[Brother Grim]

Holy crap that's a lot of work. Do you run a haunt or just do it for fun?

 

[Clad In Shadows]

Awesome wall partitions !
I'm sure this will be a hit in your haunt !

 

[Terra]

Thanks everyone. Got the second coat on and Tuesday will start on the last coat of gesso.

Brother Grim: heheh...yeah it's a lot of work but I love my hobby. This is in my garage. Here's the layout for this year:

I know, I know...seven pneumatics?! Well, that's the goal at least. Yeah, I like to think big



Here's the progress shots so far:

Second coat of gesso is on.

This is an up close shot to show you that after the first coat of gesso dried, it fills in the tiny impressions in the landscape fabric. This also shows you the coverage a second coat of gesso will give you. Oh yeah....you can see the texture of the type of landscape fabric I use.

 

[darkmaster]

Looks good and progressing along very well.

 

[trentsketch]

You just leave the black landscaping fabric un-coated? Interesting. I have use for some large scale blacklight effects in my haunt this year and this is starting to look like a strong possibility. I think I might be commandeering the family's supply when the tomato planting is finished. We're still using the same roll we bought three years ago. I don't think they'll miss a few yards.

 

[operatingnurse]

You make this look so "do-able" - even though I know it's a ton, ton of work. I'm starting to think about running the kiddies through our garage side door next year before hitting the porch for their treat. This might be the ticket. 2011 planning in progress...

 

[Morbid Mike]

holy cats great work!!!!

 

[Fright Theatre]

Girl has got some talent!

Hey Terra!

Trade ya some skeletons for some artwork/panels..................

Super job!!

Steve

 

[Guest]

WOW! WOW! WOW! I bow to the master...
Your stuff is always AMAZING!!!

 

[Ghost of Spookie]

The pics of the gesso coverage were interesting. I wouldn't have thought it would have filled in the small weave holes. I can see now why you have been doing several coats to give you that solid bright white undercoating you are looking for before applying the ChromaDepth paint. What kind of paint tool you are using to apply the gesso (sorry if you already mentioned)?

BTW also found your haunt layout interesting to look at. How large is your garage area again? Bigger than a two-car garage? For some reason I thought you used part of a basement too. I know the past videos made the haunt look absolutely huge from my perspective.

 

[Terra]

Glad to be inspiring with this. I am really stoked about this year's illusions.

Hey Terra!

Trade ya some skeletons for some artwork/panels..................

Super job!!

Steve

Tempting... but your stuff is so awesome it wouldn't be a fair trade.

The pics of the gesso coverage were interesting. I wouldn't have thought it would have filled in the small weave holes. I can see now why you have been doing several coats to give you that solid bright white undercoating you are looking for before applying the ChromaDepth paint. What kind of paint tool you are using to apply the gesso (sorry if you already mentioned)?

BTW also found your haunt layout interesting to look at. How large is your garage area again? Bigger than a two-car garage? For some reason I thought you used part of a basement too. I know the past videos made the haunt look absolutely huge from my perspective.

Yeah, the fabric doesn't look like paint would go through. There isn't holes you can see... just stamped-in squares. But, boy, does it soak up the paint! Oh, I was at Home Depot the other day and I saw a similar product on their shelves but don't be tempted. It's much thinner. The stuff I get is what the pro's use and comes in 6' x 300' rolls. It's more like very thick paper/fabric with a felt-like feel to it.

The paint I'm using for the gesso is a recipe I made up. It's not a real gesso mix but it's working great so far. Generally it's 1 gallon of Sculpt or Coat, 1 1/2 gallons of cheap ceiling latex paint plus a tube of white acrylic to pump up the white (I'm still tweaking this recipe). For the eight panels I'm painting it looks like I will be using all 2 1/2 gallons I made. I am using a 1" flat brush for large areas and a 1/2" brush for tight spots.

My garage is technically a three car garage. It has two bays. One single and one double. It is neat how big it seems when you build a maze in it! I have parents that still remark that they swore they also had to travel in the house. They have a hard time believing the whole maze was just in the garage. Now, there are some skinny hallways there. Each square is one foot. Two of those hallways is only 2 1/2' wide.

 

[darkpenguincowboy]

Well, I have been watching this thread for a while, just thought I would say...these are AWESOME! They are already better than most of the 3-D houses have at professional/ametuer haunts! For a while I gave up on these houses and wrote them off as cheap and hokey looking, the "cheesy" way out of making another full house. Now I realize those houses came off as sub-par because of the attitude of the owners!

You put so much thought and detail into your panels, they really function as they are supposed to, by adding depth and tons of "space" to your haunt, instead of just serving to add a $2 "glasses" fee to a price. yet again, you have taken a concept I had all but given up on and breathed new death into it! Bravo!

 

[hauntcrazy]

Terra
I discovered landscape fabric last year myself.
I built several wall partitions using the same technique that you did.
I put in several tears, windows, and passage ways to hide behind. The great thing is, you can see through it and see people coming. Then jump out at them as they walk past. I might try some of your 3D paintings this year in some of my halls. Just need to find a good deal on the glasses. I know you got some last year. Where did you find them again?

 

[Terra]

Well, I have been watching this thread for a while, just thought I would say...these are AWESOME! They are already better than most of the 3-D houses have at professional/ametuer haunts! For a while I gave up on these houses and wrote them off as cheap and hokey looking, the "cheesy" way out of making another full house. Now I realize those houses came off as sub-par because of the attitude of the owners!

You put so much thought and detail into your panels, they really function as they are supposed to, by adding depth and tons of "space" to your haunt, instead of just serving to add a $2 "glasses" fee to a price. yet again, you have taken a concept I had all but given up on and breathed new death into it! Bravo!

Wow... seriously?! That makes me feel so wonderful to hear that. I too have noticed that sometimes the art used in the haunts is missing out a little on the effects they can achieve. There is a theory behind the ChromaDepth illusion and it's just not painting it in certain colors. Thank you so much for appreciating it. Glad the study I've put into this is paying off.

Terra
I discovered landscape fabric last year myself.
I built several wall partitions using the same technique that you did.
I put in several tears, windows, and passage ways to hide behind. The great thing is, you can see through it and see people coming. Then jump out at them as they walk past. I might try some of your 3D paintings this year in some of my halls. Just need to find a good deal on the glasses. I know you got some last year. Where did you find them again?

Yep, I love it. I went to landscape fabric for several reasons but one of them is that they aren't shiny like the black plastic stuff. It just looks cheapy to me. To clarify: I can't see through the landscape fabric I use so I don't have that advantage but I do cut out peep holes

As far as the glasses. I contacted the group I bought mine from to see if they would allow smaller orders. It's been a few days and I haven't heard from them yet. But, I really don't think you need to buy these in bulk. If you get 10-40 (depending on the number of ToTs you get) pairs of plastic framed glasses and use them rotationally, you should be good: http://www.the3dmarket.com/Plastic/chromadepthstandard.asp



Here's the latest update:

I've almost finished putting the third coat of gesso on the panels:

I've broadened the area I've coated. I did this so when I paint it, I will be able to have color shadows. It will still be fairly black but it will give a sense of the whole object and not look so disjointed. Because I did the first two coats in the smaller areas I can still make out the forms easily.

Here's a super-dooper up close shot of the fabric. I hope it better shows the type I'm using:

I had done a test panel to see what coverage I get with different coats:

I've debated on whether I should do a total of four. You get slightly better coverage but for the time and amount of gesso that would take, I decided on the three coats. We will see how that turns out. Plus, I'm just about out of the 2 1/2 gallons of gesso I made

 

[Brother Grim]

Terra, I don't think anyone would ever accuse you of going the easy way or short cutting your projects. All of the ones I've seen to date have been professional grade from the get go... if not better.

 

[rockplayson]

Terra,
Will you marry me? Amazing work as always.

 

[naberhoodhaunts]

That is soooo awesome Terra!!! you really put alot into your haunt. well done. cant wait to see it all when its done.

 

[Lynn]

Love it Terra! We are wanting to do a 3-D area in our haunt but I am a little apprehensive about it.. I am just wondering about giving out the glasses and then having to collect them a short time later. Our haunt is about 22 rooms with only 2 being 3D so I can't decide if we should tackle it.

One question I have..... Is there a reason for mixing the gesso rather than just painting with white flat latex paint? We have a 3d dot room where we painted white dots with white tempura paint and then spray painted flourescent paint dots over that. Worked out great. So I'm curious if there is a reason that I don't know of.

You've swayed me back towards doing the 3D..... not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing

Keep up the GREAT work.

 

[trentsketch]

Lynn, the landscaping fabric has tiny holes in it. A thinner paint, even a latex paint, would go straight through the holes and be very uneven at best. The paint would pool up in the back and probably make the fabric go wonky. At worst, you'd have holes in the fabric that would impact the effect of the 3D and blacklight illusions.

 

[Terra]

Aw shucks..even a marriage proposal. You're all terrific for my ego


Got an update from the 3D glasses source I have. The smallest order they will take is for 1,000 pairs at .50 each. Their deadline for orders is August 4 and payment must be made in advance. If anyone would like the contact info, PM me. But again, I don't think you need to bulk order these. Just collect 'em as they exit your haunt.

Love it Terra! We are wanting to do a 3-D area in our haunt but I am a little apprehensive about it.. I am just wondering about giving out the glasses and then having to collect them a short time later. Our haunt is about 22 rooms with only 2 being 3D so I can't decide if we should tackle it.

One question I have..... Is there a reason for mixing the gesso rather than just painting with white flat latex paint? We have a 3d dot room where we painted white dots with white tempura paint and then spray painted flourescent paint dots over that. Worked out great. So I'm curious if there is a reason that I don't know of.

You've swayed me back towards doing the 3D..... not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing

Keep up the GREAT work.

Yep, trentsketch is correct. I tested cheap exterior latex house paint before and it didn't have the body to fill in the fabric. It just got sucked right into the landscape fabric without filling it in much. I would think you would need several more coats to get the fill that I got with gesso. Didn't test tempura paint and if that works, then that's a great option!

I'm used to using gesso and so that's a fall-back for me. There are several viscosities that you can get for gesso. For this project I was trying to get the perfect balance of thick enough to cover well but thin enough to brush easily. I get a slightly too thick gesso and then thin it down with water to get the right consistency.





.