B Transformed Costume

The idea for the costume originated at work. I am a ceiling man and work on stilts 8 hours a day. My family and I had just watched the Transformers movie that weekend and I thought that hand making Bumble Bee using my stilts would be pretty cool! It took me a while to decide on the type of material I would use, but I knew it had to be something sturdy if it was going to stand 9 feet in the air. I also had to consider the weight since I would have to wear the costume while on my stilts. I decided to use plastic storage bins, like the ones you buy at Walmart. I made a sketch and purchased a tiny model. I figured that I would make it close enough to the original, but not exactly alike. Among some of the other materials I used are toy car tires, car lights, bulbs, pieces of unused/unwanted children's toys, football padding, foam board, and vinyl for windows. It took me about 2 months of working out of my garage to finish the costume, but it was well worth it. Everyone that has seen it is amazed that it's handmade, that it's so tall, and that it looks so real. Children especially enjoy seeing it.