Introduction: Robocop (Child's Costume)

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About: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

We collect movies and movie memorabilia, and our daughter went through a phase where she thought Robocop was the absolute coolest. So...well...the only thing to do was create a Robocop costume for her!

It is entirely homemade and created with recycled items in our home. We primarily used cardboard, newspapers and glue (paper mache), paper fasteners, hot glue, some pvc pipes, foam board and paint. The end result totally rocks!

The very first steps of the costume required measuring a five year old girl who usually doesn’t like to stand or sit still! After the measurements, her Dad began cutting the cardboard and creating the shell of the costume. Then came layer after layer after layer of paper mache. Once each body shell piece was finished, he painted it with silver spray paint and black model paint. He was able to create hinges on both the arms and legs through use of the metal paper fasteners. A hot glue gun was used to actually attach the arms and legs to a black shirt and black pants. We made the shoes by using cardboard and paper mache over regular tennis shoes. Those were painted as well when finished. The abdomen was pieced together using foam board, as were the cuffs on each arm and the chin-piece. The helmet is entirely paper mache, along with a strip of dark see-through plastic cut from a notebook binder divider.

The end result is a totally awesome Robocop costume, and a very happy girl!! Happy Halloween!!

Step 1:

Measure the child and cut cardboard for body shell pieces. Prepare paper mache (glue & water, newspaper) and begin paper mache process over cardboard

Step 2:

When layers of paper mache are dry and thick enough, paint body pieces silver with black details. Both the arms and legs have hinges created by using metal paper fasteners. The actual arm and leg pieces were also glued with a hot glue gun onto a black shirt and black pants.

Step 3:

The chest piece is cardboard and paper mache, while the abdomen is foam board pieced together with a hot glue gun. Paper fasteners were used to help attach the chest/abdomen to the back of her costume.

Step 4:

The Robocop helmet is entirely paper mache, along with a strip of clear, dark plastic cut from a notebook binder divider. The Robocop shoes were created by attaching cardboard/paper mache over regular tennis shoes.