Instructables user Ashley J. Long got inspired by Aliens 2 and decided to make something for Halloween from the film that would also be suitable to wear at Comic-Con. Like she points out, the Alien Queen is perfect because she’s terrifying but also sort of elegant. She put her own spin on the costume and made the head and spine and paired them with a black sequined dress. The creative combination works incredibly well.

She started the project by making a pattern for the headpiece. She was able to find an artist online who had made a model of the Alien Queen’s head and turned it into a Pepakura pattern. She printed that onto 50-60 sheets of cardstock that she then spent two months cutting and gluing together. Here’s how she strengthened the paper head to make it more durable:

Once the Pepakura model was assembled, I glued several plastic drinking straws inside the head to act as vertical braces. This would ensure the head held its volume while being coated with a hardener, without adding the weight of a filler. I brushed on several thin layers of Bondo boat resin. It’s really magical stuff! It hardened the head model into a durable object; no more shifting around on the glued hinges. It also allowed me to keep the head hollow and lightweight for greater wearability.

…Once all the Bondo was dry, I used Free Form air clay from Smooth on to round out the dome of the head and some of the horns. I chose to keep the modern geometric look of the pepakura on the shield, but wanted the face to be smooth and organic. Adding water to the clay helped me get the look I wanted. Expect to spend some time sanding the resin and clay with a fine grain paper if you weren’t careful and smooth with your initial application.

Read more about making the Xenomorph head at Instructables.

via Make