So this year I was on a bit of a budget. Spending was limited so I looked around the house to see what I could use. I got the idea to do one of those T-800 with its face ripped off and set out to do that, but the eye piece didn't turn out like I wanted so I had to change my story to just making a cyborg-soldier-of-the-future type thing.
There are indeed other tutorials out there on how to accomplish this, but everyone approaches it a little differently and I believe it's valuable to share alternate methods so anyone can mix and match and find new ways that suit them better. Heck, I myself have looked at other walk-throughs for inspiration and modified them to suit me.
Though it didn't turn out like I wanted, I'm still quite happy with the results. The costume took about one weekend to build and two hours to apply. Some of the accessories were things I used on my previous Halloween costumes. I spent less than $20 this year, I think, so it is pretty inexpensive, but be warned: correct application can be tedious and requires patience.
Like my last Instructable, this one will have DAISNAIDs, short footnotes about what I learned in the process and tips to help y'all make something better than what you see here. DAISNAID stands for Do As I Say, Not As I Do :)
The Instructable has been split into three parts, each containing the steps relevant to that stage:
-the eye piece
-the faceplate
-makeup and application
After reading this if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask and, as always, constructive criticism is welcomed.
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Signing UpStep 1: The Eye Piece
Material used:
-water bottle
-old bike reflector
-ping pong ball
-small red LED
-C2032 battery
-scotch tape
-paint
-makeup sponge
-glue
Directions:
1- I started by cutting the top of a bottle just below the lip under the cap threads. This would become the main part of the casing for the eye piece. I also cut out the concave part from the bottom of the bottle, but this is optional. I used it later on for an additional piece on the forehead where the skin looks like it was torn.
2- Originally, I had planned on using the bottle cap for the eye but didn't like the look of it. The threads from the bottle added an interesting design to the eye piece and I thought it was a shame to hide them. Instead, I cut a ping pong ball in half and drilled a hole through the middle of it. I then traced the inside of the bottle threads around the hole (so there would be a reference for the diameter) and cut off pieces to create three tabs. Sorry, no pictures for this bit :(
3- Everything was then painted and sealed at this stage.
4- Some pliers were used to cut up a piece of the reflector which was the glued to the inside of the ping pong ball, smooth side toward the hole. Once the glue dried, I just bent the tabs and slipped it inside the bottle top. I chose not to glue it because it held itself in place well enough on its own, and if something should happen where I needed to have a look at the LED that will be in there, I could just pull it out to have access instead of having to pull off the entire prosthetic.
5- As it turns out, the inside diameter of the casing was just big enough to allow a C2032 battery. I basically followed the Instructable on LED Snowies, but modified it by bending and cutting the prongs as you see on the pictures. I made sure the LED would be centered on the battery so the light would be as bright as possible on the outside.
DAISNAID: You'll need to tape the LED nice and tight to the battery to make it stay connected or find a better way to secure it. While I thought mine was OK, the light was flickering on and off all day. I got away with the excuse that it flickered due to battle damage, but that's not really intimidating. I mean, come on, a tough cyborg can't even keep his creepy eye lit? Pfffft...
6- To keep everything inside (and away from my naked eyeball), a makeup sponge was cut up to fashion a kind of cork that would fit snugly. You may consider making some kind of eye patch to use under the mask for added protection. If you make it big enough, you may not even need to apply black makeup around the eye, as you'll see later.
7- When the faceplate was ready, I just pushed the eye piece through the socket hole and it happened to stay there on it's own, quite solidly I may add.
DAISNAID: In retrospect, the eye piece is much to long. Although it works well enough for the cyborg look, the Terminator look requires something entirely different. You may want to look at some other Terminator Instructables or other tutorials for alternatives.
-water bottle
-old bike reflector
-ping pong ball
-small red LED
-C2032 battery
-scotch tape
-paint
-makeup sponge
-glue
Directions:
1- I started by cutting the top of a bottle just below the lip under the cap threads. This would become the main part of the casing for the eye piece. I also cut out the concave part from the bottom of the bottle, but this is optional. I used it later on for an additional piece on the forehead where the skin looks like it was torn.
2- Originally, I had planned on using the bottle cap for the eye but didn't like the look of it. The threads from the bottle added an interesting design to the eye piece and I thought it was a shame to hide them. Instead, I cut a ping pong ball in half and drilled a hole through the middle of it. I then traced the inside of the bottle threads around the hole (so there would be a reference for the diameter) and cut off pieces to create three tabs. Sorry, no pictures for this bit :(
3- Everything was then painted and sealed at this stage.
4- Some pliers were used to cut up a piece of the reflector which was the glued to the inside of the ping pong ball, smooth side toward the hole. Once the glue dried, I just bent the tabs and slipped it inside the bottle top. I chose not to glue it because it held itself in place well enough on its own, and if something should happen where I needed to have a look at the LED that will be in there, I could just pull it out to have access instead of having to pull off the entire prosthetic.
5- As it turns out, the inside diameter of the casing was just big enough to allow a C2032 battery. I basically followed the Instructable on LED Snowies, but modified it by bending and cutting the prongs as you see on the pictures. I made sure the LED would be centered on the battery so the light would be as bright as possible on the outside.
DAISNAID: You'll need to tape the LED nice and tight to the battery to make it stay connected or find a better way to secure it. While I thought mine was OK, the light was flickering on and off all day. I got away with the excuse that it flickered due to battle damage, but that's not really intimidating. I mean, come on, a tough cyborg can't even keep his creepy eye lit? Pfffft...
6- To keep everything inside (and away from my naked eyeball), a makeup sponge was cut up to fashion a kind of cork that would fit snugly. You may consider making some kind of eye patch to use under the mask for added protection. If you make it big enough, you may not even need to apply black makeup around the eye, as you'll see later.
7- When the faceplate was ready, I just pushed the eye piece through the socket hole and it happened to stay there on it's own, quite solidly I may add.
DAISNAID: In retrospect, the eye piece is much to long. Although it works well enough for the cyborg look, the Terminator look requires something entirely different. You may want to look at some other Terminator Instructables or other tutorials for alternatives.
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Awesome tutorial ^_^
Kinda funny. I feel both relieved and disappointed. It's nice to know that in the end my work wasn't stolen, but on the other hand it's kind of flattering to think someone else would want to take credit for it...not that I'd let them get away with it.
But, uh, don't any of y'all out there try to flatter me too much, 'k?
;)