# Birth of a Spooky town (dialup beware)



## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

Hello again all

As i have said in a few other post i have become one of the latest victomes of the world of spooky town. all those will lights and sounds have drawn me in and wont be letting go any time soon. well soon after finding them i ran out and purchased all the pieces i liked. then i went on to ebay and found all the older ones that i liked. once i had the pieces i wanted it was time to figure out what to do with them.

i have a dining room table that i wanted to be the display table but the pieces i had seemed a bit crowded on it. i then decided to make a "island style display. my idea was to build a Island out of foam. the theme was a old island that had a huge cave running under it along with houses and such that have been built on the island. this works well this year due to the high amount of large pirate pieces that are being sold this year. 

the entire structure is made from 2 inch insulation foam that can be purchased at home depot. We used hotwire foam factory pro tools kit for all the cutting. after the cutting was done we used paper mache and monster mud to coat the entire piece. these pics show the building of the the island up to the point that it is today. still a TON of painting and landscaping design left to do. I put a few of the pieces on it for some of the pics to give a better idea as to what i was thinking. The first few pics are pics of the designing stage just make a ruff idea as to what we want. i will continue to post more pics as this project moved forward. please feel free to add any comments are suggestions. any and all input is much appreciated.


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

more pics


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

more yet again.


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## JohnnyL (Nov 6, 2005)

Wow, incredible job so far. Love what you're doing. Look into maybe a cave type deal with a mister inside to create some eerie low-lying fog over the ocean. 

Keep us posted!


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

we made some walls and sidewalks with clay that will be painted and added after the mud goes on. we also started to make lots of trees


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

some pics after i started to airbrush the rock look to everything. inside the cave there will be some very cool lighting along with fog like said above that will be produced with a sonic fogger. 
everything on the bottom will be water as if the pirate found treasure in the cave and have raided the island.


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

only a few more pics


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

the last batch of pics for tonight.
as you can see i have started to add some of the lightings for the house walkway. i wanted all wires to be hidden to i put down the lights and then mudded over them. this of course will be painted a ground color. when the top is done it will be a very lush landscape or grasses and trees. the holes are more the wires for each piece. i do not want any wires to show when everything is complete.


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## Greencapt (Sep 13, 2005)

Terrific and inspiring work!

As and aside, you don't happen to play WarHammer do you?


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

Greencapt said:


> Terrific and inspiring work!
> 
> As and aside, you don't happen to play WarHammer do you?


thanks

I would have to say no considering i have no idea what warhammer is lol. Now i am curious, why do you ask?


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## Greencapt (Sep 13, 2005)

LOL- Warhammer is a miniatures war game created in the U.K. and spread around the world. There are fantasy and sci-fi game settings and the battles are played out on large tables similar to what you have built. The advanced players build their own terrain pieces and buildings. They have some great models for sale and your work and textures reminded me of what a long-time player would have made!

http://uk.games-workshop.com/warhammer/terrain/


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## Bilbo (Mar 8, 2007)

Oh man, Scavy... I can NOT let my wife see this thread!! I promised her I would make a mantle landscape for her SpookyTown pieces and if she got a HINT of what is possible, I wouldn't have any time for my own decorations.

Seriously, an inspired piece of work. Nice job.

::: sniff, sniff... I want an airbrush ::


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## a witch from canada (Jul 13, 2005)

that is awsome !!!!

you are soooooo good to be able to do this ....keep it up,and keep the pic coming, it looks amazing


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## LilsheDevil (Aug 30, 2005)

Very nice work indeed,I got tired after watching you work...lol....Can't wait to see it finished!
I just may end up adding this to my honey-do list...


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

thanks for all the nice comments. lots more still to do but so far i am really happy with it. now all i have to do is stop buying new pieces. since starting this i have have added four peices and have no place to put them lol. we have decided to just make those cool little scene pumpkins with them


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## Madame Leota (Sep 19, 2005)

Very nice! It makes me think of "The Goonies"!

Are you planning to make this a permanent display?


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## Freak 'N' Stein (Feb 14, 2007)

So detailed...can't wait to see it complete....awe inspiring!


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

Madame Leota said:


> Very nice! It makes me think of "The Goonies"!
> 
> Are you planning to make this a permanent display?


funny part is that is the exact movie i had in mind when doing this lol. when the wall breaks down and the big ol cave opens up. good eye.

it wont really be permanent but some parts wont come off like the little bag lights. but all large houses will come off. the plan is to make a new set each year for a different room in the house


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## Creepycanmore (May 28, 2007)

Fantastic work. Thats the best display style for spooky town I've seen yet. Well done.


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## beadyeyedbrat (Aug 25, 2007)

Extraordinary! Thank you so much for sharing this.


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

*New Addition and Pics*

hello all

thanks again to all for the nice comments. Tonight I installed some of the lighting for the cave. i used a few different spot lights in purple and then i took some clear one and colored the lens orange. i really like to two tone look for the cave.
I also started with the ground cover. adding some ground work and a few shrubs. there is still ALOT more ground work to be done. Fell free to let me know what you thing of the additions


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

last ones for tonight


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## beadyeyedbrat (Aug 25, 2007)

Better and better. I am in awe. Interesting headline under it


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## WickedBB70 (Aug 23, 2007)

WOW!!   This is absolutely fantastic!! You have talent my dear!


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## dionicia (Nov 5, 2006)

You did a fantastic job. Really cool.


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## childofthenight (Aug 24, 2007)

Im addicted to spooky town and I love your work nice job!!


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## JohnnyL (Nov 6, 2005)

I'm shocked. wow. WOW. *WOW!!!*


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

*some new pics*

some more pics after working a bit more tonight. Added a bunch more ground work and put a few buildings in place to get a better idea as to where trees and shrubs should go.


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## pkh5695 (May 22, 2006)

i cant wait to see how you are going to do the water


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## Voodoo (Oct 15, 2004)

That is very inspiring. I wish I was that talented. My wife saw a Spooky Town set up at a friends house the other night. She seems interested in getting into it..


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

pkh5695 said:


> i cant wait to see how you are going to do the water


i think you will really like it. should have the water complete by the end of this weekend


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## malibuman (Oct 13, 2005)

I am in awe of your talent. There is just no words to describe the fantastic job you have been doing. Can't wait to see what you add next. Job extremely well done.


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

did not do to much tonight. i added some more ground work and also detailed this little ledge. I built this mini animal skeleton for what i feel is a nice added touch to this empty cliff.

tomorrow i will have alot more pics to add


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## Irishcure (Sep 8, 2007)

scavengerhaunt - Congratulations on a fantastic project. I applaude you on what is a brilliant piece of work you should be very very proud of yourself.


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## Lynn (Aug 23, 2005)

So cool. I havent saw 'spooky town' before, but after seeing your work, I can see where it could be addictive. Great job !


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

Lynn said:


> So cool. I havent saw 'spooky town' before, but after seeing your work, I can see where it could be addictive. Great job !


thanks.

justmake sure that when you get into it that you have lots of extra money because you are going to want it all lol. its kinda like crack


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## Madame Leota (Sep 19, 2005)

Wow! It just keeps getting better and better! It will be truly stunning when you are finished. I think I'd want to keep it displayed all year long if mine looked like yours! Unfortunately, the top of my upright piano is all the space I can find for mine so I guess it will stay on the small side - for now anyway .

Keep up the good work and keep the photos coming!


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

*New pics*

well tonight i added the last of the ground work. i put most of the pieces into place. next i will do the water and after that its time to light it up and enjoy it. once its fully done later this weekend i will take a video of everything all lit up


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

*new pics*


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## maximpakt (Aug 11, 2006)

wow, that is amazing.


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## Hideous Creature (Sep 28, 2004)

Great job, looks terrific! Very nicely done...only...I wanna live there!!


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## hellogoodbye12 (Jul 13, 2007)

looks awesome! you should add some leaves, i hve leaves all over my village i think it adds alot more detail
.


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

hellogoodbye12 said:


> looks awesome! you should add some leaves, i have leaves all over my village i think it adds alot more detail
> .


thanks

we bought some but when i put them on i did not like it
this is on a island with very few trees and the few that are there are bare. they are all made to be much older creepy looking trees so they have been bare for a long time and the leaves would be long gone. i thought the leaves looked to be out of place. the only place i left some are around the one tree that does still have leaves on it.


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## Madame Leota (Sep 19, 2005)

And I didn't think you could improve on it anymore! It almost makes me think I should just pack mine up and put it away...

So what kind of table is it sitting on? How much room does it take up?
Will it have anything behind it as a background? I always think mine needs a background but nothing ever looks right.

Thanks for sharing! I can't wait to see it all done!


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

Madame Leota said:


> And I didn't think you could improve on it anymore! It almost makes me think I should just pack mine up and put it away...
> 
> So what kind of table is it sitting on? How much room does it take up?
> Will it have anything behind it as a background? I always think mine needs a background but nothing ever looks right.
> ...


Right now its on a smaller size dining room table. it does not take up as much room as it might look. we have so many people over for our party each year i needed it to take up as little space as possible. it measures around 5x4 total. for a background we are putting it in a corner that will be very dark and help it blend into the area. when placed in it final spot we decided to not go with a background. like you said they look kinda funny unless they take up the entire wall behind the project IMO. so what i decided to do was use tea lights inside of shadow boxes that will project creepy shadows of tress and shuck behind the project. this makes it look alot bigger and also helps to blend it in even more. kinda of like a haunted corner for lack of a better explanation.


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## DeadTed (Aug 12, 2007)

I just went back through from the begining of your post to see the entire process all at once and it's freakin' awesome. Great work. I love stuff like this. I'll tell you, I'm probably most impressed with how well the island itself came out. The cliffs, jagged edges, and cave came out perfect. I saw you paper mached it. What process did you use - glue + water or the several ingredient method? How did you paint the rock?


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

DeadTed said:


> I just went back through from the begining of your post to see the entire process all at once and it's freakin' awesome. Great work. I love stuff like this. I'll tell you, I'm probably most impressed with how well the island itself came out. The cliffs, jagged edges, and cave came out perfect. I saw you paper mached it. What process did you use - glue + water or the several ingredient method? How did you paint the rock?


thanks

I used the simple glue and water method. it did not need to be super solid so that worked fine. i base coated the rock gray with a brush and latex paint then i detailed it with a air brush. we are doing that water today and i am really excited about it. pics will come my tomorrow


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

hello all

well after a bit of a long break from spookytown i started to work on it again tonight. all that is left is to do some water work and final touches. as many of you know the base of the ships and pirate island pieces have water. well i want my water to look just like it so they blend in as best as possible. 
i have started by cutting away all the extra foam on the base to form the area i want to be water. then i have started adding clay around all the endges of the island where water would be crashing against the walls. i will continue this over the entire water area. once that is done i will use a product for model railroads or water features and then i wil airbrush whiteccaps and others details. i will be working on it the next few days and will post more pics as i go. thanks again for all the nice comments


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## Madame Leota (Sep 19, 2005)

Hey! Great to see you back at work on ST again. The water is going to be awesome. Hope to see more from you soon!


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## dionicia (Nov 5, 2006)

Your my idol. I wish I had that kind of talent.


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## fantasma79 (Oct 10, 2007)

Scavengerhaunt,
I really want to have a crack at a spooky town project. Can you drop some details about your project? (i.e. what mixture did you use for you paper mache, how did you make your monster mud, anything else that you can think of from the technical side for someone who hasn't done much with it in the past. Your town looks unbelievable!


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## pkh5695 (May 22, 2006)

haha yea i think i might give it a try myself, just trying to figure out a layout because we have so many diffrent themed, displays from a tomb and a mummy to pirates to western to Dracula


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## Bilbo (Mar 8, 2007)

fantasma79 said:


> Scavengerhaunt,
> I really want to have a crack at a spooky town project. Can you drop some details about your project? (i.e. what mixture did you use for you paper mache, how did you make your monster mud, anything else that you can think of from the technical side for someone who hasn't done much with it in the past. Your town looks unbelievable!



Actually if you could share the info with the whole class I know I for one would be most appreciative.

Thanks


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## Salona (Jul 30, 2006)

WOW!! I,m speechless. Im a xmas village addict, now you,ve done it! I,m going right out to start my spooky town, OH boy hubby starting divorce papers.


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

it really is simple. paper mache is nothing more then the glue and water method. the monster mud it just paint and joint compound. i don't really have a mixture ratio i just mixed till it was the consistency i needed. the most important tool of this project it the hotwire foam factory pro tools kit. it makes all the foam work very easy. the water work and all of the stairs and walls are made from DAS clay. ater the main base is made and painted the land scape is very easy. it is nothing more then choosing the ground effect your looking for and gluing and placing things until your happy. I wanted to go with a theme that although based in fantasy was also realistic looking. to many displays are way over crowded with trees and such. All that was needed other then that was artistic ability. i have been sculpting and drawing with just about every medium available for as long as i can remember. when i take on a new style project my background in art really comes in handy. i do murals for several company's and in private homes. I have worked on set displays for universal studios,Disney,and many other theatrical shows. Since this is for personal use i did not have the budget to make something as grand as a professional display but i worked within my means to do the best i could. i also needed something small since i don't have a place to store something super huge. anyways thanks for the comments and if you want to know something specific let me know and i will do my best to answer


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

*New Pics*

Tonight i worked some more on the water portion of the display. i first added all the waves to the parts of the base that meet up to the island. then i removed the island and painted it with several shades of blue and green. when i was happy with the color it started to air brush white caps and a few details. so far i'm very happy with the look. Tomorrow i plan to finish up the details to make the waves really pop and then i will begin wiring everything up to timers. please feel free to leave and comments and or suggestions are always welcome


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## colmmoo (Jul 23, 2005)

That's AWESOME! I'm jealous. I wish I had something like that to display my Spookytown pieces. Great job!


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## RattandRoll (Sep 6, 2007)

Brilliant to say the least! You are awesome


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

thanks I am very happy that this is almost done. although i like working on i am very ready to be able to just enjoy it


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

many of you watched this being build. this item will be going for sale as a complete set very soon. if youhappen to be local to the tampa FL area sent me a PM if interested. 

this can make a VERY nice ready made prop to entertain your guest


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## gromit05 (Jun 25, 2008)

scavengerhaunt, that is a very cool display you made? I'm sure you will get loads of $$ for it.....good luck...
BTW....are you no longer doing ST anymore??....


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

gromit05 said:


> scavengerhaunt, that is a very cool display you made? I'm sure you will get loads of $$ for it.....good luck...
> BTW....are you no longer doing ST anymore??....



thanks

yes i am going to build a whole new idea this year. the fun for me is building it.


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## pandora (Jul 15, 2004)

OH MY GOSH! That really is absolutely beautiful. Congratulations on such a beautiful piece! Why would you want to sell it???


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## scourge (Jan 5, 2008)

Amaz and a zing!


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

pandora said:


> OH MY GOSH! That really is absolutely beautiful. Congratulations on such a beautiful piece! Why would you want to sell it???


thanks. just selling to make room for a new one. i have a big party everyyear and i dont like using the same stuff every year. this way noone knows what they will see. i build it use it and sell it then start all over again. like i said the fun part for me is building it


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

I had been dying to see the finished product! This thread inspired me to make one of my own (two actually, but one almost exactly like yours). I've not finished it yet but hope it will look at least half as nice as yours does!


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## BooBerrie (Jan 1, 2008)

Darn you, you had to go and say you're in the Tampa area. Don't tempt me like that. I'm only a couple of hours south.... if I were doing pirates this year, I'd pimp my old man out to raise the $ to buy it from you. Thank goodness (for me) that you didn't do a western themed one otherwise I'd be dropping him off at the country club looking for an old rich sugar mama with a bad ticker. All I can say is WOW. You've got some mad skills there and a nice eye for the depth and details. Thanks for sharing all the pics.


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

If anyone's interested, I have listed the platform on EBAY and it's currently only at $102  *LINK*


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## halloweengoddessrn (Nov 18, 2006)

That is INCEDIBLE!! I love it! I used to have a huge collection of Spookytown but atlas, we moved into a smaller home and I have no place to display it all so I sold all of it...how I miss that collection!


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## scavengerhaunt (Aug 7, 2007)

they are addicting, and I am running out of room myself. that is the only reason I am selling it at all.

I also have all of the pieces pictured, I originally listed it as a complete lot but the shipping prices were really high because this thing is huge.


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