i figured i'd show progress pics of the giant spider i'm making for this year. it's going to be a crank style spider. i was going to build a pneumatic rig and have it jump at people, but i didn't want it to be messed with, swung at, and otherwise possibly cause harm. i also didn't know how to secure the legs for that kind of motion and stress. so now i think i'm going to hook it up to a switch so that a black light comes on and the crank starts moving with some kinda creepy soundtrack loop. it'll be in a web and have a spider victim underneath it.

so here's some pics of the progress so far...


the chicken wire cepholathorax (head)


cepholathorax and partially taped up abdomen pieced together for appearance testing


side shot to show better shape of abdomen taped up even further


cepholathorax taped up


cepholathorx and abdomen (from now on together called the body) secured together and completely taped up.


under/side of body with 2 layers of newspaper mache


top/side of body mached up


and the legs. each is 40 inches of 3/4" pvc bent with a heat gun i bought yesturday for $20 at northern tools =D

the legs will have a hole drilled in the top near where it connect to the body. the wires in the body will then connect the legs. i don't know how to finish off the legs. i don't want the end of them to be just the cut off pvc. i also have to make the eyes and fangs. mache them onto the body, then base paint with latex and detail paint with blacklight reactive paint. should i make the base coat brown or black?

more updates later tonight or tomorrow.

any suggestion, comments welcome so far.

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"Trick or treat" is not a greeting, it's an ultimatum ~ Spats

Looking awesome so far BATFLY! I can't wait to see the bugger in all it's cranking glory.

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LOOKING GOOD!!

For the ends...maybe cut some pine claws...cut with bandsaw tapered on belt sander (would be quick and durable).

Can't wait to see the "mechanics"

Dennis

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The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep

That's real neat. Great job so far.

thanks,
yeah i was thinking something like that dacostasr. you know, i got some styrofoam left over. i could carve that and then shove it in the pvc end and use mache to blend it in. that'd keep the weight down.

oh i think i forgot to mention, this is my first time doing the mache thing, and i gotta say it's pretty fun and messy =D

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"Trick or treat" is not a greeting, it's an ultimatum ~ Spats

Yep mache over foam would be strong...and light. Having fun peeling the mache from your hands?? LOL.

Like I said....LOOKING GOOD...first time...nice work. How many coats are you going to put on...I did two on one project and it was pretty strong.

Later,

Dennis

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The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep

When I made my PVC spider I put PVC caps on the ends of the legs. But before I put the caps on I drilled a hole in the end of each cap and inserted a bolt and secured it with a nut - so that an inch or so of the bolt stuck out, giving the caps pointy ends which I covered with Celluclay to blend them into the legs. The legs I covered with a thin coat of Celluclay to give a rough natural texture which also disguised them as being made out of PVC.

I like Octoberist idea of giving the legs some texture. Another alternative to consider is using paper towels and glue mache over the legs. Don't smooth it out too much. I'm not sure the glue mache will stick to the PVC very well, so you might want to run a few strips of duct tape along the PVC first. The glue mache will stick to the duct tape. My 2 cents.

I've toyed with the idea of covering the PVC with Great Stuff and then while wearing latex gloves smooth it out. leaving a thin layer. That way it has texture but doesn't have that Great Stuff look.

Has anyone tried this?

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A short drop and a sudden stop.
My Parlor

Great Stuff expanding foam is EXTREMELY sticky and will stick to latex gloves. You may soon have a hand covered in goop that makes it hard to mold the wet foam. I found the best way was to use the nozzle and spread it carefully as desired, let it cure and sculpt after that. It is easy to sculpt and can be done with a sharp knife or x-acto blade.