OK I got a general idea of my theme for my yard haunt for 2009. It is going to be a haunted mine shaft. It will be split up into 3 different areas. The front of the house will be the Silva Mining Company. There will be a mine shaft entrance that goes over the sidewalk that leads up to the house. With the fence pillars and fence sections that I built going off on each side down the front sidewalk. Inside the tunnel will be two different 4' x 4' (8' tall) boxes that will be two different mining scenes. Then the TOT's will get to the front door and get their candy.
This is a sketch I made of what I want the mine shaft entrance to look like.
This is a drawing of how the rooms in the tunnel will be lined up.
These are the fence pillars and fence sections that will be on either side of the mine shaft entrance.
On the left side of the tunnel will be a bunch of wooden barrels, crates, shovels and pick axes. The crates will say explosives on them. One of the crates by the fence will be my MIB.
The second section of the yard haunt will be on the front corner of the house next to the Mining Company. This section will have an old shack where the widow of a mine shaft worker waits for her husband to come home(but he never will, he still haunts the mine shaft where he died). There will be a door on the front of the shack that is open that will house my FCG. There will also be a rocking chair that rocks by itself on the front porch of the shack. Next to the house will be a dog house where their dog still waits for both of them. The corner of the yard will have a picket fence around it.
FCG that will be in the shack this year.
This is the dog that will be in the dog house next to the shack.
The third section of the yard haunt will be down the side of the house. This will be the mining town's cemetery where all the mining employees were buried. This will house our new tombstones and new cemetery arch sign.
This is a picture of the cemetery last year. This year there will be a new arch on top of the columns and the location will shift to the left of the picture down the side of the house and it will be much larger. Oh and we have all new tombstones in the works as well!!!
I still am searching for ideas for the 2 rooms in the tunnel and some stuff to fill in the area around the mine cart. Also there is about a 10' x 10' area that will be on the front corner of the yard in front of the "shack" that will be pretty bare. But, I don't want anything too high or distracting so that people can see the FCG in the shack and dog in the dog house.
The crate is 22" deep, 24" high and 33" wide. It is pretty big. Bigger then I wanted. Great idea for inside the shaft. I have always wanted to make the kinking legs!!!
Not really busy. I can't quite get going on projects, because I always try to make stuff as cheaply as possible. So it takes me a while to make stuff while I am scrounging for the parts.
How are you going to build the interior of the mine? Are you just building wood rooms, or are you going to try soe MM or something for a earthy textured look?
Also, are you going to paint the mine cart? The circular saw cut marks are intersting, so I'm just wondering.
Your helmet is looking really good. Fantastic paint treatment.
I know I've said it before, but your MIB is absolutely sensational. I love it!
How are you going to build the interior of the mine? Are you just building wood rooms, or are you going to try soe MM or something for a earthy textured look?
Also, are you going to paint the mine cart? The circular saw cut marks are intersting, so I'm just wondering.
Your helmet is looking really good. Fantastic paint treatment.
I know I've said it before, but your MIB is absolutely sensational. I love it!
I don't know about the inside of the mine. I actually was reading some stuff people wrote on your Slaughtered Lamb thread about kids not noticing stuff. I am wondering how much detail I want to put into the inside of the tunnel. I am thinking of using foam torched for texture and then painted like rock. But, I also am thinking of pallet boards that look like they are holding back the rock. I don't really know. The mine shaft is going to be the last thing I build. Since it will be a one time thing, I don't want to put too much into it.
The mine cart is actually made from pallets that had cans of tar sitting on them. So those are the can marks not cut marks. I am going to leave it outside to "weather" until Halloween. I also will be beating it up a little to make it look older. I have left my MIB outside since I built it and it is already getting some aging. One good thing of living in the Northwest. If all else fails I will utilize my new technique of spray adhesive and dirt. To be honest I kind of like the can marks, but I see what you are saying.
Plus this is just what I am willing to share. I have a few things I am keeping under wraps. Some stuff has to be a surprise right?
I hadn't thought about it before, but are you in an area where parents will let their kids walk through an enclosed "tunnel" like that? Or are you going to make it large enough for parents to escort their kids through?
It is funny you mention that. We used to have 2 boxes set up, one on either side of the walkway up to the house with a roof over the top. I trimmed it out to look like a house or a castle. There were just static props in each of them. One was a doctor and the other was a grim reaper. We had a strobe in one and a black light in the other. The doctor was kind of scary actually. He had a piece of tubing running from under the table in front of him up trough his body and down his arm onto the table. Under the table was a pump and the doctor had a clever(wood painted like metal) in one hand and he chopped off the other. The pump would circulate red water from a whole in the table to a bucket underneath and back through his arm spurting out onto the clever. The table blocked the view of the little TOT's. But, the funny part was that every single kid went through no matter how small. The even funnier thing was that a lot parents wouldn't go through and made the kids go through themselves up to the house to get the candy.
Since then we have decided not to do any blood or gore. Everything is directed towards the little guys. Nothing in the tunnel will be scary. More like Disney animated props. I am planning on making it one group at a time because they will have to exit back through the tunnel. Plus that is why I keep the tunnel or house straight so that parents and onlookers can see through to the front door and can watch the kids the whole time. If parents don't want the kids to go in or if the kids don't want to go in, I have candy for them out at the main sidewalk. Last year only two kids didn't want to go up to the house(so I got to eat most of the candy while I watched from out there).
The MIB only gets triggered for TOT's I think can handle it and adults. My Jailjumper guy was on a motion switch and went off for everyone and he seemed to be OK for most everyone.
What might work for the walls of your mine is to take the pallets and slip styrofoam between the two sets of boards. Then torch the foam. Done right, it should look like rock being held back by wood. To cover the cave, you might just use an old, dirty painters cloth.
I am sure you are aware of my concern for the weather here. The one thing I am going to invest in is plywood for the roof of the boxes and the tunnel. Most everything that is mechanical needs to be covered. That is the main reason for the tunnel, shack and doghouse. To keep that stuff dry. I am even trying to come up with a way to weather proof the MIB. It was under the porch last year so I don't know how to keep it dry if it is out in the yard.
It actually isn't a lot of space. Everything is kind of compact. It does seem to be more then what you have though because our yard wraps around and we are on a corner. Yours is cool though because it seems to blend in with its environment. Mine has the house as the backdrop. I have along way to go to even remotely be where you are. You have a great set up.
YHJ,
Do you have time to build a small lean-to type structure to place the MIB in?
It doesnt have to be but big enough to hold the box with a little head and side room to spare.
Its not like you have a lot to do..........LOL
There will be a door on the front of the shack that is open that will house my FCG. There will also be a rocking chair that rocks by itself on the front porch of the shack. Next to the house will be a dog house where their dog still waits for both of them. The corner of the yard will have a picket fence around it.
