Remember the videogame Centipede?
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeGame.png)
My Halloween costume for Halloween 2004 was a one person Centipede costume. Initially I had intended on making it a 6 person Centipede costume. It would have looked similar to those Chinese dragons you see in parades. However, I wanted each segment to be large and the result would have been spheres about 6 feet in diameter. That would have been a big problem due to the annoyance that most doors are not 6 feet wide.
So, I made a one person costume using steel wire for the frame. I love steel wire! My Pacman Costume from last year was made using PVC pipes for the frame. Those are great when you want a very solid but still light frame, but the circular PVC piping I used was hard to come by. I got it from my welding teacher and I have no idea where I would get more.
However, steel wire is cheap. At Home Depot Pro it only cost about 10 cents a foot (it came in 120 foot spools). I bought 240 feet of it. I needed most of it too! I used approximately 180 feet of wire in this centipede costume!
This wire wouldn't be very useful if I wanted straight segments, but it's perfect for rounded things.
At the IGN Halloween costume contest my costume got straight 10's (there were four judges, each of which gave me a 10)! There were three prizes ($100 for 3rd, $200 for 2nd, and $300 for first place). Getting $300 in the contest was great, but to be honest the most important thing to me was winning the contest (although the prize money does make the contest real. Without a significant prize, a contest just doesn't feel like a contest.). Getting kudos for my efforts makes all the time I put into a project even more worthwhile.
Here are some pictures! (There's a few more coming, but these are the ones I have now.)
Here's the initial wireframe I created.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.1.wireframe.3.20041001.s.jpg)
It's fabric fitting time!
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.2.wireframePartiallyCovered.3.20041002.s.jpg)
What a pretty face you have!
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.3.frontMostlyFinished.03.20041003.s.jpg)
What a pretty skull you have!
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.3.frontMostlyFinished.10.20041004.s.jpg)
Here's what it looks like from the inside near the top of the front part.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.3.frontMostlyFinished.07.20041003.s.jpg)
Here's what it looks like from the inside lower down in the front part.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.3.frontMostlyFinished.08.20041003.s.jpg)
Here's what the inside of the tail looks like.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.3.frontMostlyFinished.09.20041003.s.jpg)
What pretty pupil-less eyes you have!
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.4.eyes.1.withEyelids.20041023.s.jpg)
Hmm. You look a little crazy with round pupils.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.4.eyes.2.withRoundPupils.20041022.s.jpg)
Aha! Cat eyes are perfect!
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.5.eyes.3.withCatEyes20041023.s.jpg)
Here I am watching the costume contest.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.6.inCrowdAtContest.1.20041029.s.jpg)
Ahhh. Finally, a rest after a long day's work.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.7.onDisplayAtWork.1.20041101.s.jpg)
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeGame.png)
My Halloween costume for Halloween 2004 was a one person Centipede costume. Initially I had intended on making it a 6 person Centipede costume. It would have looked similar to those Chinese dragons you see in parades. However, I wanted each segment to be large and the result would have been spheres about 6 feet in diameter. That would have been a big problem due to the annoyance that most doors are not 6 feet wide.
So, I made a one person costume using steel wire for the frame. I love steel wire! My Pacman Costume from last year was made using PVC pipes for the frame. Those are great when you want a very solid but still light frame, but the circular PVC piping I used was hard to come by. I got it from my welding teacher and I have no idea where I would get more.
However, steel wire is cheap. At Home Depot Pro it only cost about 10 cents a foot (it came in 120 foot spools). I bought 240 feet of it. I needed most of it too! I used approximately 180 feet of wire in this centipede costume!
This wire wouldn't be very useful if I wanted straight segments, but it's perfect for rounded things.
At the IGN Halloween costume contest my costume got straight 10's (there were four judges, each of which gave me a 10)! There were three prizes ($100 for 3rd, $200 for 2nd, and $300 for first place). Getting $300 in the contest was great, but to be honest the most important thing to me was winning the contest (although the prize money does make the contest real. Without a significant prize, a contest just doesn't feel like a contest.). Getting kudos for my efforts makes all the time I put into a project even more worthwhile.
Here are some pictures! (There's a few more coming, but these are the ones I have now.)
Here's the initial wireframe I created.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.1.wireframe.3.20041001.s.jpg)
It's fabric fitting time!
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.2.wireframePartiallyCovered.3.20041002.s.jpg)
What a pretty face you have!
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.3.frontMostlyFinished.03.20041003.s.jpg)
What a pretty skull you have!
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.3.frontMostlyFinished.10.20041004.s.jpg)
Here's what it looks like from the inside near the top of the front part.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.3.frontMostlyFinished.07.20041003.s.jpg)
Here's what it looks like from the inside lower down in the front part.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.3.frontMostlyFinished.08.20041003.s.jpg)
Here's what the inside of the tail looks like.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.3.frontMostlyFinished.09.20041003.s.jpg)
What pretty pupil-less eyes you have!
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.4.eyes.1.withEyelids.20041023.s.jpg)
Hmm. You look a little crazy with round pupils.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.4.eyes.2.withRoundPupils.20041022.s.jpg)
Aha! Cat eyes are perfect!
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.5.eyes.3.withCatEyes20041023.s.jpg)
Here I am watching the costume contest.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.6.inCrowdAtContest.1.20041029.s.jpg)
Ahhh. Finally, a rest after a long day's work.
![](http://g42.org/projects/CentipedeCostume/CentipedeCostume.7.onDisplayAtWork.1.20041101.s.jpg)
Version 6.1 last modified by Geoff Fortytwo on 11/07/2010 at 16:10
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