How to Make a TMNT "Krang" Costume

Krang from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise was always a nostalgic character. I was asked from create the armor portion for this costume by a client, so game on! Specifically, i was asked for the the antenna, visor the shoulder fins and chest straps, Krang in his waist container with lights, and the wrist straps. This was a fun, but challenging build as the suit needed to give the illusion that Krang was recessed inside the stomach of the wearer. Additionally, the client was out of state, so guessing sizing was definitely another variable to contend with.

I do not have any measurements or templates for this suit, as every template was drawn freehand. However, you should be able to create your own paper templates if you follow the directions =)

So here's what you need to make a Krang suit.

The client purchased these things on their own:

1. skin colored muscle suit
2. red underwear
3. red shoes
4. red gloves

You will also need the following

1. cutting mat. If you don't have one, you can use a slab of flat wood, like plywood
2. Metal yard stick. I like the metal ones as it's easier to cut with
3. roll of paper for drawing out templates
4. various thicknesses of foam
5. exacto/ utility knife
6. dremel
7. contact cement
8. a dowel rod
9. mini plastic buckles
10. foam clay
11. plastidip
12. silver spray paint
13. acrylic paint + paint brush
14. red fairy lights
15. blue fairly lights
16. red acetate sheet
17. hot glue gun
18. measuring tape
19. heat gun

Whenever i start a costume build, i grab a bunch of different reference pics. I like using different things such as drawings, toys, and other's cosplay. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, but its nice to put your own spin on it. Ever since i got a drawing program, i now design my costumes in procreate and give to my clients so show them what i'm envisioning.. Drawing it out first allows me to simmer on how i will create these pieces.

Antenna

1. cut a piece of paper into a square and fold in half
2. draw half of the "U" shape and cut out. In doing so, you should have a symmetrical "U" shape.
3. transfer to your foam sheet and cut out.
4. i wanted rounded edges, so I used a dremel and sanded them down.
5. i cut out a stem and contact cemented it to the bottom center of the "U".
6. i made two different sized circles and stacked them on top of each other.
7. glue the stack to the bottom of the antenna stem and that should be it.
8. you can attach this to your head in various ways such as using some latex glue, or some type of skin safe adhesive.. If you dont want to use that, you can probably even glue it to a clear head band and wear it that way.

Wrist Band

1. take your measuring tape and measure around your wrist. think also about how wide you wish to make your wrist band.. i think mine was bout 2 inches wide. remember when you are thinking about the length of your wrist band, you will want to add a little bit extra to compensate for the thickness of the foam itself.. Im sure there is some type of mathematical formula in there.
2. once you got your measurements, transfer them to paper so you have your rectangle.
3. now you will want to take another piece of paper to create the red indentations on the wrist bands.
4. Round out the edges of the square you cut out and then place them along the wristband to your desired spacing.
5. using your exacto knife, carefully cut out the pieces.
6. use the indentation pieces and push them back into their designated slots, but push them further down so it creates a cavity.
7. i use e6000 to glue in my mini buckles at the ends.

1. using your measuring tape, measure how wide and how long you will want your visor.
2. keep in mind, the visor is essentially a long strip that wraps around your head.i made mine in 3 parts- front and 2 sides.
3. transfer the measurements onto a piece of paper and give a little extra length to compensate for the thickness of the foam.
4. fold the strip of paper in half and draw in your details such as the note, eye placement, etc.
5. transfer the whole thing to foam.
6. Since i used some fairly thick foam, i turned it over and cut out a square area for the ears. I originally thought i would wrap the whole thing around a paper of safety glasses, but later found out i didn't need them. however, the channels i created for the glasses frame actually served as a space to put my wires for lighting.
7. I filled the top and bottom with more foam so that it sat flush against a face.

1. Grab your tape measure and measure how big you want those giant shoulder pads to be.
2. fold your piece of paper to get a symmetrical piece once its opened
3. draw in your details. (pic 1)
4. transfer to thick foam. I made 2 layers and stacked them on top of each other per shoulder pad. the top layer should be slightly smaller. (pic 2)
5. attach everything together with contact cement. (pic 3)
6. using your exacto knife and dremel, start cutting out the details. You can use your heat gun to open up the detail lines. The deeper the cut and the longer you apply heat, the more it will open.Be careful not to burn your foam. (pic 4)
7. add in your details (pic 5)
8. for your straps, measure out your length and width and transfer to/ cut out of foam (pic 6)
9. glue your straps and shoulders together (pic 7)
10. now add your details (pic 8)

1. take your measuring tape and measure how long and wide you want this to be. Remember, the bigger you make this, the more room you have for Krang. But If you make it too big, you wont have alot of room for the shoulder suspenders.
2. Take your measurement, transfer to paper.
3. fold your paper in half and draw in your details.
4. The more detailed you make it, the easier it will be.
5. my suggestion is to make the center the priority, as that is a focal point of the costume itself.
6. Also, think about where you want this to open and close.. I chose to have the clasps in the back hip, rather than right in the back center.

1. Now that you have your base, you know how wide and tall to make Krang. Remember, you are just giving the illusion that he is inside your stomach.
2. Use your measurements and transfer to paper.
3. Fold in half and draw in your design. Open it up, and you should have a symmetrical shape. (pic 1)
4. now you can transfer on to your foam sheet. (pic 2)
5. cut out the shape and start by adding in your eyeballs first
6. Then, you can start layering in your foam clay to create the 3D shape. (pic 3 + 4)
7. i took some miscellaneous pieces of foam and stacked them on top of each other in a relative tentacle shape. (pic 5)
8. use your dremel and smooth it out. (pic 6)
9. Glue your tentacles onto your Krang base. (pic 7)
10. cover the tentacles with the foam clay to make everythign uniform (pic 8 + 9)
11. glue him into the waist base with the contact cement

Now it is time to encase Krang. You are essentially creating a box around him

1. As in the previous steps, measure out your size and transfer to paper.
2. fold in half and draw in your design so when you open it, it is symmetrical. (pic 1)
3. transfer to thick foam (pic 2)
4. on the back side, i created a border around the inner space to have krang recess inside a bit easier. (pic 3)
5. create your sides and glue onto the front.
6. If you need to manneuver the tentacles, you can use a heat gun to warm them up and move them into shape. Once they cool, they should be somewhat molded to where you need them. (pic 4)
7. For the joysticks, i made 2 balls from foam clay. I cut the stems from the dowel rod and jammed them into the soft foam clay balls. i glued them into the inside of the holster.
8. add your details and cut in your slots. I know i wanted to have a light in the above red upsidedown arrow so i cut a hole through to feed my fairy lights.
9. Do NOT glue the holster in yet, as you need to paint Krang first.
10. there are these other pieces that connect the suspenders to the stomach harness.. i dont know what id call these, but follow the same steps of creating in paper, transferring to foam, cutting out, and add details. Make 4 of these and set aside(pic 6).

Now that you have the front piece, you can start the back.

1. since you have the measurements, cut out a piece of paper to that size.
2. fold in half and draw in your details on that paper template
3. use the paper template to transfer the design to foam
4. cut out the foam piece and start adding details and cutting in your lines.
5. once complete, contact cement it onto the back

Now that you have your front and back centered, you can create your sides:

1. For your sides, use your measurements from the waist base to get your measurements.
2. cut out a piece of paper to that size and draw out the details (pic 1)
3. transfer to foam. (pic 2)
4. Add in your details, but do NOT glue the ring down yet, IF you want to put lights inside that area. (pic 3)
5. once everything is assembled, its time to glue in your buckles and seal all your joints with caulk.

Now that everything is fully assembled, time to paint!

1. plastidip all your foam pieces as this will allow for easier painting and flexing.
2. i used a silver and yellow spray paint for the designated parts
3. i hand painted the red with metallic acrylic red paint, and hand painted krang.
4. i also painted anything that was going to be lit up with red lights with red paint prior to give it a bit of a boost - ie the hip pieces.
5. i painted the area around krang black to give the illusion that he was recessed inside.. do NOT glue the cover on Krang yet if you want to install lights.
6. now was the time to glue in those silver pieces that connect the body to the suspenders.

now it is time to add your lights. I bore holes in various places and strung the fairy lights through.

1. I bundled red fairy in the top triange and bottom circles around Krang.
2. I put in red acetate sheets for the eye lenses and then strung red fairy lights around each of the eyes. I hid the battery in a little pocket in the back of the head, as i figured that would be less likely to appear in any pictures.
3. I strung a set of red fairy lights on each shoulder and then glued on a red acetate sheet as a cover
4. i glued in red acetate on the hip rings first and then strung red fairy lights around the inner ring prior to contact cementing them to the hips.
5. i strung several blue fairy lights inside the face cover of Krang prior to contact cementing the whole thing down.

You can obviously add more lights to whatever part of the armor your want. if you wanted to get fancy, you could even get blinking fairly lights to make things a bit more interesting.

That should be it for the armor pieces. Wear your red gloves, red underwear, and red shoes along with your muscle suit. It would be helpful if you were pretty tall, but cosplay can be accepting of whatever shape and size you are. Cowabunga dudes!

If interested, here is how i made the Shredder costume