REPLACING BUCKY"S SKULL
The
skull that comes as part of the Bucky skeleton has a removable
calvarium, meaning the top of the skull has been cut so that the
top of the skull can be removed. This is because the skeleton was
designed for medical training.
For a Halloween we prefer not to have
this option, so we replaced this skull with one that does not have a
removable calvarium, called the "Budget Life-Size Skull" and retails
for around $20. Its a fairly simple process of removing the original
skull and replacing it with the new one, and hot gluing it in place.
This looks much better as a
Halloween decoration or prop.
GLOW-IN-THE-DARK
SKELETON
Painting
your skeleton with fluorescent paint will make them glow eerily
under black lights enhancing there overall effect. The Black Light
Hair Spray from Fun World is great for adding a glow-in-the-dark
effect to your skeleton and other props.
Available during the
Halloween season, this spray goes on nearly transparent and should
be sprayed onto the prop as evenly as possible. It helps to spray
the paint on while the prop is lit under a black light so you can
actually see the paint going on. Position the skeleton as desired
and illuminate with a black light (a 4 foot black light works best
for this).
DISTRESSING YOUR
SKELETON
Remember
that the Bucky skeleton is manufactured primarily for the medical
industry and is not meant to look as though it has been buried for a
hundred years, so some improvements need to be made for it to look
like it just came out of a grave.
You can distress your Bucky
skeleton using our "Exhumed Skeleton" process to give its bones that
ancient, weathered look. We developed a process to give the Bucky
skeleton just that look. Click here for complete how-to instructions.
GLOWING EYES
Use
a Glow Stick to give your skeleton ominous glowing eyes. First, you
will need to drill out a large hole through each eye socket of the
Bucky skeleton's skull and into its cranium with a one inch spade
drill bit.
Next, paint what remains of the eye sockets and inside of
the cranium with flat black craft paint. When you are ready for the
eyes to glow just activate and place a Glow Stick inside the cranium
and replace the skull cap. The light will glow through the eye sockets.
Glow sticks are available in many different colors. We like to use
either red or green.
FLICKERING EYES
To
create a flickering eyes effect we
use the "Artificial
Candle Pumpkin Light" from
PumpkinLight.com. These units
flicker like a real candle using three super bright yellow LED's. They also have the "Amazing Rainbow Pumpkin Light" that
changes between seven different colors.
First, you will need to drill a large hole through each
eye socket of the Bucky skeleton's skull and into its cranium with a
standard half-inch drill bit. Next, paint what remains of the eye
sockets and inside of the cranium with flat black craft paint. Now
you just switch on and place
the Pumpkin Light inside the cranium and replace the skull cap. The
light will flicker through the eye sockets.
COB WEB COVERED
SKELETON
To
spray cob-webs on the skeleton you can use a drill-mounted cob-web
shooter or a new product called "Cob Webs in a Can" to give your
skeleton a cob web covering. This aerosol can webbing adds light
layers of spider web effects to your Halloween props and
decorations.
Once dry it is non-flammable and the finished color is
an opaque, dull cream. Note - This material will adhere itself to
whatever you spray it on and the residue should be considered
permanent so make sure that you aren't spraying anything valuable.
MUMMIFIED SKELETON
Transform
your skeleton into a mummy. For the material you can use either an
old white bed sheet or buy cheese cloth from a local fabric store.
Cut or tear the material into long strips three inches wide. To
stain the material so that it looks very old, soak it in
cold coffee or strong tea for a few hours.
Coffee tends to make the
material darker, while tea is lighter. Hang the strips of material to dry - Do
not dry them in your dryer as the coffee or tea will come off inside
the dryer and the next load of clothes you dry could get stained.
Once dry, you can use the strips of cloth to wrap the skeleton like
a mummy.
CHAINED-UP
SKELETON
You
can actually find chain made from plastic instead of metal at your
local hardware store that can be used in many different ways with a
skeleton. You can use plastic chain to suspend a skeleton from his
wrists between two wooden poles.
Or you can chain him to a chair or
even a wall. Note - You may need to strengthen the skeletons wrist,
elbow and shoulder joints with plastic cable-ties to be able to
support the weight. We use
two-inch-link plastic chain from
Mr. Chain
(black or silver looks best).
SKELETON 101
From
paper cuts-outs to full sized anatomically correct models, the
human skeleton is one of the most
recognizable figures in Halloween lore. Also known as the
day of the Dead, its a time when the spirits of
the departed can return to the earthly plane and visit or
haunt the living.
So, knowing a little bit more about the
human skeletal structure might help out when working with
skeletons for Halloween decoration and props.
Click here to learn more about
how the human skeletal structure works.
BLOODY BONES
For a gory decoration you can paint skulls and bones to look like the flesh has been recently
stripped off using blood red craft paint. We
like to buy a couple of ten pound bags of assorted bones from the
Anatomical
Chart Company and enhance
them with red paint. We first fill a small squeeze bottle with a
small tip with the red paint, then squirt it over the pile for a
dripping blood effect.
Next, we dip a small paint brush into the
paint and flick the brush over the pile of bones to give it bloody
splatter marks. Make sure you do this on old newspaper or a drop
cloth, and away from anything that you don't want paint to get on as
this can be a messy operation. Once dry you can put them in a pile on the porch,
in a black plastic cauldron or a basket, piled-up in your graveyard or wherever they will be seen by your visitors.
HALLOWEEN LIGHTING
Whether you haunt your yard, garage, house or all three, you will
most likely be adding an assortment of lights. Properly done,
lighting can make the scene, while poor implementation can ruin it.
A graveyard scene is a perfect example. Lets say you've created a
small graveyard in your front yard using a dozen quality tombstones,
a couple of skeletons and a few pumpkins.
If you under-light the
graveyard it will not be very visible and have little or no impact
on your visitors. Conversely, if you over-light the area you can
ruin the effect by making it to stark. In the case of a graveyard
scene like the one above, we would recommend adding a colored flood
lights to illuminate the graveyard.
SKELETON STAND
A
simple stand can be make using 1/2" PVC pipe and pipe joints for
light-weight props, and 1" for heavier props, that will allow you to
stand a skeleton up were there is nothing above him to hang him
from. A "5-way Cross PVC Fitting Connector" allows you to
easily make the base.
Unfortunately, most hardware stores don't carry these, but
can order them or you can order them online at
simplifiedbuilding.com. They sell for about $5.00. Once assembled,
paint the PVC flat black and attach the skeleton using fishing line
or zip-ties.
