Dressing like a dragon doesn’t mean you have to commit to a full body scale suit. Instructables user whitneydkeen made a dragon from the waste up and designed it so that the dragon’s neck extended over her head. She spent about two months working on the costume, and the finished dragon weighs 25 pounds. She used paper mache throughout the build, but the costume started with a PVC base.
I started by cutting two lengths of pvc pipe that would be the part of the support that’s tied to the backpack, about 2.5 feet each. Connect a 90° elbow to each piece. Wait to glue the connections until everything is assembled. Measure how far apart the supports need to be and cut two more small pieces of pipe, connect them with the T pipe connection in the middle, and attach the 90° elbows on either side. This is the shoulders.
To make the neck, cut a length of pipe to come out of the top of the T pipe. connect a soft curve elbow, another length of pipe, elbow curve, pipe, elbow curve.
when everything is proportioned the way you want it, glue the pipes together. Allow the glue to dry and attach the pipe structure to the backpack with plenty of duct tape.
She used newspaper and masking tape to make the dragon’s head. The eyes were made from glowing balls she found in the pool section of the store, but like she says, you could always use ping pong balls and LEDs.
With the newspaper and masking tape, build a head. I wadded a lump of newspaper, stuck the eyes on either side and literally built the skull around them. Dont be shy with the masking tape, either. And don’t worry too much about horns or details like lips, as those can be added later. You just need a solid base for now.
I made some teeth out of Fimo, baked them and hot glued those in the mouth.
For the tongue: I clipped a wire hanger into two sections, wrapped each section with masking tape. Make one end slightly thicker than the other. Put the two pieces side by side and start taping them together, making sure to push the tape in the crease between the wires. Stop a few inches from the end and flare the two wires away from each other for a nice forked tongue. Then just shove the whole thing into the back of the throat.
Get more information about the costume at Instructables.
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