[SaltwaterServr]

I had one heckuva time trying to build a pelvis for the only skeleton I built from scratch this year. It was so bad I had to corpse it so no one would laugh at the poor thing.

It came to me that maybe I could build a pelvis like people build skulls over anatomical models. You know, doing the tin foil over it, then paper mache on top of that, and finally cutting the paper mache off of the model.

I want to build some next year using the Pumpkinrot style, but those dang pelvises are what's holding me back.

Has anyone tried that method and if so would this critter here work as a base for the build?

http://www.amazon.com/Axis-Scientif...F8&qid=1415254792&sr=8-2&keywords=male+pelvis

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Sure, that would work. Lately, I've been making mine out of cardboard, but it's still a very tricky shape, and I've never been truly satisfied with mine, either. http://www.halloweenforum.com/hallo...ens-nervous-tot-zombie.html?highlight=chicken

I'm going to give it a shot in the new year. It's one part of the body that for some reason I feel needs to be accurate to sell the skeleton. The ribs? I ain't worried about no stinkin' ribs with how good Pumpkinrot's props turn out.

Hand and feet? I have an issue with those too. They need to look like hands and feet and not the weird funky things I put together this past season. Forearms too. Those need to look realistic.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

A piece of sheet metal, new or scrap, it would probably have to be at least 30 inches long by 10 inches tall.
Wrap it into a smooth "Circle".
Draw the lines you need with a marker.
Cut the lines 1/4 higher than your mark.
Using pliers bend that 1/4 inch 90 degrees of the upright.
Reshape the entire piece rounded again to create the hip bone.
Bolt or pop-rivet the ends together.
Add whatever material you will be working with to slightly fill it out to a more realistic thickness. (Fiberglass, Bondo, plaster, paper mache....)
If you don't have the tools, they don't cost much. "red" handled tin snips- circle snips $9.00? Pop rivet gun $5.00? Pop rivets $3.00
Pop rivets are often better than sheet metal screws because there will not be a sharp point to worry about and one side of them finishes very flat, easier to hide with just paint.

I might give that a shot. I already have all the sheet metal working tools needed, including the pop riveter. This would fit the bill perfectly from HD and Lowes, and it cuts out any corrosion concerns.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Amerimax...l-Finish-Aluminum-Roll-Valley-68310/100054269

Yep, I made a few hands by making each bone out of Sculpey. They looked pretty good, but too labor intensive. I suppose you could sculpt one really nice one, and mold it. Then you'd just lay in some wire before pouring in your casting material. Could work for feet, too. And maybe you'd only have to sculpt one if you just switch the digits around on the other casting.

If you really pay attention, though, there's a certain finesse in Pumpkinrot's ribs that most propmakers' don't have.

Someone here had found a hollow skeleton hand at one of the Dollar type stores and was using those as molds. I looked at all the various types of those stores around here and came up empty.

Pumpkinrot does a great job at the organic look that I can't touch. Plus, he's great about fashioning his rib cages to have the expected look of a true rib cage that creates a great impact. They have great curvature to the individual rib plus they have excellent "rib cage" shape.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

The metal might actually be the better way to go if I could find a flat pattern to draw the form onto the aluminum before cutting.