Introduction: Krite Creature Costume From Critters Movie 1986

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About: Artist, Designer, Cosplayer, Musician. I make Costumes, Music, Art. Feel free to message me with any question about my projects. I hope you love my instructables projects, and have a lot of fun making them. Vi…

For this Halloween 2024 I decided to create a costume based on characters from popular and retro culture, as I had already made a giant Chucky, I decided this year to finish a project that I had on the shelves since 2022 and this was a giant Critter.

I have always been fascinated by the creatures and wonders that Hollywood can offer us and the classics are always my favorites, It takes me back to a time when practical effects were everything., and in this case I wanted to create a wearable version of these small and dangerous characters like the Critters.


Thanks to @Stuliography for these amazing Photos.

Supplies

For this project we will need basic craft supplies, such as:

  1. Scissors. 
  2. XActo or cutter. 
  3. Contact cement. 
  4. Adhesive tape.
  5. Sofa Rubber Foam Sheet
  6. High density EVA Foam sheets (6mm to 10mm)
  7. Black Fur fabric.
  8. Grey Fur fabric,.
  9. Heat gun.
  10. 6.3 Inch Christmas Fillable crystal clear Ball.
  11. Soldering Iron Kit
  12. Printed paper templates.
  13. RGB Rechargeable Puck Lights with Remote
  14. Grey and White paint (Optional)

last but not least, Patience.

Step 1: About the Critters

The Krites (also incorrectly spelled Crites), better known as the Critters, are a predatory hostile alien race and the titular main antagonists of the 1986 film Critters.

Krites are hordes of small aliens that resemble hedgehogs or porcupines, their bulky bodies are wrapped in a cloud of black fur, and their main goal is to cause mayhem by eating everything in their path to ensure the survival of their species.

– Photo courtesy: Critters Movie Poster and BTS shots

– Render courtesy: Darren Wallace @Darrenwallace3d

Step 2: Concept and Design

To start this great project, the first thing I did was stuff myself with tons of references found on the web, I looked for several images from various angles and several versions of the character.

From the information gathered I began to sculpt a 3D version of the character.

I made this model based on my height of 1.80m, although I must emphasize that when putting on the suit you have to bend down a little, so if you are 1.50m to 1.90m tall the suit will fit.

Step 3: Templates

From the 3D model, what I proceed to do is unfold it in the favorite program for papercraft artists, or at least mine: Pepakura. Then, I print the pieces for later assembly.

Step 4: Templates Download

Here you can find all the templates necessary to carry out this wonderful project, do not forget to follow me on my social networks.



Attachments

Step 5: Cut the Template

After printing, the next step is to cut the pieces one by one, always making small groups so as not to create a mess of disorganized pieces. What I recommend is to first cut out the parts and assemble them immediately. That is, if you are going to make the legs, first cut them out, transfer them to the material and assemble them before moving on to the hands, head, etc.

Step 6: Body Guide

Always check the animations of the guide steps, to guide you in the assembly of each part of the body, in this step you will find animated guides of the respective body parts. Apart from the animations, always take into account the indicative numbers on the sheets.

Step 7: Join Paper Patterns

After cutting the pieces from the paper pages, we must join them together to create a complete piece which we will transfer to our materials such as foam or EVA rubber.

use the tape to join the molds.

Step 8: Organize the Patterns

Arrange the molds before transferring them to the foam, this will achieve a better working environment and less mess during assembly.

In the templates you will find separating colors for each complete piece. If you wish, you can mark the assembly sequence with a letter or number, although with the animations and indicative numbers you will have no problem.

Step 9: Transfer

Now with the help of needles place the molds on your material, and with the help of a marker or chalk transfer the mold to the material

Step 10: Transfer All

Try to distribute your molds well over the material in order to not waste material.

Step 11: Cut

Cut the molds with a basic cutter or with a special sharp knife for foam,

and make sure to mark the pieces in front, so they don't get lost later.

In my case, I mark on the side that goes along the surface

Step 12: Organize Every Part

Before gluing, I recommend that you work piece by piece and visualize how it will turn out, so as not to make mistakes during the gluing process.

Step 13: Glue Parts

Apply contact adhesive to the edges of the material and allow to dry for no more than 10 minutes.

Step 14:

After that, glue the pieces respectively in the order shown in the animations.

and remember that each process must be done twice, right side and left side.

Step 15: Big Pieces

Although when joining the paper molds you can make large pieces, it is better to leave some with intermediate joints in the foam.

So make groups of part and counterpart before pasting to avoid making mistakes.

Step 16: Glue Big Pieces

Apply glue to the edges of all the created pieces and then join them together to form the final shape

Step 17: The Body Shape

If you can, reinforce the weakest parts with a piece of strong fabric. This will give it more internal stability and prevent tears in the foam.

Step 18: Foam Pieces

For the EVA foam pieces we will also use the needles to secure the mold, and the chalk or a marker that is darker or lighter than the material to mark its shape.

Step 19: Applying the Glue

We will cut the marked pieces and apply the respective contact cement.

Step 20: Joining

After drying, we will join the pieces to generate the respective shapes and give structure to our design.

Remember to make one part and then its counterpart so as not to get confused, and if you are going to transfer the two parts, mark them with a symbol or letter that serves as a contrast between the pieces.

Step 21: Hand Guide

Here we can see how the approximate assembly of the hand is. In the animations you will find a front and back view, and with the help of the photographs below you can carry out the respective assembly.

Step 22: Cut Templates

Cut the hand pieces, and remember that to make the other hand or some counterpart you will have to turn the molds upside down, so mark them with the letters of your preference, in my case I mark R1 or L1 to refer to each part

Step 23: Transfering to the Foam

Transfer the hand pieces to the EVA foam rubber of at least 6mm and cut each piece, then according to the animations calculate the edges if they should have a protruding bevel or an internal bevel

Step 24: Edges and Bevels

Use a cutter to mark the bevels of the edges and if you have a Dremel style tool, use it and roughen the edge better.

Step 25: Hand Assembly

Follow the guides and do the respective gluing/assembly of the hands.

(Here I must give a detail or error that I missed and only realized when I finished the assembly, and that is that the Krites/Critters only have 3 fingers or that is what it seems, but in my design I put 4 fingers on them, at first I was going to remove the middle finger or the little finger but it seemed to me that the 4 fingers gave it a more intimidating touch so I chose to keep them, but if you want to remove a finger you can do so freely)

Step 26: Marking the Hand

After making the two hands we will detail the texture, the Krites have wrinkled skin and our pieces are smooth so we will proceed to give it that wrinkled skin effect for which we will use the soldering iron

But first we will use a marker or chalk to mark where the waves that form the wrinkles of the hand will go.

Step 27: The Soldering Iron

Use the soldering iron to create the hand grooves, first we will let it heat up completely and applying light pressure on the material to create the organic grooves.

Step 28: Sculpting Hands

With the help of the foam clay we will create some bumps on the hands of the krite to give it volume and a more organic shape.

Step 29: Nails

Use the nail template where there are several nail sizes and select the one that best suits your tastes.

Cut the foam molds and on the inside make a 45 degree bevel on each part to create a perfect joint

Step 30: Manicure Time

Now install the nails in place, I worked a single nail mold of the same size for all fingers

Step 31: "Face" Guide

In this step you will find animated guides of the respective Face parts.

If that can be called a face XD.


check always the animations to guide you in the assembly of each part of the body.

Step 32: Furrow the Brow

This is an example of the brow which has several cuts that generate external and internal bevels for assembly. If you do not make these cuts you will never obtain the desired shape in the design.

Step 33: Joining the Face

Here in the eyes you can see the opposite example, the eyes do not have the natural shape detailed in the design, later we will see the correction

Step 34: Heat Gun

After assembling some of the EVA foam pieces, I recommend applying a little heat to shape some areas. If you do not have a heat gun, you can wait for a sunny day and leave it exposed to the sun. This will also help seal it for later painting.

Step 35: Fixing Eyes

I had already made the marking of the face when I noticed that the curves of the eyes were not correct, they did not generate the desired shape and which could be distinguished in the 3D model, so I took off piece by piece to correct it, here I show you so that you take it into account at the time of assembly.

Step 36: Fixed

As you can see the difference in the second image, the eye changed a lot, simply by adding internal and external bevels to some pieces.

Step 37: Inside the Mouth Guide

In this step you will find animated guides of the respective inside of the mouth parts.

Step 38: Inside the Mouth

The inner part of the mouth works as a simulation of a mouth that leads to a throat, where we will place the teeth later.

Step 39: Sculpting the Face I

To begin sculpting the details of the face, work the same way as with the krite hands, with a chalk we will mark the curves and veins that will go on the surface to use them as a guide.

Step 40: Sculpting the Face II

First we will mark the grooves of the skin with the soldering iron just like with the krite hands, and then we will give it relief with the moldable foam

Step 41: Sculpting the Face III

Now use the foam clay to make the small bumps that give volume to the face, follow the references you find on the web.

Step 42: Face Sculpture

Let it dry for 24 hours so that the foam clay settles better on the EVA foam and then you will get something similar to the image, remember that each krite is different, use your creativity to make yours something unique, how about horns or an eye patch, maybe one with a more furrowed brow, or bigger eyes, the limit is in your mind

Step 43: Krite Feet Guide

Step 44: Krite Feet

Same as in the previous processes cut, cut! and paste

but don't forget the internal and external bevels

Step 45: Complete Feet

Put all the pieces together, don't forget the guiding animation, and if you pay attention and follow the order you will get one of the feet, so why not make the other?

Step 46: Simulation Test

Now make a simulation to coordinate the size of the eyes and teeth

Step 47: Eye Print

For the eyes, print the eye template and join the edges with tape, creating the spherical shape.

Step 48: Reinforcing the Eye

To give the eyes shine, we will cut the transparent ball according to the size of the eye and we will reinforce the eyes printed on paper with hot silicone on the inside, so that in case there is heat inside the costume (and there will be) they do not come off and fall apart.

Step 49: Ball - Install

Before installing the glass piece of the eye in its place, we will take measurements and with the help of the tape, mark the part where the pupil is supposed to come from to have a better location of the impressions internally.

Step 50: Glass Bonding

Use contact cement and some packing material to hold the glass piece stuck to the face so it will be harder to separate.

Step 51: Gluing the Iris

Now with the eye guide that we placed with tape previously, center the print so that it is fixed facing forward, glue the cardboard with hot silicone for better grip

Step 52: Light It Up

I bought some RGB Rechargeable Puck Lights with Remote online that change color and are super practical for situations like this one, so I installed them by gluing them with silicone inside the domes formed.

The best thing is that they turn on with the control or by pressing hard on the surface so they can be manipulated from the inside.

Step 53: Teeth

Now I have created 3 molds of different sizes to fill the jaw with teeth, you can use white foam clay or Cold porcelain, or Moldable Plastic Thermoplastic Beads as it gives more realism to the teeth, in my country I could not get it, but as soon as I can I will update the teeth.

First I created some teeth on cardboard and placed them in their respective places to have an idea of ​​their exact distribution.

Step 54: Theet Molds

For drying, I recommend leaving them on an ultra-smooth surface and, depending on your taste, make the teeth larger or smaller.

Step 55: Updating the Teeth

As I told you, I first made some temporary cardboard teeth so I could distribute them on the gums, now it's time to update them with the final teeth.

Step 56: The Fur

In order not to spend too much money on glue, we adhere our fur fabrics with small velcro dots to the foam and/or face material.

Try to only add glue in the areas where it is strictly necessary.

Step 57: Fur Example

Here you can see how one part of the velcro is stuck to the foam and the other part to the fabric, then we adhere the velcro and seal it.

Step 58: Grey Fur

Do the same with the front, remember that we will use two shades of fur to fit the original design of the characters, which have a grayer belly.

Step 59: Paint

The time has come to paint our Krite, so I recommend you do it in a ventilated space, apply at least two layers of plasti dip to seal the eva foam, after that you can apply the paint and the colors you want.

Step 60: Drying

Between each layer, let it dry for at least 6 hours so that the plasti dip prints better on the piece.

Step 61: TEST

After gluing all the fabrics and painting all the pieces, it is time to have a preview of what our final costume will be. In addition to being a costume, it can also serve as decoration if you want. You only need a mannequin or some hooks to hold it.

Or just put on the costume and stay completely still, until some gullible person passes by and you can scare him, no no, I'm just kidding.

Step 62: Bonus: Walking Test

This is the first test of the Krite walking.

Seeing him walk makes you feel tenderness and fear at the same time

Quite funny :)

Step 63: KRITE

After several months of work I can say that I feel very satisfied with the results, there are still things to polish and that I feel can be detailed more, but I feel happy with the result, and having been able to share it with fans of the krites and retro cultureis priceless.

I hope you enjoyed this creative process from start to finish. Leave your reactions in the comments.

And if you dare to make a creation like this, let me know.

Have a nice day creating.

Thanks for watch!