How to Make a Model T-600 Terminator Costume

As you can tell from my avatar, I am a big fan of the Terminator series. For this reason, this year I made my own costume of a model T-600 Terminator as seen in Terminator Salvation.

The final costume includes a minigun, a light-up red eye, a backlit chest, and various parts of the endoskeleton.

This project took a lot of time to make (20+ hours), but it is relatively inexpensive (about $60-$70). So far this has been the most fun thing I have built!

Materials

This is the list of the materials I used, with the cost that I bought them for. Some of the prices could change depending on what is available at the various stores.

*Military Surplus Camo Jacket- $5
Camouflage Pants- $15
Grey Undershirt- $5
1/2 Inch PVC Pipe- $5
Beanie- $1
Batman Mask- $5
Spray paint in Black, Green, and Silver- $15
**Liquid Latex- $16

I bought the following items for All Electronics Corp.
1/2 in Split Loom Tubing 15ft.- $2.50
***LMP-12R Red Lamp- $1
Red LEDs- 10 for $1
3 On/Off Switches- 3 for $1
WR-19 Velcro- $2.50 per pack
I wasn't sure how much I was going to need, so I ordered three packs.
Two packs will be fine.

I found the following materials at home.
12v LED (3x)
Small Section of 3 inch PVC Pipe
Black and Silver rolls of Duct Tape
Corrugated Plastic
Cardboard
Duct Tape (Black and Silver)
18 AWG wire
9v Battery Snaps
Mailing Tubes
Grey Knex Rods

Tools:
Hot Glue Gun
Soldering Iron
PVC Pipe Cutters
Sharp Scissors
Hack Saw
Sander of any kind

*This was more of a lucky find at Goodwill. The shirts will cost about $25 at a military surplus store.
**This was the monster 16oz. bottle, but a small 4oz. tube will have enough liquid latex. The smaller tube will also cut costs by about $11.
***It is VERY important to buy the EXACT same lamp in order to have an eye with the right pattern.

Make the Endoskeleton Chest

The chest section was based off of pictures of the 14 inch figure in the picture below. The measurements are for a chest piece that fits me. The size may change depending on how tall you are, so adjust the measurements so they are comfortable for you.

First, cut out the pieces using the measurements below, and glue the pieces together like in the second picture. I used hot glue for this due to the fact that it cools off quickly, but, if you have the extra time and patience, you could use epoxy.

-The top piece is 95mm by 79mm.
-The next lowest piece is 95mm by 105mm.
-The bottom middle piece is 95mm by 95mm.

-Each 'wing' is 150mm long, 75mm tall on the short end, and 95mm tall on the tall end. The tall end extends 20mm before it slopes downward.

Chest Cont.

Once the basic chest shape is made, more pieces can be layered on top of it to add depth and detail.

For the following steps you need to cut out multiples of these pieces:

Chest Cont.

First, take two of the three middle pieces and trim 1 flute off of either end of each of them. Also, cut one of these pieces in half. Take the third piece, cut it in half, and trim it like the shapes in the far right of the picture.

Chest Cont.

Take the piece that was in the top right of the picture in the step before, and trim the top off the third flute in from either side. Take all of the pieces and put them together like in the third picture.

Chest Cont.

Now, take the duplicate of the bottom middle portion of the chest, and cut out the pattern below. Cut the inside of the shape using the tip if the scissors like in the next two pictures. The edges will be rough, but the hot glue will even them out.
Ignore the circles on either side.

Chest Cont.

The next step is to cut out the pattern on the 'wings.' The pattern is pictured below. Cut the patterns out the same way you cut out the pattern on the last part.

Putting the Chest Together

Finally, the chest portions from the last three steps can be glued to the basic chest piece.

First, cut out six small triangles from squares of corrugated pastic 10mm wide. See the picture below.

Glue the portion from step five to the triangles and the to the basic chest piece like the second picture. Also glue on the bottom middle piece with the spike things pointing towards the top of the chest.

Next, cut out a rectangle that is three flutes wide and 80mm long. Cut two sides off of one of the flutes on the side, and glue it on like in the second picture.

Finally, glue the wings on, and add glue to and rough edges. The final corrugated plastic portion of the chest should look like the third picture and like the T-600 figure.

Adding Split Loom Tubing

The split loom tubing adds the affect that wires and hydraulic lines are running to different portions of your body. The tubing also helped out with mounting the electronics in the very bottom of the chest. I only used six sections in the chest area because after that, adding more caused the area to be too crowded.

I glued the tubing to the chest with a generous amount of hot glue for added strength. The middle tube was long enough for me to use only one section across the whole chest, but it later caused problem with mounting the electronics in the middle of the chest.

Also, glue the split in the tubes together with little drops of glue every inch or so.

Make sure there is enough room for switches on either side of the chest. Put them wherever you want.

*Something I forgot to take a picture of is two more tubes glued on the length of the bottom. The tubes were glued on top of each other, so when the chest is put on the bottom sticks out like it should.

Adding Velcro

For this part, all of the straps were fitted to my size. You may want to shorten or lengthen the straps to make the costume more comfortable to wear.

First, you need to take the velcro straps from All Electronics and undo them.

Next, cut the hook part of the velcro off and glue on the straps so the loop part of the velcro is on the inside. Glue both sides of the strap to the chest since it will need to withstand lots of pressure. Do this to both sides.

Another strap is used in the back to fasten the chest plate to the wearer. This can be seen in the fourth picture.

Save the painting of the chest until after the eye portion is done since they are both connected.

The Eye

This step, although the quickest, is the hardest to do. This is why I bought three lamps instead of one. Fortunately, I only ended up with a tiny, unnoticeable crack in the first one I tried to cut to size, and I was able to use it with the crack.

You need to first pull the lamp portion out of the red housing. Next, the threads need to be cut off and the square shape needs to be sanded down to a circle.

Follow the picture below.

The Mask

Now it is time to cut up the Batman mask. Start by cutting it in half and choosing which side you want the exposed endoskeleton to be on. I chose the right side of my face because I am left-eye dominant. If you want to have it on the left side of your face, then just make a mirrored copy of mine.

Next, start cutting down the edges, but leave a top portion on at the side, like in the first picture. This is for the wires from the eye. The beanie should also be able to go over that top section. I also cut the eyebrow off because of how sharply it stuck out. I then filled the gap with hot glue.

Joining the Eye to the Mask

First, position the eye and glue it to the mask. Then cut a hole big enough for the LED behind the eye. Be careful not to mess up the wafer pattern when cutting the hole.

Next. mount the LED in the hole. I found some 12v LEDs in my electronics drawers, so I pulled one out of its housing and used it for the eye. Run the wires through the notch in the top of the mask and solder enough 18 gauge wire to the leads to run it around the back of your head and into the chest. I soldered extra wire in, just in case, and bundled it up under my beanie.

Spraypainting the Chest and the Mask

This step is pretty much self-explanatory, but remeber to use silver for these parts. Put a piece of tape over they eye so light still comes out of it.

Also, make sure all of the front of the chest and all of the front of the mask are painted. It does not make a difference in the dark, but when people take pictures and flashes of light are present, the full paintjob makes it look nicer.

Something I did not realize until the chest was painted was that the tubing looks amazing with just a bit of black showing in between the ribs.

Wiring the Electronics.

First, I glued the LEDs in place and positioned the batteries where I wanted them. This helped me figure out how much wire I needed. The LEDs I used were 12v LEDs I found in my electronics drawers.

Next, I wired the lights in the chest. The LEDs are in parallel, and the batteries are also in parallel. The switch was located on the side for easy access, and the batteries were attached with double sided foam tape.

Finally, I wired the LED in the eye to a single battery in the center. The switch for this circuit was located on the side opposite of the other switch.

The chest and mask are now complete.

Making the Knee

For the knee, I took strips of corrugated plastic, the length the same as the width of my knee, and glued them aroung a cardboard circle the same diameter as my knee. After that, I glued on velcro, and I spraypainted it silver. The velcro straps were a little uncomfortable on the inside of my knee, so I put a shred of cloth between the velcro and my knee.

Also, since there is a big hole exposing the knee, I made a shin cover with silver duct tape. I attached velcro straps to it and reinforced it with duct tape.

Making the Arm

For the arm, I took a cardboard mailing tube just larger than my arm and cut out a section, like the picture below. I covered the outside of the tube and the sides with silver duct tape.

For the solenoids in the arm, I just covered the grey knex rods with silver duct tape and cut them down to size. Then I taped them to the inside to the mailing tube, like in the third picture.

Cutting the Shirt

In order to cut out just enough cloth, I put on the endoskeleton under the jacket and marked what needed to go with a marker. The I cut the fabric, but I tried to make jagged and unclean cuts as often as possible. I also frayed the edges by running the scissors up and down the edges quickly.
Next, I made slash-like cuts from the left elbow to the wrist. I frayed the edges and also cut portions of it off partially and completely. This left fabric hanging from my arm. I did not cut off the buttons at the end of the sleeve because they helped me keep my gloves on. They also hide the transition from undershirt to skin.

Also, make a clean cut from the right elbow to the right wrist. This cut is used to tie the minigun to your arm.

Cutting the Pants

Cutting the pants probably the simplest part of this project.

At the knee, cut a Y using the same techniques used to cut the shirt. The pictures below show how I cut the knee.

The Backback

For the backpack, you can use either corrugated plastic or cardboard. I used corrugated plastic in areas that had things attatched to it, but I used cardboard on the back, where there was no stress on it.

The top is angled on the opposite side of where the belt feeder is attached.

The pack was first painted a greenish color, then black stripes and spots were added. I thought this color green was bad at first, but in the dark with the black marks, it looks great.

I attached the backpack by taping string to the side facing my back and running the string through my shirt, over my shoulders, and out the bottom of my shirt.

Making the Minigun

This minigun is based off of the minigun held by the 6 inch figure and off of the minigun produced by GE.

First, start with the barrels. Cut a 10ft. section of 1/2 PVC pipe into five 2ft sections.

Next, trace the PVC on a cardboard circle spaced evenly around another drawn circle, like in the second picture. Do the same to a corrugated plastic disc, and cut them both out. Glue the coroplast disc 45mm from the end of the barrels and the cardboard disc halfway between either end.

Now, cut a 4 inch section of 3 inch PVC pipe and glue it to the corrugated plastic.

Finishing the Minigun

To make the mechanisms that would drive a minigun, cut out a 9in. and a 6.5in. section of mailing tube. Use leftover mailing tube from your arm if you have any. Cut a 3 inch lengthwise section off of the 6.5 in. tube, and glue the cut side to the 9 inch section. This will be the bullet feeder.

Now trace the barrels on an endcap for the mailing tube. Glue the endcap 7 inches up the barrels and glue it to the 9 inch mailing tube. Use strips of corrugated plastic like wedges to position the barrels, and add lots of hot glue for support.

Cap any open ends by taping cardbord over them. Once all of the ends are capped, spraypaint the whole thing black.

The belt feeder consists of two 3ft sections of split loom tubing taped together every 3 inches. One end is attached to the backpack, and the other is attached to the bullet feeder.

Putting It All Together

Finally, after everything is painted, the costume can now be worn.

The first layer is the undershirt. Wear it backwards if there are any logos on the front, and cut holes in the ends of the sleeves for your thumbs. This brings the undershirt under the gloves.

The next layer is any part of the endoskeleton. This includes the mask, the knee, the arm, and of course, the chest. To attatch the mask, put liquid latex over the part of your face that the mask goes over. Do not get it in your eyes. Press the mask to that area, and wait for the latex to dry. Do not use liquid latex if you are allergic to latex.

The third layer is the shirt, the pants and the gloves. Tuck the gloves into what's left of the sleeves, and button the sleeves.

The final layer is the accessories. This includes the beanie and the minigun. To attatch the minigun to your arm, just tie straps through the cut in the arm and around your arm.

Final Thoughts

This has been, by far, the project I have had the most fun building and the most fun using. I wore this costume to a school Halloween dance and amazed everyone. Also, on the way to the dance, I scared a person who was driving next to us with my eye turned on! All I can say is have fun with this project and enjoy the results as much as I did!