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------WebKitFormBoundary45OR6eNxSsyVDwPr Content-Disposition: form-data; name="userfile"; filename="corpsehow.html" Content-Type: text/html How To Make Corpses and Mummies

Here's how I created the corpse to the left.

First, I assembled a Revell plastic model skull kit. (These plastic skulls are no longer being made. The Lifelike Pirate skull would be a good substitute.) The skull is then attached to a length of PVC pipe using urethane foam sealant inside the skull. Holes are drilled into the PVC to run coathanger wire through. The coathanger wire is bent into the shape of the ribs, which are then covered with a material called Sculpt-a-Mold and sculpted to shape. The arms are dowels and the hands are Sculpey molded over a wire armature.

The eye is the ball from an underarm deodorant roll-on set in place into the skull eye socket. I created the skin using strips of paper towels dipped in latex. Texturing was done by adding corn meal to the latex. The corpse was then colored by an acrylic paint wash to pick up detail.

Some cheap but effective corpses/mummies. Start with the blow molded plastic skeletons that sell for between $10 to $20. Replace the hands and feet with the corpse hand techniques detailed elsewhere on this site. The skeletons are then wrapped with wide masking tape lengthwise down the body and along the limbs. Tthen color them using brown and black shoe polish. Finally, they are varnished to keep the colors from rubbing off.

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------WebKitFormBoundary45OR6eNxSsyVDwPr Content-Disposition: form-data; name="userfile"; filename="entergraveyard.html" Content-Type: text/html The Haunted Graveyard  

Click on a gravestone to enter a graveyard.

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Copyright 2000 by John Hart. Do not reproduce or otherwise use the images without express written permission.

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These gravestones start out as blocks of EPS (expanded polystyrene) foam, similar to Styrofoam. The shapes were cut out using a hot wire. Back when I first started making gravestones, I would make two masonite forms to put the blocks of foam between to use as a template for cutting. Now I send CAD files to the foam company for them to cut the foam out with.

After the forms are cut, the letters and details are burned in with a soldering iron. A good tip: Build yourself a plug-in box with a dimmer to adjust the temperature of the soldering iron. You can also pit the surface of the foam with a light spraying of Chemtool (a carburetor cleaner). Spray lightly though, this stuff will eat right through the foam.

Paint the foam with a dark gray latex house paint. Then dry brush (just a little paint on the brush) an off-white latex paint from the top down. You can sponge in moss growing and other details.

For a final touch I like to take Rosco invisible blue (a paint only visible under blacklight) and dry brush that over the finished gravestone. It makes for a spooky moonlit effect in blacklight.

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Here are some tips for those who want to do their own haunt decorating.

Gravestones

Ghostly Hands

Ghostly Head

Spooky Tree

Mummies & Corpses

Below are some links to some other projects and items of interest.

Past Projects
Mount Hope Cemetary

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