See my trick-or-treat photos from Halloween 2009

My Halloween costume for 2009! Inspired by Frankenstein's monster (especially the version from VanHelsing), Johann Krauss from Hellboy II, and the steampunk style of mixing old with new. This isn't a literal version of Frankenstein's monster, but just generally using the concept of piecing together a creature from multiple sources.

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WARNING: I use a fresnel lens in a way that isn't particularly safe or wise. If you choose to use this idea in a costume of your own, be sure to use extreme caution. It messes up your vision so you can't judge distance very well, and the fresnel lens could do some serious damage to your eyes and/or your skin as it does a really good job of focusing light to a fine point. DO NOT WEAR A COSTUME LIKE THIS OUTSIDE DURING THE DAY! That would be very bad.

With that out of the way, should you happen to be fearless when it comes to your Halloween costumes, you can get the fresnel lens here.

My original concept sketches. I knew I wanted to incorporate a fresnel lens to make my head look huge. It was just a matter of designing the best look with the lens as a starting point. (fresnel is pronounced fruh-NELL or fray-NELL, named after the French inventor Augustin-Jean Fresnel) My first designs had the box sitting stationary on my shoulders so I would have to turn my whole body if I wanted to look to the side. Then I thought about how it would be much creepier if I could be standing there facing away from a group of trick-or-treaters, and then turn my head, making a horrible grinding metal sound, to look into their frightened little faces... Winner!
A possible starting point for the sledge hammer arm. I'm still debating whether to make it a hammer or go more elaborate and make a mechanical claw. Time will probably make that decision for me. The design on the cardboard is is a scale drawing of the head box and circular track that will rest on my shoulders.
I decided to build the head box first since it would be easier to build the shoulder harness and circular track based on the exact dimensions of the box. The materials are aluminum angles and luan plywood. I mainly used pop rivets to hold it together, but the large bolts on the front and back corners (that I chose for how they look) also help tighten things up.
This first photo is without the lens. The next 2 have the fresnel lens installed.
The top of the head box is some kind of patterned sheet of metal that came form Lowes. It was easy to cut using metal sheers. I fastened it to the box with pop rivets. The pattern of holes in the metal will hopefully let the hot air rise out of the box so I don't get too hot.
The shoulder harness follows the same design as most of my oversized costumes. It's made of 1/2" conduit which is fairly easy to bend, holds it shape quite well and can support a lot of weight. This costume is a bit different than most that I make because I plan to leave the shoulder harness exposed as a major peice of my costume.
A few poses with the head box mounted on the shoulder harness and a YouTube video of the costume in progress.
Of course I decided to go with a working mechanical claw instead of a boring old sledge hammer. I can never go with the simple idea once I get something more complicated into my head. I started with the giant T-junction (that would have been the sledge hammer), cut off the middle sleeve with a jigsaw, and smoothed the edges with a dremel. I used a hinge with a removable pin and suspended it between the high points of the PVC with a 5 1/2" bolt.
To attach the claw to the arm tube, I put a bolt through opposite sides at the base of the claw and then cut a slot in opposite sides of the "wrist" end of the arm tube. This allows the claw to rotate a quarter turn and it makes a nice clicking sound as the bolts hit the ends of the slots.
The fingers were tedious to make. I cut the six pieces of aluminum, marked them with 3" sections, clamped them to a table, and bent them by hand. After I bent the first one I used it to check the angles of all the rest as I went along.
A few poses showing my progress with the claw.
These photos show the details of how I made the claw functional. The 2 springs and the rubber band are stretched between bolts on either side of the hinge pin. When the claw is closed, the springs and rubber band are stretched, which then pull the claw back into the open position. The red tape (used for padding) is wrapped around two conduit pipe straps that have been bent into loops. By placing my index and middle fingers into these loops I can operate each side of the claw separately. I am also able to rotate the wrist via these loops.
I decided to do a slight redesign on the finger loops at the base of the claw. My first design made it uncomfortable to operate. The way I had to flex my fingers to close the claw wasn't natural. My solution was to add two short lengths of aluminum with a 90° twist between the finger loops and the claw. The 90° twist had the effect of rotating the finger loops to a more natural position so it is way more comfortable to operate now. I also added the brace that goes across my palm which gives me a surface to pull against.
I used 6" PVC pipe and fittings for the leg and foot. The black mat under the foot will become the sole of the boot. I plan to use the same metal sheet from the top of the head box to cover the middle of the boot. It fits my leg and foot very well at this point, but it puts stress on my knee when I walk because the ankle doesn't bend from side to side. I have a plan to fix that.
Knee stress solved. I extended the holes on both sides of the leg tube at the ankle joint so they are more like vertical slots. Now the leg can tilt from side to side by allowing the ankle bolts to slide up and down in the new slots.
The tube to decorate the knee is almost a piece of art. I cut the holes in a 6" PVC joint using a sabre saw and smoothed the edges with a dremel. I can walk really well now. Allowing the leg tube to move in all directions makes walking with this giant leg and boot feel quite natural.
I started painting a few parts. I painted the outer sides of the head box with hammered metal silver spray paint and the inside with dark gray primer. The tube for the claw/arm and the pieces that will make up the fuel tanks on my back are painted with hammered metal copper spray paint.
In these photos I'm wearing cosmetic contact lenses and my big nasty yellow fake teeth. I can't decide if I should wear the mask that you see in the first 2 photos or just go with make-up. I know I'd be way more comfortable wearing make-up than I would be in the mask, but the mask is much more interesting than my make-up would be.
Working on the wiring now. I ran a wire down to the claw with a switch on the palm brace. I can use my middle finger or thumb to trigger a red light that will shine on my face. I use a temporary-on switch so the light only comes on when I hold the switch down. The batteries will be contained in the middle pipe on my back so all the wires lead into the pipe cap right behind my neck. I ran another wire with a tiny switch up into the head box for a white light that will also shine on my face. Cutting a tiny rectangular hole in the aluminum wasn't easy. This is an always-on switch because I want the white light to stay on.
Assembling the backpack tanks. The middle tank is a 4" PVC pipe. The 2 side tanks are old empty propane tanks from a small grill. I didn't drill into the propane tanks just to be safe. I wrapped them tightly with a strap of alluminum and used pop-rivets to secure them to the center tube.
The battery pack is secured at the base of the PVC tube with 2 velcro straps and a small aluminumum angle. Then I finish up the wiring inside the head box.
I used some clear rainbow crinkly wrapping paper to fill the clear tubes that run between the propane tanks and the middle PVC tube.
The final details. I glued the rubber mat onto the sole of the boot with contact cement and then added some screws around the edge for good measure. I got an old pair of overalls at Goodwill. They had "TRI-RIVERS Collision Repair" stitched into it, so I removed a few letters and now it says "RIP Collision Repair". And finally the finished pieces with all the tubes attached!