Shredder Cosplay Tutorial

TONIGHT I DINE ON TURTLE SOUP!

So last October I decided I wanted to make a Shredder cosplay to wear to the Dallas Sci Fi Expo in February! I chose this character because I am a big Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan. Since I wasn’t sure how to make a turtle costume, I decided Shredder would be awesome! Also, I enjoyed making armor for my Fiona cosplay and wanted to try it again.

This is a fairly simple costume. Overall, it was super cheap for me since I used sheet foam for nearly everything. If you wanted it sturdier you could use Worbla. I’ve also seen it made out of cardboard and duct tape.

In this tutorial, I explain how I made the armor, helmet, tunic and cape.

WARNING – PICTURE HEAVY!!! 

Be sure to click on a picture to make it bigger if you need to see it better!

I decided to make the version from the 1987 TMNT animated TV series. 

ARMOR

The first thing I did was freehand a design on paper for the armbands, leg guards and fists.

I traced my design onto sheet foam and cut them out.

Then I painted them with gesso.

Using my paper patterns, I cut out another round of armor from sheet foam, but this time cut the center out so I could glue a border onto my first pieces. Then gesso again.

I wanted the blades to be really thick so they wouldn’t bend, wobble or break off. So I found that these “door hangers” were made of extra thick foam and perfect!

I freehanded this design onto the foam and made 4 long spikes for the fists.

Then I made 28 little spikes for the rest of the armor. Omg this took forever.

The 8 loose spikes at the top are for the shoulders. Those will be explained soon.

I glued all the spikes on.

Then I gesso’d the spikes.

Pixie helping!

Since I didn’t want the shoulders to be flat, I ordered a kid’s football shoulder gear from Amazon for $9. They were made out of plastic and light weight.

So I glued on the spikes, gesso’d them, and eventually take them off the black thingy. I end up using velcro to attach these to my shoulders. I just put a strip of velcro on the inside of that little flap and on the top my shirt.

This was the silver metallic spray paint I used for all the armor.

I spray painted the top and underneath sides.

This next step was me just winging it. I needed a way to wear the armor and wasn’t sure if sheet foam would be sturdy enough. So I bought some cheap tube socks, cut them, put some fray check (it’s like a light glue) on the edges so they wouldn’t fray, then spray painted them silver.

I glued the socks to the back of my armor.  It worked great for the arms and fists, but not the legs which I will explain soon.

To give the arms a rounded feel I put them over a Pringles can and some rolled up posters and let them sit like this for a couple days.

Here are the armbands and fists. They are tight and comfy and won’t slip. I know it doesn’t look fantastic but in person you really can’t tell since they are underneath.

The sock idea didn’t work for the legs because I couldn’t slide them over my boots. Duh! So instead I used sheet foam and velcro.

These fit great over my boots. I painted the band silver, too. 

HELMET

I used is a kid’s construction helmet from Hobby Lobby. It’s made out of foam so of course it’s suuuuper light weight. I made a pattern out of paper and tape to figure out how I wanted the spikes to look. Shredder’s helmet is kinda boring in the cartoon (it’s very flat) so I took some creative freedom here. I wanted it to be more angular like his newer helmets.

I traced my pattern onto more sheet foam and glued it onto the helmet. Then I trimmed the front bill and added a point in the middle.

Next I made the side and back panels out of foam and glued them to the inside of the helmet. Then I gesso’d it.

Then I glued the panels together.

I sprayed painted it the same color as the armor.

Pixie helping!

MASK

The mask is made using a surgical mask from Walmart. I got a box of 20 for like $3.

I traced out a shape I liked that would cover the front of the mask and have a bit to cover the nose then glued it on. I only put glue on the edge so it would stay smooth. Then gesso it and spray paint it!

TUNIC

My tunic was a long sleeve dress I got from American Apparel. Any grey shirt/dress would work. I got this one because it was form-fitting and long. I lined up the sides of the dress and pinned it together. Then cut out a small slit. Do not cut this too big!

Hem the edges and be amazed at how much it will stretch open. That’s why I said don’t cut too big 😛

CAPE

I had a rough time finding purple fabric. No idea why! This one was the best I could find. 

Basically I left it a long rectangle and just hemmed the edges twice. I made a big opening for the neck. I say big because you want it to be really draped looking in the front.

MAKEUP

For my eyes, I used a lot of black eyeliner and smokey grey eyeshadow. Around the edge of the grey I did a little bit of red eyeshadow to make it look more evil! I also made my brows thicker and darker and put on a lot of mascara.

All of these photos were taken by my mom and edited by me. The belt, boots and leggings were items I already owned.

So that’s it! Now it’s time for TURTLE SOUP! Muwahaha!

I will be wearing this cosplay all day Saturday February 8th at the Dallas Sci Fi Expo.

I also made a short, silly video of me in costume you can watch here.

:+:+:+:+:

Be sure to let me know if you use this tutorial to make a costume! 🙂

Are you a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan?

Which character is your favorite?

Are you going to Dallas Sci Fi Expo?