The discussion of the Alien series of films and the props used in them is the aim, but if it's got Big Bugs and Big Guns, then they are welcome too!





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 Post subject: Quick Duct tape Alien costume (Refurb 2014, farewell 2018 !)
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:25 pm 
THAT guy
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Location: Virginia
Service Number: A03/TQ2.0.02146E1
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My wife wanted to "match" with me this year for Halloween, and to my surprise, she didnt mean a marine. She meant she wanted to be the Alien!!!

So being 4ft 10", 90 lbs... I can't say she was an Alien "Warrior". More like a "drone", but considering I slapped this together in 4 days for ~$40 we were all pretty happy!

Materials:
-One medium sized plastic bowl ($3 from dollar general)
-Cardboard (free)
-1 entire roll of black duct tape (and I mean every an ENTIRE roll) ($7)
-Black conduit tubing ($8)
-Black gutter tubing ($9)
-Swimming pool "Noodles" x3 ($3 ea)
-2 cans of cheap black spray paint ($3 ea)
-Paintball vest (which may be cheating, but I already had that, so it costs nothing).


First step was roughing out cardboard shapes and melting the bowl to make a "face"

Then I started cutting the tubing and covering things in black duct tape. If you see a shape that is not a bowl or tubing, then it is simply cardboard covered in duct tape.

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For the tail and ....tube thingies, i used pool noodles. It probably wasnt good for my lungs or the air around me, but I used a razor blade to cut the design I wanted, then took a heat gun to the tubes. The 'edges' of the cut 'noodles' shrunk first, leaving some great patterns I was very happy with.

(took a LOT of coats of black paint)

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I taped the "shoulder ribs" on. Used screws and washers to attach wooden dowels to the back of the paintball vest and the 'tube thingies' slid right over the dowels. I used a metal tube stuck through the tail and used nuts, bolts, and washers to attach the tail to the paintball vest. The vest is mostly a single unit.

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Wifey starting to get into spirit!


The head is 100% cardboard that I cut and taped except for the "face"-bowl (again, just melted with a heat gun)
Painted

Now we get a big gap with no picks. I didnt get any good picks of cutting the tubing. Mostly a lot of trial and error. I cut the gutter tubing and conduit to shape and just taped it on. I cut the jaw out and just taped it on. Then i cut small strips for the ribbing and just kept on layering. Layers of cardboard and tape left me with this.

The hands are the same deal! First a black sock over the hands with finger holes cut in, then lots of cardboard cut and shaped, covered in tape, and secured with more tape!
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Added some teeth (claws and teeth i used regular silver duct tape, which was good because I was out of black!)

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Last edited by bigbisont on Wed Oct 15, 2014 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:27 pm 
Perfect Organism
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Awesome work! Love it! I did something nowhere near as good when I was 9 years old with black trash bags and wire.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:29 pm 
Dirty Bird
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o wow that is smart and very good for what you used.

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 Post subject: Re: Quick & Dirty $40 Alien costume (Duct tape can do ANYTHI
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:33 pm 
THAT guy
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Location: Virginia
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Country: United States
So this was just some messing around pictures before the party last weekend. Some things werent finalized (the hands, the thigh and arm "muscle" detailing, etc). But you get the idea.
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I can't say my wife isnt fun!!!
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:35 pm 
Mobile Mayhem
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Location: Rapid View, Saskatchewan
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Awesome!!!!

What a great turnout! :)

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:02 pm 
Victor
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Country: United Kingdom
Brilliant! And so cute! :)

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:05 pm 
Moderator & screen used
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Wow! That's amazing, great job!!

Harry

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:52 pm 

Country: United States
That is all kinds of awesome! Is there anything duct tape cant do?

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:46 pm 
Miscreant and Foukérre
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Awesome! Your wife rocks :)

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 Post subject: Re: Quick & Dirty $40 Alien costume (Duct tape can do ANYTHI
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:51 pm 
Geek Magnet
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That's fantastic. Great job.

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 1:56 am 
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Location: long island , NY
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Great pics. Great work putting that together. Looks awesome!

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 4:51 am 
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That rocks out loud! And my, but she's tiny!

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 Post subject: Re: Quick & Dirty $40 Alien costume (Duct tape can do ANYTHI
PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 6:26 am 
Expendable
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amazing job! i like that the jaw moves. :xeno:

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 3:18 pm 
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Too damn cool! You two look like an awesome match.

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 Post subject: Re: Quick & Dirty $40 Alien costume (Duct tape can do ANYTHI
PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 7:21 pm 

Country: United Kingdom
That looks amazing you have skills there to turn cardboard plastic and duct tape into such an excellent costume


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 Post subject: Re: Quick & Dirty $40 Alien costume (Duct tape can do ANYTHI
PostPosted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 8:03 pm 
Bad Boy
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Location: Edmonton, Alberta, eh!
Service Number: A06/TQ0.0.22134E1
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Prettiest little bug I've ever seen. Well done on the costume bigbisont!

Mike

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 Post subject: Re: Quick & Dirty $40 Alien costume (Duct tape can do ANYTHI
PostPosted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 9:45 pm 
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:like: :like: :like:

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:11 am 

Country: United States
Way to go. That is one of the coolest builds I have seen in a long time. It really is amazing. Words can't describe how impressed I am.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:51 am 

Service Number: a02/tq2.0.12143e1
Country: Australia
thats a classic mate. top job


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 Post subject: Re: Quick & Dirty $40 Alien costume (Duct tape can do ANYTHI
PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 1:47 pm 
THAT guy
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Location: Virginia
Service Number: A03/TQ2.0.02146E1
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Thanks everyone! All the kind comments really made my wife's day. She had a lot of fun with this.

Below are just a few more pics from the actual party of the finished product. Thanks again everyone!

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(with my brother and his wife)

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(graveyard showdown)


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 Post subject: Re: Quick & Dirty $40 Alien costume (Duct tape can do ANYTHI
PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:38 pm 
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WOW!! Fantastic work & totally ingenious!! Some great pic's too!! :like: :D


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:43 pm 
Site Admin
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That's a great costume on a budget!! Well done!

I believe Spat did something similar years ago with Pizza boxes. :)

Again, well done and thanks for sharing the pictures!

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 2:24 pm 
I Don't Roll on Shabbas
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Haha, that's brilliant!


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 Post subject: Re: Quick & Dirty $40 Alien costume (Duct tape can do ANYTHI
PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 12:14 am 

Country: United States
well done.


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 Post subject: Re: Quick & Dirty $40 Alien costume (Duct tape can do ANYTHI
PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 8:55 pm 
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Location: Knoxville, TN
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Gotta admit that when I first saw this thread, was thinking "oh another cardboard and duct tape costume.." but figured i'd bite. SO GLAD I DID! That is just incredibly awesome! I've seen some folks turn out some seriously incredible pieces of work from items just laying around the house and this is absolutely one of them. :lol: :lol: Very, very cool and a job well done. Looks like they had a great time wearing it too. What a fun family :) Thanks for posting this, you just made my day.


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