Awesome Costumes

While attending Otakon 2019, YouTuber Nardio came across Jeremy Chang, who was showing off his truly epic cosplay of one of Warhammer 40,000’s Ultramarines’ armored suits. He used his experience working in a real space suit research lab to help design its rotating arm system. Photo gallery here.

Adam Savage plays around with an awesome new item for his collection. Designed by Gary Fay Creations, these articulated fingers elongate the wearer’s digits, while mimicking their movements. The effect is both amazing and creepy. We’re just glad they don’t have sharpened blades like Freddy Krueger’s.

From a giant Baby Yoda to a sparkly, disco-sequined Stormtrooper, the 2020 Chicago Comic Con and Entertainment Expo (aka C2E2) brought out a whole bunch of fun, fanciful, and creative costumes as usual. Insider was there this year, and captured some great video of the more entertaining designs from enthusiastic cosplayers.

Chainmaille, or colloquially “Chain Mail,” is that sweet looking flexible armor that dates back to the 3rd century BC. The real stuff is notoriously heavy and hard to construct. Tested’s Adam Savage and Ben Eadie show off a creative new way to make the stuff for costumes using laser-cut EVA foam.

Stormtroopers have been with us since the first moments of A New Hope back in 1977. With the original saga coming to a close in The Rise of Skywalker, director J.J. Abrams and other members of the Star Wars production team provide a brief history of these blindly loyal soldiers, and their various permutations over the years.

Sneaky Zebra dropped by the MCM London Comic Con in October 2019 to check out some of the show’s most awesome costumes and the dedicated fans behind them. Zebra’s slick video production and location choices really help to bring each character to life just that much more.

Maker The Q built this awesome larger-than-life, fully-articulated LEGO minifig costume using cardboard and hot glue. With more than three weeks left until Halloween, you should have plenty of time to try and replicate the design yourself. Are you up to the challenge?

Costumes, dinosaurs, engineering, and puppetry – Esmée Kramer combined these four passions into one awesome build. She spent months designing and making this amazing dinosaur rig using PVC pipes and foam panels. It really comes to life once she starts moving its head.

Bodypainting artist Kika Studio is up to her old tricks. This time she used a heaping helping of black paint to erase her torso and turned herself into a super creepy human jack-in-the-box. Who are we kidding? All jack-in-the-boxes are terrifying.

Prop maker David Guyton made chest armor with a computer fan in front and a LED-lit jet pack at the back. He made it mostly out of steel and MDF, but he says you can use EVA foam instead. You can purchase the template for $5 on his website or his Android app.

Ever wonder what happens to all the props, costumes, cars, and other items seen in movies go when filming ends? Insider takes us on a trip to the Warner Brothers Corporate Archive, an extensive warehouse where many older props get stored.

Between the white walkers, wights, and stone men of Old Valyria, Game of Thrones is filled with creepy creatures. In this great behind the scenes clip from HBO, meet the makeup and prosthetics artists who bring these characters to life, and add battle scars to others.

Prop maker Odin Abbott showcases his cutting and painting skills as well as his creativity by making a wearable Bumblebee helmet, complete with light up eyes. As with the rest of his projects, the helmet is made almost entirely out of craft foam.

A charming performance by ballet dancer Oleg Chernasov, as he performs the parts of two smaller characters fighting each other. While the costume is definitely a big part of the illusion, it’s his agility and choreography that really make it work.

After renting himself a new family in Japan, Conan O’Brien explored the contents of some of its famed vending machines, then checked out Toyko’s colorful Harajuku neighborhood, where he got himself a flamboyant Kawaii makeover.

For Halloween, Mike Warren wanted to go as Ghost Rider. To make the most of his costume, he built a 3D-printed skull helmet with LED lighting and a custom fan system that uses a vape pen to generate a cloud of smoke. Build details on Instructables.

Star Wars fans looking for something different to wear this Halloween might want to check out Rubies’ inflatable version of Han Solo, frozen in carbonite. The adult-sized costume includes a battery-powered inflation fan, and a mask and gloves to complete the frozen effect.

Makeup artist Mirjana Kika Milosevic likes to doll herself up in all sorts of incredible looks. Watch as she transforms from a beauty to a beast as she becomes the evil doll Chucky, complete with gaping wounds and a chunk taken out of his bashed-in head.

Odin Makes shows us how to make Ant-Man’s helmet from Ant-Man and The Wasp. It’s made almost entirely out of craft foam and floor mat foam, and the lenses are from a plastic bowl. If your crafting skills are up to it, you can get Odin’s templates here.

Inventor and builder Colin Furze teamed up with eBay for a crazy challenge – to construct a working replica of Tony Stark’s Hulkbuster armor using only components purchased from the auction site. Not only did Colin succeed, he excelled. Build videos here and here.

Tested dropped by Monsterpalooza 2018, where artists and showed off some amazing creature creations, not the least of which being Pat Magee’s incredibly disturbing take on Despicable Me’s normally adorable minions. Pat’s kids must win Halloween every year.

Adding to his collection of cool and dangerous toys, The Hacksmith and team recently built an insane working version of Doomfist’s spiked gauntlet from Overwatch. The unwieldy pneumatic fist can exert over 2600 pounds of force. Talk about a One Punch Man.

(PG-13: Language) A couple of blokes told their buddy Darren that they were going out to party dressed up in costumes. But they really weren’t planning on wearing the Smurf outfits they convinced their pal they were going to wear. Darren was not amused.