Replica Props Forum (RPF) user Vix and his wife teamed up to make a Samus Aran costume. They spent over a year making the armor from Metroid and started with inspiration from Jenni Kallberg’s Metroid suits. They liked the simple look. They used a morph suit for the undersuit and modified the helmet from a $50 motorcycle helmet. Modifications included removing the padding, taking the top vents off, shortening the visor, and adding PVC pipes. They were resourceful on several fronts and even used hamster balls for the spheres. Vix said:
We never really thought about how hard it is to A) obtain/make 10″ perfect spheres and B) do it cheaply. You can buy solid foam balls at JoAnns for $17 each but you would then have to coat in resin and fiberglass cloth, sand, bondo, sand, bondo, etc. to have the structural stability needed. One idea we cam across was to buy 10″ hamster balls off amazon for $12.
They ended up covering them with Worbla:
First we marked off on the hamster balls where we wanted to lay foam/Worbla and where we wanted to leave the “trenches.” We then cut out foam pieces that would go on the ball. This took forever because you naturally want to cut straight strips but you have to actually cut arches. Math. whatever. We then covered those foam pieces in Worbla and stuck them to the ball. You have to keep heating the Worbla and letting it cool to ensure it hols the shape right. Sometimes it will form bubbles or air pockets. Just price them with a needle or X-Acto knife and smooth them out. Easy.
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