How to make a Giant Jack -O- Lantern / Pumpkin out of foam

pumpkins are the most iconic symbol of halloween today i'm going to take a 36 inch block of foam and turn it into a giant jack-o'-lantern there are many foam suppliers around the country that can custom cut a block of foam to your specifications i got mine from haunters from in southern california if you're not able to get a solid block you can take a two inch by four by eight sheet of insulation foam found at your local home improvement store and glue them together after drawing a guideline on the top and the sides of the foam i use a two foot bow cutter to cut the edges off the foam to start giving the pumpkins some shape [Music] [Music] once the top is cut i flip it over and i make markings along the top and the sides once again but i add a few more inches so that it will be at a steeper angle [Music] [Music] [Music] once i finish cutting the hard edges off i use a hot knife to cut the dip in the top of the pumpkin [Music] next i take a hot wire tool and i bend the wire in the middle to a point this will help to create the segments of the pumpkin [Music] at this point i realized there were still some hard edges that i didn't like so i used my hot wire knife to cut them off before continuing with the router [Music] [Music] i always keep a rag with me whenever i use a hot wire tool so that i can frequently wipe off melted foam because as you cut through the foam it will melt and it will start to drip and that will burn holes into your foam so if you're constantly wiping it will prevent burns and build up on your tool [Music] [Music] once you finish the top flip your pumpkin over and continue the pattern on the bottom [Music] for the next step i take a metal horse hair brush and i use it to carve smooth and shape the edges of the pumpkin it will be pretty rough but we'll smooth that down later [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] continue smoothing all hard edges so [Music] [Music] next i take an orbital sander with 80 grit sandpaper and smooth out all of that rough texture to a smooth finish there will still be some imperfections little divots here and there but not to worry the hard coding will fill those in [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] this next step is more fun if you have a little buddy take your 80 grit sandpaper fold it like a taco and run it through the deep crevices of your pumpkin segments this will help smooth out the spots you couldn't get with your orbital sander [Music] once the sanding is complete it's time to draw the face of a jack-o'-lantern it helps to have a reference and keep in mind the placement of the shape along with the crevices of the pumpkin so that something doesn't fall in a weird position flip your pumpkin over and draw a large circle this will be the reference point for the bottom we will cut out later next i used a four foot bow cutter to cut the pumpkin in two [Music] this bow cutter has an extension kit so it can be made into a smaller size for smaller pumpkins again i will use the router and bend the wire to a circular shape this will allow me to carve large chunks of foam out thus hollowing out my jack-o-lantern continue hollowing out being mindful of the edges so that you don't cut all the way through [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] again we will use the hot wire knife to cut out the face remember to continuously wiping your blade keeping it clean will help it to cut faster [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] next i will use a mini router you can get this as a set with the industrial router i use this tool to thin out some of the thicker areas of the face we need to thin it out and get it more uniform and flat so later when we adhere some frosted panels to conceal the inside of the pumpkin it has a flat surface to be glued onto [Music] [Music] on the mini router i bend it into a flat shape here is a close-up of the texture that we're trying to achieve it won't be perfectly smooth but at least it gives us something to work for we need an edge at least one inch all the way around the face so that we have a surface to glue onto later so use the routing tools to hollow out a [Music] space again take your orbital and sand out your edges and smooth out that surface even more it'll pay off later take some 80 grit sandpaper and sand those hard edges off the corners and edges from when you use your hot knife to cut the face do the front as well just to take off those hard lines after dusting off your pumpkin we're going to create a template for the face that we're going to make frosted panels with later parchment paper does not stick to hot glue that's why we use this material use a sharpie to trace the face on it's easy to do from the inside before rather than after [Music] now it's time to glue our pumpkin back together my favorite glue is styrogoo by hot wire foam factory it's an instant tack glue that's perfect for quick adhesion we will brush it along the edge we secure the back of our pumpkin use bamboo skewers to help hold it in place as it dries [Music] i like to give my pumpkins a little bit of extra shape and expression to do this i use a two-part epoxy clay called easycar by polygem it's mixed one-to-one and smooth out with water i aim for the high points the tops the eyes the tip of the nose the curl in the mouth this won't look perfect but that's okay the hard coating will smooth it out later to feel sticky just add water and smooth it out [Music] after you're done shaping your face let it dry overnight or at least eight hours before continuing to the next step [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] again we will use our hot wire knife and a scrap piece of foam from the inside of the pumpkin to cut the stem make swooping cuts until you get a basic shape for a pumpkin stem we will coat this later [Music] [Music] i like to cut out some triangle shapes out of my stem and get them to line up with the segments of the pumpkin after you get your basic shape i like to attach my pumpkin stem with great stuff allow to dry after the great stuff has dried use a utility knife to cut away the excess again i will be using epoxy clay to give the stem some shape and dimension [Music] i like to start my stems by rolling balls of clay and placing them at the base of each segment of the stem i then take larger sections of clay and place it over the body of the stem i then push those balls of clay up into the stem in a spiraling manner this will give it a whimsical twisty shape [Music] [Music] so [Music] at this point i use my fingernail to smooth out and emboss texture and grading into the stem keep molding it until you're happy with the pattern sometimes i spread my fingers out and use all of them in a twisting motion across the surface of the stem again let this dry for eight hours or [Music] overnight [Music] i accidentally carved too deep when using the router when hollowing out my pumpkin so to patch up the hole i'm gonna use some of the epoxy clay to smooth it out it's hard to get perfectly smooth it's a little funky but that's okay the next material we use will smooth it [Music] out this next step seems excessive but it's very important to getting a smooth finish for your pumpkin drydex is a spackling paste it's tinted pink with wet and when it's completely dry it's white letting you know it's ready to move on cover the entire surface of your pumpkin it's gonna look funky and messy but that's okay all of the imperfections will be sanded out later [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] after you have coated your entire pumpkin in drydex and it has dried and turned white use 80 grit sandpaper and sand all the imperfections out this will be fairly easy but use a brush to brush away the dust [Music] next i will create texture on my stem by using aqua stone by faux fx it's a high bonding material with a sandy grit that helps us mimic the fine fibers in a pumpkin stem this stuff is great it sticks to everything even pvc pipe which is great for all haunter's applications [Music] once your pumpkin has been completely dusted off it's time for the final hard coating i use styroplast by hot wire foam factory it's a two-part epoxy that goes on liquid it's brushable and it dries to a hard plastic finish this material has about a 20-minute working time so you have to move fast i use chip brushes because these will end up in the trash i like to buy disposable drop cloths from home depot so when the project is done i can just throw it away you must work quickly because as time passes the material will thicken up as the material sits in the bucket it will generate heat which will cause the material to set off faster sometimes i pour the material over the entire project and then use the brush to smooth it out that way you will have a longer working time because the product won't be heating itself up continue until the whole pumpkin is coated [Music] i highly recommend wearing an old long sleeve shirt as this material did drip all over my hands and took hours to peel off later [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] after the first coat had dried i noticed there are some heavy drips that i didn't like so i sanded them out with my orbital sander now i'm going to apply a second coat i put the pumpkin on its side so i can apply a layer of the styroplast to the inside of the face this will give us a nice smooth finish to glue our frosted panels to later [Music] [Music] apply the second coat as you did before and allow to dry a minimum of two hours but do more than 12 hours on the next step as we begin to paint [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] once your pumpkin has dried a minimum of two hours it's time to paint i like to use montana gold spray paint it's a professional line of paint that dries to a really good satin finish i use four colors of orange my pumpkins first i start with the medium orange and paint the entire pumpkin [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] next i take my deepest shade of orange and i put it into the deep crevices of the pumpkin from the bottom to the top and then i concentrate on the bottom of the pumpkin and sweeping upward in an ombre effect [Music] after you've added shading i take my lightest orange and i apply it to all the high points the tops of the eyes the curl of the mouth use this to highlight and detail your pumpkin do the pumpkin was painted we noticed that the inside of the area that would have been the cut portion of the pumpkin didn't really stand out so i went back and added a light yellow and then touched up around the face do this step first then you won't have to touch up like i did now it's time to paint the stem i used a satin sheen exterior olive green paint the entire stem and let dry [Music] [Music] [Music] now it's time to highlight use a lighter shade of a limey green and hit all the high points use a dry brush method to bring out all the detail [Music] you [Music] [Music] for added depth of color i used a straw tone paint just on the top and lightly brushed it downward this mimics the stem drying out at the top case you forgot to draw your template when the pumpkin was open you can do that now tape some parchment paper to the face use the sharpie and trace your line [Music] i like to conceal the rough interior of my pumpkins to do this i will be melting hot glue sticks and making panels start with an electric skillet and cut down your glue sticks to fit this is the 7-inch skillet you can get off amazon i have since purchased a larger skillet so i don't have to do as many batches of glue let it melt down until it's completely liquid it will smoke really badly [Music] next you will pour your hot glue over your pattern keep repeating until the whole pattern is covered i highly recommend getting a larger skillet so that you can do this faster this process took over an hour and several batches to complete the entire face be careful the glue and the skillet is very hot use a painter stir stick to help smooth the material out over the surface [Music] [Music] you will have some really rough areas from doing batches of glue and them overlapping take a heat gun and re-melt them down they'll smooth out and blend into each other and it'll be just fine it's an extra step but it's worth it once your panels have cooled use a utility blade to cut out your design leave an extra inch around your design so that you have an overlap to glue onto your pumpkin [Music] the nice thing about melting down glue is you can take the excess and you can re-melt it down so there isn't any waste [Music] now we adhere the panels this is also a good time to touch up the paint on the bottom run a line of hot glue around the pattern of the face then attach the panels and let dry to light my jack-o-lanterns i use an led flame bulb with an exterior light socket i hope this inspires you to make your own a giant jack-o-lantern if you like this video smash that like button and 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Channel: Kara Walker Designs

Views: 267,901

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Id: nkMa8sqXTIA

Length: 44min 10sec (2650 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 13 2020