# Push Eject's Nightmare Before Christmas Clock Blog Resurrected



## Push Eject (Oct 11, 2005)

This post got lost a couple years ago when the blogs were removed:

I was inspired by Kristie's blog post here: Halloween Count Down Clock Prop and decided to try my hand at making my own NBC countdown clock.

Inspiration:




  








hmh NBC CC original.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020








Clock at the Haunted Mansion
Things bought:

18" grape vine wreath (craft store)
Acrylic plexiglass, min. 18" wide (home improvement store)
(6) led puck lights
Black acrylic paint
Plastic jewels
Things had:

(2) old 5.2v ac/dc adapters
(4) cup hooks
1/4" hardboard
1/2" mdf
old hard drive magnets
flat gray primer
flat black spray paint
flat white spray paint
burnt umber paint
black oil based sharpee
wood glue
Tools used:

Jigsaw
Table saw
Drill
Dremel
Nail/staple gun
Hot glue gun





  








nbc-clock - 1.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020








Front and back cut from 1/4" hardboard with a jigsaw.I made this 18" wide, but in retrospect I wish I'd gone about 2 inches wider





  








nbc-clock - 4.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020








Sides of 2"x1/2" MDF attached with glue and brads. Flat black sprayed on inner edges





  








nbc-clock - 5.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020








Hot-glued plastic jewels





  








nbc-clock - 9.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020








Gray primer





  








nbc-clock - 10.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020







Black wash & white dry brush





  








nbc-clock - 11.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020







Rusty bolts; I used a burnt umber acrylic





  








nbc-clock - 12.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020







Acrylic plexiglass sprayed lightly with flat white on the back.
Lettering done with a black oil-based Sharpee





  








nbc-clock - 13.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020








Edges "silhouetted" with flat black spray paint.





  








nbc-clock - 15.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020







Plexi hot-glued in-place





  








nbc-clock - 7.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020







Old hard drive magnets routed into the corners of the back hardboard.
This was not the most effective way to attach the back. For the back of the clock face I just screwed it together.





  








nbc-clock - 8.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020







Countersunk screws for the magnets to attract





  








nbc-clock - 19.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020







Two cheap puck lamps disassembled and both leds hot-glued to back panel





  








nbc-clock - 20.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020







Puck light lens glued in place over both leds





  








nbc-clock - 18.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020







Back panel on





  








nbc-clock - 2.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020








Face plexiglass cut. Rear sprayed white. Front painted by hand with black acrylic





  








nbc-clock - 23.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020









Face edges silhouetted with flat black.
Clock hands cut from scrap plexi and sprayed flat black. Attached with a nut & bolt.
I used two separate power supplies so I don't have to display the whole prop (i.e. just putting the base on a table instead of hanging it all), but I could have easily run all the leds off one adapter.





  








nbc-clock - 17.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020








Grape vine wreath sprayed with flat black and dry-brushed with white. Attached with black zip ties.





  








nbc-clock - 25.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020








Cup hooks to hold the face and base together





  








nbc-clock - 24.jpg




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Push Eject


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Oct 13, 2020








Prop complete!

Happy Halloween!
-Charlie


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## Jp85 (Oct 6, 2018)

Is the back box of the actual clock portion circle or did you just make it like an octogon with the plexi overhanging in spots? If that makes sense


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## Push Eject (Oct 11, 2005)

It's octagonal. I grabbed a bunch of scrap lumber to put it together.


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## Phoenix3Immortal (Oct 3, 2019)

Excellent work! 

Thank you for re-posting the tutorial and giving me inspiration for growing my NBC prop collection.


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## Push Eject (Oct 11, 2005)

You're welcome! I was bummed when the old blogs disappeared and then realized I could do something about it. LOL


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