Thread: Pepper's Effect For My FCG

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So, it's been a couple of months in coming, but I finally finished the enclosure for my FCG. I did the whole project for $150.


I wanted to convert my front porch to an enclosure for a Pepper's Effect for the ghost. The layout seemed simple enough, just a matter of attaching everything without damaging the porch.

I used 4x8 1/2" styrofoam insulation sheets for the wall panels. Ideally this would have been thicker pink foam board, but I was going for cheap. These were only $6 at Home Depot. They had a metallic peel on one side and logo plastic on the other. I left them on to add a little strength since I would be painting over everything eventually.


Here is one of the panels primed with a grey latex paint that I got at Wal-Mart in the discount section. $7 for a gallon. Check the rejects in any paint department for projects like this, there are some great deals.

The heart of Pepper's Effect is the glass for the reflection. My porch is 4' deep and a little over 8' high. With the 45 degree angle I needed a piece of glass 5x8 feet. That did not meet my criteria for cheap. Thanks to Indianaholmes for his idea and example of using window shrink insulation instead. I bought the patio door size for $7 and it worked perfectly.


I needed a sturdy frame for the plastic. I used some angle brackets on one side of the 2x4s and angled pieces of particle board (that I had sitting around) to brace the corners on the other side. A coat of black paint and it was ready to go. I used the same bracing for the large wall panel (6x8') and I attached all of the styrofoam to the 2x4s with wood screws and fender washers.


I moved the large panel into place and attached it using a single clamp. This will be hidden in the end and allowed for a strong mounting without any porch damage. The other end was simply braced with another 2x4.


The open end of the porch had a panel to both block the view into the ghost chamber and block out the wind. It was held in place with a couple of zip ties around the porch post and a brace of 2x4 against a shutter.



I needed a 2x4' panel to close in the opening beyond the "mirror." I just screwed some blocks into the panel frame and screwed these into the frame of the end wall.


The mirror frame was solid enough that it didn't need much bracing. I attached a 2x4 to the short wall frame and used a long screw to bridge the angle into the other frame. The other side of the mirror simply rests against the house.


Here are the panels all mounted. There is another 4x8 panel on the left side (which creates the back of the ghost chamber). It was attached with some binder clips to the house trim along one edge and screwed into the side of the 6x8 frame on the other. The entire inside (backs of the panels) are covered with black landscape fabric to keep everything dark. It doesn't sound like it from my descriptions, but everything is very sturdy.

Mounting the ghost was pretty easy. There is a support board running along the porch roof, under the aluminum fascia. I just screwed a couple of 2x4s into this and screwed in some eye bolts for the ghost and mounted the blacklight with some screws on the other.


I was originally going to add landscape fabric to the top as well, but it doesn't show in the reflection.


Here's the ghost hanging in his chamber with all the panels attached and fabric in place. (The siding behind the ghost doesn't show up, so I didn't bother to cover it)

Next was making the panels look like stone. There are probably many ways (some better) to do this, but again, I was going for cheap and simple.


I started by spray painting mortar lines with black on all of the panels. (You can see the fender washers used for mounting)


The stones start out as an outline from the mortar, simply the grey undercoat I used.


Next, I defined the outline a little better and quickly added some random strokes of tan and grey. ($2.50 for a small reject can and Lowe's) I just used the 1" foam brushes.


While the paint was still wet, I added some strokes of white, blending in some areas, leaving some bright.


Lastly, I used some short bursts of black spray to texture/age/demensionalize the rocks.


The overall look is pretty good for no more time than was required. Here you can also see the black landscape fabric I used to "distress" the house. This also helps to hide the mounting clamp.


Final pics/video to come...

Here's a shot of the illusion at night. It's a little blurry because it was a long exposure. There's no good video as the reflection looks good in person, but lacks the brightness to record on my camera.


Here's the entire house. I have flicker bulbs in the coach lights and an orange light at the door. You can still see the ghost from across the street.

Awesome job! I'm sure everyone will love it. I think I need to add a Pepper's ghost next year. Have a great Halloween.

That looks great. I am still working on getting everything just for a FCG but your pepper ghost looks fantastic. Even though with camera it looks blurry, I think it adds to the effect anyway and like you said looks great in person.

Great idea! I have a FCG rig for this year and I've always wanted to do a peppers effect, but haven't had a cause. I never thought of using them together. Maybe for next year. Thanks for posting!

This is great. I've been wanting to do a Pepper's Ghost. Thanks for uploading the pics.