[Hauntcast]

What kind of props or projects is monster mud best used for?

 

[LadyAlthea]

i know it was used heavily on the beloved tombstone project. It seems to be a fairly popular medium on here. I am itching to try it out this season but not sure what on..

 

[Mr_Chicken]

I usually see it on props meant to look like statues, but I made a tree stump with monster mud (I also used spray foam for texture-- made some lines and cut them in half vertically when they dried)

Here it is in front of the witch in both pics:
DSCN8741.JPG (image)
DSCN8740.JPG (image)

What I learned: it's not all that strong (unless you used more of it ,perhaps), and it will certainly make things heavy. Also, make sure you have a place to store whatever you make, because.....yeah....

 

[LadyAlthea]

Mr Chicken, first, i LOVE your user name and second, that tree stump looks fantastic! what was the original form?

 

[Terra]

Terror Syndicate really took to using Monster Mud to extreme. Here's the site that explains its uses and links to pictures of their props:

http://www.terrorsyndicate.com/tsp_mm.html

 

[RookieSpooker]

This is my favorite example of a MM project...

Here is the link to the build.

 

[Mr_Chicken]

Yeah, the first time I saw Merlin's Reaper Stone, I was dying to have one, but I've never gotten around to it.

LadyA, First, thank you very much . Second, the tree stump is a circular piece of plywood for the top and a squiggley piece for the bottom spaced apart with a couple of 2x4s. I staple-gunned some chicken wire around that and wrapped it in an old sheet coated in MM.

 

[scourge]

I really need to try this monster mud thing. The end result is show stopping.

 

[Vendetta]

Wow, the reaper is awsome!!!!! Maybe adding sand to the monster mud to give it a stone texture?????

 

[Terra]

Maybe adding sand to the monster mud to give it a stone texture?????

Here's an idea that kills two birds with one stone (heh...) anyways, if you are going to put it outside then you need to waterproof it. For example, after I coated my Beloved with the MM, I put three coats of Drylok (gray) over that. Drylok has the sand already in it and I had Beloved out in the Kansas elements for a solid month and no damage. Plus, with every coat of Drylok I put on, the more it took the stone-like features of the MM and made it more authentic.

Here is how she looks after the MM:

This shows the progression of the three coats of Drylok:

After the painting details:

 

[bethene]

Mr Chicken love the stump,looks real! Also, love th witch and hag, did you sculpt those, and make the hands too? Also, the crystal ball, is that made? the set up there looks great.
Terra, as usual, I get blown away by your beloved, it is so awesome!

 

[Mr_Chicken]

Wow, Terra, that's fantastic! Bet you get a lot of comments from visitors!

bethene, I sculpted both witches' faces out of Model Magic and used rubber monster gloves for their hands (except for the arms of the one at the crystal ball, which I also sculpted). The crystal ball info is here.

 

[Vendetta]

Nice Terra!!! I like the Drylock Idea!!! OK then lets simplify the formula and save money, why should we add paint to the drywall mud ?

Couldn't we just thin the dry wall compound down with water, apply, let dry, several coats of Drylock, add highlights with exterior paint?

 

[Terra]

Thanks so much everyone I just get so excited when I see people talking about MM projects. There is so much potential and people are just starting to figure out neat ways how to use it. I had just ran across an idea to use it to texture walls!

In regards to why use paint at all in the MM mix....good question.. I was thinking it adds some kind of binder element to the drywall compound but I really don't know why it works. So I did a bit of investigating and discovered the MM was originally used for set designers. It can make textures on walls (make it look like stone) and the like. The problem with using plain drywall compound for them is when they move sets around it flakes off when it's flexed or moved around a lot. So, paint is added so the latex in the paint helps to bind the drywall compound so it can flex.

Hope that helps.

 

[dariusobells]

DryLock its a great fuax finish on it's own as well. All my tomb stones are MM and so was the giant spider we had a few years ago. This year I came across a can of mis-tinted drylock at Home depot and used it on my crypts rather than muding them it gave a great stone effect. (my oldest is the body in the vault she made teenagers cry this year)

 

[Wolfman]

Dude, forget Monster Mud. Move into the 21st Century and use this stuff -

http://www.custombuildingproducts.com/docs/data_sheets/Fix-It-All (DSC112).pdf?user=diy&lang=en

It sets up fast, so you need to use it in smaller batches. But it dries rock-hard yet still sandable. I've used it over Hardware cloth, a sort of fiberglass mesh. It takes paint well, it's virtually vandal-proof, but it is heavy.

 

[Homestead Haunt]

Mixing in a gallon of dark latex paint will offer up some coloring when your panit job get nicked! Many of my MM props get nicks and dings on the and the base color which is ususally a dark grat comes through it generally isnt noticable. On some of the MM props, that base color is my finished color with a few shadows added. Mixing in that gallon sure beats having the stark white drywall mud showing.....As far as moving into the 21st century....no thanks! MM is quick and easy!

 

[MHooch]

Mr Chicken, I absolutely love the witch and hag, those girls are ROCKIN'!!!!! The tree stump is fabulous, too. I've never used MM, but it's about time I started.