Thread: Making Walgreens skeleton free-standing. Ideas?

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I picked up four of these guys and i would like to have them carrying a coffin in my cemetery scene. The coffin is very lightweight - 3/4" styrofoam. i was thinking of trying some heavy gauge fence wire that i have, threading it into leg bones, etc. Or maybe a 3/4" pvc pipe going straight up the spine and mount on a board. Paint it black and wouldnt be able to see at night. WHat do you think? any other ideas? Thanks in advance!

Center post made of Rebar. 1/2" or 3/4" diameter, 6ft long, paint black, drive them into the ground, black zip ties should hold their spine to it nicely.

We use Rebar to keep our obelisk upright.

The black rebar is an excellent option as mentioned by Bryan316. I use it to make free standing Bucky's onthe lawn, so it will definitely work for the Walgreens skeletons.

Eric

There was a post here about a guy who put up a bucky dressed as a priate. I asked how he was able to get him to pose. He pretty much said that he put wire through it to make it 'articulate'. I am working on the details today and last night and am trying to take pix as I go but I'm not that good. Basically if you have a WalGreens skeleton you need to take it apart. The legs and arms pretty much just pop out just be careful and don't try to yank it out. You will need a drill with a bit the size of a bic pen or a size larger, a few extra small wire ties (you can get them at HD for about 2 bucks) and 20 gauge chain link fense wire. It's usually sold in 50 foot lengths for about 20 bucks at HD, however I was able to find some at the local hardware store 100' for less than $5. It's an ACE Hardware store. You might get lucky.

Next cut about 7 foot lengths to take into consideration the space between the hips and shoulders.

Now turn the torsoe (sp) of the skeleton over and using a phillips head screw driver remove the hips. Take a pencil or just use your finger and right behind the ball socket of the leg bone drill a hole. Do the same for both sides. Now the spinal cord is also attached in the middle with screws on the front and back, remove these because it is connected through a ball joint in the spine, you'll know it when you pull it out. I usually put the screws back in the holes so I don't loose them. Now you need to remove the neck and head but not separately they will come off in one piece. You will need to remove four of the small ties located on the shoulder and close to the neck, this is to allow you room to get to the screws and to maneuver the wire later.

Now for the arms and legs. Legs, drill a hole at the top of the leg bone that is most parallel to the bone, at the knee you will need to also drill a hole in the middle of the knee carriage. Now the shin has two bones, one thicker than the other, drill a hole in the top part of the bone as close to the where the knee bone hole is located, then drill a hole moving the foot where it's toes are touching the shin, this will provide space to drill the bottom hole.

For the Arms, drill a hole once again at the top of the shoulder bone that is most parellel to the entire bone, the arm bone closet to the hands is solid but no worries.

Now you are prepared to insert the 12 gauge wire to articulate your skeleton.

First put both wires through the bottom portion of the spine, then through the top portion of the spine leaving enough on both ends for the arms and legs. I threaded the hips first, using a long needle nose pliers a small screw driver you can maneuver the wire through the holes, it does take a little time but I've done it in less than an hour. At the foot take the wire and bend it to a hook so it doesn't slip out when you're working the arms.

Once you've got the legs in place it's time to work the arms, put the wire through the arms bacially the same as you did the legs but you will have a lot left over because you don't have a hole in the forearm. I just hid the wire wrapping it to add support.

Now just put it all back together.

i put a pvc mannequin frame behind mine since you can only see it from the front. no problem so far!

With my barney's last year I used 1/2" electrical conduit and a conduit bender. With the bender I was able to make the bends so it followed the back of the leg, across the pelvis then straight up the spine. This year I hope to get the arms posable as well. Here's a pic:

Thanks for all the great ideas. i think I'm going to combine them to not only hold him up, but be able to pose the arms as well. i will post up the picks when i get something together.

FirstSpartan: How easy/hard to bend the conduit to the shape you needed?

Originally Posted by Papa_K

There was a post here about a guy who put up a bucky dressed as a priate. I asked how he was able to get him to pose. He pretty much said that he put wire through it to make it 'articulate'. I am working on the details today and last night and am trying to take pix as I go but I'm not that good. Basically if you have a WalGreens skeleton you need to take it apart. The legs and arms pretty much just pop out just be careful and don't try to yank it out. You will need a drill with a bit the size of a bic pen or a size larger, a few extra small wire ties (you can get them at HD for about 2 bucks) and 20 gauge chain link fense wire. It's usually sold in 50 foot lengths for about 20 bucks at HD, however I was able to find some at the local hardware store 100' for less than $5. It's an ACE Hardware store. You might get lucky.

Next cut about 7 foot lengths to take into consideration the space between the hips and shoulders.

Now turn the torsoe (sp) of the skeleton over and using a phillips head screw driver remove the hips. Take a pencil or just use your finger and right behind the ball socket of the leg bone drill a hole. Do the same for both sides. Now the spinal cord is also attached in the middle with screws on the front and back, remove these because it is connected through a ball joint in the spine, you'll know it when you pull it out. I usually put the screws back in the holes so I don't loose them. Now you need to remove the neck and head but not separately they will come off in one piece. You will need to remove four of the small ties located on the shoulder and close to the neck, this is to allow you room to get to the screws and to maneuver the wire later.

Now for the arms and legs. Legs, drill a hole at the top of the leg bone that is most parallel to the bone, at the knee you will need to also drill a hole in the middle of the knee carriage. Now the shin has two bones, one thicker than the other, drill a hole in the top part of the bone as close to the where the knee bone hole is located, then drill a hole moving the foot where it's toes are touching the shin, this will provide space to drill the bottom hole.

For the Arms, drill a hole once again at the top of the shoulder bone that is most parellel to the entire bone, the arm bone closet to the hands is solid but no worries.

Now you are prepared to insert the 12 gauge wire to articulate your skeleton.

First put both wires through the bottom portion of the spine, then through the top portion of the spine leaving enough on both ends for the arms and legs. I threaded the hips first, using a long needle nose pliers a small screw driver you can maneuver the wire through the holes, it does take a little time but I've done it in less than an hour. At the foot take the wire and bend it to a hook so it doesn't slip out when you're working the arms.

Once you've got the legs in place it's time to work the arms, put the wire through the arms bacially the same as you did the legs but you will have a lot left over because you don't have a hole in the forearm. I just hid the wire wrapping it to add support.

Now just put it all back together.

Wow that sounds great! I'll keep an eye on this thread to see if you get a chance to upload the pics (I think I would need them to figure out what I'm doing lol). Thanks so much for sharing