Giant Spider With Webified Victim!

by ffsteever in Living > Halloween

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Giant Spider With Webified Victim!

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Huge 20 foot arachnid with suspended 'victim' wrapped in it's web! I spent approximately $40 utilizing much of the supplies from around my house.

Materials needed:

8 ft sections of 1/2 inch pvc x 10
45 degree x 18
90 degree x 8
PVC T's x 8
Plywood board
Styrofoam block(or similar material)
Yoga ball-my wife won't miss
Carpet remnants
Black parachord
Packing tape
Black/yellow paint
Spray foam- 1 can
Solar landscaping globe lights x2
D ring x2
Twine(free at check out)
Heavy duty black trash bag X 1

Cuts

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Cut a piece of plywood down to 2x3.
Cut your pvc 'legs' into various sections, 2, 3 or 4 feet. I made my rear legs with a longer reach.
I made my 'striker' legs a bit shorter but with more articulation with an extra 45 degree joint.
Find some sort of material for the body, I used a yoga ball but you can simply fill a tash bag with stuffing. I found some square styrofoam blocks from a recently purchased coffee pot and taped it together to help form the abdomen along with the yoga ball.
I cut out some wholes in the styrofoam body to insert my solar light eyeballs.
I attached 2 D rings to the back of the plywood.

Build the Body

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I cut 3, 2 foot sections of pvc and attached them horizontally to the underside of the plywood by drilling holes one other side of the pvc pieces and using zip ties to fasten them. I backed up the zip ties with a small screw through the plywood. Where the pvc terminates attach a 90 degree angle. I did not use pvc glue on any of my joints but used a small screw as a 'set screw' to lock them in place and so it could be disassembled for storage.

Build the Legs

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I experimented here with different configurations of 45's with different lengths of pvc, but I made both rears the same, both middles the same, etc. The 2 'striker' legs in the front are a shorter set with an additional 45 joint so they look more articulated. I terminated all the legs with a T fitting. I later zip tied small squares of upside down carpet to give him some spidey grip to the roof.

Abdomen

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I used a styrofoam block from a coffee maker which I glued together to form a square. Behind it I placed a yoga ball which was taped down with red carpet tape. I covered the whole thing with a heavy duty trash bag and pulled to to the front to make the mouth-like area. I carved out 2 holes and drove in solar globes for eyes. They don't shine as bright as I had hoped so I would consider an upgrade here. Of course They were only 1.99 each! I covered the whole thing with a spider web bungee to keep it all together, how fitting.

Prep the Legs

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I drilled a small hole through either end of the pvc leg sections and threaded twine(free from the checkout line at lowes!). I loosely wrapped the legs and tied it off. I then spray foamed the legs, my hope was that the twine would give the spray foam more of a hold on the pvc, which it did! I didn't foam the last segment in order to conserve foam and I thought it would be a good effect to differentiate the sections.

Hire Oompa Loompas

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These two Oompa Loompas were brought on board to paint the legs. It's a family affair.

Raise It Up

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All components were raised up along with a bucket of supplies. Thanks for helping mom.

Placement

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The back legs were added to the body on the back side of the roof. Parachord was lasooed around the chimney and secured to the rear of the plywood with the D rings. Spidey was sent over the the ridge of the roof and maneuvered into place.

Back Around Front...

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Mid, front and strikers were added from the front. As a last minute thought I looped parachord through the T's at the end of the legs and threaded it to the other legs. One sent up the left legs and one up the right legs. This helps to hold them into place. I would consider doing this to a top section of the legs as well and securing them back to the main line to further stabilize the legs and prevent them from laying down.

The Victim

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Skull from the craft store atop a roll of plastic and some old shoes with the whole thing wrapped in webbing. He hangs from twine from the gutter. Baby spiders were added later. I hope there will be a giant spider in your neighborhood soon! Please vote for this Instructable for the Halloween decor contest, if you dare!

The Babies!

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Spider spawn!