Thread: Corpsing for $30 and under

Tweet

Okay so I did my first corpse in 2007, well since than I sold it off and my girlfriend wanted me to create an even better one for her house this year. So... here we go... oh and I am sorry in advance for not taking pictures of every step, so you just kind of have to imagine it from reading. I will be glad to answer any questions though!

First you are going to need materials....

- 1 plastic 5ft plastic skeleton $20
- 1 box of tissues from walmart - the 97 cent ones
- Elmers wood glue, get a big bottle. I used 2 bottles.
- dark DARK can of wood stainer. I don't like the spray on kind.
- trash bags or something to put under the skeleton cause it can and most likely WILL get messy, but fun
- An absorbent cloth from the .99c store. (I used a car shammy type cloth)


Now to the project. Lay your blank canvas on the ground and make sure hes nice and comfy because its going to be there for a while.



Take a piece of tissue and its a 2 ply so, take it and carefully undo the 2 ply tissue paper so you end up having two 1 ply pieces of tissue. (the thinner the better)


Drizzle the elmers glue onto part of the skeleton, lets say you start with the torso. You do not have to do it in a uniform fashion, just get messy and have fun with it in all directions. But make sure that its NOT thick, you want nice thin lines or circles of wood glue on your skeleton.

Place one of the ply of tissue onto the skeleton, it can be flat, you can do a scrunching method if you want where its a bit wavy. Just know that once you put it on the skeleton, its either going to stay or its just to rip or tear a bit (WHICH IS COMPLETELY OKAY!!). Make sure you press the tissue into every rib, finger, etc you can so you can get the ultimate effect when its done.

Go along the legs and arms the same way you are doing it like I explained and then you will start to see it form into a more, textured skeleton, once the wood glue starts to dry.

When the wood glue drys completely you can flip Mr Skelly over and go the other side of him.

The snot-rag technique takes some time and its messy, by the first minute I am sure you will have wood glue on your hands and tissue getting stuck to you while your trying to form it onto the body!


After you successfully cover Mr Skelly with wood glue and 1 ply tissue paper he will look textured, like this...


Do not worry about being uniform on your skeleton, hes suppose to look decrepit and like he was just dug up from the grave. After the wood glue drys, make sure you do some touch ups, rip a little piece of tissue and put it on the noticeable stops that you have, but, all of it doesn't have to be covered if you do not want.


Make sure the skeleton is completely dry before you do the wood stain. NOTE: He will be really stiff and some flacks might come off because of it and moving him around.


Step... idk I just type a lot..

WOOD STAIN!!

So this step is pretty easy and you will probably be able to finish this step in 30 minutes or less. NOTE: Drying time can take up to a day depending on where you have him and if there is any air to help dry him. Also make sure that you stain him on a surface you don't mind getting drops of wood stainer on. I put a lot of plastic bags under him when I did it.



Take your shammy cloth (I had two, one for dipping and one for blotting off Mr Skelly) and dip it into the stainer. Basically start drenching your skeleton in stainer, starting in one area and working your way out, making sure that every place is covered with some type of stain, even if its on the plastic.

So its going to be a dip, drench, blot process. That way any excess stainer will be blotted away but there will be enough to stain it and for it to dry faster. Wait like 30 minutes and flip the skeleton over and do the other side, again making sure ALL of it is covered with some stain, even the nooks and cranny's.



This is how my corpse turned out for $30 or less!!!



Here is the one from 2007 ( I used a more amber colored stain than)

You also can use plain White paper towels, and gause. Don't forget the saw dust.

looks awesome

Can you use the spray on elmers instead on the actual glue bottle form?

I think this will be my winter project. Thanks for the info.

Awesome job! Love how cost effective it is.
Looks like my ex boyfriend.

is there a particular reason why Wood Glue is used? just curious... I have one Blucky tht came apart at the screws and before I put him back together I think I might give this a try... I have a ton of plain school glue.. but no wood glue...
(of course I cn buy a bottle- but I'm cheap- and I already have the school glue on hand!)

Originally Posted by xrockonx911

is there a particular reason why Wood Glue is used? just curious... I have one Blucky tht came apart at the screws and before I put him back together I think I might give this a try... I have a ton of plain school glue.. but no wood glue...
(of course I cn buy a bottle- but I'm cheap- and I already have the school glue on hand!)

The wood glue was used to make it look more decomposed, also it adds a layer of color before the actual wood stain because it has that yellowish color in it. I suppose you could just mix the normal elmers glue with the stain but I dont know how that would turn out. Another reason for wood glue is it is way stronger then elmers glue, so it holds everything together quite well and gives it an extra layer to it.