describe it as the combination of drywall compound (also called drywall mud) and latex paint. The latex in the paint, I believe, is what adds flexibility to the drywall compound when it dries. If it wasn't in there, it would just shatter back to powder when moved. I think of monster mud as a 'bulking up' agent to fabrics. It makes them thick, stiff and stone-like. Perfect for tombstone figures, reapers and scary-looking forms.

[Terra]

What do you mean by "put the train up"

I was trying to come up with the word for this....You know when you are at the church part of the wedding and your train is dragging behind you? Then you get to the reception and the bridesmaids helps you put your 'train' up in the back of the dress? There's a hook in the center of the train that hooks onto a part of the back of the dress. Then you arrange the folds in a pretty way. I hope I'm explaining that good enough

(I know guys reading this are scratching their heads right now )

[Terra]

Oh, by the way. When you are putting the monster mud on the dress, I did the inside layers first. Then the outside layer and then put the 'train' up while it was still wet.

[TheGothicPrincess]

Thank you for the link on the Monster mud, I feel more confident in using it on my prop.

My next question, when you join two pieces of styrofoam together, what is the best way to soften the edges of the foam if you do not have a router. Is there such a thing as a corner sanding pad to round the edges???

[Terra]

Thank you for the link on the Monster mud, I feel more confident in using it on my prop.

My next question, when you join two pieces of styrofoam together, what is the best way to soften the edges of the foam if you do not have a router. Is there such a thing as a corner sanding pad to round the edges???

Great question! Here's a picture of the most used tool in my tombstone shaving and detailing arsenal:



It is called the Stanley Surform Shaver. Stanley Hand Tools :* 21-115 *-* 7-1/4" Surform® Shaver Stanley Hand Tools :* 21-115 *-* 7-1/4" Surform® Shaver

It makes shaping the tombstone very easy (especially the sides). A happy side benefit is that it leaves behind a stone-like texture (see the rough surface on the face of the stone?). The older I want the tombstone to look, the more I use the tool on the surface. Also, the sidewalls of the tool rips open realistic-looking cracks. After jig-sawing the tombstone shape and then Dremeling the epitaph, this is the tool I use to do the real shaping of the stone. Then I do the spray-painting step and that finishes off the structuring of the stone.

[creepycathy]

Terra, thank you very much for taking the time to teach us how to do 'Beloved'. That is very nice of you!
I plan to attempt 'beloved' this summer, so I will be unofficially following this group. I have the dress and it is perfect in every way, except it is bigger than I wanted. Around here the thrift shops ask too much $ for wedding gowns. So, I took what I could get.
I was thinking that I could somehow pin the front of the dress, but not so much that it gathers too much and looks obvious. Do you have any suggestions? Thanx!

[Terra]

Terra, thank you very much for taking the time to teach us how to do 'Beloved'. That is very nice of you!
I plan to attempt 'beloved' this summer, so I will be unofficially following this group. I have the dress and it is perfect in every way, except it is bigger than I wanted. Around here the thrift shops ask too much $ for wedding gowns. So, I took what I could get.
I was thinking that I could somehow pin the front of the dress, but not so much that it gathers too much and looks obvious. Do you have any suggestions? Thanx!

You are very welcome. I think pinning the dress is a great idea. You don't see the front of her anyway so it should be fine. The shoulders could look too broad on her back so maybe you could fold in the shoulder at the sleeve too? Oh...or you could also fold in the back seam near the shoulders. Her hair will probably cover an ugly seam anyway. Like I was telling Muffy, with the mudding and Drylok coats, it covers a lot of hatcheting that may have to be done with some dresses. Also, Muffy....if a seam looks too ugly, just have some lace nearby and mud that and place over any too ugly seams. More lace the better with this project

Muffy had another great idea too. The train of the wedding dress is hard to find so I would get whatever size I could find. Then find another dress that is a petite size and has the high neck and sleeves. Chop that off and attach it to the bottom of the wedding dress. Like Frankenstein

[TheGothicPrincess]

Terra one of the things that I would like to know is what type of base would you suggest I use to build for this project to rest on. I remember you saying something about this in an earlier post.

Another question once the project is finished, what do you feel is the weight of the entire thing?

[TheGothicPrincess]

Tonight I am going to post pictures of my progress on my version of the project, as well as the wedding dress I have.

If anyone else has pictures please post them, would love to see what you have.