You're now ready to start applying the chicken wire. Apply the chicken wire to mimic how a tree stump looks. Once you've completed that you can start applying your fiberglass cloth, I recommend using 8in strips applied first at the top and running vertically to the bottom. The coating each one lightly with your fiberglass resin. You can also use Monster mud which is cheaper and easier to use. I chose fiberglass for its strength and in the future I plan on making this one into a mold. Also don't build this on a desk or counter you want to keep. The fiberglass will adhere to the top and you have to cut the stump off at the base. I advise a 4x4 sheet of scrap plywood you can discard later.
Once your first coat of fiberglass/monstermud is dry, apply expandable foam to create edges and then apply another coat of fiberglass cloth. Once your fiberglass dries apply one last coat with a brown pigment added.

Once your fiberglass is dry, cut off the base of the stump away from your plywood base. Now your ready to paint. I advise sanding the fiberglass first then applying a primer. I airbrushed the entire stump a medium brown, then went over it with a darker brown and a dark green. Once that paint has dried go over the entire stump with a lighter brown and drybrush the lines of the bark. Also apply some moss to the base with spray glue to give it a more realistic look.

Now that your paint is dry, tip the stump over and paint the inside of the tube black and if you would like a weird glow, mist the inside top of the tube with yellow fluorescent paint. Once the paint is dry mount the blacklight fixture on the opposite side of your pneumatic pump. Make sure noting will hit it.
We are now going to make our ghost head. Once you've completed your ghost head(or you can choose to cut up a old mask and use that instead, just make sure it doesn't rub on anything) mount it back into the stump and do a few more dry runs. Once you're satisfied with how it looks and works, mount one of those cheap cauldron's on top and fill it with candy. You can also make it look less suspicious by covering it in cob webs. For an added scare also run a digital sound recorder with amplified speakers that are tripped by a micro switch when the lid rises. You're ready to go, have fun with this one.


Back to part 1

Full Instructions available in the DC Prop Builders Handbook
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