[djm902]

I've been wanting to do a circus theme for several years and this year finally got to it. I used the side yard to build what I call Chucky's Big Top. It was a busy summer building the props and I'm happy with my first attempt. Here are a couple of links to my Flickr page and a short video View attachment 271044 https://www.flickr.com/photos/slcjeeper/sets/72157662163555395
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veXKTItrQP8

The haunt looks great! I have also wanted to do a circus/clown haunt for years, but have not been able to do it without getting or building all knew props. Then I would have to figure out where to store them along with the props for my other haunt.

 

[Haunted Engineer]

That looks great. Seems like a lot of money went into it. I love the "circus" letter entrance.

 

[jdubbya]

Love the Golden monkey and the ferris wheel. Great detail and some very nice props. You did an awesome job with that theme.

 

[Paint It Black]

I like the photo ops and the stenciling on the back side, "Property of Chucky's Big Top." Great job on absolutely everything!

 

[slcjeeper]

That looks great. Seems like a lot of money went into it. I love the "circus" letter entrance.

Thanks! I wanted a way of making people feel they were in the circus without having them in the fenced area. The arch helped with that, made a nice transition from the cemetery, and became a photo op of itself. The circus sign was a 2 day project made of 3/4" plywood and 3" flashing.

 

[matrixmom]

Those huge clown faces were awesome. Everything was perfect.

 

[Ghost of Spookie]

Wow slcjeeper great looking setup! Amazing amount of work with the Golden Money cage and I assume the ferris wheel too. I have been assembling items for my carnevil and if mine turns out half as well I will be thrilled. Noticed we have some of the same props. Did you end up sinking those wooden supports in the ground for the entry signage? Your lit sign came out really well. How hard was it to work with the flashing? Did you have a large rabbit come out of the magician's hat?

Plan to go back and look through your photos again for ideas for mine. Love the photo ops (and the "stamped backside" -- LOL!).

So am I correct that you had that amazing gate in the front yard and this Big Top in your side yard???

 

[slcjeeper]

Ghost of Spookie,

I have a corner yard and yes, the Circus was on a small part of the side yard and the main entry was in front. As for the wooden posts, they're all dropped in the ground about 22". I found a bunch of long pallets with 10' timbers and cut them apart. We have real good soil, so digging the holes with a small post hole digger went quick.

Making the open channel lettering wasn't too difficult. I found a font I liked, projected the below image on some scrap plywood, traced and cut it out. For the flashing, Lowe's sells 6" x 10' rolls. I made a miter box to hold it and cut 2 rolls in half with a Sawzall. This gave me 40' of 3" flashing. The sign used 30'. Using the wood as the form, I shaped it to fit. Where the metal has sharp bends, I used a piece of wood cut in a triangle to fold over. I attached the metal to the plywood with a brad nailer and where the metal came back together, I used two aluminum rivets. After brushing the inside with a thick white primer, I sprayed the inside with Rustoleum Colonial Red and the outside with Rustoleum Gold Rush. For the lights, I simply eyeballed light locations and drilled. (I prefer a less than perfect look) The part that took the longest was taking apart a new cord set and relocating all the sockets to eliminate any extra cord between each bulb. The 8' rails that hold the letters are a gray composite lattice edging for plastic lattice. It's available at the home centers.

 

[punkineater]

Wow! This is the other side of the yard, opposite the cemetery??? Everything is great~
I especially liked the Golden Monkey circus wagon prop and those humongous clown heads.
Did you make the circus wagon, and where did you get those clown heads?

 

[slcjeeper]

Thanks punkineater! I made the wagon from scratch to include the wheels. The ape came from Frightprops and the sign is a slot machine topper I picked up in Vegas. If you're interested, I can post pics of the build.

 

[punkineater]

Thanks punkineater! I made the wagon from scratch to include the wheels. The ape came from Frightprops and the sign is a slot machine topper I picked up in Vegas. If you're interested, I can post pics of the build.

Yes! That would be awesome to see how you put the wagon together. It looks pretty 'beefy'. Does it break down easily and in a relatively small space?

ALL of this carnival and cemetery stuff fits into one storage unit(not the size of an airplane hangar), or did I miss something???

 

[slcjeeper]

Yes! That would be awesome to see how you put the wagon together. It looks pretty 'beefy'. Does it break down easily and in a relatively small space?

ALL of this carnival and cemetery stuff fits into one storage unit(not the size of an airplane hangar), or did I miss something???

I have a 12'wx25'd x12'h storage unit that by playing Tetris,everything fits in nicely. The wagon, like the ticket booth, is held together with regular door hinges and breaks down to lay fairly flat. Here's the link to the Wagon and Wheels http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutorials-and-step-by-step/146013-circus-wagon-wheels.html

 

[Attic Hatch]

Just discovering your AMAZING work!
If the channel lettering is your idea of "not too difficult", you're a better man than I !
I appreciate that some larger props are hinged to break down. Some thinkin' goin' on right there.

 

[midnight87]

Looks good. I love the monkey, did you make it?

 

[slcjeeper]

Looks good. I love the monkey, did you make it?

Thanks! The monkey came from Frightprops and is called Ape Escape

 

[TheHalloweenGuru]

Leave it up to slcjeeper to make an awesome display!

 

[slcjeeper]

where did you get those clown heads?

The clown heads took a while to find. I was lucky enough to get them from a distributor in Torrance CA. They were the last two and I got a deal on them. If you have ever seen the show "shipping wars", you'll see Jessica Samko shipping them for me on season 7 episode 17. Don't blink, its short.

 

[lizzyborden]

Wow! I love it all but your channel lettering is more than impressive! I know you probably used the factory edge of the flashing for the part of the letters that faced outward, but I'm really curious to know how clean of an edge were able to get with the sawzall?

 

[slcjeeper]

I know you probably used the factory edge of the flashing for the part of the letters that faced outward, but I'm really curious to know how clean of an edge were able to get with the sawzall?

I made a miter box to hold the roll of flashing. I first tried cutting straight across the whole role with a long blade. That caused the roll to roll a little and left a jagged cut. I switched to a short super fine blade for metal cutting and hand rolled the roll into the blade and that left about as clean a cut that you could get using a blade. Since that edge was Brad nailed into the wood backing, it was a non issue. The trick was getting the cut started and making a slice to get the blade to poke through.