I Took 3rd in the contest, lost to the dude in the bumblebee costume who took 1st and a ghostbuster. The dudes bumblebee suit was bought online and it cost about 400 bucks roughly and he won 200 so hes still in the hole. But the ghostbuster was made proton pack and everything so I give him credit
The main changes from last year was I re-did some armor pieces and made new gauntlets. I also re-painted the skin and added a glossy liquitex varnish to it to make the color come out better. For next year I am adding leds to the canon and also in the bomb gauntlet along with some details like bone
I also did this method and worked well. just make sure your duct tape dummy is stuffed well in all areas bc it does shrink somewhat and you dont want it ripping when you go to bend over or something.