Hi guys,
I've been wanting to make a groundbreaker for the last two years and, thanks to all the inspiration I've found here, I've finally gotten around to starting it this past weekend.
Here’s my list of purchased supplies and costs so far:
- three foam skulls at $5.96 each
- two 10’ pvc ¾” pipe at $8.99 each
- six 45° pvc elbows at $0.93 each
- three pvc crosses at $1.71 each
- six 90° pvc elbows at $0.79 each
- two packs of eighteen #4 x ½” wood screws at $1.59 each
- one pack of 16-guage 15 metre galvanized steel wire at $5.89
That’s a total cost of $60.38 before tax, about $20 CDN each groundbreaker.
I also used stuff that I had around the house such as: duct tape, hot glue gun and sticks, drill, exacto knife, newspaper, drill with bits, measuring tape, scissors, pliers, Sharpie and a paring knife.
I wanted to experiment with different lengths between the three breakers so I put together an Excel document to calculate the different lengths I needed to cut for each 10’ pvc pipe. I didn’t want any waste so I organized the pieces and lengths to match the length of each pipe. I used a measuring tape and Sharpie to mark and label the pieces and used my in-law’s miter saw to cut the pvc pipes. At first, I identified them at A, B, and C, but have since given them names. Here’s their measurements:
Alfred
spine 18”, collar bone 7” (x2), upper arm 12” (x2), forearm 10” (x2) and neck 6”
Buster
spine 16”, collar bone 6” (x2), upper arm 12” (x2), forearm 11” (x2) and neck 6”
Carl
spine 16”, collar bone 7” (x2), upper arm 11” (x2), forearm 10” (x2) and neck 6”
Basically, Alfred’s got the longest spine, Buster’s got the longest forearms and shortest collar bones, and Carl’s got the shortest upper arms. Here's Alfred, Buster and Carl, left to right:
(Buster looks taller cuz his spine is not fully down on the dowel)
At first, I was going to use pvc cement to connect the pieces to the fittings but decided that it would be too permanent and decided to go with drilling wood screws in case I ever wanted to make future changes. I also made three temporary bases using scrap wood and dowel rods.
I used three full sheets of newspaper and rolled them up, starting at the corner, and taping them with a piece of duct tape. I then cut pieces of wire to the length of the newspaper, jammed it through the middle and started bending it to form an oval. I made a breast bone (parallel with the pipe) with half a newspaper tube to reinforce the chest and used full-length tubes to make four ribs. I’ll put collar bones on once I figure out the positioning of each breaker's arms.
I also started to cut the foam skulls so I can reposition the jaws and am considering making some glow in the dark polymer teeth. I hollowed out the lower jaw a bit as it was really thick.
Next step is positioning the arms, attaching the skulls and starting the paper mache before painting and sealing. I plan on just using rebar outside instead of creating a base.
Questions:
Should I make the lower jaw narrower in depth so that the current Styrofoam teeth aren’t so thick?
If I do decide to go ahead with it, how should I add polymer teeth?
Do you think the ribs are too close to the shoulders?
Should I make the space between the ribs wider so that they take up more room on the spine?
Should the collar bones be shorter so that the arms are closer to the ribs?
Thanks for reading! I'm really excited about these props as it will add a nice creepy factor to my graveyard.
