Comments on: Halloween prop: the ground-breaker

By: costumes for kids

costumes for kids — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:01:08 +0000

Great post!! It’s more for scaring kids away than bringing them in. Then again, maybe that’s what Halloween is about. Take things to the extreme.

By: iamavatar

iamavatar — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:32:21 +0000

Awesome I’ll have to try and put one of these together seems like a perfect addition to a home haunter

By: Halloween Costumes

Halloween Costumes — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:55:42 +0000

That is really cool! I have always wondered how these things were built. I bet this really scared the kids. It looks like you really put a lot of time into this. Great job!

By: HauntedWolf

HauntedWolf — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:15:45 +0000

Oops…I meant to say real cylinders are NOT much more than door closers.

By: HauntedWolf

HauntedWolf — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:14:49 +0000

There is a local supply house that we got a bulk price on…even so, they were still $22ish each. You can buy them from FrightProps or MonsterGuts…both are good vendors.

Please don’t use door closers…they weren’t meant for this kind of thing. Better to buy the real thing especially since they are that much more. Better than accidentally hurting someone.

The cylinders on the zombie were only 2″ throw…door closers are closer to 5″, not sure how well they would work.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:56:51 +0000

HauntedWolf,

Can you say where you buy your solenoids from? They seem to be the most expensive part.

By: dbear

dbear — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:03:13 +0000

I mean a permanent link.

By: dbear

dbear — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:01:39 +0000

How about a special link on Halloween hacks like the cellphone hacks link? Make it easier to find them.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:39:17 +0000

I’m not sure where to get small pneumatic cylinders like that on the cheep (try ebay?) but if you want a larger one, you can make it from a $6 pneumatic cylinder from a screen door closer. just take out the screw that you turn to make it close faster or slower, drill out the hole, tap it, and connect it to an air source. it will automatically return to a closed position when you release that air too…

By: walt

walt — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:23:35 +0000

looks pretty cool. wish there was more video of the finished product.

what’s with all the haters?

By: trollinator

trollinator — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:47:55 +0000

what a fag, i mean a flaming homosexual. that thing sucks major cock.

By: DarwinSurvivor

DarwinSurvivor — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 11:38:02 +0000

I’ve used those exact pneumatics pieces in high school. He should have closed the vents a little to slow down the cylinders so it wasn’t quite a “jerky”.

By: HauntedWolf

HauntedWolf — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:51:51 +0000

That should have been pressure mat, not switch.

By: HauntedWolf

HauntedWolf — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:51:26 +0000

I forgot to mention most of us will be using a pressure switch to trigger it…but any motion sensor should also work. EFX-Tek has a PIR (passive infra red) sensor that interfaces directly to the Prop-1 controller.

By: HauntedWolf

HauntedWolf — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:46:12 +0000

Casa Fear is a member of our local haunters group and we built these at one of our gatherings, so I hope I can help…

He is using a PicaBoo controller. However the Prop-1 Controller available from http://www.efx-tek.com can also be used (it is on mine). Search their forums and you will find source code. I am using a VMusic2 to deal with the audio…The PicaBoo controller has built in sound support.

The cylinders can be found on eBay (if you are lucky), http://www.monsterguts.com or http://www.frightprops.com. They are 2″ double acting cylinders. The solenoids we used are actually 5 way…1 in, 2 out, 2 exhaust. If using with a controller, these need to be 12VDC.

The total cost of the prop came it at about $200…depends on final cost of cylinders. We found a killer deal on eBay for ours. Your mileage may vary.

GREAT prop…you really need to see it in person to appreciate it.

Hope this helps…I’ll monitor the thread and answer what I can….good luck!