[roberj28]

I am in the process of turning a pair of home built reapers into flying crank ghosts. These are my first FCG and I could use a bit of advise on the frame. Okay, I'll probably have other questions as well.

The Reapers are larger then I can find tutorials on how to build. With their arms outstretched they measure 7 feet across. The body of the ghosts are made from old adult sized costumes so they are about 5 feet long. The heads are plastic skulls with flashing eyes. The arms are pvc that is hinged at the elbow with eye hooks. The total weight of each reaper is about 9 pounds. I got the MOT2 electric motor from Fright Props. The guys there were easy to talk to and said that this motor should be able to handle the weight.

So, now I'm at the point of building my frames and I have no idea how big I should make them. Should they be 7 feet wide by 6 feet long or should I make them slightly smaller or slightly larger???

Having never made a FCG before, I really can't visualize the resulting motion of the ghost as it's affected by the size or shape of the frame that it is hanging from.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DaveintheGrave]

Do the reapers have the ability to bend at the elbows like normal FCGs? If they do and you are going to attach the strings to the wrists, then I think your frame would be about the same size and measurements as a common FCG frame. Or maybe just little bit bigger. Depends how far apart you want his arm/wrists to be.
(I don't have my frame handy to measure, but there are plenty of how-tos online.)

Because really the ghosts of most FCGs are probably about the same height and arm span of your reapers.
If the weight of them causes a problem, you could always try adding a counterweight.

 

[Bruzilla]

A Flying Lever Ghost (FLG) might be a better option. You should check out my post on them.

 

[The_Caretaker]

check out my frame I did for my FCG from PVC in my flicker account

 

[roberj28]

Thank you all for your suggestions...

Bruzilla - I like your Flying Lever Ghost and I'm going to use that concept for a "Floating Candelabra" prop. However, for this one I already have the motor and I think I am too far down the FCG road.

Daveinthegrave - The elbows do bend and the strings will be tied to the wrists.

I was going to make the rig out of angle aluminum but I've decided to use 2x3's instead. Not only is it a lot cheaper but I think it should let me more easily play with the spacing of things. I will start out using standard FCG dimensions and go from there...