I have bad news......
My pumpkins did not withstand the nice day we had yesterday.
i regret i cannot light them up.. but at least I have several pics of them. lots of pics of the making..
I can't wait to see more..
Sanctuary, here are some tips..
soak them in cold water, and I rinse mine often in cold.
it helps keep them firm, especially for the fine detail work. Also the sludge will come out and make a cleaner palette to work with.
Have a razor, and a serrated knife. If you can get a blade for a jig saw type of blade (or get one of the cheapo carving kits).
Have lots of different sizes of SHARP blades.
I used a rotary tool to "skin" mine, it was very messy, but it does a good job and fast.
Sharpie, good to put the face on, remember draw to the inside, don't want trace lines on the finished product.
Pumpkins are tough to get started and skin, but once penetrated, they cut easily and quickly. Take your time so you don't over cut.
To shape teeth like I did on mine, I made the rough shape first with the dremel, then finer shape with a saw blade. I then smoothed them out by scraping gently to smooth it out.
Most of all, have fun. If you mess up, don't sweat it, use it to your advantage, and make it look even meaner. If you wanna ask a question, feel free, I will do the best i can to answer in the most non confusing way I can.