"I want to be a monster truck, mom!"

Tavius, has ideas....

This idea came from my 4 year old's playful world.  Tavius has lived in monster truck land for many months now.  I asked Tavius,  "If you could be something fun for Halloween what would it be?"  He said, "I want to be a monster truck, mom!"  I saw a challenge but I knew he would be my little helper!  This project was so much fun but lead to an exhausting day :) 

My first stop was Google:

Monster Truck Idea

Off to the drawing board to calculate the ratio of model to costume.

I did a free hand drawing and then traced it on poster board.  I cut two pieces, one for each side.  Then I cut two more pieces the width of my son's shoulders.  Then I molded the front and back pieces by bending cardboard.  With the help of 3M adhesive I bonded the together.  The paint job for "Black Stallion" (a retired truck) was colored with Neon orange & yellow spray paint, red acrylic paint, and silver permanent market.  I used color pictures enlarged from the internet the horse and logo.  Construction paper was used for the suspension, roll bar, silver metallic painted drive train and drinking straws for shocks.

 

 

The tires were fun to make.  I took garden bags and placed a small plastic cup in the center of the bag and used a brad to secure the cup.  The rims are made of white poster board sprayed silver.  I used a silver permanent pen for the lug nuts.  Newspaper or plastic bags stuffed the tires and I tied the off with twisty ties. The tires were glued on with the 3M spray and left to dry.

A hole was cut  to allow Tavius' head to poke out the top of the truck.  Washers were hot glued and stacked to make a resting place for the aluminum rod.  I cut 2-1/4 inch thick aluminum the width of the truck to support the strings that are tied to rods and will rest on his shoulders.

 I never imagined it would look even this close to the original...