This Homemade District 9 Wikus van de Merwe Costume depicts the main character of District 9, Wikus van de Merwe after he has been exposed to alien DNA which results in a wicked transformation.
Supplies:
• Mario Chiodo Collection Ghoul Hands (also called Unearthed or Zombie Hands)
• Needle and Black thread
• E6000 adhesive
• Black Liquid Latex
• White Button-down long sleeve dress shirt
• Dress pants
• Medical Gauze
• Black and Red Acrylic paints
• ID Badge (if you don’t know how to use PhotoShop or GIMP, ask a friend for help)
Initially, I didn’t know if I could pull off the “prawn arm” from the movie but I went to my local Halloween store and found the perfect gloves to get me started. First, I cut out the middle finger on the glove to bring the number of digits down to three (on these particular gloves, the ring finger and pinky finger are already joined together) so removing the middle finger was the logical choice. I sewed the gap together using black thread then glued E6000 on the inside to ensure the seam would hold. Next I painted the entire thing in black liquid latex. That made a huge difference, changing the appearance from brown, skin-like human hands to jet black, shiny, wet-looking and alien-like!
I shredded the coordinating sleeve on the long-sleeve button-down shirt. I wrapped medical gauze around the top of the prosthetic and used red and black acrylic paints on his clothing and the gauze to give him that “fresh off the experimental operating table look”.
The finishing touch to this costume is the MNU ID badge which I made using GIMP. I had the badge printed and laminated at an office supply store.
I worked on this costume over several days but I probably put about 3-4 hours total into making it and we were all really pleased with how it turned out!
Will you make me one?
I just got back from comic con and saw all the cool costumes but no prawns or anybody from district 9
Where did you get black liquid latex? Is it the same as the body paint liquid latex?
I used a commercial-grade pre-mixed black latex from a company that does outdoor latex surfaces (like running tracks and tennis courts). You can also use pre-mixed black liquid latex (commonly called latex body paint) or you can mix any costume-grade liquid latex with paint tints or pigments to get the desired color.
Sadly, I won’t be making any costumes this year. We have a baby on the way (a boy), due to arrive any day now! Good luck with your costumes everyone!