ISSUE 39 : WORKSHOPS

Making Your Own Tombstones

Learn the tip and tricks of making ornate and realistic looking tombstones in this detailed how-to by Tamara Hedstrom.

Modeling a Haunted House Room Design – Post Mortem

Randal Powell follows up on an earlier article with how a model helped him develop an effective Haunted room design. 

Making “Great Stuff” with Great Stuff

Michael Bruner walks us through some interesting techniques using one of Hauntings favorite mediums, spray foam insulation, or Great Stuff.

Making your own Tombstones

by Tamara Hedstrom

It was 1991 when my husband, Michael, first introduced me to his love of Halloween. Unfortunately, we never seemed to get any trick-or-treaters at our house, because we lived along a busy highway that was unsafe for children to walk. Growing up, Michael had been responsible for the basement Haunt of his church and it was something he missed so I was not surprised to come home from work one afternoon in late October to find him hanging an old Tor Johnson mask from the ceiling of our enclosed porch. Nothing fancy, just a mask hung with fishing line. I was surprised, however, when later that evening I heard cars pull up in front of our house. People were actually pulling over to look at the hanging mask! I laughingly mentioned it to him the next morning when I left for work, and when I came home that afternoon, there was a ceiling fan motor attached to the ceiling of the porch with an assortment of old white clothing and window sheers attached to it. That night I heard voices on the front lawn and peeked out to find more cars parked out front, their drivers standing at the windows of my porch watching the spinning “ghost” and “floating head”. The show was repeated each evening until Halloween night, when we actually received the first trick-or-treaters we had ever gotten at our home since we moved in five years before.

The following year, as a surprise for my husband, I decided to create a cemetery for the front yard. I spent an evening in the basement making tombstones from anything I could get my hands on, primarily cardboard boxes. These, of course, only lasted one season and it was obvious I would have to come up with something a little more durable if we were to continue our new tradition. Having been a theater major in college, I fell back on the old prop-maker standby--Styrofoam.

We are in our thirteenth year now as “Home Haunters” and each year the cemetery grows and changes. Through the internet, I have traded ideas with other haunters across the country, stumbled across a few of my own and grown to the point where it seems I spend half of the year making tombstones for others or giving demos at Haunter gatherings.

Most of my tombstones are made from extruded foam insulation, which is primarily used to insulate homes and foundations. You can find it at most lumberyards and builders supply stores. (Note: Watch construction sites for scrap pieces of foam. After pouring foundations, builders normally tear the excess off in large chunks and throw it away.) The foam comes in various thicknesses: I use 2 inch for most work, and 1/2 inch for layering or odds and ends. The 2-inch foam usually comes in 4' x 8’ sheets with two perforations, so it can be "snapped" into three long sections. Your lumber person can cut the foam against the perforation twice (three 32 inch wide sections), then you can snap three sections from that to make nine 16" x 32" tombstones from one full sheet. Or cut the three sections in half to make six 32" x 24" stones.

DECIDING ON A STYLE

The first thing you will want to do is decide on the style of cemetery you want. Are you going for a dark and gothic look, or a lighter humorous theme? Old West or early East Coast? Search the web for sites that have pictures of actual gravestones, or better yet, take your camera to an old cemetery. Memorial Day is a great day for this. Take a picnic. Old cemeteries are some of the most beautiful places in the world and can make for an enjoyable day with your loved one. No, seriously. I mean it. Stop laughing!

After you have decided on your style, the next step is to design and draw out the basic shapes of the stones you want. I have created a few templates from actual photos of old stones and have posted them to my website (www.hedstorm.net) for you to download and print out if you like, but I have also used everything from trash can lids to garden hoses to create shapes. Be creative. Or search the web for other tombstone- making sites; there are hundreds out there to choose from.

CREATING YOUR DESIGN

Start with a 12 inch long 1/4" drill bit and drill two holes up from the bottom. This is where you will insert the metal posts that hold the tombstones in the ground. I do this first, before cutting or engraving, as there's nothing more disappointing than spending a lot of time creating a really nice looking stone that you are proud of only to accidentally drill through the front of it. Plus, it is helpful to be able to set up the tombstone when it comes time to paint.

The next step is to cut out the shape. A hacksaw blade with cloth tapped around one end will work; a Wonder Cutter (available at most craft stores for under $10.00) is even nicer. I make a lot of tombstones, so I invested in a Hot Wire Foam Cutter from Woodland Scenics. It runs on electricity, has a wider cutting wire and a thumb control on/off switch. You can find Woodland Scenics on the web at [FIND WEB ADDRESS]

Epitaphs can be created on your computer. I use fonts like Olde English, Caslon Antique or Abaddon. Simply enlarge the epitaph with any art or word program, print it out and trace it onto your tombstone. I have never had much luck with using carbon paper, the foam just doesn’t seem to accept the tracing. I just use a ballpoint pen and a heavy hand. It leaves enough of an imprint to work from. However, if you really need more of an imprint, try rubbing a pencil over the back of the paper before tracing. Afterwards I go over the design with a felt tip pen. I have heard of some who tape the epitaph onto the stone and actually burn or route through the paper, but I have never had much success with that. The paper smoldered a little bit after lifting the burning tool which melted the foam more than I wanted and ruined smaller lettering. The time tracing the design onto the stone is worth it.

There are many ways of creating design elements on your tombstone and it all depends on your own sense of style. The easiest is to cut the design or epitaph from thinner foam and simply glue it into place. A Dremel router makes a beautifully flat recessed area and is more than worth the effort, however, it also makes a lot of foam dust. You will want to wear eye protection, old clothes, even something over your hair. You may also want to keep a vacuum handy. One of my favorite techniques, and the one I am most known for I suppose, is using a wood-burning tool to "engrave" tombstones. I use the smallest tip possible, a "pen tip", as the foam melts very quickly. For raised lettering, recess the background using a flat tip or create swirls with the pen tip, for an interesting look. If you need a precise corner or you are trying to engrave very small lettering, go over the lettering first with an X-acto knife. The cut slows the heat from traveling further.

One trick is to let the wood-burner cool a bit when you attempt smaller letters and designs, but if you are going to be making a larger quantity of stones, you might want to invest in a lamp dimmer. I use a swag lamp dimmer that I purchased at Lowe’s for about $10.00 to lower the temperature of the burner for smaller lettering and designs.

Note: Do all hot-wire and wood-burning work in a well-ventilated area as the fumes are killer!

One important step in creating a beautiful faux stone that seems to be skipped the most is sanding. I have seen some beautiful tombstones that just seemed to miss the mark only because the edges looked too sharp and clean. Sanding does not take much time and adds so much to the overall aged look. A foam sanding block can be picked up from Wal-Mart for about a dollar. Don't forget to sand down the edges of designs or layers you may have added. Nicks and chips from the foam make the stone look all the older so I generally leave them in and paint appropriately.

CREATING TEXTURES    

Now this may seem a bit “over the top” to some people, but a wise man once said to me “anything worth doing is worth over-doing,” and I cannot help but agree. I love finding new ways of creating weatherworn looks for my stones and it seems each year I come across a new or better way. Two of my favorite techniques are Dry Warping and Wet Warping. To Dry Warp your stone, simply run a cigarette lighter, candle, heat gun or butane torch very quickly over the whole tombstone. This "warps" the surface to create a warn look. Run the flame over the tombstone at a steep angle, instead of directly at the foam. You are not trying to melt the foam as much as you are gently distorting the surface.

I have to admit, I discovered the Wet Warping technique quite by accident when I tried to continue working on tombstones after a quick summer rainstorm, and I have used the technique ever since. Before you warp your stone, wet it down with a garden hose, then run your lighter or butane torch over the surface quickly. Wet areas warp more slowly than dry areas and the effect varies depending on several factors. Sanded or routed foam opens the foam cells, creating tiny open "cups" that fill with water, so it takes longer to warp that area. If the foam is lying flat, the water beads up and creates more spotting. Angled or standing, it will create a more streaked effect. The amount of time between wetting and warping will also create different effects. Waiting 60-90 seconds after wetting the foam creates a different look than warping immediately, and is an excellent way to texture stones cheaply. Texturing allows you skip expensive effect sprays and is a great excuse to play with your garden hose on a hot summer day. Play with your garden hoses, my friends. Life is short.

ODDS & ENDS

Through out the years I have used various things as decoration on my tombstones. Christmas ornaments, garden sculptures, plastic wedding cake decorations and cannibalized dolls work great. Foam caulk backing (the grey foam “rope” used to temporarily caulk windows for the winter) works well for column work. Keep in mind it stays rather soft, but takes paint very well.

To create decoration, Crayola Model Magic can be pressed into anything vaguely resembling a mold. I have used Jello molds, plaster molds, candy molds, and soap molds for detail. Sprinkle the mold with talcum powder. Roll the Crayola Model Magic into a ball and lightly cover it in talcum powder as well. Press the ball into the mold, leaving a bit extra to work with, then remove from the mold and let air dry. This is what I call "futzy" work, meaning you will probably mess up 3 or 4 before you get one you like. Trim the Model Magic with an X-acto knife. With larger hollow pieces, you might want to consider filling the void with Great Stuff foam or something that will help prevent it from collapsing over time.

You can also enlarge a piece of clip art, trace onto 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch foam and cut the shape out with an X-acto knife. Defining lines within the pattern can be cut out by cutting at an angle, then repeating in the opposite angle (think V notch).

This year I found a new product at the TransWorld convention in Chicago--something I couldn't resist--called Tombliques. Made by a company called The Eccentric Gryphon, these are beautiful resin ornamentation for your tombstone making. You can check out their designs at www.eccentricgryphons.com.

GLUE

I have been through many brands of glue since I started making tombstones and just when I think I have found something that works perfectly, the product changes or becomes impossible to find. I have been experimenting for awhile, listening to advice from others and have settled on a wonderful spray glue by 3M called Super 77, that works perfectly for gluing together layers of foam and is easy to find.. Simply spray the foam, wedge it together and weigh it down until dry. A hot wire cutter goes through it like butter and it takes to sanding very well. Look for it in the adhesive department of your Lowe’s, Home Depot or Wal-Mart.

PAINTING

There are so many ways to finish your tombstone, I will only cover the few I use myself. There are probably a hundred more ways I do not even know about. Please do not take my word for anything; experiment! Your finished tombstone should reflect your style and the style of your Haunt. There is no one perfect way. You may wish to combine several of the following techniques.

Okay kiddies, listen closely. This is the only hard and true fact of making foam tombstones that I know of: aerosol paint will melt bare foam. Always base paint the tombstone with a coat of latex paint, before using any spray paint. Make sure it's totally covered; even a pinhole in the base coat will let in the propellant and your foam will disintegrate. From experience I can tell you this usually occurs in the worst spot--the epitaph. I have lost entire phrases. Go over all engraving carefully and touch up any bare spots.

If you like the look of marble, Krylon has a wonderful effect paint called Webbing Spray available at most craft stores. It is basically a paint that sprays like fine Silly String. Try base painting your stone in gloss black. Stand a few feet away from the dry stone and let the strings of paint float over it. Use a light touch. .

An inexpensive way to finish base painted tombstones is to carefully pry the plug from the nozzle of a can of black or gray spray paint. The larger opening allows more of the paint to spray through and creates a nice speckled effect. Stand back and spray the base painted stone, or combine it with other techniques.

To age the stone, set up your carved and base painted stone outside. Spray the tombstone with your garden hose making sure to completely wet it. With black or gray spray paint, spray a small section of the wet tombstone and hose it off immediately. Do not use a hard spray, just shower it, letting the paint run down in rivulets. The spray paint will stick to some areas more readily than others and run down, creating a dark and creepy effect. Experiment, you'll see what I mean. It's only scary the first time.

If you have a little extra cash to spare, Plasti-Kote makes a product called Fleck Stone, a faux granite-finish effect spray. This spray paint comes out in different subtly colored "specks". It comes in different colors, mostly grays, beige, brown, some blue or green. It is a little on the expensive side, $7 - $10 a can, but if you plan to keep your stones for a long time, I find it is well worth the extra money invested. Base painting your stone in a similar shade to the granite spray will save money as you can use less to cover the stone; however, contrasting colors can make for interesting effects. As always, do not be afraid to experiment.

After your base paint is completely dry, simply spray on a light coat of Granite Spray. If you need a heavier cover use a second coat after the first is dry, as opposed to spraying heavily first. Once the granite spray is dry, seal it with a clear topcoat. Plasti-Kote makes an exterior clear topcoat designed specifically for the granite spray. It’s fairly inexpensive, tough and one can seal quite a few tombstones.

ACCENTING EPITAPHS

Most old tombstones do not have recessed areas of detail and painted epitaphs of course, but it is at this time we have to balance the idea of realism with the theatrical. You want your designs to be seen, and your epitaphs to be readable, even under the most subdued night lighting. My favorite way to do this is to fill in these areas with a watered down black or gray acrylic paint, just dark enough to look like natural dirt inside lettering and recessed areas. An eyedropper, a small brush and some paper towels (for the occasional “oops”) is really all you need. After dry, another quick coat of a sealer is a good idea.

Recently I began experimenting with lighter colors on my stones and combining techniques. I base paint in flat white and cover with one of the lighter shades of granite spray--Alabaster, Soapstone and Sante Fe Sand are my latest favorites. I then accent the designs and lettering with an appropriately darker shade of acrylic paint and seal. After the topcoat sealer is completely dry I use the garden hose method, using several shades of light to medium gray spray paint. The final effect is spectacular.

After everything is done, you can also age your stones with a light “dusting” of a darker spray paint. Stand a few steps away and let the paint drift over the stones lightly and build up as you wish. To draw your eye to epitaphs, try misting the darker spray paint around the edges of the stone, leaving the epitaph area somewhat lighter. This should give something of a "spotlight" appearance. To accent add-on pieces, such as a skull or an urn, try spraying from below the piece to create a weathered look or from above the piece for that creepy “flashlight-under-the-chin-lets-tell-ghost stories” look. Oooh, spooky. On green granite tombstones, I like to mist with a metallic copper spray paint. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to creating a beautiful faux cemetery (other than that spray paint/bare foam thing). It's all a matter of your own personal style. Mistakes? No such thing! I tell everyone that I do not believe there is such a thing as a "ruined tombstone". A pinhole in the base paint, spray paint ate your epitaph? Route out the area, cut the lettering from thin foam and glue in. Kitty sharpened his claws on the stone? Use the edge of your sanding block to create long gashes or cracks in that area. Spouse backed over the foam with the car and left tire marks? I can think of half a dozen humorous epitaphs to put on that piece of foam! Tombstone completely broken in half? Paint the broken edges appropriately and lay the stone in your cemetery with a tree limb across it.

Keep in mind that these are all just suggestions. Some things I learned in theater tech years ago. There may be new and better ways to do things now. Some I made up as I went along, some I fell upon by accident, some I “borrowed” from others. I am no genius; I have just made a lot of fake tombstones. The point is, it is just foam. Anything can be fixed, reworked or made better. So use your imagination, remember to base paint thoroughly and, as I always say, “be sure to send me pictures!”

Tamara Hedstrom is a graphic designer from East Peoria, Illinois. She and her husband Michael spend their time tending their cat ranch and creating Halloween CDs. Visit their website at http://www.hedstorm.net

Modeling a Haunted House Room Design – Post Mortem

by Randal Powell

In a previous issue of Haunted Attraction Magazine, (See Issue 33), I detailed the modeling of a Haunted House room design. This article is a follow-up on the construction and operation of the actual set derived from that model.

To briefly review: the set design had patrons entering an 8’x 12’ room consisting of an 8’x12’ room with a 3’ wide staircase leading up to a closed door. A spot light comes on to illuminate the door. A scream and chopping sound are heard from behind the door, and suddenly the door opens. A decapitated body then falls out onto the steps and a severed head bounces down the stairway, banks off of the landing wall and lands at the feet of the patrons. A moment later “Boris”, an actor with a bloody meat cleaver, jumps out from a hidden door beneath the stairway and threatened the patrons as he retrieves his “toy,” (the severed head).

The design of the room provided a misdirection scare (the dummy and head), and the main scare (the actor bursting into the room), and patron interactivity with both the severed head and the actor.

Originally designed for a single actor/operator hidden under the staircase, a second actor was added near the exit to the room to keep patrons from leaving the room before the action occurs, to make sure that the whole group would be in the room before the gag, and to help focus the patron’s attention on the upstairs door.

Costumed as another Manor servant, this second actor told patrons that the butler had just gone upstairs, and encouraged one of them to ring a bell on a cord to summon him down. The bell served as a cue for the first actor to trigger the dummy gag and then make his entrance. If none of the patrons was willing, the servant would ring the bell.              

To review the design and additional photos of the original model, please see my previous article in issue #33 of Haunted Attraction Magazine. The main differences of note between the model and actual set were the reversed placement of the patron entry and exit doorways and the extension of the walls up to a “second floor” ceiling which was the size of the entire room.

The model was indeed a great help in concept development, mechanical design, and construction guidance. Having it available during construction allowed Scott Jones, our overall haunt design and fabrication leader, to build the majority of the set without blueprints. Scott also had the help of Tim Allen (the Tool Man…just not the one on TV), George Atkins, Shawn Jones, and myself. The majority of construction and testing of the stairway set was completed off-site before October, with final detailing and tweaking performed on-site.

CONSTRUCTING THE DUMMY

Simultaneous with the off-site pre-construction of the set, I fabricated an articulated dummy in my garage. Since the dummy would literally fall down the stairs numerous times each evening of operation, I chose an “industrial strength” construction approach using a wooden frame with metal bracing and reinforced hinges at most joints. Although the shoulder, elbow, hip, knee, and ankle joints all moved, I avoided realistic multiple axis joints. This was done so the dummy would always fall straight down onto the stairs without twisting and potentially snagging on the stairway banister or door frame.

I hot glued soft packing foam to the wooden frame to “flesh out” the basic body shape. The foam was roughly shaped with an extending blade utility knife and then smoothed with a Surform tool. Duct tape was used to help shape and reinforce the legs and arms, as well as provide strain relief on the hinges and control joint movement. This also helped maintain the surface body shape where voids were required for joint movement.

I made my own mold for a latex neck stump appliance by taking a plaster cast from a store manikin and then used expanding foam for the severed neck part of the mold. The appliance was created with two pourings and was reinforced with a cheesecloth mesh in-between. Red acrylic paint was applied to the stump after it had cured. In retrospect though, the cost of materials and time I spent on the effort convinced me to buy, rather than make, relatively “normal looking” (not so easy to find) latex hands and a soft foam filled severed head.

Eventually, I found two separate hands and an inexpensive head with open stage eyes that, when given eyebrows and the “male pattern baldness look” using crepe hair and spirit gum, ended up looking great. A tux shirt, bow tie, dark pants, and dark boots rounded out the headless butler’s wardrobe.

PRE-CONSTRUCTION OF THE SET

Meanwhile, working with the model for reference, Scott had started building scenic flats in his back yard the set from 2” x 4"s, plywood, luan, and scrap wood. Although the stairway was not built to support traffic, it could in fact handle the weight of a single person for construction and maintenance tasks. A basic 2” x 4” understructure frame support was supplemented by anchoring the stairs to the framed plywood wall panels. This also allowed relatively easy disassembly for transportation up to the venue, when the site became available.  As always, Scott made creative and frugal use of existing materials and scraps. About the only specialty lumber items used were some 1” x 1” garden stakes I bought for the balusters.

Once the stair treads and balustrade were essentially complete, it was time to build the doorway frame and dummy-launching mechanism. A door and frame were mounted, 3 sets of pulleys and cords were attached, and a fence latch was installed inside of the doorframe. While I had planned to use a spring to make the door fly open, Scott came up with the simple but ingenious solution of creating a bungee slingshot, which held the dummy against the door from behind. When the latch was released, this forced the door to open, and then after a slight delay, the dummy to fall over and onto the steps.

Early testing on the stairway reveled that the dummy’s hip joints caused it to fall down on its knees with its rear up in the air…comical, but not particularly scary. This problem was rectified by attaching a plywood “butt plate” to immobilize the dummy’s hip joints.

During testing we hadn’t yet found an appropriate severed head prop (or for that matter – a left hand), so we used a football, placing it on the dummy’s shoes. It worked well, except for the occasionally being trapped under the falling body as the model had predicted. Later, Scott came up with the solution of attaching a pan with a wooden handle to the back of the dummy’s front hinged foot plate. This created a catapult that lobbed the head over the body as it fell, reaching a height of about 2 to 4 feet above the stairs.

The catapult also consistently ensured a safe ballistic trajectory that terminated at the stairway landing, while still permitting the head to roll off the steps and onto the feet of patrons. With this last improvement all of the functional elements worked reliably and consistently.

ONSITE REASSEMBLY

Since no formal blueprints of the set were developed, a number of reference photos were taken as it was being built in Scott’s back yard to help with on-site reconstruction. In the meantime, I scavenged a hanging faux candle lamp, a bell, bell pull, and some pictures to hang on the walls.

In the model, the stairway came down through an opening in the ceiling. However, from the model it was obvious that the patrons’ views of the gag would be significantly compromised. Therefore the walls were all extended up to 15 feet using luan and minimal framing. An 8’ x 12’ luan ceiling was then constructed on top. Finally, the upper walls and ceiling were painted to match the bottom wall panels using a spray gun.

Since the steps were not designed for traffic, we needed to make sure that the actors were all warned to stay off of them, as well as keeping patrons off. Time dictated an expedient solution, so I bought some fancy red rope and hung it across the landing as an ornate barrier, supplementing it with a warning sign for staff when the haunt was not in operation.

I painted and added some additional 1x2 vertical trim to the side of the stairway to hide the door opening that “Boris” would come out of and hung the bell and bell pull using an ornate looking shelf support at the foot of the steps. I also constructed a ladder out of 2x4s against the wall behind the stairs so “Boris” could easily place the head in the catapult. This proved fortuitous when the latch began to bind. I was able to climb up and manually hold and release the door for the actor until a cast break allowed us to fix the problem.

The remaining electronic elements were handled by Scott. He hung and wired the practical light from a lumber outrigger I had modified. Then he added a CD player on a circuit which activated lights illuminating the doorway and backlighting the dummy when triggered by the scream and chopping sound effect.

Overall we were quite pleased with the final result of the room. Problems that occurred were minor and easily handled in the field. Utilizing the model helped us avoid a number of potential pitfalls by uncovering them before construction began. The head getting caught under the body, the head bouncing over the rail rather than down the stairs and the raised ceiling height for better visibility of the gag were all lessons learned from the model and implemented into the finished set. It demonstrated the value of building the 3-D reference model before actual construction began, and allowed Scott to build the majority of the set without detailed drawings or my presence during construction. It allowed the construction to take place off site before the location was leased, and the onsite assembly to go quickly.

Randal Powell is a multimedia artist and video producer in the defense industry. In addition to his “day job,” he has provided professional Haunted House design and fabrication services for a variety of clients on a consulting basis since the early 1990s. He can be reached at pixelartisan@aol.com

Making “Great Stuff” with Great Stuff