Sorry I didn’t get this Homemade Partybot Costume in before 2010 Halloween. I am already preparing for next year and just found the site. Even if I can’t get in a contest “PARTYBOT” must be shared with the world.
I took the classic cardboard robot and decided to make it a standalone party machine with high tech add-ons. I was careful to keep the spirit of the “sharpie accented last minute costume” but it took me about 2 months to get everything perfect. The name came first “PARTYBOT”. What do you need for a party? MUSIC!!! I glued a sheet of high density foam inside the chest all. Then I wired two battery powered speakers to an ipod placed in the chest. I had to be careful to run the wires loose so I could pull out the ipod to change songs myself.
Then you need LIGHTS. I took every dog walking flasher I could find, put it behind plastic with parchment paper lining to give the diffused look. Then there was the cliché dryer tubing legs. Turns out my thighs aren’t 12″ wide so I had to make custom alterations to let them out and tailor it with chrome duct tape. I safety pinned the tubing to workout shorts (never perfected this part and got stabbed a lot).
The hands were round cement pouring tubing that was cut in a Pacman shape with foam and lots of tape. This allowed me to stick my hands through and get dexterity. The antenna was an IKEA lamp from Salvation Army. The eyes are tail lights from a scooter with tap lights behind. The mesh mouth is from an office organizer. I never thought the feet would be so hard. I had to be a robot shoe cobbler.
It all paid off. I took this around Seattle dancing in the streets with Lady Ga Ga blasting. I was in intersections stopping traffic, got in the newspaper, came in 3rd during a costume contest with 70 entries. It was the music people loved. I had asian tourists taking pictures and everyone was dancing. I won the contest at my company and have pictures with the CEO. Best experience ever and a costume I doubt I’ll ever beat. Heck you can google it “partybot” and I think my photo is on the first page.
TIPS: Get chrome duct tape for it to be invisible on your robot pants, lots of spray paint is required and rubs off so know you’ll need touch ups. Getting into the costume in the right order is key as you don’t want to try and put robot shoes on with a head piece on already. Buy extra boxes at Home Depot and practice placing armholes as this can make or break the costume for comfort. You’ll want to put in about 5 layers of cardboard on the top surface of the arm hole for reinforcement. When you dance you put some real strain on the box. Screw the dryer tubing into the holes you cut in the arm rather than just taping for extra strength. I would improve it by blocking the tap lights from the rest of the head piece because at night it blinds you and makes it harder to see. If you want you can just chrome ducttape deck shoes for better dancing.
Related costumes:
90+ Coolest Homemade Robot Costume Ideas 
Coolest DIY Robot Halloween Costume 
Coolest Vintage Sci-Fi Robot Costume 
Awesome Articulated (Carboard!) Robot Costume with Tape Player 
Epic Alien Robot Costume 
Killer Candy Robot 3000 Costume 
Cool Flashing and Blinking Homemade Robot Costume 
Cool DIY Robot Costume
Your comment has been sent successfully.