DEEP SEA DIVER COSTUME
Challenge:
1. Create an award- winning costume.
2. Wear it and win stuff.
Medium: Paper Mache, industrial materials
Duration: September - October 2013 (2 months)
After some preliminary research and material scavenging, I started on the helmet. The dome was created using a large inflated ball; the helm was a mash of cardboard and thin plastic shaped to fit a torso. Both were heavily layered with papier-mâché and painted. I hooked an 8-volt battery up to a functional voltage meter and mounted it in the chest plate of the helm, accented by plastic chains. I kept the dome and helm separate to allow for easy access, and used magnets to align and connect them.
The portholes are made from metal coat hangers and plastic lids, with a small door hinge on the front porthole to open it. The air hose is black PVC pipe and black foam pipe insulation. A hidden 3/4 inch diameter clear plastic hose runs through the entire length of the foam tubing, into the interior of the helmet itself and snakes into a simple functional intake valve on the front of the helmet.
This valve is connected to a small mouthpiece, and controls the amount of b... liquid that can be syphoned through the entire contraption and into the mouth of the wearer.
As a finishing touch, I cracked and secured two blue glowsticks to the inside of the helmet, thus bathing the face in an eerie, unnatural blue light.
I located a one-piece construction suit, dyed it grey, and spray-painted some old vulcanized electrician gloves black. Diving weights were made from cigarette packs spray-painted black, and worn on an aged leather belt. A pair of beaten-up steel-toe work boots anchored the costume, and demanded a slow, plodding gait.
A moustache and parted hair completed the look, along with vintage woodshop safety glasses.
My nephew, pictured below, loved it all.
And, in the end, I won more than a few costume competitions.
I'm not sure how I'm gonna top this next year.
