Static Snowmen from Pink Sheet Foam

[Nevergoback]

I made these snowmen a few years ago from a pattern in a magazine. I had a larger ones for outside made out of plywood, but they deteriorated and I took them apart to throw away. But before I did, I kept two of the circles for a template. Here they are. The Small Snowmen live inside, so they still hold up pretty well. I made this small one from foam packing from a vending machine. So to remake the big ones, I decided to do them out of the pink sheet foam. In Houston, we can only get the 1/2 inch stuff, but with our weather it holds up pretty well.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009132.jpg
I traced my circles on the Pink foam with a pencil, I decided to make the body one piece instead of separated circles like I did the plywood.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009133.jpg
Body one piece
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009134.jpg

I take the hard edge off with the razor knife, I used this small knife to do all the cutting only went through two blades. I make uneven slices on the edges as it makes the finished product less like sheet foam.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009135.jpg
I cut out the heads, and realized that the cutout from the mouth makes the perfect nose:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009136.jpg

Now make the buttons and the and eyes


http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009138.jpg

Here is everything cut out.
Buttons, eyes and noses

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009139.jpg

I Freehanded the arms as the plywood ones had coat hanger arms. The little ones have pipe cleaner arms, so I had to come up with a pattern on my own.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009140.jpg

Almost done
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009143.jpg

This one is sitting on top of the other body to sandwich the arms so I could take the picture. The nose will be attached with wire to the edge of the face and hot glued. I am painting with latex for the arms (brown) and the body will be white. I used acrylic craft paints for the nose and buttons because they don’t take much. For their hair I think I will use pipe cleaners like on the small ones. The plywood ones had hats I made to match their scarves, this is still an option as I have lots of felt. I gorilla glued an extra strip of foam for support on the back, and am waiting for that to dry, then will glue some wood strip pieces so I can attach a metal pipe strap. I will put them up in the yard with a piece of conduit through the pipe strap. The last thing is to glue half a foam ball in the throwing hand so it looks like a snowball. Will post finished picture sometime later in the week. Latex takes long to dry on this foam and it is raining now.

Another thing, I leave a flat spot on the bottom then make an off center flat spot on the top for the head. Each snowman is a mirror of the other so they will be facing each other for the snowball fight. Their heads will be cocked back a little bit to get that leaning back effect.

Here are the bodies put together back view with the extra support and front view. I am going to add wood firring strips to the back too. The body circles are 20" diam and the head is 15" diam.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009019.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009020.jpg

I am toying with the idea of making the throwing arm move with my newly acquired deer motors, but will publish photos of the finished painted versions hopefully this weekend.



Thanks for visiting.

[Sickie Ickie]

You did a great job. May I include your tutorial on the SP site?

[putrid]

Really like the modern design Nevergoback. Totally cool.

[Just Whisper]

this is great. I actually like his nose where you have it in the pic. Thanks for sharing this cute idea. be sure to post pics when you finish.

[Craig]

VERY COOL!:)

I agree, the idea of using the mouth cut out piece for the nose looks REALLY good! I would never have thought of using polysty for that! (The rusty gears in my head are turning again!):):):)

[Nevergoback]

You did a great job. May I include your tutorial on the SP site?

Sure, I will follow up with dimensions and finished pictures. I actually used a garbage can lid for my first template, both body sections are the same size, then I made the head about 20-25% smaller. The glue has dried on the supporting strip on the back so I can start painting this week as time permits.

[Sickie Ickie]

Sounds great!

[chris]

Lo0ks great nevergoback! Thanks for the how to pics!

[Elvira]

Very cute!! He would also look very cute on the front door (nice and light weight) rather than the traditional wreath. Thanks for sharing this idea.

[Nostalgic]

I like what Elvira says about the front door. I have a black door.. and a white snowman that is light in weight may just be the right thing. Thanks for posting.

[Nevergoback]

VERY COOL!:)

I agree, the idea of using the mouth cut out piece for the nose looks REALLY good! I would never have thought of using polysty for that! (The rusty gears in my head are turning again!):):):)

I am thinking of making one of those JOY signs with the piece that is left over, you know the one with the nativity scene in the middle of the O. I have a piece of foam left that is 4ft by about 28" tall. Anything that can be made out of plywood can be made with this foam. The only thing is they are not as strong. I have had Halloween props which have had multiple repairs for limbs and fingers popping off when they get blown around or dropped or bumped while I am moving them around. This is why the snowmen have such fat arms.

[Sickie Ickie]

have you thought about layering the foam for strength?

[Propped_Up]

Gentle hand-sanding with coarse sandpaper will smooth those edges nicely...in fact, you could skip the edge-shaving step entirely that way. :)

[Nevergoback]

Gentle hand-sanding with coarse sandpaper will smooth those edges nicely...in fact, you could skip the edge-shaving step entirely that way. :)

I'll remember that, I like the way the uneven shavings look. I made fence slats like that one year and they really looked like wood. What do you hold the sandpaper in, just your hand? The JOY cutout could use some finishing before I paint.

[Propped_Up]

yep. just hold it in your hand. I've used it like that to shape many different things, big and small.

If you ever have a need to, you can get an almost polished surface if you also sand it with very fine paper.

[Sickie Ickie]

I usually combine the two. Cut the edge angled, then sand. I try to use a med grade because coarse will leave streaks and dimples.

[Propped_Up]

I usually combine the two. Cut the edge angled, then sand. I try to use a med grade because coarse will leave streaks and dimples.

Yeah, the type of SF you're working with makes a big difference. if it's that crappy white particle-type, then coarse will rip it to shreds...but I found that blue or pink insulation SF is rigid enough that even coarse used gently is good for basic shaping.

[Nevergoback]

Here they are with their hair and neckwear. I decided to give one a tie and the other one curly 'hair' and I matched their hair to the neckware. If I am successful in animating the throwing hands I will post. one other thing i did was make monster mud with white latex and lightweight spackle and slathered it on the snowballs so they don't look like foam balls just cut in half.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009005.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009006.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009007-1.jpg

[chris]

Wow the snowmen came out great to! Great work again Nevergoback!

[Nevergoback]

Thanks, Ha, ha, I just realized I flipped their arms, i meant for the non throwing hand to point down....see my first picture. Oh well no one but us will know!

[putrid]

These snowmen are REALLY cool! Dude! Looking forward to seeing these done!

[Just Whisper]

these came out so cute. hope your animation goes well.

[Sickie Ickie]

Love the artsy-ness of this!

[Craig]

Nice work! (A little patience and a lot of skill goes a long way!)

COOL!:)

[Nostalgic]

I really like how these came out. I enjoy the accessories matching the hair! To me though, in the photos the arms look a little lost against the brick. Perhaps in person they stand out more?

I only ask this as I wonder if a dry brush with a little white over the arms would make them stand out more.. but yet still would keep the stick arm look. Maybe even just along the edges. Just a question. Either way.. I like your work! Thanks for posting.

EDIT: Is the hair wire that is wrapped?

[Propped_Up]

yup. those 2 freezing dudes are very cute! Like Nostalgic, I wonder if the arms could stand out more. I wish I had some sort of ingenious suggestion for that, but alas I gots nuthin'. ;)

Nice work indeed!! :)

[Nevergoback]

Yeah, I hear you about the arms, I think I will try dry brushing them with a tan or white. Here they are finally finished with the animated arms. The Snowmen will be self standing with the conduit strap and a piece of conduit pounded into the ground and I will place and weigh down the arm waver behind it. Some of the wood shows, but I can reposition them so that only a little can be seen and I will spray paint the frame pieces white. Don't worry about the one whose arm is hitting his head, it is just a matter of repositioning his body, as soon as I put them out, the wind started blowing and I just taped the men to the mechanism instead of how they will finally be installed. If I lived in a harsher climate, these would have to be plywood.

new video to come will replace this one soon:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/th_November2009Snowmen018.jpg

I can reposition the arms as well, they are wood screwed to the strip.

Also, I swapped the resting arms so they are pointing down. I stuck a hack saw blade through the layers and sawed right through the gorilla glue no problem, it only took off a little foam which I easily repainted.

All the hair pieces are pipe cleaners, the red ones are the xtra fuzzy cleaners and the brown I just wrapped around a small flash light to curl. The ends are just stuck into the foam.


Here the mechanism by itself

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/Georgiapeach_/November2009snowman023.jpg

This is my first animated prop and I thank you all for your words of encouragement and special thanks to Sickie for the link to pigs fly!

This will be it for my outdoor projects. Now it's all in a holding pattern until Thanksgiving weekend. One good thing about using the reindeer motor, it is comes with an extra outlet. I am going to run a string of LEd's and puddle it around each one.



Actually, I did cobble together a grave peeper but used a repurposed battery powered moto from an AAT. It worked but the skull had to be small. Now I can make a real one for next year.

[Sickie Ickie]

MUCH better than my first animated prop I did! Great job, man! It only gets more elaborate from here!

[Propped_Up]

COOL! I kinda LIKE the one that's hitting himself in the head...it'd be hilarious if every time he does it, he makes the sound of Homer Simpson saying "D'OH!". LOL

Seriously, it looks really good. :)

[Nevergoback]

Thanks again, I did dry brush the arms again with a beige making sure I hit the edges so they do stand out some more and it looks more like aged wood now. Came out good, thanks for the suggestions. I might reposition the waver support, I can move them in toward the motor as they are only held on by angle brackets. I've got lots of dowels to play with to see which pushing length suits my fancy. I made everything so it I can break it down easily.

[Nevergoback]

COOL! I kinda LIKE the one that's hitting himself in the head...it'd be hilarious if every time he does it, he makes the sound of Homer Simpson saying "D'OH!". LOL

Seriously, it looks really good. :)

That would be funny....D'oh! I have a little Christmas Homer dashboard doll dressed in a santa suit which has a variety of colorful phrases....to bad I am not electronically inclined, his voice isn't very loud anyway.

[bethene]

those turned out so cool!! very impressive for your first animation!