Thread: Cauldron Creep - A demented take on the Stirring witch

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I thought I'd share this prop with my new friends on Halloween Forum. I made this last year.



This is my take on the classic cauldron stirring witch. My haunt is themed to jungles and islands, and witches don't really fit, plus I don't really like them. I have always liked the grim reaper and Charon the Boatman, so I guess this was a natural interpretation.



Videos:

YouTube - Cauldron Creep - Halloween Day
YouTube - Cauldron Creep - still needs paint and kneecaps
YouTube - Early Construction on Cauldron Creep


Before I get into how I made it, let me give a shout out to those who inspired me (ahem...whom I copied).

ScareFX
Scary Terry
SpiderRider

Also thanks to everyone in the technological terror forum who helped me get him going.

So this guy is a 1/2 pvc armature made with the Zombietronix calculator for a 5 ft skeleton. I used hardware cloth for his rib cage, and it has ribs are made with greatstuff. Inside of him is a 6rpm motor that cranks his head up an down slowly. It hard to see in the video because I kept moving around. His head is a 2 part urethane cast from a mold of a bucky skull. The rest of the bones are from a "bag of Bones" from Biglots and are attached to the black pvc frame with hot glue. The motor is the standard Monsterguts wiper motor, and I have hooked it up to an ATX computer power supply on the 3.3v circuit.

What makes him different other than being a skeleton is that his stance over the cauldron and the natural movement of the arms are due to the fact that one arm is fixed, unlike most witch cauldrons. The right arm is rigid all the way to the wrist. There it is joined by a simple linkage to the hand which is glued to the stick. If you visualize the shape the stick makes as it travels in circle, it would look like a cone, whereas the normal setup would draw out a tube shape. Since the upper hand is mostly anchored, and the movement there is minimal, the skeleton can be leaning over the cauldron without being hit by the rotating stick. The bottom of the stick has been shaped to a dull point, and rotates inside a 1 1/2 pvc end cap, filled with hot glue to prevent the stick and the bolt which attached the cap from binding.


Check out ScareFX's how-to, it was a huge help to me.
Scary Terry Has all the technical info.

I love this prop!Different from all the rest but sure to be copied.

That is great,love the hunch back.

Very creepy and cool! The glowing eyes are a great touch! Good job.

Awesome prop!! It's movements make it seem like it's really alive!!

Very nice, love the movement.....seems like he's keeping an eye on more then the pot!

I know I've told you this before, DC, but I have to say it again....I am freakin IN LOVE with Mr. Creep here. He is amazing.

That thing is awesome! Especially with the lighting. Good lighting always takes displays to another level The only creepier thing I can imagine, is if his head were on a cam, slowly looking back and forth, scanning the crowd for... um.... ingredients.

- Hook

Originally Posted by Hooked_on_Scares

That thing is awesome! Especially with the lighting. Good lighting always takes displays to another level The only creepier thing I can imagine, is if his head were on a cam, slowly looking back and forth, scanning the crowd for... um.... ingredients.

- Hook

Well is goes up and down, hard to see when i am jerking the camera around. I have been thinking of putting a spring return on the neck to pull the head sideways as it travels down.

Great job DC!

Somehow I missed seeing this one when you introduced it.