When I think of watching The Dark Crystal as a kid, mostly I remember being scared of the Skeksis. Turns out I’m still spooked by them as an adult. Instructables user xaerael is okay with the creatures though and spent several months putting together an animatronic Skesis costume with foam, aluminum tubing, tent poles, duct tape, and more. Building a frame was a crucial part of the costume:
To attach the framework to your body, a good sturdy backpack does the trick. Don’t be tempted by a cheap option, as the final weight of the costume is likely to split stitches and cause a cheap backpack to disintegrate. The back pack MUST have a belt strap to it.
You will also need to make some small pockets for the rods to sit in. I used regular webbing for this, and hand stitched it into a pouch with a belt loop. Make two of these and slip them onto the backpack’s belt. the frame’s rods them slip into these and everything should be supported happily
For the upper solid part, simply make a structure from firm foam. I found some plastic backed foam at my supplier which was perfect for the job. Make sure you glue this solidly with something like impact adhesive (you really don’t want this to give in on you mid-wear), then add a front to the whole structure, also in foam. Finally, add a nice chunky foam “peg” that will sit in the backpack, and keep the upper structure in place.
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