Millennium Godzilla Halloween Costume
Go! Go! Godzilla
Hot on the cardboard heels of 2022's Mechagodzilla Costume we decided to go to crazy-town and build a foam-constructed full-body Godzilla suit.
The specific version we chose to pattern our costume after (since my son is an aficionado and has strong preferences) was the "MireGoji" suit from Godzilla 2000: Millennium:
The journey to complete a costume of this guy was the most involved family project we've ever undertaken.
#zillagoals
Our first step was to set some goals for the project. We set our goals based on things we learned from the previous year's Mechagodzilla costume. We also set some goals based on features we wanted to include that we didn't get around to previously.
Flexibility
We wanted the suit to provide more freedom of movement than you would expect from a Godzilla costume. Particularly we wanted the hands to be articulated since the main event involves holding a candy bucket. This meant sticking to flexible materials like foam and fabric.
Durability
A cardboard costume is, almost by definition, a temporary thing. After a couple of outings, the Mechagodzilla suit was falling apart in some key areas. We wanted this costume to hold up better. This required researching and testing a variety of techniques for strengthening the parts and building fasteners that could withstand repeated use.
Dynamic lights, sounds, and effects
Our previous costumes have all incorporated custom lighting. For this costume we wanted to step it up with sound and smoke effects. This meant researching new components and solving some power challenges.
Research and planning
With our goals in mind we looked for all kinds of prior art for making full body foam costumes and props. Some key resources we found at this stage were:
Godzilla foam body pattern on Etsy
A partial breakdown of the godzilla body shape based on a scale figure.
Most foam cosplay guides deal with EVA foam. However, this costume was built primarily out of upholstery and craft foam. We used this the technique in this video for attaching all of the velcro that holds the costume together.
Prevent sticking when sewing velcro
We were running into bad sticking issues when we were neck-deep in velcro attachment. This random video suggested using hand sanitizer to prevent sticking when sewing adhesive-backed velcro to fabric. It absolutely works. This was a lifesaver.
This excellent guide provided testing of a variety of paints and materials on foam to determine which ones provided the best flexibility and durability. Based on this guide, we elected to use brush-on acrylic paint over a PlastiDip surface on top of the foam.
I also found a great model of Millennium Godzilla which I used to visualize sizing. I also was able to pull specific shapes from the model for 3D printing and for creating cutting patterns for the spikes.
Challenges
Despite the wealth of useful tips and the excellent foam pattern base, completing the suit came with some challenges that we had to solve on our own:
Gloves
Our foam pattern did not include hands. We designed a pair of fabric-lined foam gloves.
Shoes
Our foam pattern included feet but did not include shoes. We attached the feet to an old pair of Crocs and added an EVA foam sole.
Head
Our foam pattern did not include any part of the head. Early on we decided to save ourselves a bunch of time and we went with a pre-made Godzilla mask which was close to the target version.
Tail
Our foam pattern did not include a tail. We designed a flexible yet sturdy tail part with a velcro collar for attachment. The core is made from a pool noodle cut into segments strung onto a rope. This made the tail stay straight out and not floppy but still allowed it to bend and flex naturally when needed.
We maintained proper PPA throughout the project. Burning foam is nasty. Wear a respirator and ensure appropriate ventilation!
Spikes
Our foam pattern did not include Godzilla's iconic spikes. I used our reference model in Blender to generate paper profiles of several spikes which we then cut out of foam.
Claws
Our foam pattern did not include claws. I hollowed-out the claws from the reference model and 3D printed them.
Fastening
Our foam pattern did not include any mechanism for fastening the parts together. We used a velcro-on-fabric system which was strong, allowed for easy on/off, and also provided a series of fabric gussets which allowed the costume to flex more than a Godzilla suit normally would.
Patterns on foam
We used some basic math to calculate a scale for printing the pattern. I added a safety margin of 10%. Upon assembling the vest we discovered it was exactly 10% too big. We reprinted and cut all of the paper patterns and then re-cut and re-assembled the vest. That was an annoying lesson to learn. From then on, we trusted the math.
We initially cut the foam with steak knives using mineral oil to prevent binding. This worked okay for the rough shapes. However, we eventually picked up a hot wire foam knife which greatly sped up our work and allowed us to to do the sculpting required later on.
All of the foam bits were assembled using Barge contact cement. For some other parts of costume I used some spray-on foam adhesives. Every single part that did not use contact cement ended up needing to be re-done at some point. The costume ended up using just over a half gallon of cement.
Electronics
We repurposed the lighting rig from the Mechagodzilla costume. This included a strand of programmable LEDs, an Arduino ProMicro, and a custom controller board. The new rig added:
- A speaker driven by an Adafruit Audio FX Sound Board loaded with a variety of Godzilla roars
- A button which is used to trigger the sounds, smoke, and lighting changes to suggest activation of Godzilla's atomic breath
- A 3v vegetable glycerine vapor coil with mini pump to produce "smoke"
- A 5v to 3v buck running current through a MOSFET for powering and triggering the vapor motor
I designed a new board which would handle all of these components. I also rewrote the control software to trigger the lighting and effects on button press. I 3D printed a holder for the push button.
The battery packs and control board sat in back pockets inside of the vest with wiring running up to the mask and down one of the arms. Each of the wires was fitted with a plug-in connect for easy assembly.
Wer ran the LED strip through holes in the vest and sandwiched them between spikes with clear spray glue.
This is the electrics rig set up for bench testing:
Texture
We used the hot foam knife to apply a hatch texture to the entire costume surface. This took forever but was definitely worth it.
Paint
I applied several layers of PlastiDip to the outside of all of the foam pieces. I then color matched the base and highlight color of the mask using acrylic paint. Then, we all hand brushed on the base coat and highlight for all of the costume pieces. Finally, we airbrushed some purple highlight for the spikes, particularly the smaller unlit ones.
Results
The final result was completely epic:
We made a costume reveal video to celebrate its completion:
We learned from the previous project and started at the beginning of September. We spent many nights and weekends working on it and ultimately finished it onn time. All told we spent over 250 hours over six weeks building the costume.