Shadow Demon
One thing that was lacking from my collection was a winged creature. Also, I was itching to play with my monster mud, Great Stuff foam, and paper mache clay again. So, I decided if I was going to do all of that, I would make my creature a larger focal point for my display and, of course, incorporate skulls, which has become a staple of my recent creations. I give you…Shadow Demon.
This is my inspiration piece for my creation. 
This tutorial will walk you through each step of his creation from his head, base, body, forming of bone pile, adding skulls/bones, creating hands, forming wings, and, ultimately, painting him.
HEAD
I started off with this funky elongated foam skull I picked up a couple years ago on clearance. It had the perfect sized forehead that I needed for my demon creature.
I started off rolling newspaper to shape the horns. Once in desired shaped, I wrapped newspaper with masking tape to hold shape. I cut 2 slits in the top of the skull to house the horns. I stuck the horn approximately 2″ down into the foam skull securing in place with my handy dandy hot glue gun.
I started forming his face using paper mache clay. I decided I wanted mini spikes protruding around his eyes and his chin so off to the craft store I went. I came up with cake decoration tips and mini cone shaped metal beads found in the jewelry section.
I set the spikes right into the paper mache clay. Below you can see up close-up shots of his forehead and chin in the drying phase.
I cut pointy ear shapes from a cereal box and glued to the side of his head (using hot glue). I covered the ear templates with paper mache clay to strengthen.
I proceeded to cover the horns with paper towels dipped in carpet adhesive to give a different contrasting texture to the horns vs. the mache clay on the face. Now that the face is done work on his base and body can begin.
BASE
The base structure is 3′ x 2′ x 1′ (seen below). I ran a 2×4 up the back of the structure to mount PVC to in later steps. The top of the structure is cheap-o plywood.
Body
I used 1/2″ PVC and for his upper body structure. Here you will see 3″ of PVC extended from his back for wing supports in later steps. The torso, arms, and head will be the only things visible after the prop is complete (reason: pile of bones and wings will conceal lower body)
I formed the upper torso using an old thermal t-shirt stuffed with newspaper and wrapped with duct tape. After initial paper mache clay application, I determined the duct tape did not provide a good substrate for the clay to adhere to so I went back over the duct taped body with paper mache stripes (which proved to be a better surface for the clay to stick to). Below are early pictures of the torso coming together.
Bone Pile form
I formed a cone shaped stack from chicken wire and attached to the base with screws.
I covered the pile with burlap dipped in MonsterMud (prior to attaching skulls and bones). Below you will see beginning steps of the burlap application. This is mainly for an added water barrier; I plan to use Great Stuff Foam in between the bones after they are attached.
Skulls
After looking for cheap skulls online, I decided the cheapist thing to do was make them myself. To learn how I made these go HERE.
Bone Pile
I did a mix of skulls and miscellaneous bones in my bone pile. I added Great Stuff Foam in between the bones and skulls (I used 4 cans total on pile). Started building-up his arms and hands…I ended up having to make his hands (which I originally planned to do last) so I could figure skull placement up his chest and around his torso area (which is still in progress in below photo). 
HANDS
My demon hands were formed using actual demon shaped rubber gloves, however the pictures of early steps were lost. So I recreated the steps I used for my demon hands below using an extra child sized zombie hand I had laying around. First thing I did was removed the fabric glove (which is just glued to the rubber form). Using the rubber portion as a mold I filled the form with paper clay (as seen in below pics).
Once hand is dry remove from rubber hand mold.
Below is another rubber hand form I tested. I cut down the fingers and stuffed the glove with paper clay. Paper form was easily removed providing a fuller hand shape.
I added a piece of a pool noodle to the end of dried hand. I glued the hand form to the end of my PVC pipe sticking out from my demons arm. Next I added additional paper clay over the hand form working my way up the hand and over the pool noodle forming the wrist area while blending clay into the forearm of my demon. Remember photos represent steps used to create my demon hands only.
See the finished product below (again the hand form was used as a template to form a larger fuller demon hand).
Wings
I formed the basic wing shape using 2″ PVC pipe and 45 degree elbows. Added pipe installation as seen below to thicken the outer wings.
Dipping the fabric sheet in MonsterMud, I started gathering folds to match my inspiration piece as much as I could. This step is a bit time consuming so take your time and be patient.
Once everything was dry, I coated him with 2 coats of Drylok Masonry waterproofer (as seen below).
After his wings were dry, I went over the inner areas of the wings with my hot glue gun to give a vein effect.
Wing Tips
After consulting my friends at GoE, I came up with a game plan for my wing tips. Below pictures will walk you through steps used to create the clawed horns. First and foremost, I ordered 2 large cast resin bear claws from Tandy Leather Factory. Next I glued the bear claws between two pieces of foam board using LiquidNails. Once everything was set-up, I cut out the general size and shape I needed for my demon. Using sandpaper I smoothed and formed a curved horn.
I attached the horn to the wing tip with liquidnails and taped in place while it set-up. After looking over the shape I decided that I wanted to incorporate the same texture seen in the body. So again I went to my new favorite medium “paper mache clay” and built up the horn adding ribs and grooves to match his body style.
Other Information
- Total Weight: 85lbs
- Total Height: 6 feet 1 inch (base to wing tip)
- I’m leaving him black and white (like a shadow) using a red spot light to enhance demonic look in yard haunt for 2009. One cool thing about leaving him black and white is that I can play with different lights to give a different looks within the yard haunt year to year (red, green or even blue).
- Added moss in between the skulls and bones for an organic look as though he’s rising up from hell to claim his offerings.
Final Paint
First I painted him solid black
Next…I dry brushed white highlights over the black.
As far as the skulls…I used various rust, orange and brown tones. I used green and browns on the GreatStuff Foam!
Back view of Wings which I’m not 100% happy with but they work.
I dry brushed white, black and rust tones on the base.
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Added ivy and moss finally “Death Awaits You” is complete
