Big Coroplast Pumpkin

This large Coroplast pumpkin has been a Halloween favorite of our visitors for many years. This article documents one method of constructing the prop using a wooden frame, mini-lights, and a Renard lighting controller.

Materials

• Large coro pumpkin (originally purchased from HolidayCoro.com)
• 2x4's for framing
• Assorted washers, sheetrock screws
• Wireless Renard controller (wireless in this example)
• AC SSR's
• Short CAT5 cables.
• 8 strings of mini-lights
• Suitable AC SSRs to control the lights
• 1/4" plywood sheet for back
• Flat black paint
• 4 1"-long piece of PVC pipe for standoffs (to protect the mini-lights)
• Metal door handle
• Misc. extension cords

Assembly

• A box frame was made out of 2x4s and the coro face mounted on it.
• Lights were inserted from the back through the pre-punched holes in the coro.
• Controller and SSRs were mounted inside the box.
• A multi-outlet terminal strip was included for the electronics.
• After the wiring and lighting were tested, the plywood back was installed and painted flat black.
• To protect the mini-light bulbs, four 1" standoffs were mounted on the four front corners of the face. This allows the whole box to rest against a wall without fear that the bulbs will be crushed or pushed back into the inside.

Since all the visitors were on-foot, we needed outdoor sound. We put a clock radio inside a marine battery box for protection and put the speakers on either side of the display. An FM transmitter was used to broadcast the audio to the radio.