Animated Spooky Sign HALLOWEEN Motorized Prop & DIY How-To Video

hi this is paul kreutz and welcome to halloween diy and how to in this edition i am going to show you how you can build this spooky animated sign perfect for the entrance of your halloween haunt how is it done well i'm gonna show you how so let's get started growing up the most anticipated tv event was the annual airing of the wizard of oz one of my favorite parts of that movie was when the fearless foursome ventured into the witch's haunted forest and came across this warning sign as a kid it really helped to build the anticipation of what was to come years later i made my own version of that sign but with an animated twist for many halloweens that stood at the top of my parents driveway which was the entrance of the haunted graveyard created by my sister and i playfully warning the trick-or-treaters of what was to come today i'm going to show you how to build an updated version of that sign so here are the items that you will need to build this prop an electric motor with a speed of around five revolutions per minute i have listed in the description of this video where you can purchase this online an eight inch by 24 inch piece of plywood at least 5 8 of an inch thick a 2 by 3 wooden stud not to be confused with a 2x4 you will need two pieces one at around 42 inches long and the other around 10 inches long an 8 inch by 14 inch piece of black craft foam 30 pound test fishing line or heavier three 7 inch by 9 inch shelf brackets double sided foam mounting tape some one-quarter inch cable clamps two self-adhesive cabinet bumpers four narrow two inch wood screws two ping pong balls with at least a three star rating one screw hook between two to two and a half inches long a few feet of galvanized steel perforated hanging tape two dozen one-half inch wood screws with a head larger than the larger holes in the hanging tape one small screw such as these number four 3 8 of an inch ones four fifteen millimeter craft animal eyes and make sure that they are the type with the fastening washers included a one and three quarter inch hole saw bit a four ounce fishing weight make sure it has a loop on it one plastic spider with a hollow back four small l brackets measuring two inches by an inch and a half two standard three and one-half inch long framing nails two one and one-half inch deck screws one 7 16 of an inch metal washer and one 9 16 of an inch metal washer a large sheet of tracing paper and some transfer or carbon paper flat white primer sealer paint flat black paint black light paints both spray and acrylic a tin snips or construction scissors and the usual array of tools drill bits glues painters tape sandpaper and paint brushes here is a quick look at what makes this animated sign work we have two ping-pong balls that can be moved from side to side that are securely mounted to the back of the sign they are connected together with a pivoting horizontal mounting plate that keeps them moving in sync the eyes are pulled in one direction by an electric motor that has a rotating arm with a free moving extension on its end and then pulled in the other direction by a weighted plastic spider which is being used instead of a spring start by first cutting prepping and painting the wood parts of this prop the 2x3 will act as a stake on which the sign will be posted because of the mechanical components on the back of the sign this stake is actually made of two parts cut a top section between 8 to 10 inches long and a bottom section anywhere from three to four feet depending on how tall you want your sign to be after cutting an irregular shape on one end of the top piece to give it a weathered look lightly sand both pieces removing any rough edges and prepping it for painting once sanded paint with a flat white primer sealer using either a spray or brush on paint while those are drying let's turn our attention to the plywood sign portion of this prop here is a pattern that you can use by drawing a two inch by two inch grid pattern onto your eight inch by 24 inch piece of plywood now you can fashion the sign edges any way you like or use the patterns design however the placement of the two eye holes is very important mark their location at one and one quarter inch in either direction from the center of the plywood and two and one half inches from the bottom edge using a jigsaw cut out the edges of the sign then using the one and three quarter inch hole saw bit cut out the two eye holes elevate the piece of plywood for this step and to avoid jagged edges on the back side only drill until the center guide bit comes through the back then flip the plywood over and continue to drill from the back side this will give you clean cut edges on both sides remove the wood plug from the hole saw being careful because the bit will be hot and then repeat the process for the second hole once everything is cut out sand all of the cut edges sand the eye holes only lightly but give the other edges a weathered look by sanding them more heavily and by using a variety of sanding tools base coat the plywood face and edges with the white primer sealer this will give you a better idea of just how rough your plywood surface might be and if it's too rough this could make painting the lettering and wood grain details more difficult if that's the case give it a skim coat using lightweight spackle use a small putty knife to spread the spackle working it into the rough areas and voids then with a wide blade putty knife skim over it removing the excess once dried lightly sand before giving the front and edges of the plywood an additional coat or two of the white primer sealer once that is dried paint all three wood pieces with at least two coats of a color coat of your choice when that color coat is fully dry give all of the pieces a faux wood grain look do this by first mixing a color that is darker than the color coat i used an acrylic black light orange paint and darkened it by mixing in small amounts of red black light paint as well as green black light paints are a different breed and can look very different when lit with a black light so use a black light to check and see just how your mix colors will actually look additionally acrylic paints dry very quickly you can extend their drying time by adding additives such as a drying inhibitor or a flow medium starting with the short piece of 2x3 to get the hang of it paint the face and sides with generous amounts of your custom color even out the paint with long strokes and then using a clean brush remove some of the paint by making curved parallel lines resembling wood grain if unhappy with the first try repeat and try again however do this quickly while the paint is still workable once you have the hang of it move on to the long piece of 2x3 and repeat the painting process finally paint the sine portion in the same way now i want the sign itself to be a bit more detailed and the wood grain more pronounced than the stake pieces so once dried i re-coat and touch up certain portions of the wood grain you can also add some highlights along the grain using a lighter colored paint i found that the beveled edge of a sponge brush works well for this however make sure that you only apply paint to the very edge of the brush when doing this check your work under the black light and then let all the wood pieces dry thoroughly before moving to the next step for the lettering you can paint any style of lettering you want and even do it freehand or you can use this pattern copy the lettering onto a large piece of tracing paper by using the grid system remember each square is two inches by two inches and be sure to include the two eye hole locations when done place the tracing paper over the sign and line it up with the eye holes and the edges of the sign use painters tape to hold one side of the tracing paper while slipping the transfer paper underneath making sure that the proper side is facing down then secure the other end of the tracing paper trace over the lettering with a pencil or ballpoint pen to transfer the lettering onto the sign's face like this paint the lettering however you wish however depending on how opaque your paints are you might need to first paint the lettering with an undercoat of white paint before applying two coats of a colored paint use flat black paint to paint the interior portion of the two o's as well as the sides on the cutout holes using fine point permanent black magic markers makes it easy to add drop shadows to the lettering as well as accentuating the cut edges and other details of the sign next place the long two by three behind the sign and determine if you want the sign level or slightly tilted make sure that the two by three is pretty much centered between the two eye holes and then flip both over and mark its eventual location on the back of the sign you will also need to draw a few other lines for future reference so guesstimate the center of the two eye holes and draw two vertical lines through those center points make sure that the lines are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the bottom edge of the sign also draw a single horizontal line through the guesstimated center point of the eye holes and parallel to the bottom edge of the sign place a mark on this horizontal line five inches from the outer edge of the left eye hole now let's turn our attention to the eyeballs you will want the ping pong ball eyes to really stand out under black light they will probably just glow a light blue so to make them really stand out paint them with an optic white black light paint to make the colored iris section of the plastic animal eyes also stand out paint those with black light paint as well to do this i found the easiest way to remove the paint that is presently on them is to scrape off that paint with the utility knife from the back of the plastic eye once that paint is completely removed you can apply two coats of any color blacklight paint that you want before painting the ping pong balls they need to be prepped for assembly make two marks along the center seam of each ping-pong ball on opposite ends this seam divides the ball into two equal halves and is more visible in person than on camera then eyeing those two marks mark where the two polar opposite ends are double check your marks because this is where we will need to drill holes for the framing nails when drilling a hard curved surface a drill bit will have a tendency to walk on you so avoid this by first drilling a pilot hole with the very small drill bit then using a drill bit that is just slightly larger than the diameter of the framing nails re-drill those pilot holes using a low quality single star ping-pong ball will not give you good results when drilling place the framing nails through those holes on the ping-pong ball and spin the ball if there is too much wobble from side to side on either of them try again with a new ping-pong ball they usually come in a pack of six so you can take a couple tries at this and then select the best two locate the brand name side and place a mark at the center between the two polar holes drill a pilot hole at this mark then re-drill with the drill bit that is slightly smaller than the one-half inch screws temporarily place a screw only partway into each of those holes you can use these screws to hold while painting the ping-pong ball or use a small spring clamp or clothes pin over the screw to hold the ball while painting it this will also give them a temporary base while the paint is drying give each ping-pong ball at least two coats of paint while those are drying let's attach the motor to the back of the sign locate the four longer assembly points on the motor there are two on each side and remove the screws from them using a drill bit the same size as their screw holes drill them out place the center point of the motor's rotating arm directly over the mark to the left of the eye hole and also position the motor so its electrical cord is pointed in the direction of the eventual mounting stake use the four two inch screws to mount the motor onto the plywood screw them in until just snug do not over tighten to create the pivoting arm extension cut a piece of the metal hanging tape using a construction scissors or tin snips the length of two holes including the space on either side of those holes use your fingers and a pliers to flatten out this piece and cut off the sharp corners place the larger of the two holes over the round raised area at the end of the rotating arm place the larger of the two metal washers over it and then place the small screw into the smallest washer and screw it into the hole at the center of the raised area on the end of the arm the short piece of metal hanging tape should rotate freely while the washer and screw prevent it from coming off like this since the ping-pong ball eyes will extend beyond the front painted surface of the sign at this point raise the sign off of your working surface by using two blocks of wood covered with a soft material to protect your newly painted sign with the paint on the ping pong balls dry remove the clamp and the screw from them put the framing nails through the polar opposite holes and with the head of the nail facing down place them into the hole with the nail head resting on the bottom inside edge of the hole place the nail shaft directly over the marks that were previously drawn cut two additional short pieces of the metal hanging tape two holes long and bend them at the center point where there is not a hole with the help of a pliers in order to get a crisp bend bending them back flat should leave you a small inverted v-shape in the center place that inverted v-shaped area over the nail shaft at about its halfway point mark where the holes are using a small drill bit carefully pre-drill these but only one-quarter of an inch deep use the one-half inch screws to secure the short metal piece over the nail shaft but before tightening them completely double check that the nail head is still up against the edge of the hole and that the nails are on their marks when done the ping-pong balls should be securely attached to the back of the plywood check that they are able to rotate freely from side to side without touching the edges of the eye holes if not loosen the wood screws and make the necessary adjustments next we need to create an extension for each eyeball so that everything can connect together and be on the same working plane as the motor's rotating arm to do this cut two four inch sections of the hanging tape making sure that each section begins and ends with a large hole use your fingers and a pliers to flatten out this piece and cut off the sharp corners taking one of those pieces and coming in three holes from one of the ends bend the metal tape 90 degrees at the space between the third and fourth hole repeat this on the second metal strip as well like this then bend a curve in the short end of the metal piece that matches the curved surface of the ping-pong balls hold them over a ping-pong ball and make the necessary adjustments to the curve when done they should look like this place the sticky side of the mounting tape on the underside of the curve evenly spaced on either side of the center small hole use the edge of the metal as a guide to cut off the excess tape don't remove the protective film from the other side of the mounting tape just yet repeat this on the other metal extension using a nail or awl punch a hole through the mounting tape at the smaller holes center screw one of the one-half inch screws into the small hole and just barely through the mounting tape double check their fit by placing them over the back of each of the mounted ping pong balls after making any necessary adjustments peel off the protective film from the mounting tape and place the tip of the screw into the pre-drilled hole on the back of the ping-pong ball make sure that this metal extension is aligned with the same parallel line that the nail is on and that the straight part of the extension is up then tighten the screw into the ping-pong ball pressing the mounting tape onto the surface of the ball be careful not to over tighten the screw when done they should look and function like this to connect the two cut a single piece of the hanging tape almost four and one half inches long this piece should have different sized holes on each end flatten it out by using your fingers and the pliers and cut off the sharp corners on each end using a drill bit the same diameter as the larger holes in the metal hanging tape drill out the smaller hole that is second from the end you should now have a flat connecting plate with equal sized holes two holes in from each end like this using two of the plastic animal eyes and their connecting washers place the back stem of one of the eyes through one of the large holes two in from the end of the connecting plate and then through the larger hole at the end of the corresponding eyeball extension use the connecting washer smooth side up against the metal to attach the two pieces together much like a rivet do not over tighten when pushing the washer over the stem of the plastic animal eye i found that two clicks of the washer was tight enough repeat this on the other end when done you should have two eyeballs joined together with the connecting plate moving freely and in sync if need be make small adjustments to the metal components by carefully bending them as you can see the motor's rotating arm and the connecting plate of the eyes are all relatively on the same working plane which is very important before connecting the motor and the eye mechanism together with fishing line first mount the sign to the wooden stake to do this use the short two by three as a spacer for the placement of the four l brackets starting at the top place the two by three in between the stakes lines that were previously made place two of the l brackets on either side of the two by three with the long side of the bracket on the plywood mark the holes of the bracket repeat this for the stake location under the eyes as well at this time also make a mark to the right of the eyeballs at the approximate level of the connecting plate and then intersect that mark with a mark three inches from the edge of the right eye hole make a final mark on the far right side of the sign about one inch from the outer edge and one inch from the bottom edge pre-drill all of these marks to ensure that you don't drill any deeper than one-quarter of an inch because you don't want to drill all the way through and mar the painted surface on the other side wrap a small strip of painters tape one quarter inch from the bits end as a guide attach the four l brackets to the back of the sign using the one-half inch screws along with the top two by three wooden stake piece hand screw the screw hook into the pre-drilled hole that is three inches from the right eye hole being careful not to screw it in too deep as to come out on the other side also partially screw in a one-half inch screw into the pre-drilled hole that is one inch from the sine's right edge prep the longer two by three stake piece by attaching the three metal shelf brackets in a tripod fashion at its bottom place the shorter ends of the brackets against the wood and attach them using the appropriate size deck and wood screws the result should be a stable freestanding base with the 2x3 stake standing on its own attach the plywood sign to it using the one-half inch screws at the l-brackets to further secure the sign to the two by three pieces use one and one-half inch wood screws and from the front of the sign screw them into the two by threes at these two locations to hide the visible modern screw head with something that looks more like a wood peg cover the screw head with a self-adhesive plastic cabinet bumper choose ones that are the same diameter as the screw head or slightly larger once placed you can paint over them like this we are now able to attach the previously custom painted plastic animal eyes to the ping-pong balls using some painters tape temporarily hold the eyes in the straight forward position make two small pencil marks on the face of the ping-pong balls at their center remove the painter's tape from the back of the sign and manually move the eyeballs back and forth to double check the pencil mark locations when happy with the marks locations replace the painters tape on the back metal pieces to hold them in place and pre-drill those center marks with a very small drill bit then re-drill them with a drill bit that is just slightly larger than the plastic peg on the back of the animal eyes when drilling into the ping ping-pong balls don't push too hard let the drill bit do the work after drilling clean the excess plastic away you should have two clean cut holes using a gel or thick craft glue to make sure that there are no drips or in my case many glue dots place the glue on the back of the pre-painted animal eyes and then carefully put into place if you are using the cat eye make sure that the pupils are straight up and down before fully pushing them into place remove the painters tape from the back of the sign and test the eye movement prep the plastic spider counterbalance by first removing any plastic obstructions from the underside of the spider's upper body creating a hollowed out area for the fishing weight to nestle into punch a hole in the upper body of the spider where the loop of the fishing weight is so that it is able to come through we are now ready to connect all of the mechanical eye components together to do this tie a piece of fishing line to the far right hole on the connecting plate then through the fishing weight loop that is pushed through the hole in the upper back of the plastic spider place the fishing line into the screw hooks crook and then over to and around the one-half inch screw give yourself enough slack in the line so that the spider counter balance is hanging down a few inches from the bottom of the sign's edge the fishing line should move freely through the weights loop allowing the spider to easily slide along the fishing line tie off the fishing line at the screw next turn on the motor and stop it when the rotating arm is at the far left tie a piece of fishing line to the far left hole on the connecting plate then over to the open hole on the free moving metal piece attached to the end of the motor's arm take the slack out of the fishing line until a connecting plate is pulled almost all the way over towards the motor tie off the fishing line plug in the motor and double check that everything is working smoothly pay particular attention to make sure that the fishing line is not hitting the base of the rotating arm you don't want the fishing line to get caught on it since this would cause the fishing line to wrap around it when happy with how everything is working use a few of the plastic cable clips to attach the motor's electrical cord down the back of the 2x3 stake stand to prevent any light from coming in from the back and around the eyes use the black eight inch by 14 inch craft foam to form a light barrier attach it to the back of the sign with tacks in a half tube shape around all of the mechanical components making sure that the craft foam does not impede any of their movement round off the corners of the foam to hide it from view and paint the remaining exposed area of the back of the sign the wooden stake and the fishing weight with flat black paint secure the stakes base with landscape or tent stakes or a weight such as this theatrical sandbag you can further camouflage the secured base by covering it using different materials you are now ready to set your animated spooky sign at the entrance of your graveyard haunt light the sign with a black light add some tombstones a flying bat or two or four and it's time for halloween [Music] you

Channel: HALLOWEEN DIY & HOW-TO Props & Special Effects

Views: 43,238

Keywords: halloween, prop, DIY, homemade, make, create, craft, build, crafts, animated, motorized, animatronic, ideas, tutorial, video, display, motor, haunt, haunter, best, decor, decoration, how to, howto, how-to, halloween prop, yard haunts, haunted graveyard, cemetery, warning sign, spooky, spooks, halloween decorations, animated halloween prop, motorized halloween prop, do it yourself, spooky sign, beware of spooks, halloween sign, porch decorations, front porch, scary, FX, SFX

Id: i9l8ptG8Upw

Length: 29min 48sec (1788 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 09 2020