Headstone building

[Egon Spengler]

Need to build a headstone for a movie. Nothing overly fancy. Just need some ideas on what to work with. I was thinking styrofoam, possibly some marble spraypaint, grainy texture paint.

What could I use to engrave the letters into the thing if I went with styrofoam? I'd probably cover the front with some Plexiglass to make it look glossy.

 

[DaddyfromNaboo]

Styrofoam, cut the lettering out with a knife or melt them out with a soldering iron (fumes !!!) then go over that with a heat gun to make it look "stone-y", then use some wallpaint in grey. Don´t use spraypaint, the solvents will eat away the styrofoam. Re: solvents - you can also use thinner to etch out the lettering and where the stone withered away, but that has to be applied very carefully. After the last layer of paint give the head stone a few washes with darker colours and apply highlights, the usual weathering techniques.
There are several tutorials available on the web and I´m sure the halloween house folks on the rpf will chime in with additional tips.

Michael

 

[patsmear]

http://demonware.horrorseek.com/tombstones.html

Pat

 

[Goodwolf]

Here's what my brother did for his yard at Halloween...

Styrofoam cut to shape. Traced the lettering and decoration then used a dremel to cut out the letters and decoration by hand. Painted a solid grey base coat then used a wadded up plastic bag to "marble" the finish with a lighter shade of grey. Easy, good looking and not terribly expensive. For an added effect he gave them a light coat of glow in the dark paint so they are noticable under black light.

He's not a member here but I can put you in touch with him for more info if you like.