Poe Dameron and His X-Wing

The idea of this costume came about because my 6 year old son wanted to be Poe Dameron from The Force Awakens. I blurted out something about he should have an x-wing to stand in with his costume. little did I know how much work it would require. I used pvc pipe, cardboard boxes, sheets of thin foam, pool noodles, led lights and paint.. oh and alot of hot glue and duct tape. the only thing used in this costume that was store bought was his jacket. the helmet was made out of a popped soccer ball.

Step 1: Create Wings

The first step for me was getting the shape of the wings right. I made the skeleton of the wing out of 3/4" pvp pipe. once the wings pvc skeleton was set in was able to create the upper and lower wings from pictures of die cast models on Google. after drawing the shape on cardboard I cuthink it out and made 3 other identical pieces. I used 2 pieces to sandwich the pcv skeleton and duct taped the edges. the engines were made by cutting a 5 gallon bucket in half. I used a hacksaw. attaching the buckets with duct tape wasn't enough so I ran a thin gauge wire around the top and bottom and through both pieces of cardboard twisting both ends of the wire together to secure the half bucket. a pool noodles was used at the point where the wing met the gun barrels.

Step 2: Splitting the Wings.

once the cardboard wings were completed I started adding sheets of foam with spray adhesive to the ship. once that was finished I had to connect the wings together and separate them at about a 45 degree angle. once the angle was complete I locked the angle in with hot glue and screws.

Step 3: Alot of Black Foam Sheets.

when the wings were done I made the main section of the plane. after the shape was done in covered it with the black foam. I was able to make the wings removable for easy transport and so the costume would fit through the doors. around the front of the engine I wrapped it with a half inch foam. Once all the black foam sheets were in place it was time to add the color. I used spray paint for the canopy and regular paint for the orange.

Step 4: Finishing Details.

I put LED lights in the end of the gun barrels and wired them to an on/off switch so my son could control them. Then use some fabric belts that I had lying around the house as straps. I would lift up the x-wing and with my son's arms straight in the air lower it down on him. Mission complete. it was heavy for a 6year old but he did an awesome job. we didn't do alot of door to door trick or treating. our local college football team heald a trunk or treat and he was the favorite. everyone was taking pics of him. him helmet was made out of a soccer ball that had a hole in it. I covered it with foam sheets and cut out the emblems for the out of foam. if was alot of work but if turned out awesome. he also won best costume at school.