I found this chest in neighbor's trash this morning, and I was wondering if my creature dude could be made to slowly come out of the chest as the lid opens? Creature is made of heavy foam and latex, and I'd have to shave a couple inches off the rear for him to fully fit. Even then, his head...

This is my first pneumatic prop. Took quite a while to build but I think I nailed it. https://youtu.be/THqKUKv38cA

I'm building a trash can trauma prop and want to weather the 31 gallon galvanized steel trash can, add some rust. I read somewhere that there is a youtube video on how to do this using muriatic acid. I can't seem to find that exact video. Anybody have tips on precisely what I need to do? (Do I...

I thought I would give it a try at making some super duper cheap props that actually look good. So tell me what you think about it?

Due to potential bad weather I decided to put my display in my garage this year. Weather turned out to be nice but I will still do the display in the garage in future years. All animatronics were built by me over the years. I have 9 total. Next year I will work on lighting and maybe some...

This is not a political post, I promise! Now that it's election day in the US, there's going to be a lot of leftover campaign signs cluttering the landscape and landfills. But the wire sign frames make *great* tombstone stakes, either for home built stones or as replacements. And the plastic...

So most of us are always on the look out for free or really inexpensive material for making our props. I thought of several places where folks could possibly obtain free styrofoam big enough for tombstones, or building facades, or mausoleums, ...etc. Go and talk to your local stores that sell...

I'm new to making custom props and am wondering just how much I should expect to spend for simple pop-up props, like trash can trauma or some other pop-up props complete with sound and lights. Is $100 per prop about right? Is arduino the way to go? Also, for air cylinders, do diy pvc cylinders...

Hi, i know this question has been asked before, but it is usually answered in USA spec and i am from the UK. i am having a year off this year (missing it, but attending a big party instead), so i thought i would put my "spare" time to some use and learn about pneumatics ready for next year. i...

Check out my Trash Can Trauma I built for 2017 Halloween. I was having some fun with it and scared my moms cousin

i've never made tombstones, but in the past i've often used the cheap foam tombstones that are about a foot or so tall that you get at dollar tree or other places. i told my wife recently that i wasn't going to use those anymore because they don't stand up and they break and they're generally...

I can't force myself to stick to a theme - maybe it's because I'm still pretty new at Halloween prop building and I want to try every cool idea I see. But If i were going to pick a Theme, Harry Potter would be at the top of the list. There may be some purists out there who disapprove of me...

Made this (my first) coffin from road side trash.

Hi Everyone, Just a heads up, I posted a video showing how I made my Trash Can Trauma. Hopefully it will be helpful to anyone wanting to build one. https://youtu.be/H3wGixk8tmI Thanks, :) Pat

I was driving home today when something on the side of the road had caught my eye. A pile of trash had been set out on the sidewalk in the neighborhood. But it wasn't the piles of trash bags that had taken my fancy, it was the the white plastic corner of an object sticking out from beneath them...

More chilled fog! The ghostsofhalloween Trash can chiller and CountZero cut-off lawn & leaf bag on the outlet ToT results. I shot this video as I was taking down my display one year so it was unscripted. So I annotated the video to skip to parts of interest. I'm sure people know how to make one...

We have a big baby zombie display. It found this cradle in the trash. I will be in motion too.

My first pneumatic is done! Complete with smoke and sound! I have 2 issues after tonight's run. 1) I need to fix the audio - the laughs are currently too far apart. 2) Too much smoke, I need to figure out how to calm that down - but right now am coming up blank. The fog in the video is from my...

I need a little help and inspiration. I have a 12" throw (3/4) cylinder and solenoid. I'd like to build a simple trash can pop-up but don't know if that's enough throw or height..... What's a good size cylinder for a basic barrel pop-up?. Any advice on what I can build with this 12"...

I think it's finally time for me to make the jump into pneumatics. My son and I want to start with a trash can jumper or maybe have something jump up from behind the bushes next to our front door. I have a few questions: 1. what stroke length is typical for a good trash can trauma? I'm having...