Weeping Angel Halloween Costume

Halloween isn't far away so I'm sharing some photos and info about last years' edition of my daughter's costume.

Being the big fans of Doctor Who that we are, my daughter asked last year to be one of the shows' most infamous and terrifying villains: The Weeping Angels.  For uninitiated, they were introduced during the Series 3 episode "Blink", which became an instant classic. When observed they are nothing more than stone statues. But if you look away, or even blink, they become very much alive.

It turned out really nice so I'm sharing some info on how we put it together.

The pieces were fairly easy to get together.  We picked up a set of black angel wings and a white angel robe from a costume store. Also some long white gloves. Finally a grey long sleeve shirt.

I used black wings for better shading.  I sprayed them with a coat of stone textured spray paint.

The original plan was to dye the robe. This ended terribly as it came out a weird greyish purple. Not good.  Finally I found some fabric paint from Michael's that did the trick. A generous coat of equal parts matte black and white and are robe was a nice grey.

Left - Dye fail. Right - fabric paint worked great

To give a more stone-like look, I borrowed a technique from my RPG miniature painting: dry brushing.  Mix a lighter shade and dip your brush/sponge in and then wipe off most of the paint.  Then lightly brush the raised areas to create a nice shading effect.  While I'm at it I gave the same paint treatment to a piece of rope for the waist.

The painted robe. With some of the drybrush highlights applied.

The hair was made with grey yarn sewn onto a wig cap.  Mom had to do that one, as I have no skills.

Her school (and myself for that matter) aren't keen on big masks that obstruct your vision, so we went the makeup route.  A set of fangs and we're done! Though I do wish I could have found a grey set.

First coat of face paint. Had to slab it on pretty thick.

There we have it.  The costume was a big success and actually wasn't all that hard.  This years' is going to be an awesome one. Which I should unveil in time for Halloween.