Halloween around our neck of the woods was less dark and more happy fun. For my nephew in particular this created costumes that were more like floats: In this case, as with the previous ones, the idea was his, the execution was mine.
The kids here trick-or-treated the stores along a four block long open mall. In some places the candy bowl was outside, held by one of the employees or volunteers, but in others the kids and their costumes went inside, so, and in order to make that possible, the handle of this cup was able to bend back about ninety degrees in order he could fit through the the door. It snapped back into place again with the aid of bungee cords--you can see the open and closing joint at the front edge.
I walked along behind him as his assistant. It was pretty well thought of, particularly by Japanese tourists, as he starred in quite a few cameo's.
Before this one, at about age eight he went out as a "slurry bomber." Probably unique in halloween history, that one. As with this one, the idea was his, inspired by the aircraft flying over his house every few minutes on their way out of Denver, fighting the big fires to the west. That one was a reasonably good costume version of a P-3 Orion, used CD's for spinning props and Yoplait yogurt canisters for the four engine nacelles. It also sported folding wings so he could get through the doors to get his candy, and a "Candy in here please" lifting door atop the fuselage just behind the cockpit. As with this later costume, I followed along as his assistant. Working running lights too, of course, as he also had to go trick-or-treating after dark....
There was a daytime parade in a nearby town where that costume was a real hit. Enough so that a guy came up to him afterward and said "great costume. Do you know what the airplane is?"
"Yup. It's a P-3 Orion."*
[*the airplane had been on the front page of our local paper on at least one occasion, which inspired him, but we also discussed the design, so he knew]
"I flew on one myself," said this fellow. "That part of the fuselage (I made it with soft foam, so it wouldn't poke anyone following too close behind) that extends out behind the tail (the vertical fin). Do you know what that is?"
My nephew (he was eight) looked him right in the eye. "Yes. It's a magnetic anomaly field detector. That's how it used to find submarines."
I THINK he asked me about it when we were building the plane (I can't remember now), so I can't say for sure if he was right all these years later, but the guy was sure impressed.
My nephew liked it enough that he hung it from his bedroom ceiling for three years...and he used it at least once (or even twice--can't remember) in the following years
After that, and before the cocoa, he went out as french fries--"Supersize Me!" His candy bag was, of course, an upside down french fry. That one got him onto the front page of the local paper, which pleased him no end (me too).
I still have all three--I know I still have the airplane under the garage stairs. I'd rather not dig it out, so I will try to find some "action photos."
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I CAN and do build stuff--or did anyway--and have recently stumbled across a few of the HO buildings I gave him which he saved and gave back to me in a large box. Unfortunately a lot of them have gone missing too.
I'll try and take some photos and post a few pics of those. Unfinished--un-assembled scratchbuilds in fact-- but I still did some pretty good work, I think.