How to Build a Big Hero 6: "Gogo Tomago" Costume

Gogo Tomago is the yellow speedster of the Big hero 6 team. She's spunky, likes to take charge, and is an overall B. A.

After watching the movie Big Hero 6, my friend suggested that we have costumes created for the recent Chicago comic and entertainment expo. How could i deny such a request! well, let's get started!

Materials

-EVA foam

-Hot glue

-super glue

-large washers (home depot)

-circular magnetics (home depot)

-thigh high boots

-yellow craft foam

-gesso

-plastidip

-acrylic paint

-cardboard

-comic cardboard

-split clips

-red shoe laces

- Bondo

-wig

-zentai suit

-elastic

- chalk

-sponge foam

-black, red, yellow fabric

-yellow shirt

-rope light optional

-black plastic clips

-metal nuts

Chest and Back

1) For the chest, take your tape measure and measure from the shoulder to the bottom of your rib cage. Now add on 1 more inch to the width. From there, cut out that measured rectangle out of the scratch paper.

2) fold it in half, draw in your template and then start cutting out the general shape from the folded paper (pic 1). When you unfold it, you should have the front piece (pic 2). (these are two different chest pieces, the technique is the same though)

3) do the same process for the back. (pic 3)

4) Cut these out from the EVA foam. However, get the back piece of paper cut it where the crease is, and mark where the crease is on the back foam piece. Save the paper pieces (pic 4)

5). From there, press the chest AND back foam pieces onto the person. The reason you added an extra inch to the width is so that you can make the fitting flush. Overlap the side flaps of the chest over the side flaps of the back piece. Mark off the excess foam and cut them off. (pic 5)

6). Glue your plastic buckles onto both sides and clip them in. (pic 6)

7). From there, cut the back piece in half where the crease is. The reason for this is that your back is not perfectly flat. It will look nicer if the armor is more contoured to your body.

8) Just as you overlapped the side pieces, overlap the two back pieces till they are nice and contoured to the shape of your body. Mark and cut them to the correct shape. Now glue them together.(pic 5)

9) now get more foam and put it into the shoulder sections. I just took some extra foam, placed it in the vacant gap where the shoulder strap would be, mark it, and then cut it. Glue in place once completed.

9) From there, grab your paper templates and draw in your extra details, such as extra plating, pectoral pieces, etc.. Basically anything that you want elevated.. You can use either craft foam or EVA foam, depending how thick you want it to be. (pic 5) (different build, same technique)

Shoulders, Biceps, Forearms

Shoulders

1) To make your shoulders, you want to cut out a giant tear drop shape from your scratch paper

2) use that template and cut it out of foam. save that paper template though (pic 1)

3) grab your heating gun and heat both sides of the shoulder.

4) while hot, press the teach drop shaped eva foam into a ceramic bowl to get a nice dome shape.

5. Cut out little circles and attach them to the front of the teardrop pieces.

6 Attach them onto the chest pieces with elastic strips

Biceps and Triceps

1) just like you are doing with all these pieces, start with a paper template. (pic 2)

2) The shape is a tube that has room for the armpit area.

3) attach these to the shoulder pieces with elastic

Forearms

1) Get your scratch paper and cut out a rectangle that will be the length of inseam of your elbow to your wrist.. the width would be enough that it can overlap.(pic 2)

2) wrap the paper around your forearm. Adjust as needed for the length. You want a good ranger of motion here.

3) Since the paper is around your forearm, you can cut it to fit your arm pretty snug. This is the exact thing you did with the sides of the chest and back. you want a nice clean seam.

4) Gogo has these little elbow pieces.. I layered 3 pieces of foam together, dremelled them at an angle, and then glued it to the ends of the forearm pieces (pic 3 and 4)

5) Glue in your buckles.

You should now have your shoulders, biceps, and forearms. (pic 5 and 6)

Hands and Fabric

Hands

for the hands, i honestly took some scrap pieces of foam and Frankensteined something together. I basically glued bits and pieces together and made areas for her fingers.. once i got it to how i liked it, i cut it off and created a "master" copy that was relatively one solid piece.

Fabric

We wanted the wrist, armpit, and elbow areas to be yellow too, so rather than trying to paint the zentai suit, we cut up an old yellow tshirt in such a way that it covered those specific areas.

Boots

1. get some thigh high boots

2. wrap your boots in foam. (pic 1). a more thorough explanation of how to foam boots is found in my damien wayne instructable here

3. use your template to cut out circles for your knees. Heat them with the heating gun and mold them in a bowl to give it that concave shape.

4. cut out a smaller red circle and glue it to the middle of the kneecap.

Disks

Forearms

A)

1. Grab your frisbees.

2. cut a little opening the shape of a "U" in it. (pic 1). Plug the space with some foam.

3. Cut out a big circle from cardboard to act as the back of the frisbee. cover with comic cardboard

B)

4. cut out a smaller circle from cardboard.

5. put your split clip through your magnet and then have a metal nut on the end of it. (3)

6. split the end (pic 4) through the middle of the circle cardboard piece

7. Glue that smaller magnet circle (B) onto the cardboard part of the frisbee (A). (pic 5)

8. take a strip of foam and put a border around the edge of the frisbee.

* If you want to make the "wheel" light up, then take a soldering iron and heat in a groove in the foam. You can get some disposable glow ropes (dollar store) and fit them into the groove. (Pic 6)

Legs

A)

1. Grab your frisbees.
2. cut a little opening the shape of a "U" in it. (pic 1). Plug the space with some foam.

3. Cut out a big circle from cardboard to act as the back of the frisbee. cover with comic cardboard

B)

4. cut out a smaller circle from cardboard.

5. Put these pieces together in this order: split pin-washer-cardboard circle-washer- nut- washer

6. From there, glue this circle (B) onto the frisbee piece (A) (pic 7)

7. Take your boot and mark where you want the washer to pierce. make a hole, and stick the end of the slip clip inside the boot itself

8. Find a flat piece of metal with a whole in it.. i just went to the hardware store and found something.. stick it on the end of the split clip and now open it up and glue it on, and cover it with foam for comfort. (pic 8)

9. So just for review the order from out to in is. Split clip-washer-circle B-washer- nut-washer- boot-washer-metal piece- foam

Magnets

Since the disks have magnets, them can attach to metal.

1. Take your giant metal washers cover them with fabric. (red for your two forearms, red for the top of the two disks, and 1 yellow for your back)

2)The reason you want to cover them with fabric is because paint typically chips off.. so fabric would allow the metal and magnet to still work together, without chirping away the color.

3 you can glue the fabric-covered washers in place, BUT i do suggest sewing them in instead. i believe this provides a sturdier support. you will do this on the back of the chest piece and also the forearms.

Zentai Suit

Padding

For the zentai suit, Gogo has a stomach piece, back piece, and two thigh pieces along with red trim..

1) grab some sponge foam and cut into shape from a paper template.

2) get some black fabric and cover each of the foam shapes

3) Hot glue the shapes into place on the suit.

Trim

- i marked where i wanted the trim to go with some chalk.. then i took some superglue and glued in some red shoelaces to act as trim.

Helmet

1. You want to take your eva foam to make the helmet. I find it easiest to use the crown method that i have done with cardboard.. you are making this out of foam though.. From here, you are using a sharpie and just eyeballing the general shape and counters of the helmet. its like creating a puzzle, but with foam pieces.. cut away things you don't want, and just keep adding where you do want. (pic 1 and 2)

2. Once you have the foam helmet, hot glue the foam helmet with cardboard. this is because you will have to bondo the helmets to give it a hard exterior. i wasn't sure that bondo would stick to foam well, so i went with a cardboard shell first. (pic 3)

3). once completed, start bondo-ing the cardboard helmet. just keep adding layers of bondo, sanding, and repeat until you are satisfied.(pic 4, 5,6)

4) once you have the base of the helmet, it should look like a motor cycle helmet. For Gogo, you need to add a fin down the middle. create stencil out of paper and use that to cut out a symmetrical fin. Glue it down the middle of your bondoed helmet. (pic 7 +8)

5. glue in your cardboard sides and bondo the fin.

7. Gesso and paint the helmet once done. don't forget about the red stripe down the middle.