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Saturday, September 23, 2006

How I made the Bat stanchions

First I sculpted the bat out of sculpey. For reference, I took my video camera with Night vision into the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland and took video capturing the details in close-up-so scaled 1-to-1/actual size and it's pretty close to being "on-model" as they say in my biz.)




Then I took it to a friend who helped me make a mold out of silicon (which captures every single detail-even fingerprints! That's how accurate it is!)







When they came out, they turned out great! They were made to fit onto a standard size PVC pipe. The Halloween that I made these, I was in a hurry. They were finished literally the night before Halloween. My friend showed up with them and I thought they were going to be cast in a hard resin but because of time (again) he only had time to have them cast in self-skinning foam (like a NERF footbal, etc.) I tried mounting them onto the PVC but as soon as I connected a chain between them, they slumped over because they didn't have enough strength. So I had to stick a metal pole inside of them to give them a frame/structure (the wings still sag, though).

I also faux-finished them to look like brass by first painting them with a base coat of black paint then dabbing a gold color over the black. (people think they are for real until they touch them.)

Here's the finished product.



11 comments:

  1. Hi James,

    My name is Casey, actually used to live in Glendale (my dad still does, on Don Carlos). I'm a huge HM fan and run a big haunted house in FL, where I now live (http://www.shallowvalley.com). I'm very interested in getting some pulls from your bat stanchion molds, would that be possible? My e-mail address is cpaquet@gmail.com

    Thanks,
    Casey

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  2. Hello, James. My name is Greg Stone, and I also work in the industry. Props, molds, models, makeup, etc. and I was the first person to walk into the Haunted Mansion on 8/9/69. I'm also featured in "the story of the Haunted Mansion" DVD by "Extinct Attractions". If there is any mold making services you need, or access to HM stuff, please drop me a line at "Firstresident@gmail.com" Talk to you later, Greg

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  3. Hi,
    I would also like to know if you sell pulls of these? They are fabulous! :)
    Thank you!

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  4. Hi, i too would love to get a pull of the bat stanchion. My email is FrstVamp1r@aol.com

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  5. Hi, I would be interested in a pull as well. I too am looking to use this for my Halloween party, and looking for one I can make a mold myself and cast. Would you mind emailing me as well? trevorst@gmail.com

    Thanks!
    Trevor

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  6. Hi, I would be interested in a pull as well. I too am looking to use this for my Halloween party, and looking for one I can make a mold myself and cast. Would you mind emailing me as well? trevorst@gmail.com

    Thanks!
    Trevor

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm sure this is a long shot but do you have any available for sale? I don't mind if they are not painted. I'm looking to get a couple for my studio. I'm not in a huge hurry.
    fleshtwister@gmail.com

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  8. I would love one zachandkerryd@yahoo.com

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  9. I would love one zachandkerryd@yahoo.com

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  10. I too would like one if you are in fact making pulls of these still. newcombe2@hotmail.com

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  11. Does anybody know where the originals are made ?

    ReplyDelete