Thread: War of the Worlds ship crashing into car

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A friend asked for suggestions, and I figured I'd turn to the experts. His family is participating in a "Trunk or Treat", and he wants to do a theme of "War of the Worlds". He wants to do a Martin War Machine (from the movie) crashing into his car, and we were discussing ways to do it relatively inexpensively . One idea was gluing together layers of closed cel insulation then carving it, another was wood frame, chicken wire and body putty. Does anyone have any suggestions of method or materials to do this? It's a one night thing, so simplicity is desirable.
Thanks in advance.

Serious question: how big does he want to go?
(keeping in mind the Martian tripods were rather large)

Where I live (Southern California) we have styrofoam sheets for insulation purposes that have a plastic film on each side, and the 1/2" thick sheets are actually pliable, with the film keeping the foam from breaking.

They come in 4' x 8' sizes, and I can imagine a couple of these being used to make a half-spacecraft (like a flying saucer) that's crashed into his car...as if it's been half embedded into the vehicle upon impact.

What's nice about them is the light weight, so it would be easily transportable (perhaps a stiff internal structure to help it keep shape, but even that would be minimal and light weight).

Spray paint stays on the plastic sheeting fairly well (I don't know if it would survive more than one season of use, but for one season, it should last) - and LED's can be placed in and through to nice effect.

Yeah...I know....sounds more like '50's B movie stuff...I'm certain others will give better suggestions...

If it's for "Trunk or Treat", count me out. I despise everything about it. Reducing Halloween to a row of cars in a parking lot is an abomination and is a cruel thing to put kids though. It teaches them to not trust thier neighbors. It divides community and the only thing I hate more than that is Mall Trick or Treating. Jeesh. Sorry for the rant, just had to say it. Maybe you can convince your friend to decorate his home instead, and KEEP HALLOWEEN TRADITION ALIVE!

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Dr Morbius

Reducing Halloween to a row of cars in a parking lot is an abomination and is a cruel thing to put kids though. It teaches them to not trust thier neighbors. It divides community and the only thing I hate more than that is Mall Trick or Treating.

I agree with you Doc...I see kids doing these activities, and sometimes I'm almost reminded of the scene from "The Wall" during "Another Brick in the wall (second movement)" where the school kids are shambling along on conveyor belts, being dumped into the meat grinder, coming out an easily handled commodity...

it does reduce Halloween to a "stand in line and get your candy" mentality, compared to exploring, adventuring, experiencing the thrill of something uncertain in an otherwise certain world.

Perhaps this idea ChrisW's friend has can help generate some of that sense of wonder and excitement that Halloween should bring, even though it is in a creativity-killing setting.
(one can hope!)

That, and at least it helps generate creativity when trying to offer a solution - mine may not be worth much, but it gets my own wheels turning, and I need all the help I can get!!

Originally Posted by Dr Morbius

If it's for "Trunk or Treat", count me out. I despise everything about it. Reducing Halloween to a row of cars in a parking lot is an abomination and is a cruel thing to put kids though. It teaches them to not trust thier neighbors. It divides community and the only thing I hate more than that is Mall Trick or Treating. Jeesh. Sorry for the rant, just had to say it. Maybe you can convince your friend to decorate his home instead, and KEEP HALLOWEEN TRADITION ALIVE!

Thank you.

Let's see....

I could sit at home with my haunt, waiting for TOT's to come by... knowing that they won't walk up the massive hill to my dead end street populated by old people.

Or I could set up at the Trunk or Treat, and have dozens of kids get scared in my haunt, go grab their parents and pull them through and watch as the kids laugh at fathers who scream like girls, and have a great time with a COMMUNITY of people who I love and respect.

Wow. Trunk or Treat wins. And when the church did their first one right after Katrina and we invited lots of the evacuees, we've had a pretty wide CITY WIDE turnout. So it has been, at least in our case, a COMMUNITY BUILDING experience.

Helps that our church is open minded enough to let me build what I want. And it is far more than a "trunk." Last year it included a portable dot room.

Oh yea, and sorry for the rant.

Originally Posted by Runwolf

Let's see....

I could sit at home with my haunt, waiting for TOT's to come by... knowing that they won't walk up the massive hill to my dead end street populated by old people.

Or I could set up at the Trunk or Treat, and have dozens of kids get scared in my haunt, go grab their parents and pull them through and watch as the kids laugh at fathers who scream like girls, and have a great time with a COMMUNITY of people who I love and respect.

Wow. Trunk or Treat wins. And when the church did their first one right after Katrina and we invited lots of the evacuees, we've had a pretty wide CITY WIDE turnout. So it has been, at least in our case, a COMMUNITY BUILDING experience.

Helps that our church is open minded enough to let me build what I want. And it is far more than a "trunk." Last year it included a portable dot room.

Oh yea, and sorry for the rant.

In extreme situations like yours when neighbors live in remote locations or hurricanes have wiped out homes, then yea, I can see the exception there. I didn't think about that. Sorry. But when Trunk or treat is used as a DETERRENT to home ToTing, then I gotta say something. Believe it or not, 99% of Trunk or Treating is done out of fear. Not necessity.

Ugly Joe, thanks for the supportive input.
I'm aware of feelings towards "trunk or treat" on the forum, pro and con. That isn't the point of this post - it's helping a friend and fellow Halloween enthusiast do a creative display that, as Ugly Joe said, "...can help generate some of that sense of wonder and excitement that Halloween should bring...".
That's why I asked for help from the creative people here.
I like the idea of bendable material. While he kept mentioning WotW, I don't think it has to be the same ship. Short of fiberglass molding, I think carving is the best way to get that particular curve. I suggested a "classic" 50's flying saucer shape. Here is part of an email I sent back to him:
"...find 2 kiddie pools on close out, the kind that are molded plastic. If they have a built in slide, all the better. Put the 2 together to form a large enclosed saucer, paint, add do-dads, lights, etc. Make the slide area where the rocket thrusters go - use PVC flower pots, etc. You can also cut it obliquely for a crashed effect.
Another friend bought 2 old large satellite dishes from a salvage yard skinned them with a smooth plasticized silver material, added lights and made a cool UFO landing site for Halloween. Unfortunately, not the best solution for this particular setup.
Any other ideas cheerfully encouraged!

Originally Posted by ChrisW

"...find 2 kiddie pools on close out, the kind that are molded plastic. If they have a built in slide, all the better. Put the 2 together to form a large enclosed saucer, paint, add do-dads, lights, etc. Make the slide area where the rocket thrusters go - use PVC flower pots, etc. You can also cut it obliquely for a crashed effect.
Another friend bought 2 old large satellite dishes from a salvage yard skinned them with a smooth plasticized silver material, added lights and made a cool UFO landing site for Halloween. Unfortunately, not the best solution for this particular setup.
Any other ideas cheerfully encouraged!

Both of these are good ideas. I don't know what kind of car he has, but doing something like the bug guy in Men In Black could be effective. Roll the "UFO" into the back of a van and let the van hide most of it...

Last year at Trunk or Treat, we had someone do an alien theme and they covered their car with aluminum foil. Probably not as dramatic as what you are wanting, but effective.

How much space will your friend have? A parking space? Two? That will determine a lot of his options alone.

Runwolf, 2 spaces. i recommended getting tin at Home depot, cutting and bending it to help create the crushed roof effect. Kind of hokey, but a 50's kitch effect is fine with him.
He found one, and is looking for more "screaming victim" cutouts online for the windows.
He was also thinking of doing "crushed macadam" out of styrofoam or sheetrock, built up with a red glow underneath. The kids would have to reach into the hole for their treat.

Well, whatever he does, GET PICTURES.

I've been trying to "up the ante" at our trunk or treat for three years now. I may have gone too far. My "trunk" takes up about 600 sq feet off my assigned two spaces. I arrive at the church about 8 hours early to begin construction, including building the dot room and setting up the coffin with talking skull. I'm working with my partner on several new additions this year, so we'll be taking up even more space.

Hopefully someone else will do more than stretch those fakey cobwebs over their trunk. We'd love some real competition this year. Mostly its become "What is Mike doing this year?" kind of an event. We're doing it early this year, the saturday before Halloween, so hopefully my sister-in-law will let us set up at her house again. Last year we had over 300 people come through the dot room.