Enhancements you can make to a common plastic skeleton that may lead to you hosing off the driveway due to terrified TOTs...

Let's face it.  A really good skeleton costs a lot of money.  Even a "budget Bucky" will run you around $100 by the time you pay for shipping.  There are some latex knockoffs, but we're still looking at $40-$60.

You've probably seen this Made-in-China-plastic-skeleton-in-a-bag for about $10.00.  In all fairness, it really doesn't look that bad.  However, it's a little short, and chances are you'll never fool anyone into believing it's a real skeleton.  It's just not very convincing.  But what if you could dress it up a little?

Click pix to zoom in

Suppose we use this skeleton as a FCG marionette.  It wouldn't even have to move, for that matter.  Just hang there looking scary.  

The plastic joints on this thing are pretty crummy.  They have little range of motion, and they're not very strong.  Let's fix them first.


Dismembered skeleton. 
It already looks spookier!

Just pop the arms and legs off the torso.  Drill a hole through the pin and socket of each joint.  Use a piece of wire to thread nylon string through the holes, then tie the ends together.

This might not look like much up close and in the light, but now your skeleton is much more limber, and darkness hides string.  If you need a really agile skeleton, do the same to his elbows and knees.

Let's hang our remodeled skeleton up to see how he looks.

We just happen to have a spare FCG contraption to use as a stand.

Um... Well, okay.  So he appears to be practicing some kind of interpretive dance.  That's pretty unusual, not scary.

Good grief, this isn't working out.  He certainly is flamboyant, but the whole leg thing isn't working for him.


Off with his legs!


"Calamity Jack" looks
like he's trying to
swim away.


The florescent paint is
a little overboard, but
we can fix that.

Geez, add a wig and some cheesecloth, and the old guy is pretty damn scary.

See Calamity Jack on display

Home | Back to Halloween Projects