How to Make a Big Hero 6: "Fredzilla" Costume

"Super Jump!!!" as Fred would say! For Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) 2015, my friends and i wanted to go as the entire Big Hero 6 team. I've never really made any type of mascot costume, but there is a first for everything. Let's get started shall we?

* This costume is quite warm due to the material used. Make sure you have water on hand, install some fans, and be in a ventilated area.

Materials

- Fuzzy Slippers

-EVA foam

-Mattress foam (i got mine for free from a mattress store).

-Coat hanger

-spray adhesive - Zipper

- cotton stuffing

- black straps/ parachord

-needle/ thread

-hot glue

-black see-through fabric

-clear plastic bowels

- camelpak

-handheld personal fans

- blue, black, sky blue, red, and yellow fleece

- Orange paint

Body and Appendages

Lay your mattress foam on the ground so you can cut out a template. For the body, begin by finding a bowl that is about the circumference of your shoulder. If it's a little bigger, that may be even better. it all just depends how big you want to make yourself. (pic 1)

1) Draw and cut out the two shoulders from the foam so that your arms can get into it.. Like putting on a jacket backwards. (pic 2)

2) You will then have to cut out a crotch piece and glue that in place. I took scraps of fabric and glued them on the inside of the foam at the seams to act like bandages.It makes it so that the hot glue isn't the only thing holding the foam together. (pic 3)

3) cut out leg and arm pieces from the foam. Glue them together so that the seam will be on the inner thigh/leg, and inner arm. (pic 4, 5, 6)

Tail

1 - Cut out a big isosceles triangle. It should be the length of the tail.(pic 7)

2. Unbend your metal coat hanger and glue it onto the triangle.

3. Glue the foam into a cone (pic 8 + 9).

4) test everything out. see if you have enough room and that things are at the right length,

Skin

1. Get your blue fleece and start sewing it onto all the body parts separately. Make sure to give yourself enough slack so that each piece and sew together well. (pic 1: not from this costume, but same premise). (pic 2 is of tail)

2. i started by sewing the legs and body together (pic, 3,4,5, 6)

3. i got a super long zipper from an old piece of luggage and used that for the zipper in the back of the suit. (pic 7)

4. From there, you should have the whole body made (pic 8)

Feet, Spikes, and Arm Fins

Feet

1. grab your fuzzy slippers and cover them with the blue fabric. I sewed them on, but i assume you could glue them on if you wanted to be lazy. I just don't know if you would get the cleanest of looks. (pic 1)

Spikes

1. You will be making a TON of spikes... Fred has them for his hands, feet, tail and also on his back.. This is when a sewing machine comes in handy

2. draw out your triangle on a piece of paper. Use that as a template and start cutting out all your spikes from the fabric. That way, all the spikes are relatively uniform. (pic 2)

3. once you have all of them, stuff them with your cotton filling. (pic 3)

4. Sew (or glue) them onto the designated areas. (pic 4)

Arm fins

1. draw out your stencil on a piece of paper (pic 5)

2. use the stencil to cut out 4 pieces from the red fleece

3. sew 2 together and then stuff with cotton filling.

4. sew onto your arms. (pic 6)

Eyeballs, Mouth, Spots, and Paint

Eyeballs

1. take your clear bowls and cut the down to size. I used a dinner plate to help out with sizing

2. take your yellow fabric and glue over the bowl

3. take your black fabric and glue over the yellow to create the eye

4. remember to use "see through" black fabric fro the bowl that will be going on your face.

5. Glue the pieces in place.

Mouth

1. I basically made an "O" out of EVA foam using two plates as templates.

2. Cover it with your sky blue fabric

3. i took more eva foam, painted them white, and used them as the teeth.

4. take black fabric and put it behind the "O" and glue mouth in place.

Spots

1. The Fredzilla suit and miscellaneous spots on it. some are "O's" and some are just circles. I used cups to help me cut out various sizes.

2. glue in place. Use a picture of fred as reference

Paint

1. I used an airbrush to match the sky blue of the mouth. Fred has the blue on his arms and feet/ legs.

2. I used acrylic orange paint to paint around the the eyes and the groin part.

Head

1. Fold a big piece of paper in half and draw out one side of your head on a piece of paper. Make sure to make it wide because you will e wrapping it around your shoulders/ head..

2. cut out the stencil and unfold your paper. You will have 2 symmetrical sides now. (pic 1)

3. cut out the pieces from your EVA foam. I didn't have large enough pieces so i had to make it out of 4 separate pieces. (pic 2)

4. I had a spare cement tube laying around so i used that to help me give me an idea of how much space i needed on the inside. (pic 3)

5. start glueing the seams together to make the helmet. It is going to start looking like the maleficent head from snow white. (pic 4 and 5)

6. once the seams are closed, use your bowl that you used as a measure for the eye balls and cut out the circle from the center of the EVA helmet. (pic 6)

7. cover the EVA helmet with your blue Fleece.

8. make a ring of EVA foam that is larger than the eyeball you will install in. Cover it with your sky blue fleece and glue it onto the eyeball.

7. glue the eyeball into the face (pic 7).

9. Similarly to how i made the tail, i made long large cones that are on either side of Fred's head. Cover with blue fleece and glue them in.

10. Grab some black fleece and cover more EVA foam for some eyebrows along the bottom of the helmet

11. take your orange acrylic paint and paint the top of your head.

Optional

1. I used some cheap summer fans and glued them into the hollow "ears" of the head. (pic 8)

2. if you do use this route, it will be hard to hear.. but i think being comfortable is a bit more important.

3. if you have room, you may wish to invest in some type of camel pack to help cool you down.

Finished!

That should be it with Fred. Its a pretty fun costume to jump around in and its pretty warm if you plan on using it outside. I personally am a fan of singing the song and walking around like Fred did in the tunnel.. "Six intrepid friends, led by Fred, their leader, FREEEED.." LOL

Now "Back into the fire!" With you!!

Find me on Facebook, instagram, and tumblr for more current projects and as always, thank you for the support!

Links to Additional Costumes featured