The Well from the Movie The Ring

Putting Your Casting Skills to Work

Well prop

About 45 river rocks were cast to complete the well.

Now that we’ve gone over several ways to cast, it’s time I posted the directions to my replica of the well from the movie The Ring.

Some people have built this well purely for a year-round decorative yard piece. Others just pull the prop out for their haunts.

Other Well Tutorials

Another intriguing tutorial on aged well design can be found at Haunter’s Hangout. The main material for that project is Styrofoam.

After watching a woman from Buildeasy make a wooden well from scratch, it made me think a piece of store-bought wooden rollable fencing would also work for the circular frame in my directions. It would just need to be cut down to the desired height.

Directions for Pictured Well Continue reading

Another Casting Project for Summer

Leaf Casting

By Debbie Morrow

I’ve had plans of making leaf castings since I saw the idea back in 2005 and still haven’t found the time! They do seem to make beautiful additions to a garden as birdbaths, stepping stones or as stand-alone accent pieces.

 

Although the technique can be used for any size leaf, the most interesting sculptures come from heavily ribbed leaves such as Burdock, Elephant Ear, Philodendron, Skunk Cabbage, and more.

You can make them with cement following directions from the following Swanson Gardens Fox News feature or substitute Plaster of Paris for cement using the same directions. Make sure if you are mixing the plaster that you make it in a much thicker consistency than you’d make for pouring molds.

Casting Part 1: Choosing the Technique for Your Project

From left to right:  A hot glue skull with foil backing, a plain hot glue skull and a plaster cast. All made from the same mold.

A  good starting point for any newbie haunter or prop maker would be casting. I’m not talking about the professional latex or vacuum mold; I’m talking about an easy way to replicate an object with items often found in your home.

When deciding on making a cast, a few things must be considered: How heavy you want the final product to be, how much mess you are willing to make, how sturdy you need the prop to be and what type of environment the prop will be in.

After mulling over those considerations, below are two types of mold making techniques I use and the pros and cons for each. Continue reading