Store bought props don't HAVE to look cheap...

This guy looked impressive in the ad; but of course when you get him home and take a close look the "made in china" quality shows through.

Under the head was a cast paper shoulder frame; the arms were just wire-hangar wire with some thin pipe insulation taped to it. The robe was big and heavy; too heavy for the flimsy wire arms to hold up. Also he had glowing LED eyes - which were cool except that they left the LEDs sticking straight out of the eyes like some kind of robot reject with laser-beam eyes.

So, I removed the cheap wire arms and covered the cast paper "shoulder" frames with some plastic (I intend for this guy to stand watch OUTSIDE - in the weather). Luckily I was able to simply push the laser-beam LED eyes back into the head a bit - and angled them flat so they no longer projected a bright red beam of light out, but now eerily light up the eye sockets. I also inserted a PVC cross-section piece between the head and the pipe stand the creature came with; this gives me a mounting point for some decent arms.

Some quick measurements on a couple convenient helpers gave me some dimensions for the new arms. I wanted the arms straight out to the elbows then bent up at an angle. 36" from elbow to elbow was an average measurement between my two samples; minus about one inch where they attach into the cross piece, so I cut two 17 1/2" sections for the upper arms and two 20" sections for the forearms plus hands (since no hands show under the robes). I spray painted all the arm-pipes black so they would be less visible under the (black) robes.

A note on PCV construction; I avoid gluing any of my PVC creatures - I almost always want to adjust them later on - so I always drill and screw them in place. The screws are easy to remove later if you need to disassemble, repair, or simply adjust the pose of your creature.

To give the creature a little bulk in the limbs, I like to use pool noodles. There are a variety of sizes; handy for a variety of limb thicknesses. I used relative thin ones here since I'm not too worried about bulk, but I also don't want it to be evident that his arms are only pipes. I cut a length of pool noodle, split it in half lengthwise, and tapes it to the top of the upper arms.

I touched up the pool noodles with some black spray paint so they green didn't show through, and he's ready for his close up Mr. DeMille!