Thread: My first columns

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This year I promised myself (and the wife ) that I would at least add columns to my cemetery.

Now they are almost complete - all I need to do is a little more aging on the tops especially the spheres.

The construction was nothing new, wood frame, styrofoam sheeting. the brickwork was one of two methods.

Method one was cutting a brick pattern out of some styrofoam, then after painting, cutting a hole in the column side and fixing the brickwork on the inside.

Method two was just scraping away at the sytrofoam, then adding some detail to look like stone. I know most people use a router, but I wanted a more rugged, aged look.

The tops of the columns were not planned, they just sort of happened that way. First added some layers of strofoam to build up the edge, the added more styrofoam to the top, reducing the size each time.

Because of a mistake there was a layer left out at the time of constructing the top (it was getting late when this was put together). I then added the block of styrofoam, cut a circle out the middle to accommodate a sphere. The spheres are actually vinyl balls from the Dollar Tree, painted then glued in place (time will tell if this will work )

Both the wife and I agreed that the top needed a little extra. So I had the brainwave to add the gargoyles from the Dollar Tree.

This is the result

Herman,

Those columns are awesome! Just add some webbing/moss and you're good to go! About how long did it take you?

I actually started the build on Monday 25th Aug, spending most of the day building the columns. The rest was done in the evenings (but not every evening). I suppose that there is about 30 hours of work put into these, taking into account drying times for the construction and painting.

The cost of the columns I have estimated at around $60, remembering that $10 of this was for the gargoyles and the vinyl balls.

great job mine are not even half as good looking as yours they are looking so real

Great job! I hope my first attempt at making columns turns out that good

hose are awesome! how do you do the brick??

Nice Job, great idea for those gargoyles!

Thanks for the positive feedback

Originally Posted by Mr. Halloween

hose are awesome! how do you do the brick??

I used a cardboard template for the bricks, traced them onto the styrofoam, leaving about a quarter inch between each brick, for the mortar lines. I then cut around each brick to about quarter inch depth, then used a flat bladed screwdriver to remove the styrofoam between the bricks. Once the brick detail was done, I used acrylic paint, brick red on the bricks and a beige paint for the mortar lines.

The bricks can also be aged, by using different shades of brown paint.