[Vandalay Industries]

Has anyone ever used a baby swing and turned it into a prop? I have an old baby swing sitting in the shed and I have decided to try and animate some props this year. I was hoping someone here has re-purposed one other than making it into the obvious swinging prop. Anyone have any ideas.

I also have 2 shiatsu massagers and 3 deer motors so I am going to get some movement this year !!!

 

[Jenn&MattFromPA]

Hmmm.... interesting suggestion. i'm not mechanically inclined, but I like to brainstorm, so here goes!

Since a baby swing goes back & forth, maybe the motor could be hacked in some way to make a rocking chair rock (back/forth motion) or almost be used as shoulders for a prop that then moved bent upper arms forward & back. Depending on how the motor was placed, maybe you could hack it to almost give a prop arm a forward thrusting motion like knife-stabbing, know what I mean? If the swing motor was set on its fastest position, it could make person/ghost prop look like they were shaking/rocking back & forth. Could be really good for a mental patient prop in a straight jacket.

If you had some trees or built a scaffolding of some kind, maybe the back & forth motion could be used to sway some rope nooses with some skeletons in them.
Or if you attached the motor hanging down from a tree branch, you could hang sheets, netting, plants/vines/leaves, lanterns, etc to give a sense of movement to a graveyard or scene outside.

Or if the motor was on its side, maybe you could attach a faux doorframe and the motor would move it in an opening & closing manner, or make it into a creaky gate or something like that.

No idea if any of these things will work or suit you, but there you go!

 

[Vandalay Industries]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to strip it off the swing and see if I can get any of the motions you are talking about. I am doing a zombie research facility this year so maybe trying to get it to open a chained up door might be a good one. Let the experimenting begin!