[The Skeleton Crew]

The Good News:
If your looking for large carvable pumpkins I found one, sort of. Target is selling an 18" plastic pumpkin for $30. The pumpkin is massive, much larger in hand than what the photo appears. In fact I would have to build my prop 8'-10' tall in order to be in proportion to the size of the pumpkin. It is a blow-mold style plastic that is thick enough to cut/carve. I don't really care since I mache mine so I can make the skin as thick as I want. What's nice about this pumpkin is the size and shape, it's large and squatty. This will be a lot easier to use for pumpkin scarecrows then having to make the pumpkin from scratch. With the right modifications I can make this thing look quiet dreadful.

Bad News:
Target use to sell nicely detailed skulls at a good price. I have hundreds of them stored in my garage. Due to supply issues they have completely changed their skulls, now they look about as awful as the dollar store skulls:

Target skulls prior to 2022.

Target skulls 2022 - same price really poor detail.

I'm sure glad I have my stockpile of old skulls, should last me a few years.

 

[TexTomb]

Some softy in purchasing probably thought the old realistic ones look too 'mean'.

 

[Intellagirl]

On a side note: I'm so glad not to be the only one with plastic bins full of skulls and bones in my basement/garage. What a great strange community we are...and so well organized!

 

[The Skeleton Crew]

Not exactly sure how many skulls I have but I have 20 plastic bins overflowing, so assuming 200+-; not including all the bones (legs, arms, feet, hands), about twenty 3' skeletons, and thirty or so 5' skeletons. Should keep me stocked for a while.

 

[GuaranteeD]

The Good News:
If your looking for large carvable pumpkins I found one, sort of. Target is selling an 18" plastic pumpkin for $30. The pumpkin is massive, much larger in hand than what the photo appears. In fact I would have to build my prop 8'-10' tall in order to be in proportion to the size of the pumpkin. It is a blow-mold style plastic that is thick enough to cut/carve. I don't really care since I mache mine so I can make the skin as thick as I want. What's nice about this pumpkin is the size and shape, it's large and squatty. This will be a lot easier to use for pumpkin scarecrows then having to make the pumpkin from scratch.



I used a new technique this year and heat bonded many layers of plastic sheet over a base pumpkin. Mine was a hard shell, styrofoam type and I was only trying to replicate the top 3/4 of the pumpkin but it worked out awesome. I liked using the 1 mill plastic best. Just had to make slits up the sides to pull it off, which were easy to repair with the heat gun and a little more plastic.

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[GuaranteeD]

On a side note: I'm so glad not to be the only one with plastic bins full of skulls and bones in my basement/garage. What a great strange community we are...and so well organized!

I mean yes, but also no....

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[pumpkinheadedskeleton]

Has anyone successfully tried to carve those store pumpkins? The plastic is hard as hell. I've not had any luck with anything like a hand saw. Haven't tried a power tool yet. I'm curious what works best.

 

[805Pirate]

I mean yes, but also no....

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That skeleton on the far right looks great what paint/stain did you use?

 

[The Skeleton Crew]

Has anyone successfully tried to carve those store pumpkins? The plastic is hard as hell. I've not had any luck with anything like a hand saw. Haven't tried a power tool yet. I'm curious what works best.

Not carving, covering with mache. I just need to cut out eyes, nose and mouth with an x-acto blade. Most likely I will use this pumpkin to make mache copies instead of cutting it up.

 

[MR. Macabre 13]

The Good News:
If your looking for large carvable pumpkins I found one, sort of. Target is selling an 18" plastic pumpkin for $30. The pumpkin is massive, much larger in hand than what the photo appears. In fact I would have to build my prop 8'-10' tall in order to be in proportion to the size of the pumpkin. It is a blow-mold style plastic that is thick enough to cut/carve. I don't really care since I mache mine so I can make the skin as thick as I want. What's nice about this pumpkin is the size and shape, it's large and squatty. This will be a lot easier to use for pumpkin scarecrows then having to make the pumpkin from scratch. With the right modifications I can make this thing look quiet dreadful.
View attachment 766881

Bad News:
Target use to sell nicely detailed skulls at a good price. I have hundreds of them stored in my garage. Due to supply issues they have completely changed their skulls, now they look about as awful as the dollar store skulls:
View attachment 766882
View attachment 766883
Target skulls prior to 2022.
View attachment 766884
View attachment 766885
Target skulls 2022 - same price really poor detail.
View attachment 767010
I'm sure glad I have my stockpile of old skulls, should last me a few years.

This year's batch look like something you'd see in the CORPSE BRIDE.

 

[pumpkinheadedskeleton]

Not carving, covering with mache. I just need to cut out eyes, nose and mouth with an x-acto blade. Most likely I will use this pumpkin to make mache copies instead of cutting it up.

Ok, thank you.

 

[Daphne]

This years skulls definitely looked like extras from Corpse Bride. What perfect timing to see this thread! I was considering taking one of these type of JOL’s and covering it in screen or mesh (to create a grabable surface) and layering celluclay/paperclay to create a different face, stem, etc vs starting from scratch but was also curious about whether cutting into the plastic would be either a nightmare or a busted mess.

On a side note, I saw carvable pumpkins at Lowe’s tonight. They did not look anything like Funkins and actually seemed more heavy duty, I didn’t get one but was really curious.

 

[The Skeleton Crew]

I'm probably going to make a mache cast from mine so I can make multiple props. Just cover the plastic pumpkin with aluminum foil or cling wrap. Then cover with your preference of mache. Cut and remove the mache cast and remove the aluminum foil or cling wrap from the inside. Piece it back together and add a few more layers of mache, some details and paint then you have a cheap copy with a lot more detail. I also like to use paperclay for details.

 

[Daphne]

I’m debating on going old school on this and getting an actual pumpkin to do this on and providing I don’t damage it, carving it later. Always so busy getting stuff built that I haven’t carved one in years. (While I’m currently sitting in the floor working on linkages for an animatronic that isn’t even started ha ha). I haven’t looked at pumpkin prices so that may change though. Years ago, on one of my large jack o lanterns I took that approach with a 4 foot beach ball. Should have bought stock in aluminum foil, celluclay and paperclay that year…. I just kept adding details and it got heavier and heavier…. Thank heavens my husband used to play college football! 😂. That thing was so big and had so much foil my husband named him Sputnik!

I recently saw were someone did it but left an open seam all the way around it so she could just pull it off each side then mache it back together versus cutting. Interesting approach if it works.

 

[The Skeleton Crew]

Yea I learned that lesson as well. If your going to make a pumpkin larger than 18"-24" just carve it out of foam or make a skeletal system from cardboard and mache it.

 

[frugalfrightgirl]

I mean yes, but also no....

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Wow! I thought I had a lot! (Only about 100 pumpkins, and about 400 props total) Love the way, everyone is organized. We've been trying to get a she shed in for 3 years. My garage is full, and losing the ability to organize so well. Very impressive! I might have to think about building a similar shelf in my rafters.

 

[GuaranteeD]

That skeleton on the far right looks great what paint/stain did you use?

Pretty sure it was a dark wood stain rub out. Like a "charcoal" instead of a "mahogany". These were some of the first modified props I worked on.

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[Daphne]

Yea I learned that lesson as well. If your going to make a pumpkin larger than 18"-24" just carve it out of foam or make a skeletal system from cardboard and mache it.

This. Learned that lesson on the big one that was built after Sputnik. (The “fire” moves, that’s why it looks suspended.)