how to make a toddler into a power droid

The serious star wars fan must always struggle with many hardships; from enenlightened acquaintances mocking our love of lucas's compelling myth to being forced to call in sick for movie premiers by cruel career institutions. But probably the most irksome of theis inconveniences is the near impossibility to produce Star Wars themed costumes to otur high standards. This is the first of many columns that will help you to produce quality costumes at an affordable price. I find that you can easily transform most household objects into costumes; this week we're using toddlers and cardboard to create a power droid. First you need a toddler( we found ours outside rubbing mud in his hair. If a toddler is not available midgets, well trained monkeys or elaborate bipedal robots will do in a pinch. As for less tempermental supplies you will need: 2 banana boxes(or rubbermaid storage units), 2 1 foot long lengths of dryer exhaust tubing (the same kind that has been serving the sci-fi communities' needs for decades, a few short bungee cords, velcro, spray paint, and an old sink drain. First spray paint the boxes, dryer hose & tissue boxes with the rock finish spray paint. Remember we don't want this to look like it stepped out of a showroom, we're going for a 5 years wandering the Jungland wastes kind of look; this will both hide and explain any shoddy workmanship. Once the boxes are painted you will take the box that will become the posterior portion of the droid and cut two holes for the legs, making sure that they are the same circumpherance of thte dryer hoses. Not surprisingly the next step is to glue the hoses into place essentially creating boxy robot "pants". After you have created your robot pants, make 4 small holes on the outer edge of the box to affix the bungee cords t, creating suspenders for your robot pants. Now that your robot pants are finished it's time to attend to the anterior portion of our power droid. Cut a circle in the front of the box large enough to countersink the sink drain into so that it will look like a power coupling. Then attatch velcro to both the top of the robot pants and the underside of the top portion. We do this so that the weight of the robot pants and top are supported by the toddler's monkey's, midget's robot's shoulders leaving them free to move (their legs at least). Take the tissue boxes (did i mention those, oh yeah you need those too, my bad...) that are to be used for out plucky little droid's feet and glue them to the bottom of the dryer hoses. Without a doubt the most difficult portion of this project is persuading the aforementioned toddler to wear the costume, the rest is rather easy. I find that appropriate bribery is the key, candy for the toddler bourbon for the midget, etc. Place the wriggling toddler in the robot pants, affix suspenders put their feet into the tissue boxes, velcro the top of the droid & voila, one power droid!. training the occupant to say the word "gonk" with each step is the final realistic touch. Oh, and somewhere along the way figure out a way for the little fellow to see where the hell he's going so he isn't injured and you've got a simple but professional costume with minimal investment. dom

 

I'm curious as to how much we could sell our new powerdroid for. I take it it would be extra if you threw in the toddler or midget?(lol)

-Axe

 

Neatness Tip: Once you remove the toddler from the mud you proceed to wash said toddler.

 

I am impressed Dominick.

Most parents have trouble with keeping there "toddlers" shoes on.

 

Oh yes, another addendum!: Make sure the toddler or midget is wearing some other article(s) of clothing before putting on the box pants! I believe that if used creatively, one could even design a "Sponge Bob" costume based on this template!

-Axe

 

Question: What if the toddler has force powers?

-Axe

 

What adhesive is best? I think superglue is the best but kind of "type casts" the toddler for life!