Mad Max and War Boy Nux Father Son Costume

I live. I die. I live again!

For this Halloween, I became Mad Max as a blood bag for my 3-year-old war-boy son. We chained ourselves together, painted his face, created an Immortan Joe skull steering wheel, and sprayed our faces with silver spray paint. His nearly-translucent blonde hair helped complete the war boy costume without actually requiring shaving his head.

Since I'm a good parent, I'm running the experiment of feeding my children only the highest quality food, but letting them view the same media I like. (Results available in several years.) Mad Max Fury Road is their current favorite. 6-year-old big sister chose Furiosa (Instructable coming soon), and Nux was the 3-year-old's first choice. In our household, "To Valhalla!' is a common battle cry before they both jump on me.

Step 1: Overall Costume by Parts

The costume had several primary components. Some of the gear was recommended by Mad Max Costumes.

Chain, blood tube, and red dye
Mad Max gear: khaki waffle-knit thermal shirt, hiking boots, cargo pants, paracord survival bracelet, face guard mask (Fury in the Future Max Face Guard Mask from Trendy Halloween -- possibly out of stock now)
War boy face paint and black pants
foam torus, plastic skeleton, and black and silver spray paint
edible silver spray paint

I threaded the tubing through the plastic chain, filled it with water dyed red with food coloring, and sealed the ends with a bolt and epoxy. To attach the chain to my neck, I sewed on a black piece of webbing and a buckle. To attach to the other end my war boy's wrist, I sewed on a black strap from an old shoe.

I spray painted the foam torus black, the plastic skeleton silver, and hot glued them together into a steering wheel. (The epoxy I used for sealing the tubing didn't adhere well to the silver-sprayed parts.)

Step 2: Carry War Boy on Shoulders

My war boy was really taken by the image of Nux being carried by Max on his shoulders. For him, being carried became an integral part of the costume. Bonus - it keeps him out of trouble, and allows us to move fast.

Step 3: Witness Me!

Witness me spray silver paint all over my face!

I covered the war boy's eyes and nose and carefully sprayed his face. After getting his face painted, he thought this finishing touch was unremarkable, but spraying his mouth while he sat on my shoulders would have been nearly impossible. I decided to break character and spray my own face, which was the coup de grace that won us "scariest costume" at the Autodesk/Instructables Halloween party (tied with this Furiosa).