We ran multiple pneumatic props one year and the best jump scares we had were from a drop window and the Fright Props flash cracker. This thing is loud and startling. We used it at the final scene as you exited our garage haunt, and this one woman went running out spilling her wine all over herself. I didn't realize she and her friends had entered with drinks since I was at the exit, but she learned her lesson ;-)

 

Monster In a Box, if motion-activated.

 

You can use electric car door lock actuators to release spring loaded pop-up type props.

 

Yeah I think that's a good way to go. Hard to find good examples on the likes of Youtube, though. Would you happen to have any idea if there are any Youtube channels that examine the insides of store bought props? The Sitting Clown and Scarecrow look like pretty good frights but a) you can't get these in the UK and b) I've no idea what's happening inside them.

I'd be quite curious to see what the mechanism inside actually is.

 

Well, a solenoid to release a spring mech is only a small part of the set up. You need some type of motor powerful enough to reset the spring and latch it. You then need some type of controller to execute all the operations.

 

https://youtu.be/f3aKK_oR_r8

 

I have been experimenting with doing such with a wiper motor. Here is my concept. To set up a wiper motor with the parking feature so that it rotates and stops. Now using a larger gear on the wiper motor connected to a linear gear . Now a 2 inch radius gear on the wiper motor at 50 RPM on 12V High would give me 12.5 Inches of travel in about 1.2 seconds. I believe that attached to a scissor mechanism I could make a prop lunge 4 - 5 feet in that 1.2 seconds which is more than enough to do a jump scare. And then reverse the polarity to allow the prop to return to its home position but that would be a lower voltage on the low side of the motor allowing it to close much slower.

Any thoughts?

 

Well you're basing the timing on a no load situation. Depending on how much load is on the motor when the scissor is closed, it may take longer for full extension.

 

I thought about that and how to overcome the initial force to start the movement. J-Man you are one of my goto people when it comes to things I may have missed. In this case I have several different gears to experiment with. Along with possible spring assist or limiting the retraction on my scissors to eleviate some of the load and force necessary to let the prop run smoothly. And with just starting out with actual prop controllers this is going to make for a lot of fun and experimentation to see what I can come up with. Not something i am doing for this year so i have a lot of time to work in the mad scientist shop ( my garage) to play with this concept.

 

Interested to see what you come up with on this. While it may not be as quick as pneumatic, it may work out.