So in the spirit of building more Halloween decor I tried my hand at paper mache.
This is what I wound up with.
I took the inspiration for this from Unhinged Productions on Youtube.
You should check him out for great ideas and tutorials.
I deviated from his design in that I didn’t have any rubber hose to use so for the body I used pvc pipe and a heat gun for bending it.
I started with a 28″ section for the spine then heated and flattened it about 7 inches from the top. Then drilled a hole for the pipe to fit into in a piece of 2X8 pine I had laying around.
Since I used 3/4 pvc I had to drill a 7/8 hole since pvc is measured in inside diameter.
Then the pipe was glued and screwed to the wood.
I next used a piece that was 18 inches long for the shoulder. It was flattened in the middle and screwed to the other pipe at the spot I had previously flattened on it.
Next came the fun part. Making a collar bone and ribs.
I first split three, two foot sections of pvc pipe down the middle with my bandsaw.
Then using a screw gun I attached one end about 1-1/2 inches from the edge of the shoulder. Heated it and bent it so that it came outward. Then heated it in the middle and bent it back inward to attach it to the other side.
Next I attached a piece around to the back and heated it and bent it around to look like a misshapen rib.
Then I did the same with the others to form the rib cage.
I deviated again with the arms and hands.
I measured and cut two 27 inch sections of pipe and heated it to shrink and fit into the pipe I was using for the shoulders. I then heated the pipe at a length I considered would be good for an elbow and bent the pipe after I positioned it where I wanted I screwed it into place at the shoulder.
For the hands I used old plastic clothes hangers cut into lengths and then hot glued together. I heated the end where they came together and forced it into the end of the arm pipe. I also split the arm pipe below the elbow down to the wrist and heated it and spread it apart.
Once the hands were placed where I wanted I screwed them to the pipe.
Then began the process of covering it all with paper mache.
For paste I used 6 cups of flower, two cups of Tite Bond wood glue, two, cups of water and 1 cup of corn starch.
For the paper I used cheap Dollar General paper towels.
They soak up alot of paste but they seem to be very sturdy.
I then followed the directions for making “clay” from Unhinged Productions. Click their name for the tutorial video.
After coating it with clay and letting it dry for several days. I then sealed it with polyurethane, and after letting it dry for two days I sprayed it with a low gloss clear spray paint roughly four coats.
For the head I again deviated and made an attempt at a pumpkin.
I started by stuffing a Wal Mart bag with as much soft stuff as I could find (other bags, shredded paper, that sort of stuff).
Once I could get no more into the bag I tied it shut. Then used twine to try to make the ribs that most pumpkins have. Unfortunately the ribs didn’t come out to great.
I used the same paste as above.
For the paper I used one layer of paper towels, one layer of shredded news paper, another paper towel layer, another shredded newspaper layer, one of heavy duty shop towels, another news paper and finally another paper towel layer.
I let that dry for about a week and then carved out the openings and clear coated it with polyurethane and four coats of clear spray paint.
For the teeth I had some ceramic calk that had dried so I carved teeth out of that and glued them to the pumpkin.
To make the eyes light up I found some old led Christmas lights and connected them to an old cell phone charger.
I hot glued the lights into position and painted my creation.
The board is clearly visible in the lower picture but it gets covered with leaves when it is done.
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