Thread: Dragon Skeleton Costume

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Here is my project for 2011, a Very Large undead dragon!

So far I have the PVC frame of the torso, head, and wings built. The head is on a pivot so it will be able to look side to side as well as making large sweeping neck motions. The upper portion of the skull will lift up and back to allow for biting motions. Due to stability issues the wings are fixed in place.

Several pieces of the frame are going to be "blacked out" to make them less noticeable; I will also be wearing all black with a face covering hood. I've had pretty good luck with that approach before; if the costume is neat enough most people will overlook the guy inside.

I'd appreciate some feedback on the design and recommendations on making it look suitably creepy.

As an old-school AD&D geek, this gets my "+1 to Costume-Building" seal of approval. Gotta love the Dracolich.

I look forward to following your progress on this project. As for seeing the person inside who is operating the costume, maybe you could wear a black Morphsuit?

Dracoliches are a classic, if I'm lucky I won't get slain by a group of adventurers for my candy hoard





This is the other Dragon of the pair. The neck can go up/down and left/right, the head can move up and down to adjust where its looking when the neck changes elevation. The wings can open as well!

Wow. I still have an entire deck of undead dragons in my obsolete Spellfire collection. I think I have a pic of the dragon skeleton hanging in Hogwarts in Orlando.

Great costume!!

Looking good so far....are you gonna have the eyes light up w/ LED's?
Just an idea.

please continue to post updates and pictures... I'm looking forward to your progress reports. That's quite impressive.

The idea is to have the head lit up, I'd like to have indirect lighting in the eyes so the sockets glow but avoids having the pin points of light from the bulbs. I'd also like to have the rib cage have a pulsing light like a heart, just not sure how to pull that one off yet.

Thats awesome! True be told, when I saw the pic's, that old slap stick ladder gag popped into my head. (guy with ladder turns and keeps taking out his friends) Have you thought about sectioning the tail? With a couple cords, you could control when and where it bends.
Can't wait to see it finished.

The 3 Stooges ladder gag is a classic, but then I'd need a 3rd dragon and I think a dracolich would look silly with a Moe wig These costumes are definitely not for enclosed venues. I have considered hinging the tail so it can either wag or at least curl up. The biggest issue I have doing that is both heads already require two hands to operate.

Its Alive! Well, sort of. I managed to overcome my biggest obstacles in the head movements.

The head moves side to side with two pull cords on either side. The neck joint is a torsion spring made out of rubber bands which returns the head to center position when the cords are released and greatly reduces the head's "wobble."



Here is the head's operation. The controls are still need a bit of work to make the motions smoother, but all the motions are there!



I'd still love to figure out how to get it to have some sort of "breath weapon," the wife has already vetoed my water squirting idea and actual fire breathing, I've thought that the confetti poppers in the mouth might make for an unexpected affect.

Unfortunately, there is no way it will be ready for Halloween this year, I'll keep posting updates as it progresses.