Me and a couple buddies from work are making huge cardboard Transformers costumes for Halloween. We're trying to stay close to G1 style, but may take a few liberties to make sure they are wearable. I'm going to be Optimus Prime and we'll also have Hot Rod, Prowl, and Bumblebee. I'm about 6'10 so the size difference should be pretty accurate to the original animated characters. Here are some pictures of early work:

 

 

Like, I said, I'm a big guy. The cubes that are his shoulders are 11x11inches and the large beige thing behind me is a refrigerator. We are planning on building risers of about 6 inches into the feet/lower leg sections to make sure we retaing the animated proportions. I should be close to 8 feet tall with that and the helmet.

 

I'm not sure about the way the main chest is angled right now so that is probably going to change, but this is a pretty good idea of how it will end up looking before detail and paint work.

 

Let me know what you guys think!

Cool, kep the progress pics coming :thumb

I actually like how you have the chest windows angled out. Once you add a grill piece, that should look really nice.

lookin good so far

Nice work so far!

Sigh...it's time to start on a costume.

 

 

Your's actually looks great so far. :thumb

I'm not going to be a Transformer for this Halloween, mostly cause the store costumes are too kiddy. I tried to make a home made G1 Starscream costume once and it was horrible :wtf . But yours looks really good so far! :thumb I going as Jason Voohres this year. :saw

Could you make a template or how to guide for us all please later? I can use it myself as Im 6'2 or 6/3 myself!

Yeah, the chest is actually dead-on, concerning the angle. And I would also like to see a template. Unfortunately, I'm only 5' 10", but still it would be interesting. (I make up for it horizontally. :lol )

 

BTW, nice use of masking tape :thumb (my favorite meduim!)

I should get some more work done on this tonight. I'll bring a decent camera and not just my phone this time.

 

So you guys like the angle of the chest? I thought the point where the chest panels meet stuck out a little too much. I think the windows/pecs may be a little tall as well. I'm happy with it overall, might just make a few little tweaks. Most people won't even know the difference but I'll know if I cut corners. I'm using the masking tape to seal off the edges and smooth out the joints in the cardboard. I'm also using cardboard supports hot glued to the inside of joints that will take a lot of stress. I've seen people using foam board covered in vinyl, and I just didn't really like that look. There is a kind of foam insulation that is about 1/2 inch thick and comes in 4x8 foot sheets for $10 each, but I didn't think I'd have time to get used to working with it and get this done in time. I get as many cardboard boxes as I can stuff in the back of my van ('96 Mazda MPV woohoo! lol) for free from where I work, so this is VERY cheap so far (always a plus).The whole thing will be primed ( hehehe :tflaugh ) and painted when I'm done.

 

As far as making a template, I'm not really sure how I'd pull that off. I could do some drawings and take some measurements, but as far as step by step, I probably couldn't do that until after Halloween. If I have time, I'll see what I can do.

 

I plan on getting the chest and crotch area fully tweaked and finished up tonight and hopefully start on the legs. You won't see a whole lot of detail start to appear until I get the whole body built.