[TK421]

I love this. I'm going to have to talk my husband into letting me build this one. I wanted one and since you made one that can be taken apart is a plus! I love the angel statue , I may make one of those too. I see you use the white styrofoam, have you tried using the blue or pink. Iv'e used the pink for a the "Beloved tombstone I'm building now. I haven't used the white, but I looked at it at Lowes, It's to sponge like for carving. Just a suggestion to help you out a little.

For tombstones you can't beat the pink styrofoam. It's fantastic and it's all I use. The dense pink and/or blue styrofoam is the only type you should use for smaller projects and things you will carve.

For the facade pieces, I thought I would try something new this year and work with the white styrofoam. It's not as dense, and it's not recommented for "carving" but it's a great alternative to sheets of plywood. It's really light, takes paint well, and can be cut with a knife, which reduces the time and mess one would encounter with plywood or MDF sheets.

The white styrofoam is fragile stuff, so you do need to be careful. I like how my props are turning out, but I am still nervous about the long-term survival of my white styrofoam structures.

This is a big experiment for me.

 

[TK421]

I take the last week of October off from work, so usually everything is completely set up the whole last week of October.

 

[TK421]

You can always make a smaller version, or you can make a really shallow version to put up against a fence or something.

 

[TK421]

That is another great solution!

Now that I have built mine, I can tell you that 5' x 5' is actually pretty large for a small front yard. I think I could have gotten away with a 4' x 4' mausoleum that was only 5 or 6 feet tall. That would have saved a bot on space as well as materials.

Oh well, I have a fine mausoleum that I can actually pick up by myself and move around. I do love how light they styrofoam props are.

 

[TK421]

Okay, out playing in the yard again with my new latex sprayer. Here is the current look of the mausoleum. It looks pretty bright in these pics, but I think it will be much more subdued when I add aging.

Here is a detail of the archway. I started with the blue basecoat, added a light grey over that, and have now added a darker grey/purple spatter.

From this point on -- I'm nervous. I wish I could get Terra out here for a class on aging techniques. I've read her tutorial, but I'm still nervous to try stuff out on my own creation. Might take a few scraps of styrofoam and do some tests with that first.

 

[TK421]

Let me just say that is just fabulous!!! I love it. I have to say the one I did last year (you can see a pic of it in my album on my profile page) is made completely of plywood and 2X4's. It is one heavy mother However it comes apart almost exactly the way yours does and it stores completely flat in the garage except for the two gothic points on each side, those I kept in tact and they dont take up much room at all. That said yours is probably much much easier to move around. Ours takes two people to move especially once it gets on the grass. I love the idea of using foam, the only thing is here in Florida its hurricane season and we get lots of wind and rain and Im wondering if that would be a problem???? What do you think. I would love to try your technique on some other projects, it would make it much easier and much more cost effective doing it your way. I mean I love my crypt, but that sucker is heavyAgain yours is coming out wonderful and I cant wait to see it with the skeletons inside!!

Your crypt is beautiful! I love the aging and the moss -- it's fantastic! I hope, hope, hope I can do my aging as well as you did. The moss is a great addition.

I honestly have no idea what kind of winds my styrofoam mausoleum can handle. It's been outside for two weeks now, and has no problem with the evening 10mph wind we get. But a storm? I just don't know. I think I would take it apart for any type of severe weather.

I do love how light the mausoleum is. I'll try and shoot some video tomorrow of me moving the crypt around. My daughters think it's hysterical because it looks like a Scooby Doo cartoon. I go in and then the mausoleum pops up and starts walking around.

 

[TK421]

I am going to be waiting for a field test of the mausoleum in Northwest storm. I think once you get your crypt beds in there and maybe a few cinder blocks underneath those on the frame that you will be OK. It should be water resistant with all the paint that you have on there. Is it going to be in an area where there is a ton of wind? I kind of pictured it being back in the tress according to your diagram.

Yes, it will be tucked in between a tree and the house rhode bushes. I think it will be fine for most anything the Northwest can throw at it. Plus, the styrofoam is impervious to rain, so I have no worries of moisture.

 

[TK421]

Oh, yes!! I need to build a new roof for the existing haunted tower, plus I want to build a new, slightly larger tower to go above the front porch, and I want to build a false storefront (or pub) facade for the shed.

Here is my latest plan for this year.

And here is how I hope to have the house looking with both towers.

 

[TK421]

Didn't do any work on the mausoleum today, spent my time working on the cider shack instead.

New Cider Shack for 2009

Take a look, I'm at a point where I need some advice.

 

[TK421]

That's a helpful little video, thanks for sharing!

 

[TK421]

People have been asking, "how hard is it to move your mausoleum around?"

Well, it's light enough I can pick it up and walk around, but there's enough weight at the base that it's pretty safe from wind.

My wife shot a quick vid of me moving the mausoleum around the front yard today. (Please keep in mind this is still a work in progress and I have A LOT more painting and detailing to do.)

 

[TK421]

After Halloween, I'll be opening for "Mausoleums on ICE".

 

[TK421]

LEARNED SOMETHING NEW TONIGHT!!

When using the white "pill" styrofoam, the Liquid Nails will disolve the styrofoam over time. This can be reduced greatly by keeping the film on the styrofoam and only removing the film on areas you intend to leave exposed and paint.

My Cider Shack is fine because I left most of the plastic film on the styrofoam, but I had to reglue a few small pieces on the mausoleum.

From now on, when I'm securing white "pill" styrofoam sheeting to wood framing, I will be using Titebond All Weather glue. The stuff rocks and is nice and solid when it dries. It does take a bit longer to set, but it's worth it to have your styrofoam intact.

 

[TK421]

Okay, had some time this afternoon so I did the water staining for the front of the mausoleum. This is the same technique I've have been using for the mausoleum and tombstone water stain aging.

 

[TK421]

Here are the side panels and the roof piece. The next step will be for me to put the mausoleum back together and see how all the paint matches up. This will also be an opporunity to apply other coloring like moss and lichen.

 

[TK421]

TK, nice job! But as Mr.Chicken says, it's really no surprise! I can only aspire to attempt to match the quality of your stuff!
LOL
Can I ask how you did that weathering?

I can probably put a tutorial together, but my process was pretty simple. I had already painted mausoleum with its base coat a month ago, so all I really needed to do was add the aging.

I have a can of dark grey paint, a 2 in brush, and a cup of water.

1. Apply a light brushing of water across the surface. This is just enough to dampen the surface, not so much that there's a puddle of water.

2. Dip the brush in the paint, wipe the excess paint off, and start brushing down the face of the mausoleum. What this does is give you a faded first coat. Much like old water staining that has aged and faded.

3. Let the first layer of wet brushed aging dry. As it dries, it will lighten a bit because of the water you put o the tombstone first.

4. Start a second coat of staining/aging by using the same 2 in brush and dark grey paint. Get some paint on the brush, wipe the sides of the brush back in the can, and start dry brushing streaks down the face of the structure. This will give stronger, darker streaks on the face of the mausoleum.

5. You can keep adding both wet brush streaks and dry brush streaks to get the depth of water staining you want on your structure.

Here's a pic showing the painting stages and progress:

 

[TK421]

UPDATE: For anyone who is interested, I have put together a PDF that contains the basic plans and a pictoral how-to. I can't post a PDF to this site, so if anyone is interested, just send me a PM with your email and I can send a copy out.

If there is a place on this forum to post PDFs, please let me know and I will put my Mausoleum How-To there.

 

[TK421]

UPDATE: I have updated my website to include a How-To page with a tutorials link. My mausoleum build and a simple styrofoam tombstone build are on the page and available for download.

Mill Creek Haunted Hollow website

Mill Creek Haunted Hollow: Tutorials Page

I hope to continue building more tutorials in the weeks to come.

 

[TK421]

It's hard to estimate due to regional differences in the cost of materials.

For me, here in Washington state, it breaks down roughtly:

12 - 1x4x8 boards @ $3.50/ea = $42.00
1 box - 1 5/8" wood screws @ $5
8 sheets - 3/4" pill styrofoam @ 10/ea = $80
1 bottle - Titebond II White Glue @ $7.50

Total costs of basic construction $134.50

Again, this is what it would cost to build in the Seattle, WA area. Your local supplier may have different pricing, or you may need to use different materials where you are. For example, a denser type of styrofoam may double the styrofoam cost estimate.

Also, you may be able to reduce the cost by recycling materials. If you can find 1x1 strips of wood for free (or on the cheap) that will reduce the overall expense.
(After completing this project I responded to a CraigsList ad where they were giving away free 4x8 sheets of 1/2" styrofoam. I managed to pic up 5 sheets!!)

Of course, in addition to the above costs, you'll want to paint and detail the mausoleum. I am not including custom materials in my pricing. You may want to purchase wooden spindles, skulls, trim, scroll pieces, lighting, etc.

 

[TK421]

Any photos of it completely done, and together?

Of course!! Sorry I didn't post any earlier!