41 Days 'Til Halloween: Meet Grool the Cauldron Zombie

Grool is done and the first new prop ready for the lawn this year. I'll share details about how he and the green stew were made later in October. In the meantime here are links to Grool's journey from sketch to cauldron:

Zombie a Month: November
Building A Better Cauldron: Part One
Building A Better Cauldron: Part Two
Making The Cauldron Pyre: Part One
Making The Cauldron Pyre: Part Two
Making The Cauldron Pyre: Part Three

61 Days 'Til Halloween: Making the Cauldron Pyre - Part Two

When we last left off in creating Grool the zombie's cauldron, the stone fire pit was finished. Now it was time to make the faux fire itself. But there's been some trial and error so far.

From the start I wanted it simple to make, not too high tech with X-mas lights and a bit over the top... but still fairly real looking. Most important it had to work within my annual "no budget" Halloween decorating budget.

The first version I made was okay and worked. I started by gluing on wrinkled tin-foil inside the pit to help reflect light, plus if seen would look like hot embers (actually an old Disneyland Imagineering trick). Then I attached a bucket wrapped in tin-foil to the center as a support for the cauldron (being hollow also allowed me to thread a light socket through for the cauldron's internal glow later). I surrounded the bucket with orange x-mas lights and placed a hood made from chicken wire around it. Over that I glued on a large piece of crumpled vellum and painted black.

I decided to rethink it. It didn't look the way I saw it in my mind's eye and didn't allow me easy access to the lights should I need to change a bulb or fuse. Also, being paper, it was flimsy and dangerous.

I stepped away from it for a day or so to ponder a new approach. I must of psychically put my need into the metaphysical creative ether because then, one of my favorite blogs Lost in Schlock posted a link to a great how-to called Glowing Hot Coals and literally mentioned it was the perfect thing for my cauldron project. And It was.

That project found on Halloweentforum.com by LT SCARE lead me to the original clever how-to that inspired it called Goldie's Bubbling Halloween Cauldron posted by Woodhegm on Instructables.com.
Both creations had exactly the look I wanted and used materials I was already working with. So my faux fire now is an amalgam of the two with a few changes that fit my needs.

I stripped away my first attempt but left the tin-foil base.

Both the glowing coal projects use expanding foam to create the coal mounds. Since I already had some foam blobs painted to look like ashy embers between the stones (from gluing in place), it's a great way to go and keeps the look throughout the prop.

In those projects though, the lights are permanently buried under the foam. I still want access to mine, so I'm keeping the hood over the lights concept, but making it so it's really solid and removable. I had the perfect thing for this. Years ago I acquired several large 18" plastic domes online from Barnard Ltd (which BTW is a great place to find odd decorating materials).

They've been that kind of precious thing in the material stash that you're afraid to waste on just any project and end up holding onto forever never using them. I'm finally, sort of, letting go and actually used one for a re-do of my old window monster eye prop last year. And now one will be the faux fire base.

I placed the dome in the center of my pit and used a heat gun to warp and melt it into a coal mound-ish shape. I did end up wasting a couple of domes melting them too much (it broke my heart).

Next I wanted to create a base to raise the dome up on. I traced it's shape and built up a ring of expanding foam in layers.

I wanted the dome to sit on top cleanly without gaps, so once dry I masked the ring in tin-foil contouring all the bumps. Then placed the dome on top and foamed it's bottom edges and added some all over it for more texture.

Once that dried, I peeled off the tin-foil and now I had a perfect removable top that fits snugly on the base to access the lights.

It's getting there. Next in Part Three I'll sculpt the foam a bit, poke some heat venting holes, paint, detail and add the lights!

77 Days 'til Halloween: Making the Cauldron Pyre - Part One

Now that the Cauldron is finished, today I started to make the pyre it will sit on boiling old Grool. I'm revising the one seen in the initial sketch. It's now going to be a decrepit stone fire pit. I want it to look like it was once pristine and perfect masonry, but the elements and hundreds of forbidden rituals have taken a toll.

Using a 36" plywood round as a base, I glued chunks of Styrofoam on with expanding foam. Then carved into wonky stone shapes using a paring knife. I have to say, I've used a lot different tools to shape bead foam in my time - hot wires, electric carving knives, box cutters, saws, grinders, etc. - but non compare to a good sharp kitchen paring knife.

After cleaning away the debris, I used a heat gun to "seal" the rough edges and shaped the foam blocks even more. I did this very quickly and wearing a respirator! The fumes are really noxious.

I always enjoy painting Styrofoam when it's supposed to look like rock. It's texture and absorption does most of the faux finishing for you. Just an initial black wash on it looked pretty good.

Because there will be a lot of black scorching and grey ash details in and around the pit, I added some olive green and tan color wash to the stones for contrast using a spray bottle. The green, especially puddling in small divots and crevices added a really cool, old growth mossy feel.

To help the pit look well used, I glued some bits of foam in between the stones as piled up embers spilling out. They were based coated black and dry brushed with a bluish grey for an ashy look.

I'm probably going to add more embers all the way around the bottom edge, but I'll do that as a finishing touch once the entire piece is done.

That's it for now. Next in Part Two - creating the faux fire itself. My hope is to make it big and bright enough that it will cast a nice glow on some surrounding props in the yard.

82 Days 'til Halloween: Building a Better Cauldron - Part One

I was going to begin making my Zombie a Month characters for the yard with Capt. Umpkin, but I changed my mind. I'm starting with the first one sketched, November's Cauldron Zombie, who by the way, I've now named Grool.

Grool is going to be a simpler but better quality looking re-imaging of an old cauldron character from a few years ago. Back then he was a jungle explorer boiling in a cannibal's stew. He's since fallen into serious disrepair.

First, I stripped down the old prop to just the cauldron. It's the ordinary plastic type found at most stores around Halloween. I want to make it a better looking one.

I honestly really love these classic blow-molded cauldrons, they have a great shape. Unfortunately they also always look cheap and fake. Obviously a good paint job will help, but there are two things that the best faux finish could never fix that I want to change - the loosely implied handles and thin edge to the lip.

Since the lip's edge is curled inwards a bit, I realized I just had to fill it in to give it a good thick and heavy cast iron look. I used a bead of expanding foam applied underneath all the way around. Once fully dry, I carved it down with a paring knife and sanded into shape.

Next I made a thin mix of DAP Presto Patch and coated it over the foam and entire edge filling in gaps. As it dried I added a few more layers building it up to look solid.

I moved on to making handles. I used my old friend Crayola Model Magic to create the rings. I simply rolled out a long band, like making a snake, then wrapped around a roll of tape for a decent shaped circle and trimmed.

For the handle bases, I used two Styrofoam balls coated in Presto Patch and drilled holes through the center to loop the rings through.

One dry enough, I glued on top of the cauldron's original molded handles (now they look like part of the new handle's base).

That's it for now. In Part Two, the cauldron is painted, weathered and finished.

Zombie a Month: Capt. Umpkin Bilgetober

 The Tale of Captain Bilgetober

At the peak of his pirate career, Capt. Umpkin Bilgetober looted the "Crone's Cauldron" a merchant ship out of Salem, Massachusetts. To his surprise, instead of riches, it was laden with pumpkins. In his frustration, he ordered them all smashed and the "Crone's Cauldron" sunk. Unfortunately, what Umpkin didn't know was that the ship and it's cargo belonged to the East Witch Trading Company.

A curse was put upon him. Every Oct 31st for all eternity he rises from his grave and must sail the "Crones' Cauldron" across the seven seas in one night collecting pumpkins to replace the ones he destroyed. Over the centuries Capt. Bilgetober has come to revel in his annual task and often emerges early in the month planning his voyage while enjoying casks and bottles of Candy Corn rum.

Some say, Umpkin's crew is made up of 31 shanghaied trick or treaters every year.

Captain Umpkin is going to be a Halloween prop makeover of Capt. Wigbeard who was created back in 2008.

He's always been one of my favorites and a character I've wanted to re-do closer to the look and back story I've had in my head for a while. My great grim garage is getting a good cleaning this week, so I think the nefarious Capt. will be my first Halloween prop to tackle as he's not too far from his new look. A good project to ease into ones that are starting from scratch.

Umpkin will be the old Wigbeard "blucky" skeleton reposed and repainted with all new costume elements added to the original, including a bigger hat. His head and hands will be all new. And I thought as long as he has a hook and patched eye, why not a new peg leg? He'll also now sit on a gravestone surrounded by some half buried plunder - including kegs and bottles of Candy Corn rum (since rum comes from fermented sugar cane or molasses, I figure not too far a stretch). My overall hope is to make him much more jovial and fun looking, inspired by classic Marc Davis Pirates of the Caribbean designs and sketches.

Zombie a Month: Duncan Foorapples

A new Halloween resident this year will be Duncan Foorapples. Duncan's our graveyard I.T. guy, unfortunately for him though, all the ghosts and ghouls haunting the place were interred long before computers and cyber space. It leaves him little to do. Duncan passes the time organizing pencils in his pocket protector and trying to get everyone into playing "Dungeons and Dragons".

I want keep the holiday fun for small Trick or Treaters visiting. Although many of my Halloween zombies are lighthearted, I've found they can still be too scary for some little ones. I hoping to make Duncan a blatantly funny looking character just for them.

As usual, he's going to be a "blucky" based creation. I want to custom make his nerdy spectacles out of two giant magnifying glasses, it would be fun if his enlarged eyes were a real effect. Not sure if I'll get the time to make his calculator gravestone, but definitely an idea to be filed away for another year.

Zombie a Month: Crombones the Zombarian

Behold the Usurper of tricks or treats next Halloween!

 

I had a serious barbarian phase as a kid that never really went away. Inspired by Thor opening this weekend and the new Conan movie later this summer, my old love of horn helmed warriors will be given homage this Halloween.

Zombie A Month: Mrs. Scaryweather Returns

Being April and as gardens begin blooming I thought about my old prop zombie Mrs. Scaryweather from Halloween 09. She definitely needs to return this year.

I liked her a lot back then but she was created in haste. Almost everyday that October, I was out on the lawn with super glue or wire trying to keep her old bones together. By the time I took the display down she was completely falling apart and needed a total do-over. It didn't happen though, so she skipped Halloween 2010.

This year with her return, she'll be tending a small pumpkin patch. I have some ideas bouncing around in my head on how to make a faux one, complete with vines and leaves. As you can see in the sketch at top, I think it might be fun to go a step further, creating a whole spooky garden setting for her.

A Zombie A Month: Sam Haney the Assistant

My Halloween prop graveyard keeper Patrick O'Treaty needs an assistant next October. You know, someone to push the corpse cart around and make sure the freshly dug plot dirt is in neat mounds.

The back story I imagine has O'Treaty going from tombstone to tombstone reading epitaphs, like resumes, searching good undead help.

He chose Sam Haney after seeing his...

"Money made 

in the black plague,

charg'in a forch'in

for every new coffin."

A Zombie A Month: Undeadana Jones

I've wanted to create an Indiana Jones inspired Halloween yard zombie for years. With 2011 being Raiders' 30th anniversary I'm going to do my best to make this guy a reality by October.

The concept may change by then, but for now, it's an homage to the great opening scene turning the familiar idol Indy nabbed into a gravestone ornament.

A Zombie A Month: Oh Rats!

Here's the idea for January's "blucky" based zombie creation for next Halloween. This guy should be fairy easy to make as I'm just going to recycle the smashed pumpkin headed zombie from a couple of years ago, which I was never really happy with (I did like the idea though which may return in some variation of).

The fun part will be making the rat holding the brain. Not sure if I'll start from scratch or customize some pre-made props. Since fabrication on November and December's zombies hasn't gotten very far yet, there's plenty of time to figure it out.

A Zombie A Month: December's Forgotten Prisoner

I'm already behind still working on last month's cauldron stew zombie, but no reason not to keep on schedule idea wise.

This forgotten prisoner is next in line to be created. He should be really fun to make and a character who's been in my Halloween display mind's eye for awhile now. He'll hang off the front porch awning.

I'm going to incorporate the dungeon shackles prop from a couple of years ago which were made from cardboard tubes some Christmas presents were shipped in. So there is some sort of a December connection.

A Zombie a Month: November

After much musing on and sketching ideas for, I've decided not to just fix up the old jungle explorer cannibal dinner prop, but make it a complete do-over.

I thought about changing him to a chef or a pilgrim or a witch, but not every zombie has to be a unique personality. In this case I'm going to make the cauldron the character and change the zombie to a simpler fun detail just peeking out of the wretched brew.

My hope is this becomes a set piece complimenting the wall hanging witch crash prop and create a themed area for her in that part of the Halloween display. Maybe adding a table in there of some kind with her spell books, potions and an embarrassed looking black cat familiar spirit.

The challenge here will be taking the original cheap-o plastic party store cauldron and making it "real" looking. I want to add some custom made handles and a decent paint job so it seems like actual cast iron. The burning logs and embers underneath will get attention to detail as well.

A Zombie A Month

I just discovered, while sorting and packing up Halloween props, I have exactly 12 torso free skulls from past zombie creations that have fallen apart over the years. They've inspired a fun way to keep the Halloween prop making flame burning as a countdown to next October. I'm going to try and make a zombie a month. I figure it's a realistic goal, spending an hour or so working on once in awhile.

If I pull this off, plus the few still complete ones from this year, there would be 16 zombies lurking on the lawn in 2011. Fun to imagine. Also fun to imagine... completing just half the past ideas I've had not including zombies.

I thought with Thanksgiving soon upon us, a feasting theme would be apropos for November. My really old and beat up, jungle explorer cannibal victim will get fixed up and re-made as the first zombie. Might be fun to change him into a pilgrim as well. It's a look that would still work at Halloween. We'll see.

As he once was back in '06...

As he is today, in need of much repair...