September 27, 2005

I haven't had much time to keep the website up to date.  I've been a bit busy with a new job and welding classes, so it's been hard to find the energy to keep posting.

Welding class is progressing slowly.  I am having some trouble keeping my welds clean and uniform, so I've been stuck on overlap welding for the past couple of labs.  Today I didn't feel like I made any progress, so I left a bit earlier than usual.  I have learned that it's better to take a break and try again later than try to force myself to push through something and risk getting frustrated...

I guess that there is no reason to try to hide the construction of my main prop this year.  Inspired by several different variations of a prop called "trash can trauma" or "the toxic avenger", I've decided to put my own spin on the idea and see what I can come up with.  I'll build it with the same basic functionality as my grave jumper.  I envision the final design using a fog machine to help hide the pop-up, using some cool lighting to make the toxic barrel look more realistic and additional lighting at activation to highlight the scare.  I haven't decided on what I want to do for sound yet, but a think a backing track of bubbling with a scream or something similar at activation would do the trick.  Becky (my better half) is worried about kids doing a half-gainer off the front porch trying to get away from it when we set it off...  I am not sure how to deal with that possibility yet...

First things first, I need a barrel.  It just so happens that Home Depot had these barrels for sale for around $10.00. I chose a barrel that was somewhat translucent so that I could play around with lighting from the inside. I need to make the barrel look like a toxic waste barrel or something similar, and the "NOT FOR DRINKING WATER" print on the side of the barrel is in the way of my evil plans...	New barrel
I got out my sander/polisher and with a buffing wheel attached I did my best to erase the writing on one side.  I more or less melted it off, but the result is a somewhat clean starting point.  I left the USB code in place.  It might add some credibility to my fake toxic waste symbol. I also took out my reciprocating saw and cut the lid of the barrel off so I could take a good look at the inside and start planning for the pop-up mechanism.	Lettering and lid removed
I am going to be painting the barrel with something similar to the image on the right. Yeah, I know, in reality nuclear waste barrels are black, unmarked and just dropped off the side of ships into the deeper parts of the ocean, but let's not focus on reality - this is a Halloween prop, so we have to make it obvious what the barrel contains so it will be more fun.
You have to have a starting point for a toxic victim, so I got a mannequin head and put together a basic frame for holding a costume.  At first I played around with using elbows and trying to pose the arms.  In the end I decided to do exactly what I did with the grave jumper and attach the hands to the side of the barrel.  With the hands attached to the barrel I can leave upper arm and forearms loose and they will follow the action of the prop and look more natural.	Starting point for the pop-up

I hope to have some more time to work on the prop before this weekend (it's supposed to rain).  I'd like to get the barrel painted and make it look good under black light before I have to move everything indoors.

As a side note - one of my friends invited me to a Halloween party 3 hours drive from our house.  He said that I could "decorate" at his place this year...  I don't really know what to do.  We didn't have a lot of kids last year, so I am tempted...  On the other hand, hauling everything to his house would take a large trailer.  Then again, kids breaking their necks on someone else's porch would make things easier for me <grin>.  I don't know what to do...