[foolishmortal42]

This year I added a new set of entrance columns to my haunt. My inspiration was the entrance columns to the Disney Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. I wanted to add a gate but ran out of time. I used of a lot of the techniques found in the youtube links listed at the end of the post. I built my columns out of 2X2s, 1X2s, Underlayment Plywood, Pink Foam, cheap caulk and some inexpensive light fixtures. The columns stand 8 feet tall (without the lights) and weigh about 150 pounds.

I cut out over 400 foam bricks for this project. It took a lot of time but I think it was worth it. I also used over 40 tubes of caulk for the grout. One of the important things I learned is that it takes at least a week for that much caulk to dry. I ran out of time and had to paint it before it was fully dry. That creates problems when it drys and shrinks. I will have to do touch ups next year. The other thing I did was include doors in the back so I could put weights in the bottom to keep them from falling over in wind.


Below are the pics

Haunted Mansion Inspiration Pic

My Pics

 

[foolishmortal42]

Here are the rest of the pics

The youtube links are below. I used a lot of the techniques shown in them:

 

[JW Halloween]

The detail on those columns is amazing! Awesome work!

 

[creeeepycathy]

standing up... applauding.. WOW!! AMAZING!!!

 

[Malicious]

very nice work! Those really turned out fantastic!

 

[Bryan316]

Okay question about those corner bricks. How do you glue the brick pieces together? Whenever I do mine and then start distressing them, the actual glue doesn't behave well and looks awful. What did you do to blend them in?

 

[foolishmortal42]

Thank you all for the kind words. Bryan316...I used Locktite PL300 foam adhesive. The darker color covered it pretty well but if you look closely, you can see the place where it was glued. In between the distressing and paint though you have to be looking for it to find it. Hope that helps.

 

[jdubbya]

Wow FM! These are stunning! The realism and detail is spot on. The amount of work you put into these really shows and it was well worth it! I'm envious of the level surface you have to set them on. Our driveway has a grade to it. Really like these a lot!

 

[Bryan316]

I was looking! I didn't see anything! You did a fine job. My bricks were OBVIOUSLY glued to wrap the corners, and that really irks me. Next time I'll definitely spend some time working on that.