[ghostlland820]

Not sure how I missed this, nice work ghostlland! 🎃

Thanks, J-Man, appreciate the encouragement. Feeling a little out of my depth (and budget) on this one.

 

[beecherman]

Very impressive....wish I could see the finished product. Please video and share for those of us too far away..... Thanks!!

 

[Malicious]

Fantastic!

 

[mr.macabre]

DAMN, you do good work.

 

[TXYardHaunter]

Man this is looking incredible!

can I say (without getting flamed) lol

“Did I imagine the church being this big? Uh....no.”

That’s what she said! Haha sorry my immature mind just had to.

Your scale is incredible. Told you it would explode into a big production. Stoked to see the progress man

Pretty sure I have steeple envy…

 

[jessemccabe]

This is spectacular!! What material did you use for the rear projection, it looks great on video. I'd like to use it in one of our hallways.

 

[ghostlland820]

This is spectacular!! What material did you use for the rear projection, it looks great on video. I'd like to use it in one of our hallways.

Hi. I used gray material made specifically for rear projection. Don't remember where I bought it years ago, but here's one place that sells something that's the same or similar. You might want to try some cheap white translucent shower curtain before spending money on the gray stuff. If you want to be able to see what's behind the "screen," you'll have to go with something like Atmosfx's Hollusion material. For my project, I'm debating whether it might be better to go with flat screen tv's rather than projectors. The quality of a projector is good, but a tv setup would be easier. Weather will be an issue for either solution.

 

[jessemccabe]

True... TV's are cheap nowadays, too. We have a hallway of paintings w/ a one as a drop window ... I would love to do something like that.

 

[ghostlland820]

Update #2:
I made a faux bell for the church and tested a mechanism for ringing the bell.

For the bell, I bought two plastic flower pots from Lowe's and decided the one on the left looked pretty good. I also experimented with 2-inch thick rigid insulation board to serve as the bracket for the bell. The carved foam you see in the picture was the first of several attempts.

I also made wooden braces for the bell and modified a small decorative wagon wheel to serve as the bell's pulley wheel. I had to cut a larger hole for the axle, and I repeatedly spun the wheel on a table saw to cut grooves in the wheel for a pull rope.

I painted everything black and after some trial-and-error, devised a simple mechanism to move the bell in a ringing motion. The mechanism was finished just enough to show proof of concept.

Finally, I used some iron impregnated paint and iron powder to "rust" the bell. (I don't know if church bells rust, but this one does.)

 

[wdallen504]

Fantastic build, I'm really looking forward to the finished project!

 

[Sith22000]

Thanks. Halfway there: I can punch them open, but a couple of the shutters are going to overlap with their neighbors because I made the windows a little too wide (that carpentry thing). I don't think that's going to be a problem but won't know until I bolt two panels together and test. I'm going to need 12 pneumatic cylinders to do all the opening and closing on one side. Could probably get away with fewer, but I like the idea of being able to orchestrate each shutter individually. It works in my head.

Hi,
May I ask about the pneumatics? Where do you find them and are they hard to make work? Total newbie here. Your build looks amazing!!

 

[ghostlland820]

Hi,
May I ask about the pneumatics? Where do you find them and are they hard to make work? Total newbie here. Your build looks amazing!!

Welcome to the forum. The support page at frightprops.com has several videos about pneumatics that you'd probably find helpful. If you have a specific prop you'd like to incorporate pneumatics, post your idea and questions on the forum; you're likely to get many instructive replies.

 

[TXYardHaunter]

Update #2:
I made a faux bell for the church and tested a mechanism for ringing the bell.

For the bell, I bought two plastic flower pots from Lowe's and decided the one on the left looked pretty good. I also experimented with 2-inch thick rigid insulation board to serve as the bracket for the bell. The carved foam you see in the picture was the first of several attempts.

View attachment 760799

I also made wooden braces for the bell and modified a small decorative wagon wheel to serve as the bell's pulley wheel. I had to cut a larger hole for the axle, and I repeatedly spun the wheel on a table saw to cut grooves in the wheel for a pull rope.

View attachment 760800

View attachment 760801

View attachment 760802

View attachment 760803

I painted everything black and after some trial-and-error, devised a simple mechanism to move the bell in a ringing motion. The mechanism was finished just enough to show proof of concept.

Finally, I used some iron impregnated paint and iron powder to "rust" the bell. (I don't know if church bells rust, but this one does.)

View attachment 760804

Looks amazing man! Definitely bell envy.
Holy moly that’s a big bell tower! Loving the progress man

 

[Ghost of Spookie]

I happenchanced clicked on your thread and wow it made my morning! This is going to be so amazing and delight so many ToTers and their parents. Great concept with the pneumatic shutters and using AtmosFX’s stained window projections. I’ve seen it listed on their site but have to say never saw much need for it but it’s so perfect for your set up. You need to submit it to them when done to feature on their fan user area.

Your church bells concept and implementation was genius. Crazy skills man! Thanks for sharing with us here. Following!

 

[ghostlland820]

I happenchanced clicked on your thread and wow it made my morning! This is going to be so amazing and delight so many ToTers and their parents. Great concept with the pneumatic shutters and using AtmosFX’s stained window projections. I’ve seen it listed on their site but have to say never saw much need for it but it’s so perfect for your set up. You need to submit it to them when done to feature on their fan user area.

Thanks. A compliment from you, one of the forum's veterans, is an incentive to keep plugging away.

 

[Defenestrator]

The bell and mechanism are fantastic in both concept and execution...it's all looking great! 🎃

 

[[email protected]]

Enjoying this post alot!
Might I add a looped audio of the bell from ACDC HELLS BEĹLS would be a nice touch.