How to Make Your Own Gundam Costume
- 1). Choose which Gundam you wish to make into a costume. Wing Gundam has large yellow wings and a gun; Deathscythe is mostly black with yellow horns and a scythe; Heavyarms is red and white and has guns and missile launchers; Sandrock is a close-quarters fighting robot and is mostly blue and white; Shenlong is also a close-quarters fighter with a spear; Wing Gundam is the ancestor of all of the Gundams and is mostly blue and white; Deathscythe H is like Deathscythe but with a large, black cloak; Altron is like Shenlong but with an extendable claw for a hand.
- 2). Pick the appropriate colored foam board and styrofoam for your Gundam.
- 3). Cut out pieces of the Gundam helmet to attach to the baseball helmet. The exact shape and color of the pieces depends on which Gundam you chose. In general, cut two ear flaps, a peak, horns or another ornament to place over the peak. The peak is the part of the helmet that points downward between the eyes. Cut the ear flaps out of the foam board using your utility knife guided by a metal ruler to create clean, straight lines. Glue them over the ear covers of the helmet. Repeat this process for the peak. Cut long, decorative horns out of the form board and glue it to the peak.
- 4). Make the face mask that fits in the helmet from three pieces of foam board. Cut each piece into a triangular shape. Cut off the tip of each triangle. Bevel the edges of each triangular piece so the edge is not perpendicular to the face of the piece. Glue the wedges together. Because the triangular pieces are beveled, when glued they should create a concave shape. Cut the eye holes out after the glue has dried. Add any other decorative pieces that your particular Gundam calls for.
- 5). Build the torso and chest section. Convert your torso's measurements into the volume of a box. For example, if your torso is approximately 20-inches wide by 12-inches thick by 24-inches high at your widest, thickest and tallest points, the length, width and height of the torso section should be more than 20-inches by 12-inches by 24-inches. Add two inches to each dimension to ensure that you can fit into the torso section.Cut this dimension out of a styrofoam block to make a box to fit around your midsection. Cut the styrofoam with a hot knife, since a hot knife creates straight lines. Reinforce the block with particle board by melting the outer surface of the styrofoam box with the hot knife and adhering the surface to the boards. Cover the particular board in the foam board that suits the color of your Gundam.
- 6). Build the feet of your Gundam around old sneakers. Screw particle board into the bottom of the sneakers with a wood screw to create the extra long feet characteristic of Gundams. Adhere styrofoam and foam board over the particle board.
- 7). Build the calf and thigh sections of your Gundam in a similar way to how you built the torso section. Do not glue the calf section to the thigh section nor calf section to the foot section or else you won't be able to move your ankle and knee. Instead, simply put the calf and thigh sections on your body before the foot section, so that the calf section rests on top of the foot, allowing for a fuller range of motion.
- 8). Build two boxes that fit around your forearms and two more that fit around your upper arms. Cut holes at the ends of each box so that you can fit your arm through them. Glue flanges, or rings, around the holes to create a more robotic look. Cut out the elbow sections of the sleeves of a long sleeve shirt. Connect the forearm box and the upper-arm box with a cut-off fabric elbow section. Tape or glue the fabric to the inner portion of each box. This way, when you wear the costume and bend your arm, your elbow does not show.
- 9). Glue foam board squares to a glove for the Gundam hand. Cut knuckle-sized pieces from the foam board to glue over each knuckle of the glove. Cut a square piece one inch by one inch larger in length and width than the back of your palm. Glue this piece to the back fo the glove. Repeat this process for the other glove. Avoid gluing any pieces to the palm of the glove, since doing so prevents you from closing your fist -- a signature Gundam move.
- 10
Put the suit on. Have a friend help you. Put the torso on first, then the arms, then the legs and finally the helmet and face mask. Carefully move around to check whether everything fits. Reglue anything that seems fragile.
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