This file is one of the Wolfstone archives of the Halloween mailing lists. You can find out more, and reach the entire collection here: http://www.pobox.com/~wolfstone/_r/HalloweenArchive.html This particular archive deals with "books" topics. This includes: o books about haunting o books of spooky stories and legends o reviews - - - - - Subject: Re: Hall: Book Reviews From: "Joe Pfeiffer" Date: Fri, 06 Jul 2001 19:33:22 Most of the industry's top haunt books can be reviewed at http://members.aol.com/moonpub/HauntBooks.html - - - - - Subject: Re: Happy motoring? Was "round peg in a square hole" From: Date: Wed, 08 Aug 2001 15:12:11 EDT Hi Josh: If you haven't done so yet, check out Edwin Wise's outstanding work, = "Animatronics." You can get it from Amazon.com, or you can get it = directly from Edwin's company at http://www.simreal.com I think that Edwin's done a fantastic job of explaining the HOW and = WHY of making animatronics, both motor driven and pneumatic. - - - - - Subject: Re: Hall: Re: Happy motoring? Was "round peg in a square hole" From: "Edwin Wise" Date: Wed, 08 Aug 2001 15:06:18 -0500 On 8/8/2001 at 12:50 PM Josh Coen wrote: >ChilliTNG at aol.com wrote: > >> If you haven't done so yet, check out Edwin Wise's outstanding work, >> "Animatronics." Thanks! >Thanks Jon! I haven't read it yet because I probably thought it was = beyond >my current capabilities. I've only just begun to add animated props and the >most complicated yet is an FCG. I don't know if pneumatics or servo >controllers are ever in the cards. Do you know if the book covers more >basic stuff like animating with stuff you'd find at a garage sale? I tried to start pretty basic... a bunch of the book is just about the geometry of the motion, and how to design four-bar linkages, and that kind of stuff... though I assume parts from Grainger's, to make it more universal. But yeah, you could probably apply the info in the book to garage-sale parts, though I don't really talk about found parts much. It does go into pneumatics and control stuff, too... - - - - - Subject: FlyingPig-Was Happy mot... Was "round peg ..." From: "Thee ScareCrow" Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2001 08:57:31 -0700 (PDT) And for those of you that do not wish to send their money to the imperialistic crown, the book on their site *should* [if in stock - they say it is] be available at amazon - I'm thinking of getting this book so I can literally build a miniture model of a future animated prop! Paper Automata: Four Working Models to Cut Out & Glue Together $11.20 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/189961821X/mifair --- Dougeebear wrote: > Had to search a bit for this link, but it's worth it > since they've really > done a lot with their site! The Flying Pig in London > sells a lot of > crank-driven toys. They've added a Mechanism section > to their website which > includes wonderful animations on many different > types of cranks and > flywheels and other mechanical methods to transfer > the circular motion of a > motor (or crank, in their case) in any direction you > might want. > > http://www.flying-pig.co.uk/index.html - - - - - Subject: book of secrets From: "Iron Kingdom" Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 11:14:02 -0400 Lesley Bannatyne has done it again. Yep, that's right she has penned = another fantastic book. This one entitled "A Halloween how-to." Its = fantastic..there are so many wonderful ideas, images and resources. Don't get caught = without this book. Lesley has compiled tricks of the trade from the best sources = and put together a must have for the season. Go now and order this book. You won't regret the purchase. Iron and I have been fighting over the book = since it arrived yesterday. So many ooh and ahhhs to fill your day. Lady Iron - - - - - Subject: Terror Syndicate HHPBHs (Long) From: Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2001 01:02:40 -0700 Morganna, >Okay...in your opinion, should I, being a person with no pneumatic/airha= unt >background whatsoever, purchase book #1 in order to build a facsimile of= a >prop in book #3...or is there adequate instruction in #3 for me to do >without? I've just purchased book 3, by the way... You had to ask. :o) First let me say that I'm a HUGE fan of Steve Hickman and the Terror Synd= icate. I own just about every product Steve sells. I expect to receive his brand= new Dark Soundscapes CD any day now. I purchased the TS HHPBHs #2, #3 and #1, in that order. #3 was not not av= ailable at the time I bought #2 and I only just recently purchased #1. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of stormdoor closer air pistons, PVC air rams and bungee cords. Personally, I rather invest in a stainless steel air cylinder. But Steve acknowledges that his handbooks are geared toward= s the home haunter on a budget and that his ideas and designs can be adapte= d to leverage commercial grade parts. And I fully agree. And as Carl so ada= mantly pointed out, stormdoor closer air pistons and PVC air rams work. Steve's handbooks have gradually increased in terms of price, but at the same time, they have equally increased in terms of content. # of Price Handbook Pages Price /Page -------- ----- ----- ----- #1 57 $27 $0.47 #2 66 $30 $0.45 #3 82 $37 $0.45 In my opinion, you need to buy all three handbooks, period! I do feel tha= t each new handbook has improved on its predecessor, so if I could only aff= ord to purchase one handbook, I'd start with #3, followed by #2 and then #1. Handbooks #2 and #3 don't detail the design of the air piston and PVC air= ram, however, if you are set on using an air piston or a PVC air ram, I think that you can find instructions for equivalent designs on the Intern= et. Of course, as your budget permits, I'd still strongly advocate purchasing= handbooks #2 and #1. I've put together somewhat of an illustrated table of contents to give yo= u a better sense as to what is in each of the three handbooks. All of the links are simply pointers into the Terror Syndicate site. Again, I am a huge TS fan and I think that Steve Hickman is an artistic genius. I can't wait for the HHPBH #4. Based on my calculations, it shoul= d be over 100 pages and cost about $45. I'd be willing to write Steve a che= ck today! Hope this helps... Wicked Beernut HHPBH #1 PREFACE THE BASICS Air Piston Design Air Ram Design Chicken Wire Bodies http://terrorsyndicate.com/shallowgrave/16_12ab.jpg Steve's example of a free-standing, chick wire body is amazing, but I think that there is enough detail in the second and third handbooks to master the basic technique. Monster Mud The information regarding Monster Mud appears in the second and third handbooks and also appears on his website, http://terrorsyndicate.com/monstermud.htm Airbrushing Props Steve discusses the differences between single-acting and double- acting airbrushes and gives some tricks and tips to airbrushing. I recognize the single-acting airbrush which Steve depicts as a Paasche H. The Paasche H airbrush is also recommended by Arnold Goldman of The Monster Makers in his Mask Makers Handbook. I suspect that Steve has thrown a few bucks Arnold's way. THE PROJECTS The Bush Jumper Zombie Stone Crypt The Body Split Zombie Alien/Dragon Eggs http://terrorsyndicate.com/alienpage/QV026.jpg Mummy Coffin Cocoon Victim Prop Controllers http://terrorsyndicate.com/alienpage/QV045.jpg Multi Channel Sound System http://terrorsyndicate.com/shallowgrave/HAUNT026.jpg The Gate Keeper http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt119.jpg The Crate http://terrorsyndicate.com/shallowgrave/28_25.jpg HHPBH #2 PREFACE THE PROJECTS The Stork http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt021.jpg T.S. Fog Chiller http://terrorsyndicate.com/shallowgrave/HAUNT027.jpg The Scarecrow The Split Wall http://terrorsyndicate.com/shallowgrave/21_18.jpg T.S. Skull Stanchions http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt126.jpg The Acolyte http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt068.jpg The Night Watchman http://terrorsyndicate.com/shallowgrave/10_06ab.jpg The Barrel http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt069.jpg The Headlight http://terrorsyndicate.com/shallowgrave/26_23.jpg T.S. Bucky Corpse http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt052.jpg MONSTER MUD SUPPLIERS FINAL WORDS HHPBH #3 PREFACE MONSTER MUD PROPS The Ceiling / Wall Crawler http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt118.jpg The Watcher http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt158.jpg Death Defiant http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt116.jpg PNEUMATIC PROPS Death Box http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt040.jpg Nocturnal Terror The Monk http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt101.jpg The Jerker The Soul Snatcher http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt050.jpg The Wall Dweller Simple Air Blast http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt067.jpg STATIC PROPS Haunt Mirrors http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt032.jpg http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt034.jpg Haunt Signs http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt114.jpg Haunt Lighting Wall Fountain http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt141.jpg TRICKS and TREATS Monster Mud Base Coating and Dry Brushing Simple Air Manifolds http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt015.jpg Simple Video Systems http://terrorsyndicate.com/damnation2000/haunt019.jpg SUPPLIERS LAST WORDS - - - - - Subject: Re: Hall: Re: Re: The Book (and Animatronics) From: "Edwin Wise" Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 07:47:13 -0500 On 8/12/2001 at 10:12 PM patty a nuth wrote: >What types of projects does this book cover? Firstly, it's not Halloween specific (publisher wanted a broader = audience), and secondly, it's only kind of project oriented. It is more interested = in mechanisms, which can be applied in your own creative ways. If you want projects, the Monster List is the best place to go: http://markbutler.8m.com/monsterlist.htm That said, here is the table of contents for the book Animatronics: A Guide to Animated Holiday Displays: http://www.simreal.com/an_toc.html - - - - -