Thread: Has anyone built a BIG monster costume?

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Where to get a good over size mask or skull would be helpful to all of us. Any ideas other them the masks with the big open mouths. When I get a chance I get photos of what I've done if it would help.

Originally Posted by BooBoo

Where to get a good over size mask or skull would be helpful to all of us. Any ideas other them the masks with the big open mouths. When I get a chance I get photos of what I've done if it would help.

Let Me Google That For You

This year's was big, but not too huge. Not counting the horns, I was only around seven feet standing upright. I made up for it with a big weapon.


My Scarecrow costume, which really must have better photos. I had to be around eleven feet tall (Not counting the hat) with this one. Most of that length was in the legs, as I was going for a "nailed to a tall post" kind of look and stood still, then lurched out or jumped at the children.


Back in 2009, I was thirteen feet of undead demon with 13 feet of armspan, fully articulated, with a head that mimicked the movement of my actual head. My hands met the elbows of the arms on this costume and could outstretch fully at my real armspan of around 6' (And weighed a TON) I also used stilts for this one, so my knees would fall at the proper height of the creature's comparatively. Essentially, I was centered in this costume.

LOL, I make a lot of stilt costumes (hence the name Stiltbeast). I also make a lot of tree costumes. For stilts i believe two styles are superior. Marshaltown skywalker 2.0s, and Surstilt Magnesium two poled stilts- they are very stable and very light weight. I will be doing a Stalkaround type frame for youtube wednesday in February. Its a good design that I have used several times.
**** Dont try to make your own stilts- out of buckets or wood, there are plenty of places to be thrifty- that is not one of them. I have been performing on stilts for 15 years-****

Thanks for the pics and the advice. I will definitely purchase proper stilts. I will probably go with some adjustable drywall stilts.

Originally Posted by TK421

Thanks for the pics and the advice. I will definitely purchase proper stilts. I will probably go with some adjustable drywall stilts.

I love the height / look of stilt costumes, but I'm coming to the realization I'll probably never do one. Something about long falls with lovingly crafted costumes being destroyed (not to mention myself) isn't appealing to me. So, I'm compromising on a costume design myself. I'm going to sacrifice the OMG hugeness and scale factor by doing a variation of THIS costume: http://baldbrain.com/freakshow-jeste...-costume-2010/. Mine won't be a clown or have the head pop out (at least I don't think I'll do that, although I like the idea to eat / drink at a party). But the design he did for the legs to give the hunched over look with the long arms I think is still very creepy, keeps some scaling in it, and also keeps me from killing myself / destroying my costume as well.

All in all, I'm impressed with his design on this one. I probably would not have thought of the jutting out bent knees with hunch myself. He doesn't even strictly need to figure out how to turn the head on that design, although it would be cool, since he can make a creepy turn just by turning his torso and leaning a bit (which honestly, looks creepier than a head turn by itself). Reminds me of a Bigfoot look back from the famous film. lol

Here's a stalk around I built a number of years ago. It was a pvc pipe frame. I had to limit it to 9' tall, so it fit in my house. The head turned thanks to a simple pvc linkage attached to a bicycle helmet. The arms moved in typical stalk about fashion.
This is one of the only photos I have of it.



Eric

Xane is right. Stilt walking is something that can only be learned by practicing. When I was a kid I could do anything on stilts. I really loved it once I got the hang of it. I'm now working on a costume that will require digigrade stilts. I've never tried them and I am making my own. I'm told that if you get the design just right they can be fairly easy to pick up. We'll see how hard it is to get them just right. I'll try and add some pictures of them as I go along and maybe a video of my first attempts. I'm just hoping it doesn't end with a ride to the hospital. LOL

A good way to learn is to start with stilts that have handles and then once you feel comfortable with them move on. Always have a helper and maybe even something you can lean on for support. At least until you feel a little more sure of yourself.