My homemade predator costume - · PDF fileJoe Taylor 2009 My homemade predator costume (Blue Font = Time Taken) Step 1 – dreadlocks To start off I first made the dreadlocks, I went

Joe Taylor 2009

My homemade predator costume

(Blue Font = Time Taken)

Step 1 – dreadlocks

To start off I first made the dreadlocks, I went to my local DIY shop

and found some soaker hose which had some resemblance to the

Predators dreads. I bought 2 x 10m of it.

Next I bought a cheap black beanie hat from a sports shop, and then

from an old bicycle helmet I removed the adjustable headband. I

then stitched the headband on the inside of the hat. (20min)

Once I had done this, I took the soaker hose and cut it into sets of

two different lengths 22” and 15”, personally I cut 17 of each size,

but it is up to you how many you want to have. (40min)

Joe Taylor 2009

When I finished cutting all of the dreads to the right size, I cut all of

them off at one end at an angle to make the point, and then used

black electrical tape to cover it over. (40min)

Next was time to stitch all of them onto the hat. I needed a strong

needle and thread because the hose is quite tough. I stitched the

longer ones around the back and the shorter ones to the front. If you

had some spare like I did I stitched some of the shorter ones above

the longer ones at the back to add a layered look. (3 Hours)

( Sorry about the picture quality PDF doesn’t like it.)

Joe Taylor 2009

To add on the rings to the dreadlocks I was going to use olives that

are used in plumbing, but found out it would cost around £20! So I

decided to paint them on in gold paint. Firstly I marked out in

masking tape two places where I wanted the rings to be. (1 Hour)

From there I used Plasti-kote paint in between the marked out area,

and left it to dry. (40 min)

Joe Taylor 2009

After leaving to dry for about half an hour, I peeled off the masking

tape and was left with two gold rings on each dreadlock ☺

That’s the dreadlocks done, Total Time = 7 Hours

(Sorry about the picture quality PDF doesn’t like it.)

Back Front

Joe Taylor 2009

Step 2 – Body

The second step was to create the body of the predator, for this I

had to purchase a Rambo muscle costume for around £20 online or

in a fancy dress shop.

To create the detailing on the plain muscle suit, I bought brown and

black acrylic paint from a craft shop which cost me about £10.

Joe Taylor 2009

I started first with the

detailing on front muscles.

I darkened around the

separate muscles and

around the top. I did the

same on each of the arm

muscles as well. (2 Hours)

When I had finished that, I added in back spots around muscles on

the body and arms for the extra detailing. (1.5 Hours)

Joe Taylor 2009

As you can see on the predator he has a kind of net covering his

body, I have done this on my costume by buying a pair of whale net

tights, which I then stretched over my torso and arms. (Another pair

is needed for the legs later on) (10mins)

To finish off painting the body, I decided to paint on the ‘ribs’ on the

front and back of the costume along with the black spot detailing.

Then all was left is to make the costume look dirty so I got a very

small amount of brown paint on the brush and scrubbed it around.

(1.5 Hours)

Back

Front

That’s the body done, Total Time = 5 hours 10mins

Joe Taylor 2009

Step 3 – Legs

To start on the legs you will need a pair of thermals / leggings.

Depending on the colour you may need to dye them flesh colour. I

bought a pair of white men’s thermals, then got a bucket and filled it

with boiling water and tea bags (One big cup of tea ☺) When it

cooled I put the thermals in there and left them in there so the tea

colour stains the fabric. (2 Hours)

When they dried I then painted on the same design as the ‘ribs’ from

the body, around the thighs on each leg. (1.5 Hours)