Destiny - the Speaker Armor

This instructable is for The Speaker's armor. For the mask and hood, please go to my other Destiny costume instructable:

https://www.instructables.com/id/Destiny-The-Speake...

If you start at the beginning with the mask, I encourage you to work on the armor during the many hours of waiting for clay or glue to dry. I think that will make the process much faster than the way I did it.

Author note: I spent so much time on the mask that I really had to rush to get the rest of The Speaker costume done for Halloween. I wasn't even going to attempt another instructable, but what if someone needs to know how to make the armor! So, my apologies for not taking my usual tons of photos, but there should be enough to see what I've done and make your own Speaker costume. If you have questions, please ask!

And a word of warning: Making the whole costume really has to be a labour of love.

The Speaker is shades of white. Here's what I bought to make a costume base:

1.5 yards of white fabric (should be stretchy enough to move around in)

.5 yard of grey fabric

long sleeve white tee shirt

black gloves (mine had white logos I filled in with marker)

oversized white shorts (to wear underneath, so if you have something else that works, go for it)

white air dry clay (I tried both polymer clay and paper clay. The polymer dried harder, but was harder to work with. It was also cheaper than the paper clay, but all together I liked the paper clay better. Your choice.)

liquid nails adhesive

silver spray paint

small paint brush

white & black acrylic paint

sewing machine (optional, but super helpful)

scissors

tape

pillow stuffing

I used the air dry clay from the mask project to make the hard details on the front of the armor. I just molded them by hand. I cut up bamboo skewers to make the projections. A drop of glue keeps them secure. I painted everything silver when the clay was dry.

I made the shoulder pads by sewing grey fabric into little stuffed "pillows". They are about 6" x 10". The stitching becomes the detail. I added extra stuffing in the middles to look more like the Speaker's armor.

Using the white shirt as a base for painting worked really well. I used a large white long sleeved tee shirt and painted on it with both spray paint and acrylics. I only needed black, silver and white.

First, I masked off the areas for painting with tape. Then carefully sprayed patterns with silver paint using Destiny photos for reference. When the silver dried, I added details in dark grey and white acrylic paint. In some areas I was able just to hold a cardboard mask (shape cut to be the negative of what you're spraying) and and spray. That's how I got the criss cross pattern. However, I had a fantasy of masking the whole diamond pattern on the shirt in thin tape. If you have time for this I think it will look awesome. Just go light on the spraying.

Then I cut out the center section of the tee bottom to make faux jacket panels. Hem the raw edges. If the sleeves are long enough, cut the cuffs off and hem these too.

Touch up the paint. When you are happy with the jacket, leave it until you're ready to attach the extras.

The jacket gets worn over the robe.

I kept trying the costume on my son to get the positioning of all the details right. I marked them up with a light marker, pins or tape. I used tape to mark up the sash in the next step, so I could figure out the positioning.

There's still a way to go at this point, but you can see the Speaker clearly now.

For the base of the costume I made a toga-like robe. It's basically just a few yards of white fabric (it has to come at least to your ankles) folded in half and sewn up the long sides. The bottom is left open and the head and arm holes are simply cut out with scissors. The top won't show, so I didn't bother finishing the edges. Make the neck hole just large enough to put your head through so it won't slide off your shoulders.

When the robe is sewn, mask off a middle sash detail as shown. The point at the bottom is about 10" from the bottom fabric edge. The top of the sash disappears under the jacket. I taped some newspaper down in the pointy shape and spray painted the edges to get the look of layered fabric.

Note: I bought white shorts to wear under the costume.

The jacket gets the shoulder pads and the little armor pieces. They really finish The Speaker look of the jacket.

To attach the shoulder pads, put on the shirt and figure out the placement. They should be very close to the collar. Pin them in place until you sew. Carefully remove the shirt and hand sew each of the four points (two on each pad) to the shirt. Hand tack the collar edge in place and go over with a sewing machine for about 2". Don't sew the side that faces out. This will give you a nice square military look.

When the shoulder pads are on, lay the shirt flat and see where the clay details look right. Glue in place and secure with tape until the glue dries.

Time to get your finished mask and try it all together. I needed to make some further padding adjustments so I used old helmut pads to make adjustment blocks.

Suit up.

White shorts. Robe. Jacket. Under hood. Outer hood and mask. Black gloves.

I had a great time making this costume. Please show me if you make one and tell me what you did differently. Thanks!