How to Make a Cobra "Storm Shadow" Costume

Anyone remember this guy? I surprised my best friend with a  costume for his birthday. So… let’s begin shall we!

Materials:

-White kung fu Slippers

-white karate pants

-Several strips of white fabric for wrapping legs, waist, and forearms

-white underarmor

-white fabric to make hood

-white balaclava (motorcycle mask)

-red fabric marker

Weapons/Accessories:

-white foam (hand guards)

-white shoe laces

-black nylon straps for waist and chest with buckle

-fake weapons: throwing stars, nun chucks, 2 samurai swords with sheaths

-double sided velcro

- red foam

-card board

-faux black leather for arrow case

-10-12 skinny dowel rods for arrows

-styrofoam

-hot glue

-fake feathers

-black foam

-wood squares

-4 metal rectangles approx 2x4” (home depot)

-4 feet of wood trimming (bow)

-twine

-2 metal slabs (kinda like a metal ruler)

Step 1: Shoes, Pants, a Shirt

-Shoes and pants go on.. wrap ankles with white straps

-For the shirt, rip off sleeves.

_Usually under armor has a little turtle neck, so i ripped it out and inverted it so the logo wasn’t visible anymore..

-I made a hood using the white fabric, (pic attached), and sewed it into the collar.  put on the balaclava

Step 2: Insignia

I used the red fabric pen to draw the cobra logo.. if you don’t trust yourself, try it on the sleeves your ripped off for practice… I used masking tape to make a square to help with the sizing.

Step 3: Hand Gauntlets

For hand gauntlets, i had some high density foam laying around, and cut those into a pentagon shape, then hot glued it into a long slab of foam.. take some white shoelace, make a circle and attach it to the top middle of the pentagon so that a middle finger can slip through.. once completed, wrap the forearm with the white fabric.

Step 4: WEAPONS: Nunchukus

The weapons portion is the most time consuming..  the reason being is that Storm Shadow has an arsenal of goodies.

Fit the fabric around your waist and attach the nun chucks to the side by using a safety pin and the double sided velcro.

Step 5: BOW

1. Grab the long wood trimming and soak it in water for about an hour. It should be pliable by then. put a notch on both ends, bend it into a bow, and tie with twine.

2. I used cardboard and made a handle. took several layers of cardboard and hot glued them on top of each other. i cut a groove on one side so that the full arrow could rest inside it.

3. i put some poster board (can use comic book backs) and covered the handle. Painted the entire thing black, and found some random little things (screws, bolts, laser pointer, etc) to add to it so it looked spiffy.

Step 6: ARROW and ARROW CASE

- Cut all the dowels into 7’ inches. attach feathers to all ends and paint black. i wanted to have 1 full length arrow, so I made 1 arrow tip out of cardboard. I made a diamond tip with the cardboard and then covered with hot glue.

Step 7: Arrows: Part 2

Grab two rectangles of styrofoam and glue each dowel in place. the two styrofoam is to hold the dowels in place and separate them.

Step 8: Arrow Case

Measure and cut cardboard to the approximate size of the arrow case, but allow enough room that the arrows can slide into the top. i cut a “tunnel” into the side of the arrow case so that the full length arrow could sit there. the lower styrofoam is to prevent the full length arrow from sliding to the bottom of the case.

Step 9: Velcro Straps

Run a two straps of velcro on both ends (which will connect to the harness)..

Step 10: Arrow Case

Place a cover of cardboard on top, and mark where two strap of velcro will go.. it will hold the bow in place. Cover the entire case with the faux leather. use the red foam to make the insignia of the arashikage clan.

Step 11: Harness

Harness:Storm Shadow has a harness that can hold two swords, a bow, and a case of arrows.. However, he can alter it so that the he can either just have two swords that go on one side.. or swords that “X” on his back..

-Grab the two metal bars (approximately  2 1/2 feet long) and the metal rectangles, wood squares, and velcro.

-Take one bar (pic A), and attach a metal rectangle to each end. once attached, attach three strips of velcro per end. (because it is double sided, you can roll the velcro  into itself when not in use) .. the two swords can now be strapped on each end.

- For the other bar (pic B). attach wood square in between metal rectangle and metal bar. The wood square elevates the arrow case so it rests on top of the swords.Put a velcro strip on each end. The velcro of this harness connects with the velcro of the arrow case.

Step 12: Harness: Part 2

i foamed the entire metal bar so it was comfortable on my friend’s back.  On part A, i attached a belt on both sides, as this will be across the chest .

Step 13: Harness: Part 3

Now, take parts A &B, and “X” them. U can use a shoe lace to lash them together. Because they are two pieces, you now have a choice of how you want to wear the harness.

you can also put velcro on your throwing stars so that they will just attach it somewhere on your shoulder strap.

Step 14: FINISHED

That should be it. Enjoy!

If you would like to check out my current art projects outside of instructables, feel free to check out Spicy Panda Creations on Facebook.

Link to additional costumes within pictures

Snake Eyes
https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-GI-Joe-Snake-Eyes-costume/