Thread: Clowns

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2008 Clowns

I have not put anything up for sometime, so I have a little catch up to do. So here is what I have been working on, Clowns, clowns and more clowns.

I have reworked the mechanism that moves the top of the prop,

So here is a picture of the first one that is close to being done, let me know what you think. I will put up more information on how and why I have changed what I have changed.


Propmastertucson

Ha. Wow. That looks like the killer clown from "I Scream For IceCream" -Masters of Horror

How I came to this point. This is where I started from; here is one of those massaging machines that I had used last year. The main problem with this is that it is very hard to get the top to move properly.

At Home Depot from time to time they have wood in the clearance cart back by the saws. I found 4ea 24 x 48 x1/2” sheets of particle board and 6ea 1 x 6 x 48”pine boards and 3ea 1/4 x 24 x 48 plywood that I got for $7.

From this I constructed 6 motor housings for the clowns. Started with a pattern (it is very important to find the center) for the top and bottom I used this to trace out the tops and bottoms, also as a guide to use on the router table. Cut the sides and cut in a channel to slide the motor in.

Next cut a hole in the top to position the female rod end. Now I used a female so I could put a bolt on the end that would help capture the wire that I used to tie it down. I also cut a channel that the rod end lays in. Than covered it with a piece of metal strapping.

The motor is a 24vdc from surplus center; the transformer is 18vdc from all electronics. One of the biggest problems is how to connect your motor to your prop. What I worked out is this, take a drill gage and size the shaft of the motor, find a threaded coupler that is just a little smaller that the shaft. Now if you need 5 than get 6 just in case. Drill out one side of the coupler to slip down onto the shaft. On the other side buy a bolt that fits the thread size. On the drilled side, drill from the side and tap the hole for a setscrew.

For the body I used 3/4”pvc and 3/8” threaded rod. The rod is cut to length as needed. Drill a hole in the cap for pvc and pass the rod into it, squirt some foam into the rod and glue the cap on. Drill a hole on the side down by the rod and squirt more foam into the pcv. Be careful of any blow back from the foam it can and will happen.

Once the foam has hardened I put it all together. I used weed eater string to keep the body centered over the rod end.

do you have a vid of the clown?

freaky. clowns are so scary

What do these clowns do? Sorry, I really can't tell from the pictures. Need a video or a description of what it does.

What they do is this. As the motor turns and the arm comes around it pushes the rod around the center post of the motor in a very small circle. At the opposite end of the rod it is moving in around at about 20 or more inches.

So the end effect is that the body of the clown kind of thrashes around. The strings seen keeps the body centered and keeps the weight balanced.

I found that if the body leans over to much it can bind the motor.

last pic is of a new clown, 2 down 2 to go

You are now my role model! I too love clowns!

Thanks for the explanation. Would love to see a video. I might borrow your concept and build a thrashing zombie. I've got an extra wiper motor I could use.