Castle Crashers - Orange Knight

Every child has a year at halloween time that they just have to have that one costume, that of course isn't found in the store. This year was my 13 year old sons turn. He desperately wanted to be the orange knight from Castle Crashers for halloween, and this is my attempt to make that wish come true.

• Large pieces of cardboard (Mine was a box from a bed frame so I had two pieces about 48X48)
• 5 gallon bucket with lid for helmet mold
• Trex tape/Duck tape
• Packing Tape
• Hot Glue Gun
• Hot Glue Sticks
• White craft paint
• Orange craft paint
• Black craft paint
• Paint Brush
• Pencil
• Scissors
• X-acto knife
• Length of white fabric (I used a twin flat sheet)
• 1 white knee high stocking
• Belt
• Sewing Machine (optional)

Step 1

Creating the large helmet head was by far the hardest part of this task. Luckily enough we had recently ordered some bed frames on Amazon so I had a large box, about 48X48, that I could utilize for this project.

Start by cutting your cardboard box so that you have biggest square side to wrap around a bucket.

Use a 5 gallon bucket as your frame.

Place the bucket in the middle of your piece of large cardboard.

Then carefully wrap the cardboard around the bucket.

Trim any excess so that the two sides meet flush for the back of the helmet.

Carefully place some packing tape at the top and bottom of your newly created tube to hold it together.

Step 2

Now we create a secure and flush tube for our helmet. If you can get someone to be an extra set of hands that is a big help.

Start at the bottom of the tube where the base of the bucket is.

Place about a four inch strip of Trex tape on the seam to secure the two sides of cardboard together.

Next cut longer strips of tape to place along the seam.-I did about six inch segments.

Hold the next section of cardboard flush together and tape the seam together.

At this point push the bucket that is inside your tube up a few inches so that you will continue to have a solid base to help you as you tape your helmet together.

Continue this pattern until you have taped the whole length of the tube together.

After you have finished this step, tape the inside length of the tube together as well.

Step 3

Now you have a solid tube, but as this is a helmet it needs a top to it.

For this part you have two options. If you have the lid to the bucket trace it on your other large section of cardboard. If you do not have the lid gently remove your bucket from your tube and trace the opening of it.

Carefully cut the traced section out.

I thought about gluing this section to the top of the tube, but as it isn't a perfect circle I didn't like the fit.

So instead I placed the section inside the tube and gently pushed it up until it was flush with the top of the tube.

Now secure it in place with multiple pieces of tape. From the picture of the inside of the tube you can see I used about 9 strips of tape here.

Step 4

Painting the helmet! For a more challenging costume this would be quite daunting, but I was very thankful for the cartoon quality of this one. I figured it would be more forgiving and have less need to be precise.

Start by looking up a picture of the character and then tracing the t shape out on the face of the helmet.

Then decide on the shape of the eyes you want and trace them inside the t shape you have on the face of the helmet.

After placing the helmet back on the bucket as a stand, and placing that on top of something you don't mind dripping paint on, go for it.

I recommend painting the white first as the darker colors are harder to cover with the white.

So paint the white t first.

Next paint the eyes.

Last paint the main portion of the helmet.

Then let it dry overnight.

I only did one layer of paint.

Like I said I think the cartoon quality is very helpful and forgiving.

Step 5

I worked on the shield next.

I figured a large cookie sheet/baking sheet would be the perfect size for the base of the shield.

I took the cookie sheet and traced it on the same piece of cardboard that I had used for the top of the helmet.

Cut it out carefully and then paint it the same color as the base of the helmet, so in our case it is orange.

After it dries I added a line with a dark orange sharpie to give some dimension, this was done roughly an inch in from the sides.

Next measure around the child's arm to see how long of strips of cardboard you will need to cut and mount to the back to make it secure.

Cut two lengths of cardboard of this length to create "straps" on the back of the shield.

Step 6

In what could be considered roughly the center of the shield you are going to secure the two "straps".

Make sure you have your glue gun plugged in for this part.

First bend the pieces around their arm to get the right shape.

Next, once the glue gun is ready, glue the two pieces into place. You have to hurry on this part so you don't have pieces fall off.

Then I added another layer of security, as kids tend to take this piece of repeatedly, and glue isn't quite strong enough to hold up to this.

I tore off two strips of Trex tape and secured both "straps" to the back of the shield.

Step 7

You can go all out on the tunic, or keep it simple.

I got a white twin sheet and measured from shoulder to shoulder on my boy.

Then I measured across the sheet when it was folded in half and cut out the corresponding piece.

This will leave you with what looks like a white poncho like piece.

Next I cut a four inch slit in the top of the poncho to place over his head.

If you like the fit leave it, if not tweak the hold until it fits comfortably.

Then I looked at the length of the tunic. He wanted it to hit above his knees so I cut it here and added a v shape to the front to mimic the characters tunic.

You can use your sewing machine at this point if you want to or have one, or to make a more finished piece. Otherwise when you secure the tunic at the end with a belt it will be just fine.

With the sewing machine I hemmed the edges of the cut pieces.

Then I sewed together the sides so that I had 8 inch armholes left for him to put his arms through.

Step 8

First make sure you measure the child's chest so you place the insignia in the right spot.

Then make sure to place something underneath the top layer of the front of the tunic so that the paint doesn't bleed through onto the back.

I then free hand painted the small cross on the front of the tunic.

If you want you can use a ruler to trace out your cross shape.

Step 9

The belt is an important piece of this costume. It helps bring it all together.

Take some of the remaining white fabric from the twin sheet and cut a long length off. I grabbed a belt of my sons to measure how long of a piece I would need. I made sure that the piece was long enough and wide enough to completely cover the belt.

Placing the fabric on a piece of cardboard and paint it the same color as the cross on the tunic and the base of the helmet.

Let it dry overnight.

The next day plug in the glue gun.

Wrap the fabric around the belt so that you get the dimensions right. You want it wide enough that the belt can easily slide through and you can cover the belt buckle with the fabric.

Next fold over small segments of the fabric so that you can glue it together to create a tube over the belt.

Step 10

Carefully push the fabric back so that the buckle is exposed on the belt.

Then place the belt around your child's waist and practice buckling it into place so you can know ahead of time how much you need to push the fabric back to expose enough holes to make the belt comfortable and snug enough.

This also gives you a chance to reglue any sections of the belt that don't hold in place.

Don't forget to pull the fabric back over the belt buckle to give the illusion of a solid colored belt.

Step 11

Bringing it all together.

If you haven't noticed until now, the helmet is very oversized. Since we live in remote Alaska I can't just run to the store for any special thing. We have to plan it out.

Fortunately, we had looked through our supplies and knew we had cotton stuffing and a beach ball to help us secure the helmet.

We found as we played with it, that a mostly deflated beach ball added enough padding to make the helmet secure.

I had my son dress in a dark grey shirt and pants for his base layer for the chain mail look.

Then he put on the tunic and we secured the belt into place.

He wanted boots, so I had him wear his black Bogs winter boots.

Next came some black winter gloves, because he couldn't be a knight without gauntlets right?

Then he pulled on his shield.

Last was the helmet.

By having him place the mostly deflated beach ball on his head, and then me lowering the helmet into place, the beach ball helped secure the helmet where he felt comfortable and secure.

Step 12

The eyes.

Yes I know! You can't have a helmet that they can't see out of.

But I also knew that messing this part up ment starting over. So I saved it till last so that we would have 100% of the costume finished so we would know exactly how it fit and what we needed.

With the helmet on during the dress rehearsal we measured with a small ruler how far up we needed to go to place a hole where his eyes are.

This placed a 1 inch by 3 inch rectangle between the two painted on eyes on the helmet.

Carefully cut this square out. I used an X-acto knife for this bit.

Then cut a white knee high stocking in half.

Stretch it across the small rectangle so that you know how much you need to cover it.

Cut out a rectangle piece of the stocking to cover the hole from the inside.

You will also need four strips of Trex tape to secure the stocking.

If someone can help hold the stocking that will be a bonus, but otherwise secure the stocking from the inside with the tape.

I started by securing the right side, and then stretching the stocking across the hole.

Then secure the top and bottom of the stocking rectangle.

Next secure the left side of the stocking.

Check to see that it is opaque or sheer enough that your child can adequately see through it and not run into things.

Step 13

Have your child put the helmet on and confirm that the costume is a go.

Now you have the Orange Knight from Castle Crashers!

Happy Haunting!