Oversized Costume Starters
These are some quick and easy designs to make shoulder harnesses for oversized costumes. I made these for the Haunted Palace Theatre in 2008. I didn’t spend nearly as much time on these as I do for my other oversized costumes, mostly due to a lack of time, but also because of budget. Once you have the fake shoulders up above your head, you can just drape it with fabric, and use your own arms and hands.
The Faceless Man: I already had the hard hat from an earlier attempt with the Jumbo the Clown costume. There are three pieces of conduit going up into the mask connected to a plastic dome. I attached the mask, Kasper from Fearscape Studios, to the hard hat using zip ties. The shoulder piece is a variation on a design I’ve used many time before. A piece of press board across the back, approx. 8″ x 14″. Conduit bolted on with machine screws, bent to hang on the shoulders. The two taller pieces with the swimming noodle attached are a new idea. I am hoping that fabric can be draped over the top, with a head hole cut out, and the conduit and noodles will look like fake shoulders and upper arms. We shall see.
Pumpkin Head: Same basic shoulder frame design, but this one has the head mounted in a static position. The mask, Rotting Jack from Fearscape Studios, is bigger and much heavier than the Faceless Man, so it wouldn’t work as well to be mounted on a hard hart so it could rotate. I used some aluminum flat bar to go up into the head. It is much lighter than conduit, and a lot easier to bend into such tight curves. I attached the top half of an old Apple Airport to go up inside the top of the mask. It provides a nice curved support to help the latex hold its shape better. I used electric caps to cover the sharp ends of the bolts that hold the conduit and aluminum frame together.































By Randy Goddard, March 2, 2011 @ 12:45 pm
Great new website. I really like the way you have it laid out.
I also like the insight your providing into your large costume characters. It really allows amateurs like me to see how the big boys do it.
By Bald Brain, March 2, 2011 @ 2:23 pm
Thanks, Randy. I like to think of myself as an artist, and what good is art if it’s not shared with everyone? Let me know if you make any oversized costumes based on my designs.