Hello my name is Richard Evans. My wife and I built this costume from scratch using paper mache for our three year old daughter.
Her name is Adela. Adela’s costume was inspired by the new Star Wars movie. A week before the decision was made on the costume choice we had just finished the whole Star Wars marathon. We heard there was a new movie being made. We looked up info via Youtube and watched videos of the character BB-8 and instantly fell in love with the character. We showed our daughter and our mind was made up.
My wife did several paper mache projects as a girl with her mother as a child and came up with the idea to use an exercise ball. We asked several family members for their old newspapers bought some glue and got started.
We knew The paper mache would not be hard enough to withstand an impact if she fell so we when the glue dried we reinforced the body and head with fiberglass resin. Then sanded the high points of the resin.
There were also dips in the ball that were filled with plaster. Then more sanding. The Body was then sprayed with primer. Then sanded some more. The sanding and primer steps were done several times for both head and body.
The head holes were drilled and cut out with a dremel. The thickness is at least 1/8 inch thick. The head and body were then painted with white spray paint. All of the designs were drawn on with a pencil then traced over with a sharpie. The orange paint that was used is acrylic. The silver is a paint marker that we took apart and painted on the designs.
Everything was just eyeballed! We had nothing but a BB-8 poster and the pictures on the internet to go by. The antennas are a carved 1/4 inch stick painted white, bamboo stick painted silver with black electrical tape and a 2 inch piece of clear tubing painted black. The lense on the head is see through. It is a plastic Christmas ornament that was shaped using the dremel. It was spray painted using an automotive tail light paint. The light was take apart and re-screwed in place. Nail polish was used for the color effect.
Everything was made by hand! If you have any other questions feel free to email me.
All of the supplies were bought from Walmart and Homedepot except for the plastic eye, which was bought at Hobby lobby. The costume was a great hit while trick or treating! Everyone who saw her enjoyed it, took pictures, and gave extra candy. It is a costume that is better in person. When she puts it on she truly look like the real BB-8.
Richard, do you see this? If so, I’ll ask my question here. You said to email you with questions but there isn’t an e-mail listed.
Richard, do you see this? If so, I’ll ask my question here. You said to email you with questions but there isn’t an e-mail listed.