This weekend, my brother and I spent hours upon hours working on costumes. The most difficult aspects of our costumes were the main focus, and they took the longest as we were coming up with how to build stuff from off the top of our heads. I mean, when your budget on any given day is mebbe $20... how the hell are you gonna build helmets and alien hands?

With duck tape, newspaper, and alotta ingenuity, that's how! We are ILM on a Tattooine farmboy budget!

The hands presented the biggest challenge as while we've built gloves before, we haven't built gloves like this. So, off to the store we go to get whatever cheap materials we're gonna need; suction-cup wall-hanger-thingies, rolls and rolls of duck tape, and window tint. Back at home, we put on some music, get whatever other materials we have lying around, and set to work.

The start of a glove.

Using a rolled-up piece of newspaper, a suction-cup, and alotta tape, we fashioned out that. Three hours later, a glove was completed. It still needs painted (I just bought the paint tonight), but you get the idea. We took a break after that and worked on another costume, but earlier today, the other glove was made. Both gloves, still need painted.

Between the work we did on the gloves, my brother and I also built a helmet. His helmet required a large visor, and considering our budget and availability of materials, we hadta get really creative. That's where the window tint we bought comes into play. On the inside of the helmet, I attached a mesh screen as sorta a framework for the tint. Then, I cut the tint into roughly the shape of the visor and attached it to the front.
BEHOLD!

Yes, you're able to see outta that visor, quite well, actually. The entire helmet is made of nothing but newspaper and duck tape over an old cape hood we had lying around. I took several pics of the helmet's creation, which I'll get around to uploading a lil later on.

I got some work done on the mask... sorta. Well, the hood's made at least. I still need to add the paint detailing, but I'm gonna get some references and draw up a more-realistic skin-mottling pattern. But for now...

Side-view of hood and mask, showing piercings.
Another view, 'cept I stuck my glasses on the mask.

There's still work that needs done, but we're making progress! Tomorrow, I'm gonna put the first coat of paint on the gloves, attach some velcro and elastic to 'em to hold 'em shut (the cuffs hadta be cut on either side so I could get my hands in and outta the gloves), and put together the wardrobe itself.

I'm also gonna be drawing two, count 'em, TWO new HAN-ting strips this week. They prolly won't be posted til mebbe Tuesday, as Monday is packed with work at the moment, but I will have two new strips posted!

'Til then... I'd better hook up my tablet.