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I put on three layers of fiber glass, sanding between each layer. VERY messy....make sure to use clothes you don't want to keep and get PLENTY of latex gloves. I would also recommend a mask when sanding.
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I secured the ice chests using some of the 1x2 I had, just screw a piece on each side so that it is a snug fit.
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I wanted the melted ice to drain from the chests so I put in a pvc drain system. Look at Home Depot or whatever you have for some type of PVC drain that you can put in. The one I used had a real small lip on it so when I slid it through the hole I cut in the fiberglass it held but didn't have much room for gluing. I eventually had to use more fiber glass and try to seal them in that way. Try to make sure that wahtever you use is water tight. I had a small leak in mine because of the fittings I used in the ice chest.
How I did it was to line the fittings in the two ice chests so they would be in a straight line. Drill one hole through the ice chest and then through the plywood bottom going through the base as well. This way after you mount the ice chests you can put the fittings through the ice chests and they will come out in the base. I had the pvc start at the small ice chest, go down to the second Ice chest where I had another fitting comming down ran a tee connector, continued the pvc to the end of the base down the back leg and put in a drain valve. Because of the fitting I used with the small lip on them if I leave the drain closed they leak a little bit, so I just put a cut hose into the drain and I leave them open and it drains out the hose and into the yard...no leaks.
After all that is done I bought some epoxy paint and painted the inside of both ice chests. This paint is not cheap but works good, won't flake or peal.
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Place in your liquor bottles in a way that you like. I got 5 of them, the first two are acually for plastic glasses and the other three are for the liquor. I aranhged them the way I liked and then drew outlines of the tops of tem onto the plywood top that is going to go around them. I was lucky that the containers had a 4" diameter opening and I happen to have a 4" hole cutter. I cut a piece of styrofoam to after the holders were screwed down so that it would go a little over the top of the containers and take up some leftover space. They were a little short of reaching the cover plywood.
You can see in this picture that I also cut a hole in front of the small ice chest so I could run fog up in to the coffin from under it. I just used 2 1/2 in PVC with a tee on it. The for will make it from inside this part of the coffin into the part you see through all the little crevaces and small openings that are left in it. My original idea was to put vent holes along the front of it under the rope light but when I tested it they weren't needed, plent of fog got through. I decided to have the fog come out of the skulls I wanted to attach to the fron too. So I Measured where the skulls would be and drilled one hole for each skull through the front of the coffin.
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Next I cut out the top plywood piece using a jigsaw. Cut out both ice chest holes, the condement holder and the holes for the liquor. Cut it but dont nail it down just yet. You want to make sure that all your electric and fog works good first cause once you nail it down you can't get back inside.
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Cut the rope light to length. The plug should run through the plywood top and out the bottom into the base. You'll need to cut another hole in the base to do this.
Above the rope light I put a 1x3 board all around it as a cover and ledge. That way the rop light is not very visable and it hides any imperfections you might have from cutting the top plywood peace.
On the end piece of this 1x3, next to the head area, I put in a trigger that would turn on the rope light when the lid is lifted. I had to run the plug through the trigger. I used a plunger type and recessed it into the 1x3. I also had to adjust the hright of it so it would turn off and on at the right time, you want to make sure it turns off when the lid is closed.
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Once you make sure that all the electrical is done and fog is working good and everything lines up nice and is all snug then go ahead and nail the top plywood on. You may want to run some silicone around the ice chests and outside edges to seal it up some. Remember that if your going to put LED's under the cross on the lid like I did you need to run those wires too.
After the top plywood is on run the rope light around the edges using the holders that come with the ropelight.
The 1x3 wood I used to cover the light was cut so you can lay it down on top of the sides of the coffin and nail into place....BE CAREFUL you dont want nails comming out the sides of the coffn, make sure you nail straight down into the 1x12.
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Here you can see the trigger I used, how the 1x3 covers the light and notice the styrofoam I had to use to get the bottle holders to the right height.
For the lid I bought some boards at Home Depot that are tongue and grooved to fit together. They look like a lot of smaller boards from the top. When you cut the lid remember that you need to leave room in front so that after you mount the trim you can get you fingers under it to lift it up.
For the top of the lid I bought a cross at Hobby Lobby and mounted 3 red LED's under it. I took a 3/4" dowel and cut equal lengths. Glue those to the lid in appropriate palces so they will raise the cross about an inch above the lid. Drill a small hole next to the one furthest to the top for the wire to go through.
The skulls I bought at walgreens for 8 bucks ea. They are hollow and made from some kind of cast. I cut them in half and cut small holes behind the eyes and sides of the jaw for fog to come out of them.
I tried using spring assisted hinges but the weight of the lid was to much for the ones I had. I wanted to have them hidden and make it real easy to open the lid. Time ras running out so I just bought some nice looking hinges and put them on. The first hinges would have stopped the lid automatically when it was open. I had to improvise and I attached some red material I had laying around to the sides so the lid won't fall back. This was done in the last minute, I literally had guests showing up for the party as I was finishing all the trim work and putting the material on for the lid.
For the trim I used 1" on the bottom and 2 1/2" on the top. The trim will hide all the screws from attaching the sides.
I bought a curtain rod and some Halloween material at Walmart and made the curtains for the front.
Then just paint and stain.
I tried to get as much as I could remember into this but if you have questions please PM me, I will do my best to help.
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I bought a rubber drink holder and put it in front of the small ice chest
I secured the ice chests using some of the 1x2 I had, just screw a piece on each side so that it is a snug fit.
I wanted the melted ice to drain from the chests so I put in a pvc drain system. Look at Home Depot or whatever you have for some type of PVC drain that you can put in. The one I used had a real small lip on it so when I slid it through the hole I cut in the fiberglass it held but didn't have much room for gluing. I eventually had to use more fiber glass and try to seal them in that way. Try to make sure that wahtever you use is water tight. I had a small leak in mine because of the fittings I used in the ice chest.
How I did it was to line the fittings in the two ice chests so they would be in a straight line. Drill one hole through the ice chest and then through the plywood bottom going through the base as well. This way after you mount the ice chests you can put the fittings through the ice chests and they will come out in the base. I had the pvc start at the small ice chest, go down to the second Ice chest where I had another fitting comming down ran a tee connector, continued the pvc to the end of the base down the back leg and put in a drain valve. Because of the fitting I used with the small lip on them if I leave the drain closed they leak a little bit, so I just put a cut hose into the drain and I leave them open and it drains out the hose and into the yard...no leaks.
After all that is done I bought some epoxy paint and painted the inside of both ice chests. This paint is not cheap but works good, won't flake or peal.
Place in your liquor bottles in a way that you like. I got 5 of them, the first two are acually for plastic glasses and the other three are for the liquor. I aranhged them the way I liked and then drew outlines of the tops of tem onto the plywood top that is going to go around them. I was lucky that the containers had a 4" diameter opening and I happen to have a 4" hole cutter. I cut a piece of styrofoam to after the holders were screwed down so that it would go a little over the top of the containers and take up some leftover space. They were a little short of reaching the cover plywood.
You can see in this picture that I also cut a hole in front of the small ice chest so I could run fog up in to the coffin from under it. I just used 2 1/2 in PVC with a tee on it. The for will make it from inside this part of the coffin into the part you see through all the little crevaces and small openings that are left in it. My original idea was to put vent holes along the front of it under the rope light but when I tested it they weren't needed, plent of fog got through. I decided to have the fog come out of the skulls I wanted to attach to the fron too. So I Measured where the skulls would be and drilled one hole for each skull through the front of the coffin.
Next I cut out the top plywood piece using a jigsaw. Cut out both ice chest holes, the condement holder and the holes for the liquor. Cut it but dont nail it down just yet. You want to make sure that all your electric and fog works good first cause once you nail it down you can't get back inside.
Cut the rope light to length. The plug should run through the plywood top and out the bottom into the base. You'll need to cut another hole in the base to do this.
Above the rope light I put a 1x3 board all around it as a cover and ledge. That way the rop light is not very visable and it hides any imperfections you might have from cutting the top plywood peace.
On the end piece of this 1x3, next to the head area, I put in a trigger that would turn on the rope light when the lid is lifted. I had to run the plug through the trigger. I used a plunger type and recessed it into the 1x3. I also had to adjust the hright of it so it would turn off and on at the right time, you want to make sure it turns off when the lid is closed.
Once you make sure that all the electrical is done and fog is working good and everything lines up nice and is all snug then go ahead and nail the top plywood on. You may want to run some silicone around the ice chests and outside edges to seal it up some. Remember that if your going to put LED's under the cross on the lid like I did you need to run those wires too.
After the top plywood is on run the rope light around the edges using the holders that come with the ropelight.
The 1x3 wood I used to cover the light was cut so you can lay it down on top of the sides of the coffin and nail into place....BE CAREFUL you dont want nails comming out the sides of the coffn, make sure you nail straight down into the 1x12.
Here you can see the trigger I used, how the 1x3 covers the light and notice the styrofoam I had to use to get the bottle holders to the right height.
For the lid I bought some boards at Home Depot that are tongue and grooved to fit together. They look like a lot of smaller boards from the top. When you cut the lid remember that you need to leave room in front so that after you mount the trim you can get you fingers under it to lift it up.
For the top of the lid I bought a cross at Hobby Lobby and mounted 3 red LED's under it. I took a 3/4" dowel and cut equal lengths. Glue those to the lid in appropriate palces so they will raise the cross about an inch above the lid. Drill a small hole next to the one furthest to the top for the wire to go through.
The skulls I bought at walgreens for 8 bucks ea. They are hollow and made from some kind of cast. I cut them in half and cut small holes behind the eyes and sides of the jaw for fog to come out of them.
I tried using spring assisted hinges but the weight of the lid was to much for the ones I had. I wanted to have them hidden and make it real easy to open the lid. Time ras running out so I just bought some nice looking hinges and put them on. The first hinges would have stopped the lid automatically when it was open. I had to improvise and I attached some red material I had laying around to the sides so the lid won't fall back. This was done in the last minute, I literally had guests showing up for the party as I was finishing all the trim work and putting the material on for the lid.
For the trim I used 1" on the bottom and 2 1/2" on the top. The trim will hide all the screws from attaching the sides.
I bought a curtain rod and some Halloween material at Walmart and made the curtains for the front.
Then just paint and stain.
I tried to get as much as I could remember into this but if you have questions please PM me, I will do my best to help.
I bought a rubber drink holder and put it in front of the small ice chest
