I took a bold move to design and build this Terminator costume. I also wanted to test my ability and skills too. This costume is built from many recovered materials from multiple sources that include old masks, motorcycle riding apparel and aluminum. The mask is a couple latex skull masks that I cut apart, glued back together and painted silver to look like a Terminator. The rib cage and shoulder sections are a old chest protector like what is used in Motocross racing. I cleaned it up and painted that silver too. The arms are made of recycled aluminum tubing and flat stock from a local salvage yard.
I am a welder/fabricator, so I used my labor skills and talents to build them. If you notice the hydraulic cylinders, they are “gas springs” like what are used to hold open car doors, hoods and trunk lids. It took quite some time to find the right size ones to use for each area of my costume. All those came from “donors cars” heading to the “great junkyard in the sky”. I had to first release the gas pressure inside, drill and tap holes to mount barbed hose connections onto them. Those where also cleaned up and painted silver. The hoses were bought from the local hardware store, they were clear hose that I painted the inside silver to match everything else.
All pieces are held in place with “tarp” snaps mounted on to all the pieces above and fastened to a diving suit that is used for scuba diving. In these pictures I am only wearing the top half of the costume, I have full leg sections too. I chose not to wear them because it was too cold outside – aluminum is a great conductor of heat and cold. If I would have wore the full costume, I would have froze to death.
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