The Visitors take Shape

Kang and Kodos have taken the first steps in their quest for world domination: they have grown bodies. At this stage they are infant bodies, granted, but they are bodies nonetheless. The workflow has largely followed that of previous Halloween endeavours - shaping the costume out of wire, overlaying the frame with soft card, then papier mache. So far, we are one third of the way through this year's routine.

There has been one addition to this year's materials: foam insulation tubing (which appears not to have a name here, but referred to as backer rod by North American retailers from what I've seen). This wasn't my first experience with the material, having used it to make dreadlocks for my Predator costume. The reason I elected to use it for this project is because I thought it would make for a more tidy framework, rather than using nothing but wire. I've found that constructs from wire are quite bumpy and uneven, usually looking pretty poor until card and papier mache even things back out at a later stage. The first step in creating this year's costume was thus:

There are three lengths of tube there, held together at the joint with duct tape. Of course, sticking to my 'cut now, ask questions later approach' I didn't carry out my due diligence with what has come to be known as the 'doorway test' (I and my friends have been felled on more than one occasion by the width of door frames; I usually take it as a sign that I'm on the right track when a costume work-in-progress is touch and go). Later I would discover that it was a little too big; but luckily, the tube has attempted to resolve itself back into its natural shape against the duct tape, the result being a bit more of an oval shape. It is subtle enough that it hasn't ruined the shape, but it makes it just about narrow enough to get through doors. 

The next step was to start building up the frame. Another reason why I went with the insulation tube was its flexibility:

I wanted to shape it from four sides and have the lengths of tube meet at the top. This took several lengths that began a little something like this:

This was a tricky juncture; while the tubing was flexible, it didn't stay in shape on its own accord. The next task was therefore one of multitasking, attempting to hold the material in shape while stitching wire around it that would hopefully do a more permanent job:

We created wire circles from the base to the top. From studying dozens of reference photos we arrived at the conclusion that they don't have any kind of defined shape (they are essentially blobs, after all). But for the purposes of construction, we gave them a more rounded appearance that was inspired from the best Kang and Kodos costume we have found online. This is how each costume looked once the circles had given shape to the frame:

 

With this step complete, we gave the skeleton more shape and support by running wire vertically from base to tip. That brings us to the current state of the costumes: 

"I'm Kang..."

"...and this is my sister, Kodos."

The next step is to overlay the frame with soft card as a primer for papier mache which, in the last couple of years, has helped to boost the robustness of our costumes. When they're as obtrusive as ours usually are they inevitably take a beating in a packed venue, so it's a particularly important step. I don't want to jinx myself, but I always consider the wire framing the hardest and most awkward part of the process. I'm hoping that from here on out it is mostly monotonous work. This is the first costume since my first Halloween outing as Evil Dead's Ash that I haven't had a mask, as such, which I'm hoping removes some of the more intricate and time-consuming work.

Til Undeath Do You Part

Well, they're getting closer to the big zombie betrothal. Only a couple of structural issues left, and then we're onto the blissful decorative portion of costume making. The painting is always my favourite part, which is a pity because it's always confined to the last couple of panicked days. My guy does have finished legs too, but they don't support the weight of the body on their own. Another issue to figure out...

("Undeath" seemed like an erroneous title, given that they are already undead, but Google failed to provide the answer. Unlife?)

Sticking to what you know

Most of the best LEGO costumes I've seen have followed a similar method for making the head: a base and a top both made from styrofoam, with a strip of card folding around the diameter sandwiched between them. If that's not the best explanation, than see for yourself: two of my personal favourites can be found here and here.

Just about every costume I've done so far has prominently featured wire. Wire is great because it's almost limitless in what it can be shaped to. However, the method discussed above made a lot of sense. In previous costumes, wire was a good option because the head shapes were intricate. The head of a LEGO minifigure is quite straight forward, making styrofoam more appealing; the only work one would have to do is taper the edges into smooth curves. Furthermore, the infamous head is so smooth and free of imperfections I felt that it would be impossible to replicate that smoothness using the wire method. As well as it has served me, a smooth finish it does not always make. 

With this in mind, I decided to opt for styrofoam. I had enough to do the neck, which was straight forward and turned out as well as I'd hoped (see here). After this, I only had enough foam to make a start on the base; however, a start was all I could make. Days after making this start, I began to resent the difficulties I appeared to be having in sourcing more styrofoam for the project. In the end, I felt that I had to start thinking about contingencies. With this in mind, I began to experiment with a wire frame. 

This has so far proven to be quite fruitful, to the extent that I have abandoned my search for styrofoam. The smoothness issue I feared was addressed by overlaying the wire frame with very light cardboard (the flexible type that cereals are typically packaged in). Despite substituting styrofoam for wire, I have followed the base/top method outlined above. Here is a quick pictorial rundown of the progress so far (written instructions will eventually follow):

See how I transformed this old rat into a most delightful hat...

From the outset I mentally divided the Mayor's construction into thirds: his head, his hat, and his body. Keeping this outlook, I can now say that I am two-thirds through the costume. Perhaps that is taking liberties given the proportionality of work between the hat and the body, but I'm going with it. The hat itself took longer than I expected it to, but I am content with the result. 

We've got to find Jack! There's only 365 days left until next Halloween!

Well, not quite, unfortunately. 15 days and counting, and the pressure is on.

I certainly didn't expect to be making the first progress entry of 2011 on October 16th. What happened? Well, a combination of two factors; the first being real life commitments. The bane of Halloween costume making, which demands so much time toiling over rolls of wire, pots of paste, scraps of newspaper and scribbled blue-prints (for those costume elements that aren't composed completely off the cuff). The second factor has been the bigger of the two, but the more unexpected one: this has been my hardest costume yet.

Fully Built: Mr. Potato Head

The construction of my Emporer Zurg costume was a collaborative effort. Without the help of my girlfriend, Ciara, I would not have gotten very far past the head and torso. Fabrics are just not my strong point. They are not any point on my skills radar, really. In return for Ciara's invaluable input to my Zurg costume, I helped her construct her Halloween 2010 costume. We decided to share a Pixar theme in our costumes, ultimately choosing Zurg's film compatriot Mr. Potato Head.

Phase 1: Papier Mache; Phase 2: ??? Phase 3: Profit

Despite setting a deadline for this week that I haven't quite met, I'm happy enough with my progress. I now have the head entirely papier mached, as well as the three barrels of the Ion Blaster.