Tag: weatherproofing

The Life of Charlie Day 57

Good old Charlie has been outside braving the elements for 57 days.


Fifty-seven days of rain, wind, heat and humidity.


The Spar Urethane has done the job, there is absolutely no sign of water damage, the papier mache is still rock solid and all is good.


The only problem I noticed was a couple of chips on the bottom of the pumpkin but these are due to the fact that he has been banged around a little as I have moved him from location to location.




Charlie’s new location is in the back yard on our woodpile.


I’m confident the weather won’t be an issue but our back yard is filled with some rather ravenous squirrels.


Good luck Charles!

The Life of Charlie


Meet Charlie, he’s an everyday papier mache pumpkin that volunteered, or rather was drafted for an interesting experiment.

Charlie’s new job is to test the durability of weatherproof coating on papier mache props and he started his new job today (Saturday, July 10th, 2010).

Charlie was painted with black exterior latex paint and acrylics then sealed with one coat of spar urethane.

To reduce the shine of the urethane he was also sprayed with a coat of clear flat enamel.

Charlie’s tour of duty will end on October 31st, 2010…yup, he’s staying outside until Halloween, that’s 112 days rain or shine.

Charlie will be moving to different locations around our yard during the next couple of months and I will post  updates as to his progress.

Good luck Charlie, you’re a trooper!