The Build of a Giant Spider

It seems like we can’t go more than a few weeks without a good spider tutorial here at Haunter’s List, but Rania Peet’s latest prop tutorial, The Build of a Giant Spider is way better than “good”.  This is one oversized arachnid that could not possibly have turned out any better.

In her tutorial you’ll start off making your head and body out of tension wire covered with chicken wire.  The tension wire comes round but is completely bendable to get whatever shape you see fit to make, it doesn’t necessarily have to be round.  The base is a rounded sheet of plywood that holds securely in place the 8 pieces of pvc that will form your legs.  Once the base is complete and painted, the body of your spider can be connected to it via a piece of metal flat bar.

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The legs consist of three sections of 1″ pvc, a 5′ section that comes off the 45 degree fittings at the base, then connects to a 3′ section at the middle of the leg, and finishes with a 2′ section at the end.  Once the legs are attached Rania wrapped the pvc with some burlap and proceeded to spray Great Stuff in the gap.  The Great Stuff pushes the burlap and expands through the tiny gaps creating an amazingly creepy appearance that look both bulbous and hairy (just as I suspect spider legs would look like if you enlarged them to 17 feet in diameter).  Once complete they legs were coated with flat black spray paint.

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The body is covered with several yards of two tone long pile fur that were applied in sections.  The fur can be costly, but you cannot beat the appearance it gives the spider, it’s creepy unto itself and is the perfect finishing touch to a Giant Spider.

 

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Rania’s got a great video detailing the entire build of this prop which I would normally just post right here, but I’ve decided not to in this case.  Her site, Dont forget to stop & eat the roses, is so rich with photos and videos that you owe it to yourself to go there and check it out.  I can guarantee that you’ll find something else there that appeals to you in addition to The Build of a Giant Spider video.

 

Items needed to complete this include:

 

Body:

  • Tension wire
  • 1″ chicken wire
  • Zip ties
Base:
  • 1/4″ or 1/2″ plywood
  • (8) 1-inch 45 degree pvc elbows
  • (8) 1-inch psi pvc pipes cut into 8″ sections
  • (8) 5/16 x 1-3/8 x 4-1/4 U-bolts
  • (8) 5/16 x 1-3/8 x 2-1/2 U-bolts
  • pvc glue
  • paint
Legs:
  • (8) 10-ft 1″ pvc pipes
  • (16) 1″ 45 degree elbows
  • Burlap
  • Great Stuff Spray foam
  • Spray Adhesive
  • Black flat Spray paint
  • Black glitter (optional)