# Animated Spider Victim: Tutorial



## Terra

Another one of my older tutorials. Brushed off the dust and shined it up a bit. If you want to see it in action and have me explain how it works, please see this video:















The genesis and heart of this 5' tall spider victim is from a _'Hanging Man Zombie'_ prop made by Gemmy and was sold at Michael's _(probably other stores too)_. He was puny but the mechanism was terrific. Think of the mechanism as a swinging pendulum.













And, this is what it'll look like when finished.




















*Materials Needed:*
Blucky
Gemmy _'Hanging Man Zombie'_ prop 
Cheesecloth 
Webbing
Blanket batting
Wire or jute rope

*Tools Needed: *
Glue gun
Scissors
Dremel with cutting tool


*Remove Bag Covering Prop:* Cut the bag off the _'Hanging Man Zombie'_ so you can see all the mechanisms. You will see that he is originally designed to be hung from his feet. For this prop, you will hang him from his head. 

*Cut Blucky Skull:* Cut the back of the Blucky skull so you can insert the prop. Also, cut out the eyes and the lower jaw of the Blucky skull to allow the light and motion sensor of the prop to still be active inside the Blucky skull.

*Glue Skull Together:* Glue the Blucky skull back together to hold it and the prop together.

















Before this picture was taken, you would see that the mechanism that makes this prop work is a simple long spring that is attached to a swinging motor. Exactly like a pendulum. The key is to keep the movement as unhindered as possible.​


*Wire Leg Bone:* Wire or rope a leg bone to the top of the spring. Have the rest of the spring inside the bone. Attach the bottom leg bone and foot.















*Cut Ribcage:* You will need to cut away _(I used the Dremel)_ the breastbone, some of the lower ribs and the lower spine so you can attach the rib cage to the mechanism. Save the lower spine, you will need that later. I wired _(or roped)_ wire going through the arm openings to the other side and back around to hold the mechanism in place. 

*Adjust to Free Movement:* As you see in the second picture, I went a little far in cutting out Blucky's spine. Keep a section of his spine intact so the ribs don't buckle back into the mechanism. If you need to, glue in a piece of bone to keep the chest rigid. You will see red circles where I glued in the extra bone. Check to be sure that the pendulum can swing freely. 

*Cut to Access Battery Cover:* Also be sure you've cut away enough of his spine that you can remove the battery cover.





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*Attach Arms:* Attach his arms and wrap some of that blanket batting around them. Glue the arms to the shoulders so the arms stay in place.












Hang him up from the string on top of Blucky's head. This will make your work much easier. Now you will continue to make a 'cage' so that the mechanism can move freely. You've already done that by attaching the arms and chest but now you have to do the same for the front and back. Easily solved.

*Attach Pelvis:* Grab the pelvis and cut away the front half but keep the hole where the spine attaches intact. Glue back in the spine _(that you had cut away from the chest)_ to the pelvis. Test fit the pelvis assembly to the chest _(where you will be gluing it)_ to be sure that it won't hinder the movement. Glue into place. I red circled where I glued the pelvis assembly to the chest.

*Extend Arms:* For the front 'cage' I rigged the arms so they would extend out from the body using string.














You can just see a string from the wrists to the chest that is lifting the arms away from the body. This is also a great shot to show where the pelvis is glued to the chest. ​


*Drape Cheesecloth:* Now drape on some cheesecloth. Make sure that you leave extra cheesecloth at the bottom because you will still be attaching his other leg and that will make him taller.













*Drape Webbing:* Now drape on some webbing. After the first pass, find gunk that you can put on it to show that this poor guy has been here a bit. I used sand, some leftover moss and the general dirt that's on my basement floor. Then do another wrapping of webbing. 

*Attach Other Leg:* Just before the last layer of webbing, attach his remaining leg to the cheesecloth where it is long enough to make your animated man life-sized. Then do your final wrap of webbing and loosely close up the bottom. I left his foot sticking out with just a little webbing covering it.

*Grime-up:* Throw on some more dirt and stuff. Turn him to the back and cut out an opening for the battery cover and you are done!


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## JustJimAZ

Fun stuff Terra. Thanks for dusting this one off!


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