[ice456789]

As part of my display, I'll have people walk through a dark tunnel where zombies will be reaching through to grab them. I need to make a bunch of arms to accomplish this, what's the best way? It needs to be the whole arm, not just a hand. I guess you could make hands with "great stuff" expanding foam in rubber gloves and I suppose pool noodles could be arms but I'm looking for better ideas if anyone has any. Something that might look more realistic or just be easier to make would be great.

Also I'm looking for a way to make it so that when someone walks by they 'stick' to the hands so it feels like they're being grabbed, but something that will not mess up anyone's costumes. That's not as important though.

 

[Mr_Chicken]

I think that's enough quantity to justify a silicone mold. Soft polyfoam castings would have a grabbing tendency.

 

[Lurks in the shadows]

I agree with Mr. Chicken. It will be pricey, but the finished product will be high quality!

 

[ice456789]

Justifying large expenditures, isn't that what Halloween is all about?!? I'll start searching youtube for a good tutorial (don't see one on this site) but if anyone has a link please post!

 

[pacman]

I was hoping to create some arms so that i could have them coming through my mock boarded up window this coming HALLOWEEN , and last year i needed a set of arms for a mannequin i made for a prop so i decided to use the method i used for the mannequin for this years prop and would try and repeat the process from last year but for multiple arms this method was to create my own again , the hardest part i found was the actual hands and so tried to find some cheap good quality hands because i didn't have the time to create or make any last Halloween , i bought a set of fake cut off hands off e - bay from CHINA inc postage for £7 UK pounds one left hand one right which is around $11 - $12 , they still sell them on U.K. e-bay and they were pre painted like the ones you find in Halloween stores , you probably can get them so much cheaper in the states anyway but over here we struggle to get this basic stuff , i cut them around the wrist area and fitted it with a couple of screws and duct tape to an old broom handle which i had cut into two pieces roughly the size of my upper arm and lower arm and used a basic piece of strong string to attach at what would be the elbow , you could of course adapt some kind of hinge or mechanism if you wanted more control or rigidity in your prop arm but i thought the basic idea it may help you , i then put a little padding around the broom handle not too much as i wanted it to look thin and boney under the shirt i was using for the dummy , it really worked and could maybe be a basis for your project with your need for multiple zombie arms, especially if you want arms facing different ways for realism .
I hope this helps , if you want more detail let me know and i will try to supply it , i think i have a couple of pics also i have used white plastic plumbing pipe before for lighter projects where wood is too heavy , and of course its cheaper as well i think i have a photo here somewhere if i have i will link it at the end of this post . not sure what you could use for the clinging effect at the moment will try and think of some ideas . could not find the wood/hand photos but found my zombie prop which used the plastic pipe idea for arms , see what you think , with the nightdress on looked realistic , especially in the dark ..... lol

 

[Mr_Chicken]

look up lifecasting an arm with Smooth-On Body Double

 

[DaveintheGrave]

Maybe put cheap latex rubber gloves on the hands to make them sort of "stick" to people's clothing??

 

[Screaming Demons]

We did this in our home haunt last year. We used a bunch of dollar store hands stuck through chicken wire with black plastic on the backside. A couple of holes were cut where we could stick our real hands through.

I put a lot of thought into how to hide the chicken wire and make the hands more realistic, but the extra work wouldn't have mattered. We used a strobe light on a fairly slow setting so no one really noticed anything but a bunch of hands reaching out at them.

 

[ice456789]

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts on this. As of right now I'm leaning towards the cheaper ideas because I've already spent most of my Halloween budget this year. Yeah, I know it's only July, but I NEEDED that projector!

 

[Screaming Demons]

That was our best room, by the way. It was the second room and a lot of people wouldn't even go through. They turned around and exited out the entrance.

 

[hhh]

Someone here used sandcasting to make arms (and other stuff) with expanding foam:
http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutorials-and-step-by-step/113831-sand-casting.html

 

[EdgarWhelp]

I was going to suggest sand casting too, but another (lazier) option would be severed arms from eBay:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=191620248111&globalID=EBAY-AU

They're $11 each in Australia but I bet they're half that in the states. I have a pair and while the paint job isn't spectacular they do feel pretty gross to touch.

 

[pacman]

I agree with you Screaming demon that with the night coming it does not have to be perfect , but with my zombie woman she was in a area by the front door so i did need more detail as the hands were more than clearly visible but if it an area in darkness or semi darkness it would be easy good enough in fact i think DaveintheGrave idea is an excellent one as the rubber would feel clingy to some materials and would be quite easy to paint as well if you needed to add a little more detail , great idea DaveintheGrave , think this would possibly be your answer for quickness cheapness and practicality , this is why i love this forum , you just need to experiment with different ones see which give best results , keep us all updated on your decision and how it works out .

 

[A Little Odd]

Thank you for the link to the sand casting thread. I never would have thought to have even searched for that. I have visions of severed hands hands reaching out of the walls of my front porch. My poor husband is going to have to put up with a garage full of projects again this year.

 

[pacman]

Thanks for the link hhh i had not seen this method before , looks well worth a try , cheers .