# Build Your Own Brain in a Jar !



## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

*Brain Build Part 2*

Now that I used the hot glue for the insulators, I can cast other details. I used simple sand casting, as I intended only to put round bolts/rivets/whatever around the perimeter of the jar. Sandcasting with hot glue can make a nice cast iron look, especially if what you want is a somewhat rough, pitted look.

I filled a little container with the finest sand I could find in my backyard. I added a little water, and it was ready to take an impression.










I used a CO2 cartridge from a BB gun to make the impression. I simply pressed it into the sand as deep as I wanted the final cast to be.

I did have to "touch up" the impressions as I went, since the sand would deform some of the earlier impressions as new ones were made.

Once I made the impressions, it was simple enough to fill them with hot glue and wait for them to cool. When they looked cool enough, I used the sticks from the previous step to poke the tacky glue and lift the casts out. Dipping them in cold water would harden them more if necessary.









There is a lot of sand stuck to them. I just rubbed/washed that off and dried them before painting.























Painting hot glue is pretty straightforward. I just painted them black with the $0.98 black spray paint from Wal-Mart, then applied 2 metallic colors. I started with a copper first, then applied silver on top. Again, chromatically similar to the paint already on the jar, but not attempting to be identical.

Once dry, I simply hot glued the new details to the jar where I wanted them.








So a jar holding a living brain is going to need more than a little plastic snap on lid. It needs something that suggests technology, power, maybe a little madness. Providence and Chevrolet provided just the thing.

There I am, coming home on the freeway, when what should I see on the shoulder but a little Chevy hubcap. As it gleamed in the sun, I knew it was exactly what I needed. No one was behind me, so... Slow down, pull over, open the door, snap! It's in the car and I'm on my way home to paint!









As it turns out, the thing fit on the jar like it was engineered precisely for that purpose. There are little plastic pieces that snap right over the rim of the jar and hold it so tightly that I can lift the whole thing - brain and water included - simply by lifting the hubcap. Sweet, right?

I decided that the Chevy logo was not going to work for my theme, so I treated it the same as the jar - taped up what I did not want to paint and sanded the rest - with two differences.


First, it turns out the people at Chevy use a really high quality plastic or resin to cover their logo. It is clear, hard, and REALLY tough to scratch. I had to use coarse sandpaper to start, only gradually using finer and fined sheets. It took WAAYYY more time and effort than the pretzel jar.

Second, though I did not really want to repaint the silver of the hubcap, I did nothing to cover that part. I let the overspray happen.










Once the logo was covered in black, I added a coat of silver and a lighter coat of copper. I also added a light dusting of copper to the silver of the hubcap itself.


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

*Brain Build part 3*

If I was really good at planning and soldering, I probably would have matched up the jar details with the 6 "bolts" on the cap, and I would have drilled a hole in at least one of the hollow bolts to run wires through. I didn't think about the detail thing until later, and as for running the wires through, I decided it would make it too tough for me to finish the brain and when done, the brain and lid would be permanently combined.

I like little details on my props that make them interesting even under full daylight. For this jar, I mixed up some red acrylic and water for an "oxidation" that would run down the jar. I also added this to the conductors / insulators. Only after adding this did I remove the paper covering the "glass".


I also added some small splashes of green and a particularly nasty splotch of green, where some horrible stuff got on the jar and the doctor, in his mania, never bothered to clean up.

















On the inside, I flicked some red paint from my brush on the inside of the walls. There has to be blood involved somewhere, right?

I knew I wanted flashing LEDs, and I also knew I did not want to spend a lot of time or money building some kind of apparatus for that. So I went to my local 99 Cents Only and got a couple of the flashing light swords.

It was a pretty simple matter to open them up, solder extension wires in, and screw them back together.









Once they were long enough, I taped them into place inside my brain mold. It's supposed to be for making gelatin brains, but I figured Great Stuff expanding foam would work too.








Once the LEDs were more or less where I expected them to end up, it was time to make the brain itself. For this I chose Great Stuff expanding foam insulation.

This is really a great material for something like this. It seems to dry waterproof and light, and can be carved when dry too. There are some things one should know about it before making a brain in a jello-mold with it though.

For one thing, it expands as it cures, and it apparently cures from the outside first. I'm guessing that's from contact with the air. Because of this, large molds should be done in thin layers and allowed to cure. I did NOT do this. I simply filled it up with Great Stuff and waited for it to dry.

In a few hours, the top had dried and expanded. In the process, it lifted away from the bottom and could not be pressed back down. The bottom (Which was the top of the brain) never did cure. It was a mess! I had a base that puffed up way too much, and no top. The LEDs were awash in a nasty sticky soup of uncured foam.









I pulled them out and cleaned them. I also cleaned out the mold with boiling water followed by Goof Off and more boiling water. It does interesting things in contact with boiling water. 

You know, if you soak a Q-tip in Goof Off you can clean out the Great Stuff Nozzle before the stuff cures and you can use what's left in the can. It took me 2 cans to figure that one out. Anyway...

I flipped the cured 1/2 over and kind of hand-molded my brain. The LED patterns I worried so much about were right out the window, and I just did my best not to clump them all together. Finally it cured.










If I were using this method again, I would remember to apply the great stuff in thin layers. Also, I would use only 1/2 of the brain mold. Using the whole thing made it too big and it sat too high in the water.

If you are wondering, I did put a thin layer of vegetable oil on the mold as a release agent. Based on how the stuff cured though, and from the smoothness of the mold, I think that was probably unnecessary.

Now it was time to paint.


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

*Brain Build Part 4*

Brains are gray right? Well, only dead ones are gray. Live brains are pinkish. This brain is somewhere in between.

I have a long history with SFX makeup, and I tend to think in terms of making a prop realistic under full light. I only started doing "stage makeup" this year, and painting props is new to me altogether. It didn't take long for me to understand why so many Halloween props are painted in garish, almost childish paint jobs. Subtleties are lost in low light situations like a haunt would have. So I sucked it up and painted my own high contrast brain using pink, red, and gray.









Normally, I work from darkest colors to brightest. This time, I wanted the "shadow" areas to be pink or red, with the outer surface more gray. Whether a brain really looks like that or not is irrelevant, I think. It's about people's expectations and about creating a response, right?









So, I liberally applied pink acrylic paint all over the recesses of the brain, thinning it a bit with water to get it in the crevices. Then I "highlighted" the edges in red. It's an organ. It has to have red in there. Finally, I coated all the high parts with gray paint.

The end result is a paint job as subtle as a circus poster, but under indoor lighting with the LEDs on, I think it works well. I hope you agree!








I wanted the brain floating in bubbles. Lots of bubbles. At the same store where I got the swords they had aquarium stuff. I picked up a "Bubble Bar" aerator and put that at the bottom, with tubing running to an aquarium air pump.

I cut a notch in the rim of the jar for the air hose and the wires to go through under the cap.









I decided all the sword handles needed was a paint job to fit right in, so I painted them the same combination of black and metallics as the rest of the cap and hot glued them into place - buttons up, of course.

The brain floated far to high in the water, so I added some lead weights from a local tire store to sink it a bit. If I had made only 1/2 the brain, this would not have been necessary at all.

The brain fit right into the mouth of the jar and floated about like I imagined it should. To mask the bubble bar, I originally added a bit of milk. I don't recommend that approach. Turns out clear water works just fine, without the smell.










I bought a light up LED coaster to light from the bottom, to disappointing result. No matter. The actual prop shelf will have much brighter light coming up from underneath.

Here's the finished product, sans light up shelf: 









I also made a couple of videos - one outside in daylight, and one inside. I'll post those at some point. I'd appreciate comments!


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## Calloween (Mar 8, 2009)

That's awesome!


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

Calloween said:


> That's awesome!


Why, thank you, Calloween!


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## chop shop (Oct 31, 2010)

Very Nice, looks diabolical! Funny how the hubcap fit right into the project, lol.


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

chop shop said:


> Very Nice, looks diabolical! Funny how the hubcap fit right into the project, lol.


Thanks Chop Shop. I love your stuff, BTW.


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## xrockonx911 (Jul 28, 2010)

this is awesome!
Gotta keep this in mind... I just recycled two large pretzel jars! Oh well- halfway through another tub.


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

xrockonx911 said:


> this is awesome!
> Gotta keep this in mind... I just recycled two large pretzel jars! Oh well- halfway through another tub.


You must use these huge jars for your haunt! Someone commented he is going to put an actual head in his. Definitely Halloween haunt material.


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

Similar step=by step coming for my other specimen jars.


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## Dr. TerrorEyes (Jul 16, 2007)

So very clever...that's using your brain!


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

Dr. TerrorEyes said:


> So very clever...that's using your brain!


Hahaha! Thanks Doc!


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)




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## spookyone (Aug 23, 2009)

Pretty cool!!keep up the good work


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

spookyone said:


> Pretty cool!!keep up the good work


Thanks Spookyone! I appreciate that. I think I will keep working on this stuff.


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## Chocolatechip1979 (Aug 16, 2011)

Just finished my brain and caught a few of my friends using it as a football. Men i tell you.


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## emoviecostumes (Aug 17, 2011)

Wow that is definitely cool! Thanks for the tutorial I will for sure keep this idea in mind come decorating time!


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

chocolatechip1979 said:


> just finished my brain and caught a few of my friends using it as a football. Men i tell you.


hahahahahahahaha!


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

emoviecostumes said:


> Wow that is definitely cool! Thanks for the tutorial I will for sure keep this idea in mind come decorating time!


Thanks epic! BTW - it IS decorating time. Better get going!


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## MonsterBoss (Jul 27, 2009)

I am gonna make one of these this year!!!!!!


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

MonsterBoss said:


> I am gonna make one of these this year!!!!!!


Looking forward to the pictures! I hope the tutorial makes it an easy and fun build!


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## rockingthehomestead (Sep 1, 2014)

This is genius!!


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## xxScorpion64xx (Oct 15, 2011)

Pretty cool, thanks for the tut


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## Starlight (Sep 5, 2014)

Great work! Thanks for the tut.


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

Starlight said:


> Great work! Thanks for the tut.


Happy you found it, Starlight!


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## luizacarmo (Nov 22, 2014)

it looks SO perfect !! Congratulations for your job


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