Build your own

Halloween Candlestick

by Chuck Rice

This is the finished Candlestick. It is made from a Mr. Thrifty Leg and two Mr. Thrifty Shoulder blades from the Anatomical Chart Company, a plastic candle tube from the hardware store lamp department, and a bit of putty epoxy (there are several brands, any will do) to hold things together.

The Anatomical Chart Company sells skeletal models to the Scientific and Medical communities. They have very nice skeletons and skulls, but they tend to be very expensive. Fortunately for Hauntists, it is difficult to make quality skeletons and there are many that come out of the molds that are not medical or even teaching quality. ACC calls these Forth Quality or Fourths. They generally have some flaw or flaws that make them unusable for teaching, but perfect for Halloween. ACC sells these for greatly reduced prices to the Haunted House market. To order, call Marilyn Lack at 1-800-621-7500 ext 235. (The Halloween Desk )

One of the Skeletal models they sell is called the Mr. Thrifty. It is a small skeleton just under 3 feet tall. They sell the Mr. Thrifty Legs by the dozen. About $5 a dozen is what I paid. They also sell rib cages. I needed a rib cage for another project, but did not need the shoulder blades, so they ended up here.

To see a larger version, click on the picture.
The Stand
  The tibia is connected to the foot by a pin hinge. On the Mr. Thrifty model, the foot bones and toes are a solid, molded one piece. Perfect for out needs, but we will have to do something to immobilize that hinge.
  At the top of the Tibia, there is another hinge for the knee where it connects to the femur. We do not need the femur, so it is removed.
  I found this neat stuff at the hardware store called putty epoxy (there are several brands, any will do,but some stink till cured). It looks like clay with a green outer layer wrapped around a white inner core. It does not harden unless you mix the green and white. To use it, you just pinch off however much you will need and mash it around till the green mixes well with the white. It will turn an off-white color. Once mixed you have about 10-20 minutes where it is still pliable, then it hardens to rock. Once hard, it is waterproof, but while it is still soft, it dissolves in water, so you can get your fingers wet and smooth it. It washes off your hands with water. It is very strong and easy to handle, and it looks like bone when smoothed and hardened. Once hardened, it can be sanded.
  I took a pinch of the putty epoxy and mixed it up and rolled it into worm shape. I then moved the tibia so that it was as far forward toward the toes as it would go and I pressed the worm into the front of the joint and smoothed it out.
  Then I did the same from the back side of the joint. In 20 minutes it is nice and hard.
  The leg will not stand on its own, so I mixed up another pinch of putty, formed it into a ball and pressed it into the bottom of the foot. Then I placed a 3 to 4 inch piece of piano wire into it and pressed it down onto a flat surface to flatten it out and embed the wire. Make sure you get the leg straight before it hardens. The piano wire makes the leg good and stable while making it look like the foot is standing on its own in low light and can even be covered with cloth to hide it.
The Wings
   The Shoulder blades are attached to the Mr. Thrifty rib cage with two screws and glue. Remove the screws, the pull the blades off. If they are glued well, a sharp knife or exacto knife will help cut the glue.
   The blades have a flat place where the arm is normally attached. This flat will be placed next to the candle, but there are two small bone extensions that stick out past the flat and get in the way. I use a sharp pocket knife to trim them enough to fit the candle.
   Once trimmed, the blades (wings) are temporally attached to the candle tube with some thick cyanoacrylate glue (super glue) from the hobby shop. This is not strong enough to hold the wings on, but will hold them in place while the putty epoxy is added.
   The fit is not exact, but that does not matter. The putty will fill in the gaps and smooth things out.
  Mix up a new pinch of putty and roll it into a worm. Press the worm into the gaps and cracks between the wings and candle.
  Then use a bit of water to smooth it out before it hardens.
 

To attach the candle to the tibia, mix up some more putty and shape it into a biscuit using the candle as the biscuit cutter. It helps to get the inside of the candle wet first so the biscuit does not stick to the it too much. Use the wet end of a screwdriver to push the biscuit back out of the candle tube.

Then press the biscuit onto the top of the tibia. You may need to trim the tibia hinge tab off. Form the edges of the biscuit onto the tibia so that it attaches well. Then press the candle back on lightly once more to make sure that you have not deformed the biscuit, but remove it before it dries, else it will get glued on. You want a pretty tight fit so the candle will not fall off. If it is too tight, you can trim the biscuit with a sharp knife or sand it down a bit.
The Light
   
   
   

  Please note:

I can make no warranties on the methods and procedures presented here. I have built this device, but your tools and skills are unknown to me. Proceed at your own risk.

I also do not endorse any of the products here except the FerretTronics chip. They are just the products I chose to use for this project. You may find that they work better or worse for you. Experiment for yourself. That is half the fun!

On the other hand, if there is a step or procedure here that you do not understand, let me know using the Comments button and I will see what I can do to explain it better. -Chuck-

 

 

 

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