2024 Tombstones

Pre-made "skinny" stones being bulked with foam.

 

Inspector Vulture approves.

Shaped and coated with joint compound over paper mache'.

Painted black and dry-brushed white.

While I have several ideas for scratch-built monuments, this was another year to simply "bulk out" premade stones to give them more heft and believability.  It is a simple process of building up the back and base of the stone with additional foam then coating with paper mache' and stippling with drywall joint compound mixed with art paste.  Not shown is the small block of wood and vertical PVC pipe I insert in the base.  This adds weight and a way to install the stone in the lawn over a short length of rebar, to keep it from blowing over.  Next year I'll be back to creating never-before-seen spooky-silly additions to the Golden Cedars Garden of Rest Pet Cemetery.

Tombstones Update

Here's an update on the two tombstones my son and I built for our Golden Cedars Garden of Rest Pet Cemetery.  Since the last post we applied a layer of paper mache' clay to the sides, backs and bases of the stones and in the case of the smaller stone, to the front, shaping it to match the existing border across the top.  Once that had ample time to dry, both received a coat of black paint followed by a drybrushing of white.  That's it - the drybrushing produces a very realistic stone appearance relying on the texture of the surface to create tonal variation. 

The black is an indoor latex while the white is Kilz primer.  Indoor vs. outdoor paint matters less since it will receive a coat of urethane spar varnish to protect it from the elements.  However, I won't apply that until later this summer when I can do that work outdoors.  That varnish gives me a headache so a respirator and good ventilation is absolutely necessary.  The varnish gives the stones a slight yellowed tint, but for these two I may also apply a color filter to imply a different type of stone, for variety.

Pet Cemetery Project 2021

Model Railroading has taken a back seat lately to a few pleasant distractions.  A surprise visit from in-laws led to a flurry of overdue cleaning and straightening, a late honey harvest needed to be bottled with wax to clean and process, and most enjoyable of all, my oldest son and I returned to the annual work of building tombstones for our family Pet Cemetery.  

The core of the tombstones shown in the photos above were given to me by a neighbor in Washington State.  He used to set up a big graveyard in his lawn each September for Halloween.  Yes, he started setting up a month early since he didn't get around so easily and he had that many props.  People used to come from all over to see it.  Naturally we had to get into the business as well, so rather than compete with another human graveyard, we chose to plant a Pet Cemetery.

Being a kitbasher at heart, I can't just plunk down any old pre-made prop.  Where's the fun in that?  So, I take the pre-made foam stone and add bulk to increase the thickness.  Sometimes I'll carve away parts to change the shape, as in the first picture, or I'll add more to widen it or create a thicker base.  For larger stones I'll insert PVC pipe into the base so the stone can slip over rebar, or drill holes in a wooden base to pin it to the ground with 12" ground nails.  

Once the rough construction is done we will mix a batch of paper mache' clay following Scott Stoll's recipe (www.stolloween.com) and begin applying it all over, taking care to maintain the pre-carved details we want to keep.  In the past we've carved letters into the face.  This year, however, I purchased some plastic fridge-magnet letters from a local thrift store which we hot-glued to the stones (not seen in the photos).  They'll be covered with the paper mache' mix, minus the paper.  When all that's dry, after any carving, the stones are painted and sealed.

Unfortunately due to the other aforementioned events, the construction of our two stones we planned to add this year was delayed.  Still, we set up the cemetery at our church for the second-annual COVID Halloween drive-thru.  Right now we're still applying the paper mache' coating, with carving and painting yet to come.  Maybe by Christmas they'll be done.  It is not a quick process, taking about a month from start to finish working a little each evening a few times a week.  That's fine, as it is good father-son craft time and the resulting object becomes a memorial to those good times.