Thread: Dropping head, how to do it?

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I want to have a head or something drop down from the ceiling.
It wouldn't need to drop far and then raise back up.

I have a picoboo board for timing if needed but what kind of motor would I need to make this happen?
I would be something fairly light weight, a pound or two.....

Thanks all! I know you can help me with this!!!

Check out this vid it should be of some help to you.
YouTube - Prop Dropper from Nuts and Volts Magazine, October 2009

That's a very good and inovative design!!

That's a very cool and simple design, I like it! I have a store bought head dropper skull and I like him quite a bit but some day when he breaks maybe I will have to look into doing something like this.

Also now that I am thinking about it bought a spider that does the same thing this year if you wanted a similar action for pretty cheap ~$20 you could gut the spider install in a foam skull and call it a day.

Thats an Idea !!! Not sure which way I will go with it..... I've gotten to the point, where Quick and easy are the name of the game! But I still like the idea of making my own... hmmmm...
Thanks for the ideas!

Most of our animated scare props I like to have manually activated. Rather than by the trick or treaters. The reason is that we want both the little kids and the big kids. The little ones simply won't get to your door or will never come back if you scare them with a sensor activated drop prop.

So, I have a couple of helpers, my own kids, who hand out candy and help with the scares.

We are doing a drop prop as well, and have decided to use a fishing reel for the drop. One touch and it drops to the lenght of the line and then a quick manual reel it in to get it back into position.

Might not be what you are looking for but it is certainly simple.

Manual would certainly be easier but we have a haunted house with people going through constantly and it would be much better to have this activated by a pressure mat or motion sensor.... although its dark enough in the haunt that I havent went the motion sensor route.

It would be really cool if there was a motor that when triggered would do its thing.. meaning it would turn a given distance and then return to its starting position. Am I really wishing for the moon?

Originally Posted by Lynn

Am I really wishing for the moon?

Not really. How far is the drop distance that you have in mind, and if you used a motor would it be able to be placed away from curious fingers? Another method would be to hack one of those dropping spider props - the old Bungie-Jumping Spider of Doom. They're sound-activated but it shouldn't be too difficult to substitute a PIR or other triggering method.

Otaku, I just knew you would have an idea! Yes the motor would be high in the ceiling with a something like a scrim fabric or camouflage material between it and the people walking thru. I would like it to drop a couple feet or so.

Here's a place that sells a version of the Spider of Doom:

Woodpecker Deterrent - Birds-Away Attack Spider®

Pretty good price, probably because it's not being sold as a Halloween prop. It drops just 18", though, not quite the distance you have in mind. The other downside is that the motor is in the spider body. I don't know if it's possible to remove the mechanism and mount it on a ceiling bracket so that the wires from the triggering system wouldn't have to travel with the dropping prop.
If the 18" drop will work for you, let me know. I have one of these spiders that I used a few years ago and I can dig it out and see if it's able to be hacked for this effect.