Here’s one way to make a relatively cheap skeletal rib cage for some prop you may be building. It’s made from a Walmart plastic, oval trash can. It’s simply a matter of drawing a rib cage on the trash can and then cutting out the space between the ribs. The hard part is deciding how to finish or texture the rib cage once it is cut out. I decided to smear a two part polyurethane foam on the ribs mainly because I had some left over from another project. You have to mix the polyurethane foam in a lot of small batches and work quickly before it expands and becomes tacky. I’m sure there are other options for texturing the ribs that are worth trying. I toyed with the idea of wrapping the ribs with strips of burlap and then slapping on monster mud, but I haven’t tried that yet.
18” high Walmart, oval trash can. A mere $5 bucks. Ignore the can of Great Stuff as I did not use it.
Draw ribs, sternum and spine on the trash can. I ended up using ½” masking tape to delineate the ribs.
Cut out the spaces between the ribs using tin snips or a jig saw. I used both. Leave the bottom of the trash can until last as it adds stability.
Here’s half the spaces cut out.
All the spaces cut out including the bottom of the trash and also the top rim.
Back view of the spine and ribs
Rib cage after being smeared with 2 part polyurethane foam.
Rib cage after receiving a paint job. Reddish brown paint, then black paint, then lacquer. I use latex paint and then mist with water. That’s All Folks!
OMG I love it! I would to expand on this if I can. For those of us who would rather not spend $5 on each rib cage we make, why not buy 1 can and make a paper mache duplicate? Then proceed to draw and cut out ribs. It won't be water-proof unless properly sealed (something I have yet to figure out lol. This is truly a great idea you have. I need probably a couple dozen skeletons for next year. Thanks alot for the info!
Thanks to all who have made comments so far. Some have wondered how I plan to use the rib cage. Check out the picture of our Haunt Greeter and you’ll see the rib cage
It may be possible to make the rib cage more anatomically correct by cutting the top 3 or 4 ribs loose from the spine and pulling them in to reduce their circumference. Then reattach them to the spine with a screw or pop rivet. I decided not to do this as Greeter’s burlap hides the top of the rib cage.
Looks good, I made skeletal hands out of a 6 in pvc pipe in kinda the same way, I used a jigsaw to cut it, its amazing the things you can dream up if you really want to.
