Halloween Prop Building Q & A
September 24th, 2008 by John Wolfe
Since posting my Halloween Haunter’s Reality videos, I have received several excellent questions by email, asking for more clarification on some of my supplies and techniques. I’ve decided to post a few of these, every once in a while, in the hope it will help others who may have similar questions about building props.
Question: I’ve come across Halloween sites recommending smooth paper towels for the skin of a corpse. Why, in your videos, do you use rough towels with lots of picture prints on the towel?
Answer: That’s an excellent observation. The only reason I use rough, printed towels is because my paper mache mix is very thick. The glue to water ratio, I mentioned in the video, allows me to get by with using cheaper paper towels. When the glue is thicker, it absorbs right into the rough towel patterns and smooths them out. And, if it does still leave evidence of the pattern - I go back and create multiple layers of shredded towels, over the first layer, anyway. When the paper towels are shredded, it’s almost impossible to see any remnants of the original rough patterns.
The corpse I built in the third Halloween Haunter’s video is cutting it pretty close to Halloween, so I may not use my typical shredded mache skin on it. The shredding process can take several weeks to finish on a half corpse. I decided to purchase smooth Viva brand paper towels to mache him with instead. The Viva towels will only be applied after the initial “cover” layers of rough towels have been applied. I’ll be including these upcoming mache sessions in my next video.
Regarding the picture prints on towels – whether I’m using a light egg shell and tan paint combo (featured on my scarecrow from last year) or a gray and black on the ground breakers, they just don’t show. A couple good coats of paint will eliminate any flowers, hearts or flags on your corpse.
If you have any specific questions about the Haunter’s Reality videos or my Halloween prop building techniques, feel free to contact me.
Related Posts
Halloween Haunter’s Reality Videos
Return of the Scarecrow Corpse
Halloween How-To Projects
