Ultimate WW2 Captain America Costume

Since seeing some of my old Captain America comics, my 4-year-old has been pretending his frisbee was a shield as he valiantly battles the forces of evil.

With Halloween approaching, I decided to make him a WW2 Captain America costume similar to the one in Marvel's "Ultimates" timeline.

As you can see, it worked out well. Now we have our own little super soldier watching over our neighborhood.

Step 1: Materials

Most of the materials came from thrift store purchases. A pair of duffle bags and a dress provided all the buttons, straps, velcro, buckels, snaps, and lining I needed.

I still had to buy new items like: the shield (Amazon), a pair of red gloves (welovecolors.com), a toy army helmet, red and navy dye, blue and white spray paint (Walmart), a can of spray foam insulation, a tube of gorilla glue, and a can of red plast-dip (Home Depot).

Comments

[flapper501]

What I was thinking of doing, since we have to do a mask for school, I was thinking that I could do the tape thing, and then paper mache on that (the mask has to use paper mache) What do you think?

[mrcrumley]

Yeah, I think that would work fine. If you want the tape to be part of the mask you'll probably need to use tape made of fabric tape - like athletic tape. Otherwise, the tape will peel off the inside of the mask - but that might be OK, actually.

[Zeeeena]

I'm absolutely amazed!!! EXCELLENT job!! Stuff we make is always better than that cheap crap you buy in the store!! My kids (all over 20) always say, wow mom, that looks like you bought it!! Trying to complement me.. I go DON'T INSULT ME! LOL

[SGT. Desert]

Sweet .I am a marvel comic fan and i can say this turned out pretty good . PS: i have seen a captain america costume and it was 59.99 usd ???

[dcreamer]

That's an amazing suit, I especially love what you've done with the shield.

[mrcrumley]

Yes, that was the most rewarding part. Two years later, it's held up pretty well. the straps allow either arm or back carrying, and the plasti-dip seal on the edges hasn't peeled.

We recently bought one of the new frisbee shields put out for the CA movie and mine compares nicely. The new one is made from much better plastic, but is even smaller than the older one. Although it is a nice product, it's just not a cool as my modified shield.

[bcurtis1]

wow awesome i made my own helmet using your instructions and it turned out amazing

[mrcrumley]

Cool. Glad to hear other folks are getting use out of this Instructable.

[aazana]

Hi, just a quick question. I know it's been a while since you made this, but how did you make the belt? I'm making a Cap costume for my cousin, and I'm a bit stuck on the belt, but your's looks absolutely fantastic. I really hope I didn't just miss it in the steps.=P

[mrcrumley]

Take a look at step 5. I have some pretty good images of the belt pouches. Each pouch is made from 3 pieces of fabric - 1 long "tongue" and 2 side panels. All three pieces have one squared end and the one rounded end. After cutting the pieces, I sewed the webbing loops and the velcro closures on the long "tongue." I also sewed on the decorative leather flaps that I salvaged from the various zipper pulls from the duffle bags. Then I sewed the side pieces onto the tongue to make the pocket shape.

[aazana]

Ah, thank you! I knew I had skimmed through it too fast.XP

[ragashnaga45]

if you still have the template or can make some can you post them on the web?

[mrcrumley]

Gosh, I'm sorry. I'm afraid I don't. But if you do the whole "tape-on-the-head-thing", I think you'll get an understanding of how the mask's put together - which will make sewing one easier.

[asirio1]

yeh it worked for mine

[asirio1]

great job

[radioactivespider1]

As early as now, I already know what I'll be wearing for our annual costumer party comes December. *flashes evil grin, rubs chin and bursts into hysterical laughter*

What I'm saying here is thank you, mrcrumley! :)

[elga]

gracias me gusta mucho este traja

[Sithen]

That's just about the coolest thing ever..

[mrcrumley]

Thank you, citizen!

[baneat]

I think a large frisbee would work great for the shield, to play with as the trademark throw as well (Maybe foam the rim O.o)

[hxh103]

ummm...that is a bad azzz costume, great job

[mrcrumley]

Thank you.

[Willowby]

Just a thought but since you covered the backside you could have possibly just glued in blue foam camping pad instead of all the extra effort with the spray foam.

[mrcrumley]

Yeah, but I really needed something to stiffen the shield. Gluing foam padding would have put all my faith in the adhesive's strength to do this. My method utilized adhesion, and interlocking friction as the foam's shape exactly matches the shield's.

[D00M99]

Whoa. Where did the tank come from?

[mrcrumley]

We have a National Guard armory in our town, so we drove over there and asked if we could take some shots. They were really cool about it. It's actually a howitzer, but our local unit did use it in the first Gulf War.

[D00M99]

Awesome. :)

[bustedit]

lucky kid! great costume, and those photo shoot pics are awesome

[mrcrumley]

Thank you bustedit. I like your photo as well. I was sorry to see your injury on Dancing with the Stars, but hopefully you'll have a speedy recovery.

[mrcrumley]

BTW, at the time of the above posting, bustedit had a profile picture of Misty May with the Gold Medal over her eye (like a pirate). Thus, my semi-weird comment above.

[FreedomFighter617]

I might just have to try and make an adult version of this costume for myself for next Hallowe'en. Excellent job and keep up the good work.

[mrcrumley]

Good idea. With the Cap movie slated for 2010, you'll still be ahead of the curve.

[mrcrumley]

Sorry, 2011.

[Wingmaster700]

this is boss

straight up

i would totally do this for this year if i had time or money and especially your skill, this is an awesome instructable

being a father must be extremely rewarding, i mean your son is riding a tank wearing your costume

AWWESOME

[mrcrumley]

Thanks. Yes, he's six now and has two trucks full of costume stuff that I've either made for him or passed down from stuff I made for myself when I was younger.

[xstarsprinklesx]

Hi! I just wanted to let you know I featured this in my weekly column on Fandomania:

fandomania.com/fandomestic-5-adorably-geeky-kids-costumes/

[Ward_Nox]

i though caps WW2 shield was shaped diffrently

[mrcrumley]

Yes. Read step 6.

[Ward_Nox]

ahh fair enough (actually in the ultimate avngers manimated movie caps WW2 uniform was olive drab where your sons is Blue so NBD even marvel can't keep the details right)

[mrcrumley]

Hmm. maybe the color-shifting is due to folks' recollections changing over time. Do I win a No-Prize for this?