Master Chief for Tweens on the UBER Cheap!

Intro: Master Chief for Tweens on the UBER Cheap!

My step son is a HUGE fan-atic of Halo (Xbox) and wanted to be Master Chief for Halloween, of course he told me this a mere 4 days before Halloween, and I knew very little to nothing about who this chief guy even was.  I started with google, found what seemed to be the main pics from the games pictorial cover and I was off and running.  I actually de-contructed the pics and decided to head out to the 'Armor" store....aka the local sports re-cycler. I pretty much found everything there in various sections of Hockey, Baseball, Soccer, and Skateboarding, 

The list for what I used:
2 Cans of "Evergreen Moss" paint- I used rustoleum only cause it was on sale for 1.00 each 
1 can Paint matte paint (any black paint will do) 
1 pair of hockey shoulder pads
1 pair hockey elbow pads
1 pair hockey knee pads
1 pair of soccer shin pads (left over from the last season) 
1 pair of small and cheapest i could find skate board elbow pads. 
1 Free and completly broken knock off "Nerf" style gun with various parts collected from an average 8 year old boys room. 
1 pair of padded paint ball gloves
1 heavy duty nylon military belt with holster ect attached (I purcahsed from a local surplus store for $3.00!) 
1 diaper bag insert (used as a pouch on the belt) 
4 flamless candles from any dollar store (tealight style) 
some various grit sandpaper,water paints,  glue stick, glue gun, and a well ventilated area

As you can see in the pictures, I started out with the sports equipment, I roughed up the coating on each piece so the spray paint would stick and stay,  Then each piece got a couple thin coats of the Moss green paint, a warning the fabric on the hockey gear not only sucks in the paint but takes forever to dry so I used a glue stick to make a surface for the paint to adhere to. I took advantage of the reflective stripes on the sports gear to not only keep dimesion but to help with a little saftey/visabitiy for Halloween night.  

I highlighted the backside of each piece with black paint to help it not look as much like hockey gear, 

I started wih a broken yellow Nerf Gun..I belive it was orginally called a "cannon?" I  basically undid every screw there was on the gun holding the pull back triggers ect together.  I flipped the action trigger upside down and hot glued it into place on the barrel of the gun. 4-5 good coats of black paint and I was done. I added a strap from an old purse/messenger bag  just so he could go hands free during trick or treating and still have all his props. 

I added the Halo symbol in various places according to the pictures of Xbox websites, as well as to the pads on the gloves. Tho in the pictures they turned out orange instead of blue. 

I took some flameless candles (battery operated) from the dollar store, took off the back cover and glued the battery in place. I did this so I could make them flat as possible and yet still work. I painted the bulb of each candle with watercolor paint in a blue/green shade. I added these to the Hockey shoulder pads to give an illuminated effect. (again saftey too) 

I also used the skateboard knee pads, for foot covers while he was in school for the day, cause they aren't allowed to were shoes in the classrooms. 

To complete the outfit we paired it all up with a simple plack pair of sweatpants, and a turtleneck. I spent that extra minute to cross-stitch the Halo symbol onto the collar of the turtle neck but wasnt nessecary. 

The whole thing cost me under $50.00 and took about 3 days with paint drying, as well I had a 5 week old newborn son to tend to.

My step son said it was comfortable, and very warm  which is good where we live. My step-Son was "stoked" and actually won some prizes at the local community center, and at school. 

Not so bad for a Step Mom that had never heard of Halo :) 



My step son added some dog tags, and we decorated up a pair of winter boots (moon boots)  for some final touchs.  We added a mask from a special edtion game set (not exactly sure when/where) but I have seen them online for about $10.00

Comments

[poofrabbit]

Congratulations on being a finalist in the Halloween contest!!! Can’t wait to see if you win! Good luck!

[matersgurl]

Thank you VERY much! :)

[Truehart]

Great costume! This is also a great lesson to your step son on how to repurpose and make things inexpensive and relatively easy. I surprised my wife with some of my creativity and handyness by making our steampunk costumes for Dragon Con this year (our first one). She really enjoyed them and I enjoyed making them.

[DoctorWhoIsHere]

#GetSteampunked

[Truehart]

BTW, I get my DIYness from my parents, especially my mom ;)

[0;)Angel]

Love it! Where do we get the helmet?

[macy74]

So cool!! Can you explain the glue stick for the fabric? What kind of glue?

[matersgurl]

Hello, I used glue sticks to tack down emblems and lil touchs as well as to dull the reflective pieces. Just regular school glue stick...I did use favric glue as well but to do an opposite effect...sprayed right onto the roughed up surfaces of the plastic helped to remove the stickers on hockey gear.

[macy74]

thanks! I'm looking for used hokey gear. My son LOVED your costume and is begging me to make him one. Thanks for posting!

[huayin]

Amazing! My little one wants to be Master Chief this year. So far, this is the best and easiest costume DIY instructions that I can find. By the way, how did you make the helmet?

[ilpug]

Oh, that's a good idea. Purists like myself might complain about it not looking movie accurate, but it's immediately recognizable as Chief, even if he isn't in true spartan armor. I've always thought of building a suit over a sports armor subsurface.

[Penolopy Bulnick]

Geez, you make it look so easy!