# Dual-Duty FCG



## Scruffywolf (Sep 2, 2008)

I made my Flying Crank Ghost for the 2007 season and by all accounts he was a success. I had him running in my garage and i had people 3-deep standing in my driveway trying to figure him out. I got the idea for my FCG, of course, from the Phantasmechanics site as did many other people and the bulk of credit goes to them. If you want a complete Haunt, you HAVE to have one of these!

What makes my FCG a little different is, it serves a dual-duty, that is, during the build i couldn't locate a suitable motor in time which got my creative juices flowing, after all, necessity is the Mother of invention, right? In my vast search for the motor, i had a revelation while at the BBQ doing a mess of my famous ribs no less. As i watched my spit slowly turn i thought EUREKA! and the idea was born, i set to adapting your garden variety BBQ motor for use with my FCG.

After a bit of measuring and some "elbow grease" i found a great way to mount my rotisserie motor from Home Depot to suit my needs (see photo #1). Everything else was pretty much to specs as specified by the on-line FCG plans. I used stock angle aluminum and pulleys and "nut and bolt" construction. Once i found a way to mount my Rotisserie motor utilizing it's "slide into place" mounting system i was set to go. The only other adaptation i had to make was a long, thin bolt that would loosely thread into the Rotisserie's "square hole", again, after some "trial and error" i found a suitable bolt and away we went (see pic#2). 

Once finished (in time for Halloween 2007) i mounted it in my garage amongst some black cloth backdrops and mounted my FCG character that i made from a stock styrofoam prop i bought in a Halloween store, added some red L.E.D. "eyes" and washed the whole "Ghost" in UV paint from a craft store. Finally i covered the "Ghost" in cheesecloth washed in Tide (glows great in UV light) and the rest, they say, is History. I did have pictures of my ghost and video of it in action from 2007 but i lost most of my pictures in a "glitch" during transfer to my laptop so i promise (for those of you who care) i will provide footage from this year as soon as i'm done. 

The really great thing about my FCG of course is, when i'm not using the Ghost, the motor serves right back in my BBQ until needed for the next Halloween season, no muss, no fuss no waste. AND if the motor burns out or breaks, they are under $20 or so at your nearest Home Depot or Wal-Mart.

Good luck and Good Haunting......'Scruff'


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## Lurkerz (Aug 13, 2008)

Nice I like it Great idea


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## indeva (Aug 24, 2008)

I did the same thing but found that it couldn't lift much weight and when it was to much it would reverse it's self. I ended up going with the motor from grainger (Dayton motor). Glad to hear it is working g for some people! Nice work!


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## dionicia (Nov 5, 2006)

I like this idea. Thank you for posting this. We are going to try making the FCG lite at the next Make and Take we have in October. This might be a good variation to talk about.


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## Scruffywolf (Sep 2, 2008)

I hear you indeva and i totally agree to an extent and to remedy this i made my FCG as light as possible. I used a typical Halloween Specter made of Styrofoam with light plastic hands and thin wire structure beneath and the cheesecloth weighed nothing. I couldn't begin to tell you how much the whole thing weighs but it is fairly light. As far as the rotisserie motor, i really didn't experience any problems with stalling or reversal and, after reading your post i'm really thinking that i got a more torque positive motor and i'm not sure there is a standard with these things. I fully agree, the Dayton motor is the way to go but, when it's a hard to find item you use what\s available in a low torque, low speed motor and this was what popped into my mind. Lastly, when i wrote this "step-by-step" i was thinking ....."a motor that is cheap and readily available". I promise i will add to this posting in the near future when i get my full FCG out of storage and take more pictures and hopefully video as well so i can show you that the movement is basically no different than the "Dayton" FCG. Thank you all for reading.


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## domino942002 (Oct 7, 2008)

hi

i've been reading on this absolutely amazing forum for quite some time . I love your bbq rotissere idea. 

I went to home depot and picked up one for 30.00. 

Curious to know if you have a finished look with your fcg running on the that type of motor. 

Our trailer resort has its halloween this weekend on sunday and its quite the big event. we try to go all out. my husband goes up there and spends a week setting it up. 

Do you have any other pictures or video of your version of the fcg? 

It would be greatly appreciated.

thanks 

laura


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## Scruffywolf (Sep 2, 2008)

Hi Laura. Sorry, i had done another seperate posting when i should have linked it all up. I took a series of short videos in mu Garage at night and made a video with music from Midnight Syndicate......here it is and happy to oblige you. Best of luck with your function on Sunday......'Scruff


http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/72194-flying-crank-ghost.html


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## Mr Grimsley (May 8, 2008)

WOW! Scruffywolf, thanks for the tutorial... this has convinced me to try that for this year! Oh so much still to do!


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## Scruffywolf (Sep 2, 2008)

Thank you Shadowman


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## willise (May 7, 2005)

I just finished my FCG with a rotisserie motor and it works fine. The only issue I have is that during the rotation of the crank, the motor will slip and the ghost will make a quick fall. If I reverse the rotation of the motor, the slip still occurs, but in a different place. The ghost doesn't drop very far during the slip, and perhaps I will be the only one who notices it. But it is bothersome to me!  THis may be just my motor, I'm not sure. Next year, I will pick up a real motor for my FCG, but for this year, the rotisserie will do just fine.


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## Scruffywolf (Sep 2, 2008)

Willise, i find that this happens to mine as well. This is caused by the rotation of the Rotisserie motor and the actual weight of the "Ghost" catching up with the slack in the motor mechanism. You can tell that the Rotisserie motor has play in the gears and also, with the method i used, placing a round bolt into the square rotisserie motor mount hole will undoubtedly add to this "slack" To remedy this, you can Hot melt glue the bolt into the square hole to reduce or eliminate some of the play. This will not totally eliminate this problem but should dampen it a bit. Also, check all of your pulleys and fittings to help smooth out the motion as well. I went over my mechanism and used a little silicone spray to avoid the mechanics catching on places during movement. Ultimately yes, you could go out and buy a Dayton motor (or equivalent) which would alleviate the problem altogether but i began this thread, not to challenge the original plans, but to show how, when a haunter is in a pinch, he can "make do" with what is laying around in his Garage. Best of luck Haunters.......'Scruff'


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## domino942002 (Oct 7, 2008)

thanks for all the great advice. I just got off the phone with my husband at the trailer and told him I had learned how to do led lights for our spooky flying bride ghost. Well he told me something that I thought was a great idea and I would share in case anyone was looking for a cheap shortcut. 

I went to "The Source"..... (what used to be Radio Shack here in canada). 

Anyways, bought all I needed for the led lights. Came to about 15 dollars total. My husband said he went to Dollarama and got some cheap coffin that had flashing lights inside. They were led lights . He tore apart the coffin and said he got the whole set up done even with an on/off switch and mounted on a plate that he just slid into our styrofoam head with no work. 

Then he threw out the coffin. he was only after the led set up. He said it works perfectly. So thought I would share that.

Does anyone know if I can use that Glow paint I got at Home Depot on the actual styrofoam face? I want it to glow as well just a little. Not a lot . Just want the contours of her face to be evident. 

Laura


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## dionicia (Nov 5, 2006)

Just make sure it doesn't have anything in it that eats styrofoam. 

Michaels sells acrylic paint for less than $2 a bottle. Pink, orange, yellow and green. Why no blue I don't know.


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## willise (May 7, 2005)

I managed to stop the sudden free fall of the rotisserie motor. I ran some fishing line from the head, through the pulley and tied several washers to the end of the line. Now the ghost moves up and down quite gracefully. The weighted line is guided by a small eyehook inserted into the back of the head. 

The issue is definitely a result of using a rotisserie motor. I found a few examples on youtube that used these motors and the all had the same issue. The only thing I can't seem to overcome is the momentary stop of the motor once every revolution. That too, is a motor issue.

So, for the most part, the rotisserie motor is an excellent alternative to the Dayton. If you can get a dayton or the MonsterGuts motor, you should. But if you want an FCG on the cheap, rotisserie motors are the way to go!


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## Scruffywolf (Sep 2, 2008)

Domino, you and your husband are credits to this very forum, the kind of people that make this a better place for us all. With this kind of help and support and sharing of ideas people who couldn't afford to do props for their home haunts, wouldn't be able to at all. This puts props in the hands of everyone. Exactly what i mean, Willise too is the type that makes this a better place, taking a design and refining and making it better than the original......Kudos to you all. I find it somewhat sad when people learn things on here then take these ideas that are actually the offspring of many and sell them for their own gain. I was in a Halloween store today (the store shall remain nameless) and they had their own, cheap, flimsy FCG in a box which was juvenile at best and manufactured in China. It was a simple setup but nonetheless someone is making $$$ off it. It is sort of sad when the gentleman who originally invented it, Doug Ferguson, did not bother to patent it because he wanted everyone to be able to freely make this prop for their Haunts. In the video i made, you notice i gave credit to Phantasmechanics of which Doug was a part. This is how it should be, a sharing of free ideas except for the Vulture$........Cheers....'Scruff


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## redrider (Oct 23, 2008)

I also made one using a rotisserie motor a couple of years ago. I don't notice the freefall on mine. It might be the brand of motor or it might be my set up. I didn't copy the directions (dimensions) exactly nor does my ghost have a head, it's just 2 coat hangers and layered cheese cloth. 
I picked up 2 more motors at Target on clearance for $7.00 ea. So I'm trying to think of some projects for next year (maybe if I start now I'll finish more of what I planned)


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## redrider (Oct 23, 2008)

Here is a short video of my ghost from 2 years ago. (I couldn't link in my last post as it was my first)
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## redrider (Oct 23, 2008)

Whoops that didn't work. Lets try again


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## domino942002 (Oct 7, 2008)

wow redrider., great fcg. thank you very much scruff for your kind words. our trailer halloween was such a hit that we had people telling the park management to hire us to do the whole park. We had a total of 162 kids. can you believe that? and it was worth every minute. the look on their faces. in fact we had so many adults coming back over and over. 

I'll post pictures in a new post. 

We are still working on our fcg but all your ideas are absolutely fantastic. 

I was doing a service call in Walmart today.. and i was walking by the Christmas section.. saw those reindeer.. you know those animated ones.. where the head moves up and down or left and right.. and i saw this ABSOLUTELY PERFECT motor with the arms and everything all done doing basically the same effect. these reindeer here in canada cost about 20.00. wonder if anyone has tried this idea and if it has worked. look at your walmart to see if they have the display of reindeer to see the motor. looks like the right speed and rotation too

laura


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## Scruffywolf (Sep 2, 2008)

Domino, it sounds like a plan except, i have seen a lot of the workings in animated goodies (especially from China) and the components are cheap, made of nylon or plastic and either pressure fitted together or glued. I would prefer to either use a dedicated motor or (as in this case) a secondary motor rather than something makeshift or just plain cheap. Yes it may work for a little while, but i wouldn't want it to crap out when i need it the most.


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## Dr. Slickshill (Mar 15, 2005)

Scruf, it looks amazing!

Off topic... I swear on the life of my children, I've powered my FCG with nothing more than a disco ball motor for two seasons with no difficulties or gear slipping. It was on a whim, plus it was all I had at the moment, and it was a shock to see it actually last so long.


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## redrider (Oct 23, 2008)

I tried swapping out the rotisserie motor I used before with one of the new ones I got at Target and my ghost developed the same stall and drop that others had experienced. I opened both cases and the cheap Target rotisserie motors were very small with no gears while the old one I used before was a larger gear driven unit. That seems to have ben why I originally had no stall. I swapped back before the night began.


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## rebelxwing (Oct 7, 2008)

Clever, I am eyeing my BBQ rotisserie as I type this post!


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## mikeerdas (Jan 30, 2010)

Dr. Slickshill said:


> Scruf, it looks amazing!
> 
> Off topic... I swear on the life of my children, I've powered my FCG with nothing more than a disco ball motor for two seasons with no difficulties or gear slipping. It was on a whim, plus it was all I had at the moment, and it was a shock to see it actually last so long.


Anyone else used a disco ball motor? Trying to see what I can buy locally in time for this Halloween. I know Party City cells disco ball rotators; but its for the "mini" disco balls. Don't know if that makes a difference.

When people say they're buying rotisserie motors at Home Depot, do you mean you're buying a rotisserie unit and taking the motor out of it? Or do they sell the actual replacement motors--that one could use "from scratch." I don't have a rotisserie grill. How much would a cheap rotisserie grill itself cost, so I have something I can just plug into the wall and not have to wire a motor for power.


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## Scruffywolf (Sep 2, 2008)

First off, a FCG motor needs to be "torque-y" meaning, it needs to drive a load and, although "disco-ball" motors are carrying a load, the load is seldom that heavy. Although a rotisserie motor doesn't have as much torque as a Dayton motor or other compatible gear-driven motors, it seems to be able to do the job, i know, i've used one. Most rotisserie motors come already assembled with the motor encased in a metal box and ready to run. There is usually a square hole in one end of the motor that will accept the rotisserie spit that holds the roast. This hole should be easily adapted to accept some sort of drive to accommodate your FCG gear with a minimum of ingenuity. My rotisserie motor came from Home Depot for about $20-$30 in the box but i do know you can find them for cheaper if you look around......


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