The first thing that started me on this project was people's general fear of clowns.
I like to work with natural phobias, instead of just the zombie pop-up norm.
2008 was the first year I found myself walking through a local Spirit store.
Not wanting to spend a lot of money, I chose my props carefully.
As soon as I made eye contact with the hanging clown, I knew this was the one thing I must have!
All the evil of this prop is in the airbrushed eyes.
When you stare into this clown's eyes, you can feel it.
ClownsmilefaceGIF.gif picture by the_PROCRASTINATOR
I still did not know what to do with this darn clown yet, but that soon changed.
The company I work for was cleaning out their old storage building and it was full of old office furniture.
That is where I picked up the cool, but super heavy file cabinet.
This cabinet was designed to hold giant drafts pages.
Its natural movement is for the top and the front to simultaneously open at the same time!
Of course I modified the movement a bit to suit this project.
I simply welded a few mounts in just the right place and installed an old air ram.
ClownsmileProp001.jpg picture by the_PROCRASTINATOR
You will love this part, in order to be sure I got the mounts welded in the right spot,
I climbed inside with a flash light and completely closed it!
I am 6 feet tall, so I did not fit inside this cabinet very well.

 
Now that I have the door opening and closing with air, I moved onto the pop mechanism.
 
I decided to use PVC, instead of my normal welded steel mechanism.
What a mess! The first attempt was a PVC straight slide pop-up.
The movement was very limited and the action was ugly, so I scrapped it.
I then decided to go with a 4-bar type pop mechanism.
ClownsmileProp009.jpg picture by the_PROCRASTINATOR
So this pop would have to new first for me, using PVC as a main frame and using the 4-bar concept.
Getting the maximum throw out of the 4-bar without hitting the enclosure was another challenge!
I did not get it on the first attempt so I had to cut it down a little.
ClownsmileProp028.jpg picture by the_PROCRASTINATOR
After a little rework I was happy with the motion.
ClownsmileGIF2.gif picture by the_PROCRASTINATOR
I glued a piece of PVC into the head so that I could mount it to the 4-bar frame.
ClownsmileProp018.jpg picture by the_PROCRASTINATOR
Then I filled the head void area with Great Stuff foam to give added holding power.
ClownsmileProp021.jpg picture by the_PROCRASTINATOR
Nothing worst than some kid coming up to you in the beginning of Halloween night saying,
Hey Mister, the fell of your monster....
Next, I mounted another air cylinder to the side of the 4-bar, to give it that great popping motion!
ClownsmileProp038.jpg picture by the_PROCRASTINATOR
Then I hooked up an air regulator and a couple of solenoids.
ClownsmileProp045.jpg picture by the_PROCRASTINATOR
My air fittings have speed valves, to help control the up/down and open/close speeds.
ClownsmileProp046.jpg picture by the_PROCRASTINATOR
For a break-down of the function, please let me refer you to my video below.
Now that I got the mechanism working just the way I want, I neatly mounted all the parts.
Then I bolted the head on and hot glued the clown suit to the front door to manage fabric upon closing.
Here is a little video showing it all dressed up...
Make a Free Website with Yola.