booshman
Well-Known Member
Hi all, I work in a Kindergarten in China and Haloween is always a big deal. The whole day is dedicated to games and fun stuff for the kids and parents,so no lessons!
I like to make an effort with my costumes and always want to top what it did the year before. My first year was Mumm-Ra from Thundercats.
The second year I bult a proton pack out of junk and went as a Ghostbuster.
This year I decided to go big. Having seen many of the great suits built on these boards I fancied a go. My first thought was Iron Man, but I think the complexity of the suit wouldn't have been possible in the time I had alloted (3 weeks), that and I'm not that tall to pull it off well.
I ended up going for a Transformer. I like the animated movie a lot and it's actually something the kids at school will recognise for a change! The simple forms of the cartoon version would help me time wise too. I settled on Soundwave, not only because he's the best one, but I could hide my glasses beneath his visor.
I constructed the suit from EVA foam for the most part. The helmet was constructed first, on top of a builders helmet, which I chopped the top and back off to alter the size. The visor is a pair of red plastic safety goggles which I removed the arms from and glued into the helmet, The helmet must have have taken the best part of 2 weeks, leaving me only a week to do the rest of the suit.
The whole suit was done by eye, I had the wife draw around me on a big piece of paper, and then drew Soundwave on top of it so I had an idea of how big the pieces needed to be. Any bits that were off or needed adjusting were done on the fly. When all of the foam parts were hot-glued together I covered them with afew layers of PVA glue. I then coated them with a layer of cheap Chinese brand Plasti-dip alternative, ready for painting. The suit and helmet were masked off and finished with rattle cans.
I originally wanted to get a pair of heckey gloves as I think the style would have been a good match for a Transformers, but all the ones I could find were either not suitable or very expensive. I ended up getting some biking gloves and adding painted pieces of foam to them with hot-glue. It turned out that due to the size of the arms that I couldn't put them on unaided as I couldn't reach. so for much of the day I was without them.
The undersuit is a 3M protection suit. I got a blue one and cut the arms off, then glued them into the suit to give the impression my arm is much bugger than if I had put the suit on a put my arm out of the side of the body. I also got a white suit which is visible in the legs and torso, though I sprayed the torso to match the blue of the rest of the body.
I abandoned the shoulder cannon after this test. The visibility and movement it hindered, plus the time constraint, I couldn't sort it out in time.
Overall I think the suit was a great success! I even had one kid ask me where Laserbeak was! It was a slog to get it done in such a short space of time., but I'm happy with what I achieved. When the kids came trick or treating to my class there were a lot of very happy faces and it was always fun to have a stand-off with the several mini Optimus Primes that came around. It was an eye opener though, I wan't expecting it to be so difficult to get around! Stairs where a nightmare, particularly going down, and the impared vision and hearing while surrounded by rowdy kids can prove difficult.
Not sure about next year. Mobility restricted to this level added to the heat factor in the suit makes me think I'll try my hand at something different to a foam suit. Possibly some form of make-up or prosthetics. I'd love to do a good Hellraiser Pinhead.
Some shots with the wife as Sailor Moon
Staff Photo
I hope it's alright to provide a proof photo for the Halloween contest later? I dodn't take one and my suit is still at work until Monday.
I like to make an effort with my costumes and always want to top what it did the year before. My first year was Mumm-Ra from Thundercats.
The second year I bult a proton pack out of junk and went as a Ghostbuster.
This year I decided to go big. Having seen many of the great suits built on these boards I fancied a go. My first thought was Iron Man, but I think the complexity of the suit wouldn't have been possible in the time I had alloted (3 weeks), that and I'm not that tall to pull it off well.
I ended up going for a Transformer. I like the animated movie a lot and it's actually something the kids at school will recognise for a change! The simple forms of the cartoon version would help me time wise too. I settled on Soundwave, not only because he's the best one, but I could hide my glasses beneath his visor.
I constructed the suit from EVA foam for the most part. The helmet was constructed first, on top of a builders helmet, which I chopped the top and back off to alter the size. The visor is a pair of red plastic safety goggles which I removed the arms from and glued into the helmet, The helmet must have have taken the best part of 2 weeks, leaving me only a week to do the rest of the suit.
The whole suit was done by eye, I had the wife draw around me on a big piece of paper, and then drew Soundwave on top of it so I had an idea of how big the pieces needed to be. Any bits that were off or needed adjusting were done on the fly. When all of the foam parts were hot-glued together I covered them with afew layers of PVA glue. I then coated them with a layer of cheap Chinese brand Plasti-dip alternative, ready for painting. The suit and helmet were masked off and finished with rattle cans.
I originally wanted to get a pair of heckey gloves as I think the style would have been a good match for a Transformers, but all the ones I could find were either not suitable or very expensive. I ended up getting some biking gloves and adding painted pieces of foam to them with hot-glue. It turned out that due to the size of the arms that I couldn't put them on unaided as I couldn't reach. so for much of the day I was without them.
The undersuit is a 3M protection suit. I got a blue one and cut the arms off, then glued them into the suit to give the impression my arm is much bugger than if I had put the suit on a put my arm out of the side of the body. I also got a white suit which is visible in the legs and torso, though I sprayed the torso to match the blue of the rest of the body.
I abandoned the shoulder cannon after this test. The visibility and movement it hindered, plus the time constraint, I couldn't sort it out in time.
Overall I think the suit was a great success! I even had one kid ask me where Laserbeak was! It was a slog to get it done in such a short space of time., but I'm happy with what I achieved. When the kids came trick or treating to my class there were a lot of very happy faces and it was always fun to have a stand-off with the several mini Optimus Primes that came around. It was an eye opener though, I wan't expecting it to be so difficult to get around! Stairs where a nightmare, particularly going down, and the impared vision and hearing while surrounded by rowdy kids can prove difficult.
Not sure about next year. Mobility restricted to this level added to the heat factor in the suit makes me think I'll try my hand at something different to a foam suit. Possibly some form of make-up or prosthetics. I'd love to do a good Hellraiser Pinhead.
Some shots with the wife as Sailor Moon
Staff Photo
I hope it's alright to provide a proof photo for the Halloween contest later? I dodn't take one and my suit is still at work until Monday.
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