Corpse Fingers

$10 - $12 (based on 2020 prices)

Makes five fingers

 

When my little brother and I began yard haunting, it was easy to find realistic-looking body parts at local party shops. Over the years, though, the appearance of fake limbs has become more and more pathetic. Now, to acquire something believable, you have to make your own or buy it at an expensive special-effects store. Since the latter option is impracticable (no one has the money for those stores), this project developed from my own attempts at self fabrication.

• Five vinyl fingers
  
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat black*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat blue*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat gray*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat green*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint flat ivory*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat olive*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat purple*

1. On a newspaper-lined surface, apply three even coats of gray paint to the fingers. Although I used three, you may want more or less based on your desired coverage.

2. Give the fingers a smudging of green paint, focusing primarily on the tips and around the knuckles. I found that applying a small amount of paint to your thumb and index finger and rubbing it onto the prop works well.

3. Once the green paint has dried, repeat the process with olive. During this application, be careful not to cover too much of the other color (as I did).

4. After the olive paint dries, repeat the procedure with purple, accenting the fingertips, knuckles, and stump.

5. To add further depth to the prop, finish the patina with light touches of blue, ensuring it does not overpower the other four colors.

6. Detail the nails with a coat of ivory paint then, after that dries, smudge black along their cuticles.

7. Mix together black and purple paint to create a darkened hue and cover the severed ends of the fingers with several even coats of the paint. Then, using a brush with splayed bristles, apply a stippling of the blackened paint along the surfaces of the fingers. Do not overthink your application, since a random pattern will look more natural.

8. The fingers work well by themselves or you can use them to build other props: create holes around the stumps and thread twine through them to fashion a necklace; place them in a monster’s gnarled mouth; or allow them to take center stage in a specimen display. 

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.