# How to create a Lemax SpookyTown Display



## exoscoriae (Jul 16, 2013)

Hello all! 

I found this site in my hunt for more spookytown info and I I have since setup camp and moved in. Halloween is always so much more exciting when you have others to discuss and share it with.

I have been collecting Spookytowm pieces for 7 or 8 years now I believe, and have amassed a small world of buildings. However, every year the setup disappoints me as I wait too long and I don't leave myself enough time to come up with something better than a black fabric base with some fake moss strewn about and the one or two lemax foam bases I've picked up over the years. 

Every year I see pictures of other people's collections, and every year I vow that the following year I will finally do my collection justice. I've just browsed photos from last years Halloween and was simply amazed by some of the sets posted here. 

This year I discovered that Dept 56 has some very interesting premade platforms. I just picked up their Foggy Point platform, as well as a large mountain that appears to have been carved pretty well.

The primary problem here is.... I have no idea where to start. I checked the tutorials subforum but wasn't able to locate anything specifically geared towards halloween town landscaping (but I probably just missed it).

Ultimately, I will be doing several environments. The old west, a carnival, and a more traditional halloween style overgrown cemetary with abandoned/haunted houses area. I'm decent with electronics and wiring, so I plan to embed lots of ambient lighting into the base to help accentuate the various features. I'm also curious about installing a running river through it using a pump system. I was thinking I could use a clear base for the river to flow through lined with led lights to be able to give the river a spooky green or red glow. I'm also looking into a way to put a multifeed hose on the end of a fog machine and rub small tubes to various places in the landscape. Ideally this would allow a slow stream of fog to crawl across the graveyard or run down he side of the larger mountain. But before I can worry about all the FX, I need an actual landscape to work with.

Would someone be kind enough to point me in the proper direction to begin researching this sort of thing? Somewhere that discusses techniques like foam cutting, foam painting, etc? Thank you =)


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## Castart (Aug 29, 2010)

Table top wargamming is your answer. Most likely some in your area warhammer has lots of stuff on terrain making. You can even buy stuff. I have seen and madrbplenty, even different systems and approachs. Start yhinkimg about how static you want it and storage. That will help you to eliminate some options.


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## blackbutterflyRN (Aug 16, 2008)

I'm in the same situation as you...I really want to make a nice landscape base to have my pieces on. I tend to get caught up buying new houses and accessories and then I get too busy during the season to make a nice setting for them. The Foggy Point Platform looks REALLY awesome! I would love to get one but all the ones I've seen are at least $100+. 

Anyways, check out this link done by a member here: http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/69240-spooky-town-landscape.html. That is the only tutorial I've really found on building a base. I might give it a go this year. I'd love to see any others if they are out there!


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## Castart (Aug 29, 2010)

The stuff in the link is exactly what wargammers make. I would start with a thin base and layer up. If u want rivers etc you model them in to the base. This allows you to make changes in terrain level. That could be important the next year. I would try for modular so the would stack etc. Not looking at the thread very closely. Looked like he built a series of pieces that were not modular, but do layer


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## Castart (Aug 29, 2010)

Google geohex. That is an rxample of modular. All pieces are cut from hexogon. Allows them to create about any landscape almost seamlessly. Tombstone tutorals use a lot of the same skills


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## exoscoriae (Jul 16, 2013)

Castart, thank you for the suggestion. However table top gaming is off-scale from lemax. The miniatures are much smaller, and so are the premade backgrounds. I really want to create my own landscape, rather than buy some thing premade. Several users here like BillyBones and GobbyGruesome have posted some very nice detailed sets they created, so i know there is some expertise here on the boards.

blackbutteryflyRN - thank you so much for the link. That thread is a goldmine for me in that it really helps me see how to get from white foam to halloween base.

edit: Just saw your later replies Castart. Thanks for that info. I understand what you were originally suggesting now. I will follow your leads, thanks again.


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## Castart (Aug 29, 2010)

I was not suggedting you buy, was pointingbout that they have yhe skills you want. Lots of tutorials scale for wargammers run from stuff bigger than lemax to tiny. I myself have terrain that has been used for my mothers spookytown. Besides land shspes have no relative scale a small hill in 72 would be a huge hill in 300. Still a hill.


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## Castart (Aug 29, 2010)

Train people would also be helpful. I just find that gamers use more sytofoam for cost and flexabilitu. Train landscape tends to be sturdy and heavy.


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## BillyBones (Aug 17, 2011)

Expertise, you give me to much credit. Imagination and trial and error. I got most of my ideas here and youtube tutorials, if you're planning on making your village bigger think about making your bases interchangeable.


exoscoriae said:


> Castart, thank you for the suggestion. However table top gaming is off-scale from lemax. The miniatures are much smaller, and so are the premade backgrounds. I really want to create my own landscape, rather than buy some thing premade. Several users here like BillyBones and GobbyGruesome have posted some very nice detailed sets they created, so i know there is some expertise here on the boards.
> 
> blackbutteryflyRN - thank you so much for the link. That thread is a goldmine for me in that it really helps me see how to get from white foam to halloween base.
> 
> edit: Just saw your later replies Castart. Thanks for that info. I understand what you were originally suggesting now. I will follow your leads, thanks again.


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## exoscoriae (Jul 16, 2013)

Unfortunately I still haven't found a good source to build the bases at. Foam at michaels is ridiculously expensive. With their 40 or 50 percent off coupon I'm still paying a bit much, plus I have to keep going back and going to other stores, etc... I need a lot of foam and I can't waste time buying them one piece at a time, ya know?

I was going to go out again today and look around. Maybe check out Joannes Fabrics, as I know they have various foams.

I decided against MDF as it is just too heavy. I wouldn't mind paying the extra for it, considering how strong it is.... but I just can't imagine hauling it up and down the narrow attic stairs every year .

Any tips or suggestions on where to find foam (or other substances suitable for this) would be greatly appreciated.


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## im the goddess (Mar 10, 2012)

exoscoriae said:


> Any tips or suggestions on where to find foam (or other substances suitable for this) would be greatly appreciated.


You want to check out this stuff. There is another brand that is blue. Depending where you are, the thicknesses vary. People in warmer climates seem to have trouble finding the 2 inch thick sheets. This is what we use to build tombstones. It is durable, and carves easily. I just bought an 8 by 4 foot by 2 inch thick sheet at Home Depot for less than $40. Lowes carries the blue sheets, but my locat Lowes only carries 8 by 2 foot sheets in the 2 inch thick kind. That would normally be fine, but not for the project I am working on.

For cutting and carving tips, see any of the many tombstone tutorials on the forum. You can cut shapes with a jigsaw too.

Good luck.
http://insulation.owenscorning.com/homeowners/renovation/products/insulpink/


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## GobbyGruesome (Sep 14, 2005)

Good advice from I'm the Goddess. 

Home Depot also sells handi-packs of white foam around here, which have something like 4 sheets of 4' x 14" x 1.5" - if you don't have a large vehicle and don't feel like cutting the sheets down in the parking lot like I've been known to do. They're $20 here, so probably $15 there.

The white stuff is definitely not as nice to work with if you're carving.

That said, we did just buy a sheet of floral foam at Micheal's today for my wife to build her forest with - just seems like it's designed for that kind of thing. But yeah, pretty expensive.


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## Dogmom (Oct 18, 2007)

http://s907.photobucket.com/

I've been collecting Lemax and Dept 56 for a year now and I'm big-time addicted! I think I have about 25 buildings already and I've lost count on the accessories. I knew I wanted to build a display as soon as I started collecting. It makes it all come together and you can hide the wires. I also have a couple different displays. I have a city/cementery, my barn and farm house, and my trick or treat street. I'm also building a single display for my Three Witches Cauldron. There's a web site called Building New Worlds dedicated to villaging. There are some tutorials there and lots of pictures. The owner of the site, Randy, does some amazing displays. Also, the web site for Hot Wire Foam Factory that sells the tools for working with styrofoam has some videos and pictures. Lowes and Home Depot are definitely where you want to buy your foam. I posted a some pictures of my display in a Photobucket album if you want to check them out.


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## GobbyGruesome (Sep 14, 2005)

Hey Dogmom! That's a lot of great information.

Looking forward to seeing your village but that link isn't working for me for some reason - might just be me though. My computer doesn't seem to get along with photobucket. Can anyone else see it?

25 buildings in one year? Whoa!


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## Dogmom (Oct 18, 2007)

I don't post very often and I've never done pictures. I thought it would be easier the other way. Let me see if I can do this.


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## Dogmom (Oct 18, 2007)

What do you know, it worked! I'll try a few more after I look through my album and resize them. Yes, 25 Halloween buildings in a year (and 8 Christmas too). Told you I was obsessed! eBay is a bad, bad thing...


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## exoscoriae (Jul 16, 2013)

Amazing! I feel like I just learned an ancient Halloween secret. Thank you so much,



im the goddess said:


> You want to check out this stuff. There is another brand that is blue. Depending where you are, the thicknesses vary. People in warmer climates seem to have trouble finding the 2 inch thick sheets. This is what we use to build tombstones. It is durable, and carves easily. I just bought an 8 by 4 foot by 2 inch thick sheet at Home Depot for less than $40. Lowes carries the blue sheets, but my locat Lowes only carries 8 by 2 foot sheets in the 2 inch thick kind. That would normally be fine, but not for the project I am working on.
> 
> For cutting and carving tips, see any of the many tombstone tutorials on the forum. You can cut shapes with a jigsaw too.
> 
> ...


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## Dogmom (Oct 18, 2007)

Here are a few more pictures now that I've figured this out.


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## GobbyGruesome (Sep 14, 2005)

Thanks Dogmom! The photobucket pictures SHOULD work - I don't know why it's not showing up. It's not a private album is it? I know uploading photos here is a slow process.

Anyway, I really appreciate you posting the above pics. Great photos! Love love love that last two shots! Such great atmosphere! You've got some awesome skills!

Hmmmm. I think we need stairs.


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