Transformers Soundwave Costume

First off, I need to thank my wife for being patient with me as I transformed our apartment into an utter mess of cardboard pieces, stinking it up with burning glue and paint and long hours of me talking and obsessing over the smallest details of this costume. She is truly a champion and is worthy of a whole new level of praise for putting up with this. I’d also like to thank dannyeurena. Because he posted his method of building his costume, I was able to save so much time and expand on the ideas he presented. Thanks!

This year I wanted to making a really sick costume. I'm an artist and I wanted to push myself. I also didn't want to spend a lot of money on it either. After days of pondering what I wanted to be, I decided on Soundwave—not the latest crumpled soda can Soundwave from the Bay movies, the original toy/cartoon one. Hands down he was my favorite toy. He had a rocket launcher and came with his own army of minions. This robot was upper management. After some research of various depictions, and fabrications, I began building.

Step 1: Materials

The following list are materials that I used:

Building supplies

• Cardboard (thick) Make sure it is rigid
• Cardboard (thin)
• Chipboard
• 2” Packaging tube
• Paper towel tube

• (1) Metal ruler
• (1) Triangle ruler
• (1) Large matte knife with 6 blades
• (1) Small x-acto knife with about 25 blades
• (1) Pair of scissors
• (1) Medium sized cutting board
• (1) small tape measure
• (1) Glue gun with (24) glue sticks (This is a MUST!)
• Bandaids when you burn yourself with the glue gun

Painting supplies

• (6) Rolls of packaging tape
• (1) Roll of blue masking tape
• (1) Construction helmet
• (1) Can of spray primer
• (1) Can of house paint (white)
• (1) Can of spray glue
• (2) Cans of blue spray paint
• (2) Cans of silver spray paint
• Various color acrylic paints (cheaper the better; blue, yellow, red, white, black, silver, gold)
• Package of various sized brushes
• Masking paper

Misc.

• (1) Cheap pair of shoes (or use your own they won’t be damaged)
• (1) Backpack (won’t be damaged)
• (1) Gumball container
• (1) Reading light
• (2) Glow sticks
• (1) Yard of black stretchy fabric
• (1) 1” strip of galvanized steel
• (1) roll of adhesive cork
• (1) Translucent yellow folder
• Velcro (about a yard of it)
• (3) yards of 1” nylon straps
• Elastic waistband
• (1) pair of hockey gloves
• (1) small sheet of framing plexi (used to replace glass)
• Access to print services that can print on 11x17 paper
• Pop rivet gun with 1/8 rivets
• (1) sheet of 1” vinyl letters
• (7) plastic easter eggs

Comments

[o__o]

So epic!!!!

[SpicyPandaCreations]

boom. thank you for all your help sir. it was a surreal experience.

[Incrxtc]

Good show! Those came out awesome. Glad you got them all finished in time.

[SpicyPandaCreations]

lol. barely finished... didnt sleep for sooo almost two days. and we lost my hotrod face at the convention, so i didnt cosplay. but next year.. and we have a soundwave now.. so i hope i can do your rendition proud.

[SpicyPandaCreations]

they're coming along! 27 days to go. phew

[Incrxtc]

Looking good! Can't wait to see them all finished up. You've certainly been busy.

[SpicyPandaCreations]

You know it. I'm working on the devastator build now. I'm trying not to go overboard but I'm wanting to make things move.. But 27 days is not a lot of time. I still need to make thighs for a bunch of them, finish some construction for arcee, , start starscream tomorrow, and make 7 heads.. Ugh... It's times like these where I wish I had a "team" to do parts.. Like ace of cakes or pimp my ride....

[SpicyPandaCreations]

awesome! thanks again for the help, would you prefer i message you personally or is this easier to reply on these posts? im gonna start painting with primer. do you really suggest a roller or do you think i can get away with a fat brush? sorry for all the questions, but i definately look to yours costume as a model.

[Incrxtc]

Either method is fine for posts.

I would suggest using the roller. A brush will leave brush marks that will be unsightly. With a roller, you don't have to worry about painting in one direction.

[SpicyPandaCreations]

got you. also, how do you print off the vinyl stuff? just create it on something like photoshop and print? i just finished a bumblebee torso and am trying to put the windows in. .. also, do you also tape the bottom of the edges? like the legs or around the neck?

[Incrxtc]

Um, I'm not sure what you mean by the vinyl stuff. If you mean the decals, I hand painted those with acrylic paint. As far as the unfinished edges, I taped all those so they wouldn't scratch me. Good luck with the Bumblebee windows, that one is going to be tough.

[Incrxtc]

The packs do sweat a bit, but it's not enough to warp the cardboard. I had it in a spot that had a couple of layers. For this costume, I needed it. Even though it was cold outside, this costume fits pretty tight and there is not a lot of circulation so it was a must. My guess is that try on your finished costumes and if they are fine, skip it, but if not, you can easily add it in later.

[SpicyPandaCreations]

did you find the condensation from the ice pack messed or warped the cardboard? i know how hot cardboard suits can get, but im wondering how much the fans actually helped you? im debating about putting the fans in the bigger costumes if you really think they made a significant difference.

[SpicyPandaCreations]

btw, if you can, you should include this in your soundwave costume

http://s109.beta.photobucket.com/user/CardboardCostumes/media/Laserbeak%20Production/LaserbeakComplete.jpg.html

[Incrxtc]

That is pretty sick. The costume does have room for this, but the cassette cover on the chest slides up. I kinda just want to make it for fun and hang it up somewhere.

[SpicyPandaCreations]

that is awesome.. i was trying to figure out how to make a foot, but i see you put the box over the actual boot. good deal.. is the circle on the side a way to keep the leg up? right now, alot of my robots look the same, but i think they will look different once they are painted

[Incrxtc]

The circle is the pivot point for the ankle. The leg has a concave portion that it fits in so it never has to hit the ground. It stays in place with gravity and still allows you to articulate ankle movements.

[SpicyPandaCreations]

here area few samples i had on my laptop. most top halves are done. I also made a a glowing "matrix of leadership" that fits inside the chest of my hotrod costume. For the crane arm of devastator, the actual arm and bucket of the vehicle moves. Thanks for your input sir! definitely appreciate the consultation and feedback!.

[Incrxtc]

Love the matrix! Looks great! Making the pieces articulate, now that's the way to do Devastator. I got as far as the foot, and realized that to make it that way is more work than I'm prepared to do. This is as far as I was ready to go, haha.

[Incrxtc]

Wow, that does sound like a lot. When you get the chance, please post the pics. I'd love to see your work. For the smaller details, I used a corner roller. It looks like a giant foam pizza cutter. You can get it at any hardware store. I'm sure you could use a brush, for the more intricate areas. The roller is more designed to hide the seams of the tape, so if there isn't anything you need to hide, brush away!

I thought about doing a Devestator costume and started building it, but stopped after a couple of days. Props to you for that, it's a HARD costume to pull off. I can't wait to see your finished work.

[SpicyPandaCreations]

phew, the costumes are coming along nicely.. i used the tape and so far, i have most of the top halves of hotrod, jazz, shrapnel (insect icon, and some parts of devastator.. only arcee, bumblebee, rumble, and soundwave to go! good lord that sounds like alot when i write it down.. i am wondering about the painting process.. you said you used a roller for priming.. maybe silly question, but did you just use a roller on the large flat surfaces and then a small paintbrush for the smaller details? im trying to be as efficient as possible as i have a little less than 2 months. thank you sir!

[SpicyPandaCreations]

I'm currently making several transformer costumes and using your tutorial as a guide. Did you really use "packaging tape(clear cellophane)" or masking tape ( light tarnish paper tape)? And when you painted the entire thing white as a base, did it really cover up the edges of the tape well? Thanks for a great tutorial! I have my work cut out for me as I'm making hotrod, arcee, bumblebee, jazz, devastator, and either brawn, starscream, soundwave, and rumble by end of April

[Incrxtc]

You're going to have a busy couple of months.

The type of tape I used was the clear 3M packaging tape. The paint I used was basic household primer. When you apply that with a roller, the texture of the roller helps to conceal the seams of the tape. It's not completely hidden, (you can still faintly see it in the pics I have posted), but it's enough so it's not glaringly obvious. The tape is mainly to conceal the ends of the cardboard so that it looks like a plastic piece, which it does the best job for the least amount of money.

[punkerdude]

all this is mostly made of cardboard? very awesome costume by the way!

[Incrxtc]

Thanks! :D That's correct. Most of this is cardboard and a lot of hot glue.

[SpicyPandaCreations]

this is ingenius! i made a superman lego costume out of cardboard and i was sweating like i was in a sauna.. great idea!

[laernmoer]

too cool.. you should have a dwarf friend walk around in a Rumble costume.. lol

[DeceptibotX]

Or maybe Ravage or Lasor Beak.

[pwhyt]

nice im gonna make it even if its alot of money

[Incrxtc]

Fortunately, if you dumpster dive for the cardboard, it's really cheap.

[DeceptibotX]

I agree with the dumpster diving. Most people will be squeamish, but for this and lots of other Instructables, it makes things a LOT cheaper and easier.

[MrTearApart]

I would like to say that your suit inspired me to make a transformer costume of my own. I ended up going on the transformers wiki and found a picture of Ratchet and went with that. Only problem was the feet, walking was pretty hard and funny at the same time! The headlights work and the ambulance lights actually flash red and blue. Thanks for the inspiration you gave me with your outstanding build!

[DeceptibotX]

As a Transformers Gen1 fan and one of Ratchet's No. 1 fans, I have to say this: Tha is awesome, and I wonder if you could get mistaken for him and be asked to repair a Transformation Cog.

[Incrxtc]

OMG! That is awesome. I love how you made the lights function. Great work.

[DeceptibotX]

All I have to say is "Ravage, eject! Operation: termination!" Great job! Transfromers Gen1 is one of my favorites!

[Team3313mechatronics]

Do you have demensions for this Helmet?

[Incrxtc]

It's roughly:
14 inches from the top of the crown to the bottom of the face mask.
12 inches wide from the cheek vents (the widest point) and
12.5 inches from front to the back of the helmet

The helmet that I used is a 3M Tekk Protection Hard Hat with Ratchet Suspension. I made sure to flip it the other way around to keep the bill of it in the back.

Hope that helps.

[dpolman]

Absolutley incredible. Best I've seen on this site so far

[sixsixzero]

Heres the link for my Voltron "able"!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Voltron-Costume/

[Incrxtc]

That is sick! It came out so good. Can't wait to read through yours.