Fire Truck Costume

Our son is three and his favorite thing on Earth is fire trucks. In the last year we got to ride in a fire truck (fun) and also dealt with an emergency involving the fire department (not fun), so firefighters and fire trucks have made an impression on our family. For Halloween, I wanted to create a fire truck costume based on our neighborhood fire engine.

The build is a rectangular cardboard box with surface decorations and a simple LED light bar stuck onto it. The project is completely customizable to make in any size and can resemble most any vehicle. I included the measurements in these instructions but you may need to adjust yours based on the size of your box and the design of your truck.

Whatever your design, I strongly suggest keeping it as simple as possible. This project really only has a handful of simple elements (mostly rectangles) but there's no question that the finished project is a fire truck.

Materials:

Cardboard box 18" x 9 1/4" x 9 1/4"

Red spray paint

White contact paper (or construction paper or cardstock):

17 1/4" x 8"

10" x 4"

2 1/2" x 4"

White duct tape (for sides):

12" 1/2" x 3/4" (2)

8" x 3/4 (2)

3" x 3/4" (2)

Yellow (or white) duct tape (for back):

4 1/4" x 3/4" (4)

6" x 3/4" (4)

7" x 3/4" (2)

Black foamboard (for front):

4" x 3" (3)

9" x 2"

1" x 2"

Black foamboard (for sides):

9" x 2" (2)

3" x 2" (2)

3" x 1 1/2" (2)

3" x 1" (2)

3 3/4" circle (4)

2" circle (4)

Black foamboard (for back):

9" x 3/4"

T-shaped piece (see photo in step 6 for measurements)

Red construction paper or cardstock

Aluminum foil

Gold glitter letter stickers (optional)

Scotch tape

Red LED light bar (optional)

Small, round battery-powered lights (optional)

Small power pack/portable charger (optional)

Child's suspenders

Child's size fire helmet (optional)

Tools:

Hot glue gun or other glue

Computer with internet or picture of fire truck (optional)

Metal ruler (optional)

X-acto knife or box knife

Scissors

Cutting mat (optional)

Black permanent marker (optional)

Elmer's glue or something similar

I can't draw and I'm not really creative, so I knew I needed an example to model the costume.

Find some photos of the truck you want to build and save them to your computer. You can use the images in this instructable, or do a Google image searches of "fire truck", "fire truck front", "fire truck side" and "fire truck back". I was able to find some profile and 3/4 views of our county fire department trucks. I also found front and rear views of fire trucks from other departments for reference. The profile photo turned out to be the most useful.

Find a cardboard box in good condition that is slightly wider than the wearer's waist and roughly proportioned 2 x 1 x 1. I found a box that was 18 inches long, 9 1/4" inches tall and 9 1/4" inches wide. The length of the box is much shorter than the proportional length of a fire truck but it looked fine in the end and it probably ended up being easier for our son to balance than a longer box.

Using a computer, open the image of the horizontal view of your fire truck and use the zoom function to adjust the size of the profile (side) photo to where the truck image on your monitor is about half of the length of your box.

Use the image to sketch out the basic shapes in your design (mostly rectangles).

Use the measurements listed in the materials section, or if you are using a different sized box or truck design, hold up a ruler to the monitor and measure out the basic sections of the truck: Front/cabin section, middle gauge section, and rear/tool storage section. Measure the windows, wheels, stripe, and other basic components. Then double this number and used those dimensions to label the shapes in your sketch.

If all this measuring is too fiddly for you, just estimate the measurements by eye. I'm certain it will turn out great!

I used the front view to size the headlights, windshield and grill in the same way. None of these measurements need to be exact, just keep it simple and use your judgement on the proportions and level of detail you want. These measurements are a useful guide but feel free to change them when you cut out components to make sure everything fits and looks right.

Tape the bottom of the box (top of the truck) closed if needed. Cut off the open flaps of the box (You can see in the photos that I didn't do this until the next step). Paint the box with two coats of red spray paint.

After the paint dries, apply the white contact paper. Hold the 10" x 4" piece horizontally and place it on the front of the truck so the upper edge of the contact paper lines up with the top edge of the box. There should be a little extra contact paper on each side. Fold these flaps around the sides of the box. This will prevent gaps in the white contact paper along the front edges.

Place the 17 1/4" x 8" contact paper to cover the top and sides of the front white portion of the cabin.

If using white construction paper or cardstock, apply to the box with a thin coat of glue.

The truck this is based on has a horizontal zig-zag stripe that extends along the sides. For this step, place the pieces of tape lightly into place and cut as needed:

The 12 1/2" strip of white tape extends from the front edge of the side of the truck, 3/4" from the bottom of the box. The 8" strip of white tape extends from the back edge of the side of the truck, 2" from the bottom edge. Add the 3" strip of tape at about a 45 degree angle to create the zig-zag pattern. Use the 45 degree angle mark on the cutting pad to cut the corners on the zig-zag, or just estimate the corners and angle.

Repeat the white zig-zag on the other side.

Use the measurements in the materials section, your sketch, or just your best guess to size these shapes. I promise it will look great! Use the knife and metal ruler to cut the side windows and instrument panel. Use your knife to just barely nip off the corners of the windows, so they are slightly rounded.

For the 4 tires, trace circles using a cup or other round object that is about 3 3/4" in diameter. For the 4 wheels, trace something round that is about 2" in diameter. Cutting circles with a knife is difficult! Be patient and try to make several arching cuts around the perimeter of the circle until you get back to the starting point. Use your knife to shear off any pointy or uneven parts. It does not have to be perfect!

Wrap the wheels and instrument panels in aluminum foil and use scotch tape on the undersides to secure the foil.

Reference your sketch and photos but ultimately just place these where they look best and secure them with hot glue.

Use a knife to barely nip the corners off 2 of the 4" x 3" black foamboard rectangles to round them off slightly. These are the two windshield sections. Center these horizontally on the white section of the front of your truck. Wrap the remaining 4" x 3" piece of foamboard, the 9" x 2" piece and the 2" x 1" pieces in aluminum foil and place scotch tape on the undersides to secure.

The 9" x 2" piece will be the front bumper. Place this on the front of the truck with the bottom edge lined up with the bottom edge of the box and secure with hot glue.

The 4" x 3" piece will be the grille. If you want, use the ruler and black marker to add horizontal lines, dashed lines, or other design to detail the grill. Secure with hot glue.

The 2" x 1" pieces will be the headlights. Use white glue to secure a 3/4" rectangle of white paper and a 3/4" rectangle of red paper to the foil to add detail to each headlight. Then use hot glue to secure each headlight in position on the front of the truck, evenly spaced between the grille and the outside edges of the box.

For the light bar, I used an inexpensive LED light kit, designed to use under a car dashboard to emit red light from below. I found it at a store called 5 Below, where everything is $5 or less. It contained two bars of glowing red lights. The bars were a little too long to use side-by-side, so I staggered them on top at the front of the truck with hot glue. I cut a small hole to pass the power cord through, into the inside of the box. Just stay flexible and use whatever you can find or have on hand. If it's red and lights up, it will look amazing.

Most fire trucks have a yellow and red or white and red chevron pattern in the back. I didn't have yellow tape so I used white. Apply the strips of tape at about a 45% angle, or just estimate and space them out evenly. There will be a wide piece covering the center so the stripes don't have to line up perfectly at the center. Cut any tape that hangs over the side to line up with the vertical edge of the box.

Cut a piece of foamboard in the dimensions shown in the figure. Wrap the bottom half of the "T" with aluminum foil and secure with scotch tape. Use hot glue to secure this piece to the box.

The rear lights are actually from a LED shower curtain ring light set I found at 5 Below. However, when I glued them to the truck, they didn't light up. It's ok, they still looked great! Find something similar and secure with hot glue, or other glue since the heat may have been what caused mine to fail.

Apply gold letter stickers to sides of truck to customize your truck.

Balance the box on both hands from underneath the box to get an idea of the center of gravity. Designate where to cut the opening in the top with the idea that the box should be somewhat balanced when it is worn with attached suspenders. Make a rectangle of duct tape around the area you plan to cut. Add duct tape to the top inside edges and corners to reinforce the structure of the costume.

The lights I used are powered by a USB cord connected to a power source. Tape a small power pack to the back top interior, and run the cord to an opening in the front for the lights. If possible, position the power pack so it can be charged without removing the tape or power pack. Add tape to secure the cord and keep it out of the way when the costume is worn.

Cut a rectangle in the top that will be just wide enough for the wearer's body to fit through, roughly in the middle of the box. Reinforce with more duct tape if needed.

Clip the suspenders to the front and rear edges of the opening you just cut. You can see in the image that the suspenders I used had two clips in the front and one in the back.

It may be easier to get in this costume by placing it on the floor, stepping into it, and pulling it up to the wearer's waist, then pulling up the suspenders. We did this after realizing our kid's head and shoulders didn't fit through the opening. Cut a larger opening if it doesn't fit around the wearer's waist. Adjust the suspender length as needed. If the truck tilts upward or downward too much, adjust the suspender clip placement, or tape some pennies to the inside of one end to balance it out. Add a costume fire helmet if you want.

I included measurements in this Instructable, but they are completely optional. Just simplify your design as much as you can, down to the basic shapes and colors. This would work great for all kinds of trucks, including a mail truck, delivery truck, or dump truck. I think you and your crew will be impressed with the results!