Giant Joe Exotic

Each year, my Mom and I like to make a costume and this year with COVID we worked on the crazy Tiger King :) The head took about 3 weeks to construct and the body, hair, and other accessories took another week.

The costume is 7 1/2 feet tall with the head and 6-inch platform shoes.

This is my take on a Giant Joe Exotic "Tiger King"

Supplies

Wood Glue
Cardboard
Lots of free time :)
Acrylic Paint
Wigs

Step 1: Figuring Out the Head and Face

After looking at dozens of photos to model Joe after, we decided to make him look cheerful. We located a baseball helmet at a store and then tried to make dimensions for a head that was 3 to 4 times the size of a regular head.

A large photo of Joe was printed out and drawn to help create scale.

Step 2: Adding Facial Features

From here cardboard and wood glue were used to form the shape of the head around the baseball helmet. Afterward, began constructing the facial features starting with the nose. The cheeks were built up with plastic food containers. The eyes were molded around a curved surface to create a cartoonish shape of Joe's eyes. The eyes and forehead were composed of a paper mache mixture of paper towels and wood glue. The mouth area was cut open and added teeth that were created from poster board and attached to the lips.

The "crows feet" wrinkles were rolled up thin strips of cardboard.

Step 3: Painting

The entire face was then painted with acrylic paint and once dried, a glossy sealant was used to give the face a more shiny/realistic glow.

Step 4: Ears

The ears like the facial features were made out of cardboard wood glue. Then painted with acrylic. The earring were aluminum rings wrapped with electrical tape and tin foil for a more vibrant glow.

Step 5: Hat

The hat was formed from cardboard strips and covered in black felt fabric.

Step 6: Hair and Facial Hair

The hair was bought from a wig shop and cut and groomed to fit his signature look. Also, his eyebrows and facial hair was cut from a dark-colored wig and glued onto his face.

Step 7: Body and Tattoos

The body was constructed out of foam and created into a suit to add depth to his cartoonish figure and make more proportionate to his large head. His body is essentially a shirt that has painted on muscles, with a tiger tattoo transferred with a photo transfer technique. The bullet holes were hand-painted.