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Coolest Homemade Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon Costume

For this homemade Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon costume I was inspired by the Charles Middleton version of Ming from the 80s movie of Flash Gordon.

My cloak and robe was made from a basic Kimono pattern. The collar took months to make. I covered little pieces of foam board with adhesive back gold foil and glued each tile onto styrene plastic sheeting. The red parts are simply colored in with red sharpie. The breast plate, shoulder pads, circles on the wrist are also gold foil but I used emboss process to make them match the collar.

Lastly the evil ring was important detail. I embedded small LED lights in a cheap oversized red ring and rigged a switch and battery to freeze my victims. Red gloves concealed my wires, switch and batteries. Finally some makeup, new eyebrows and don’t forget to cover shoes with shiny gold material. Amazing how many people did not recognize me.

Homemade Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon Costume

Homemade Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon Costume

Homemade Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon Costume

10 thoughts on “Coolest Homemade Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon Costume”

  1. Compared to the actual character he is referring to, he looks spot on!! Great details and definitely a lot of hard work was put into this costume. No wonder people didn’t recognize you!

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  2. How much would it cost me to get your patterns or your plan?

    I am wanting to go as Ming for the 2011 Halloween party my friend throws.

    Please email me: windquake @ yahoo.com
    (spaces to prevent spambots from reading it)

    Thanks.

    -Jay

    Reply
  3. I am working on making a version of this costume right now. Your is by far the est I have seen. Please let me know where you got the tiles for the Cowl/Collar. I would greatly appreciate any tips. My Email is Thanatos340 at Yahoo. (no spaces).

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  4. Here we are Sept 2012 and I too would love to rent this costume. I am working with a costume rental store who is going to try and make the collar but your complete look is perfect. IF YOU’LL RENT TO ME PLZ WRITE ME (without the spaces): b v m a s s i e @ c o m c a s t . n e t

    Reply

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