Toxic Pesticide Sprayer Prop

Imagine a world where insects have spontaneously grown to massive proportions. Attempts from the government to control the oversized pests have failed. Turns out the old pesticide sprayer you found in the back of your uncle's shed, old enough to be from an era where insect control was irresponsibly toxic, is your key to doomsday survival...

I designed this pesticide sprayer from the ones made in the 1950's using very cheap, simple, and easy to come by materials. If you would like to join the army of those saving the world from scientifically over-engineered monstrosities, then keep reading to find out how to make your own life-saving toxic sprayer!

Main building materials:

Candy tube:

1. 18" x 1 1/2"dia
2. I was able to easily find this size tube at the store "Five Below"

Tin Can:

1. 6"x 4"dia
2. I found this size buying a whopping 39oz can of sweet corn

Twist off bottle top:

1. I used a mini Gatorade bottle top but I would think almost anything would work.

Wooden dowels:

1. Rod: 8" x 1/8"dia
2. Handle: 3 1/2" x 1/2"dia

Bolts, washers, nuts x2

1. Use whatever you have on hand as long as they are pretty small and skinny

Other materials:

Scrap packing foam

Scrap cardstock or thin box cardboard

Spray paint

Acrylic paint:

1. Brown
2. Black
3. Green

Sacrificial sponge: for painting

Modge Podge: Only if adding decal design (image files provided in step 10)

Accessory Tools:

Drill with Drill bits

1. 3/16" for the wooden handle
2. 5/32" for the bolts

Hacksaw

Hot glue gun + Hot glue sticks

Can opener

Scissors

Nail to punch holes through the metal

Main building materials:

Candy tube:

1. 18" x 1 1/2"dia
2. I was able to easily find this size tube at the store "Five Below"

Tin Can:

1. 6"x 4"dia
2. I found this size buying a whopping 39oz can of sweet corn

Twist off bottle top:

1. I used a mini Gatorade bottle top but I would think almost anything would work.

Wooden dowels:

1. Rod: 8" x 1/8"dia
2. Handle: 3 1/2" x 1/2"dia

Bolts, washers, nuts x2

1. Use whatever you have on hand as long as they are pretty small and skinny

Other materials:

Scrap packing foam

Scrap cardstock or thin box cardboard

Spray paint

Acrylic paint:

1. Brown
2. Black
3. Green

Sacrificial sponge: for painting

Modge Podge: Only if adding decal design (image files provided in step 10)

Accessory Tools:

Drill with Drill bits

1. 3/16" for the wooden handle
2. 5/32" for the bolts

Hacksaw

Hot glue gun + Hot glue sticks

Can opener

Scissors

Nail to punch holes through the metal

The first thing we need to do is open up our can and empty out our over 2 lbs of corn.

However! We want to remove the lid in a way that it's easy to seamlessly glue back on later. After some experimentation I found out that you can use a standard can opener to cut from the side instead of the top. That way the face of the lid remains undamaged! (refer to pictures to see optimal cutting position).

Careful, the entire inside edge of the can is now sharp!

Now you need to empty out the corn into another container. Once you have taken care of the corn, don't forget to rinse out the can and remove the label.

If you need help processing through so much corn, try one of these recipes!

Corn Casserole

Corn Fritters

DO NOT ATTACH THE LID BACK ON UNTIL THE END OF ASSEMBLY AS YOU NEED ACCESS TO THE INSIDE OF THE CAN FOR HARDWARE

In the meantime, I made a support out of foam that will help the lid stay perfectly in place and make the glue up easier. You can skip this step if you trust your gluing skills, I found it helpful though.

1. Trace the size of the can onto some foam
2. Cut out the circle you made, doesn't have to be super accurate
3. Mush the foam into the can, then add some glue to the top just in the middle
4. Put the lid onto the foam and press it down. Make sure you can line up the lid with the can before the glue dries
5. You now have a nicely secured lid plug!

I'm going to teach you a super quick and easy way to make a cone for our nozzle!

1. Use the corn can to trace a circle on some thick paper (like cardstock or very thin cardboard. I used a box from a microwave dinner.)
2. Draw a straight line from the center of the circle to the edge (I just eyeballed it and it worked fine)
3. Cut out the shape you drew, including the line.
4. Now it magically rolls up into a cone by overlapping the two corners you made from the straight line. Keep pulling the edges tighter until it fits into the candy tube cap.
5. Hold the cone together with some tape. Pop it into the lid, and glue it!

In order to make the pull handle functional, we need to make a hole in the bottom of the tube.

I used a fancy center finder tool to, well, find the center. (It's best to use a washable marker to find your center so you can wipe it off when you are done. I foolishly used a permanent marker and had to use a dry erase marker to draw over my lines and wipe them off. )

Then I used a hammer and nail to punch through the metal. I then used a screwdriver to widen the hole, my screwdriver was the perfect size for the 1/8" dowel I'll use for the handle.

The metal at the bottom of this candy tube is so thin I was worried that making a hole with a drill bit would end up tearing.

Let's cobble together some foam and dowels to make a moving pull handle!

We are back to tracing and cutting a chunk of foam to fit inside our candy tube. I found a very plasticky, packing foam to use, I'm not sure if Styrofoam will work as well (squeaky and unstable?)

I cut the handle down to 3 1/2" from a 1/2" dowel. I then drilled a hole in the center with a 3/16" drill bit

The rod of the handle is a 1/8" dowel that was trimmed to 8"

DO NOT GLUE THE HANDLE ONTO THE ROD YET!

In the meantime, you can poke a hole through the center of the foam and glue in the 1/8" rod.

It is time to thread our pull handle out the hole we made at the bottom of the tube.

Inconveniently, our handle rod is shorter than the tube. That means we need to attach the dowel to another longer and equally thin rod to help us fish it through.

Once the sacrificial rod is through the hole, you can pull the foam into the tube and pull it all the way down to the bottom.

Remove the rod, and NOW you can glue the 1/2" handle onto the bottom of the dowel.

Now we'll add the screw cap to make it look like our can is refillable.

This part is easy! Cut the top off of a drink bottle then use lots and lots of hot glue to secure it to the side of the corn can.

A small Gatorade bottle cap was the perfect size for me and a hacksaw made quick work of cutting through the plastic

As you can see in the last picture, I glued it about an inch away from the edge.

We want our tube to be secured with more than just hot glue, so we're going to add a little hardware support.

You'll want to set up your tube on the can and get an idea where they'll connect while having the "refill" cap in the correct orientation.

I then found the center of the can and marked out a spot one ridge away on either side of center.

We want two bolts for a connection so the pieces don't pivot but we also want them really close because we are connecting a curved surface to a curved surface.

I tapped a starting hole using a nail so the drill bit can catch without sliding on the metal. I then finished the holes with a drill bit sized slightly larger than my hardware.

Use the same drill bit to drill 2 holes in the cardboard tube: 2" down from the edge and 1/2" apart on center.

Attaching the tube and the can together is easy, but critical for structural integrity!

Since cardboard isn't a very strong material we want to make sure we use washers on the inside of the tube. That'll share the load and make sure the bolts don't pull right through.

The screws will stick out of the tube at a jaunty angle but you'll be able to pull them straight and get them through the holes in the can.

Once the tube and the can are touching you can screw on the nuts from the inside of the can until it's tight.

NOW you can glue the lid of the can back on!

I did also use a lot of hot glue between the tube and can around the hardware. This added even more support, hid the hardware, and had the nice effect of kinda looking like welds.

The body shape is completed! It's time to make it look cohesive with a fresh coat of paint.

In order to help the paint stick to the metal can I scrubbed it with some steel wool to lightly scratch the surface.

I wanted to preserve the metal on the back of the tube since it really made it look authentic. I also didn't want the handle to be painted. I used aluminum foil and painters tape to mask of the back and make a little "spray paint proof" pocket.

Spray everything with whatever color paint you want until it looks nice and uniform. Mine took about 3 coats.

I didn't worry too much about doing a stellar job with the paint coverage. I had lots of drips, but it's supposed to look a little rough.

Bonus: if you don't wear gloves you get some free Halloween gore "makeup"

Time to give our sprayer a little 1950's generic charm!

I have provided the files I created for my sprayer but feel free to take inspiration for your own design!

1. Print out the design and cut all the pieces
2. Add Mod Podge to the surface you want to add your detail
3. Then Mod Podge the back the the paper design
4. Carefully apply the paper to the surface and gently rub it flat, but be gentle because it's easy to tear (free weathering though)
5. Let dry (5-10min) then add one final coat of Mod Podge over the top of everything

Tah Dah! A brand new, like-new sprayer fresh off a shelf from 1950! You could stop here or follow the next steps add that vintage grunge look!

I provided my orange colored design, a black and white version, and an .SVG so you can change the colors to fit your unique sprayer. Use of my file is public domain and the poison skull is deemed too generic for copyright.

Were going to use a sponge and acrylic paints to really add age and drama to our build!

Cut up a sacrificial sponge to get nice little stipple painting squares.

Pro tip: dip your sponge into the paint and then dap it a little dry before painting the surface. This removes excess paint and lets the sponge texture show through.

Starting with brown paint for the rust and dirt look, go crazy and stipple it everywhere. Let that dry before adding the next color.

You'll want to then layer it up with some black to add some dark areas that will really draw the eye. Visually, a little black goes a long way so be a little more conservative how much you use.

Finally, add your toxic green goop where ever it makes sense to do so. The green is very dramatic so you don't need a lot to make a big impact!

Now you are prepared to protect yourself and your loved ones from anything this toxic spray is aimed at!

Happy Halloween!