Halo 3 ODST Engineer Puppet Cosplay

In getting ready for Calgary’s Otafest 2024, I challenged myself to make a Halo 3 ODST Engineer puppet to bring to the party with a bunch of other Halo nerds! It’s name is Smaller than Average, but it’s more fun to call it Lumpy Space Princess.

Many different processes are used to bring the character to life. The body is EVA foam with foam clay details, whilst the tentacles, sacs and the head are upholstery foam. Using this material I could cut and sand the parts to shape, colour them, while being soft and flexible, and easy to pack for an overseas trip.

The sacs work via a cable mechanism hooked up to a glove inside the body. With my left fingers, I can flex and relax them to control the inflation and deflation of most of the sacs.

For the eyes, another nylon line mechanism is used to pull the eyelids down, with springs pulling them back open. Gears inside of the eyeball also drive the bottom eyelids open. This is all controlled with a trigger mechanism held by the right hand, which doubles as the rod to control the movement of the head.

For some extra motion, the tentacles are weighed with fishing ball bearings to add mass and momentum, allowing them to swing much more. The dyed ostrich feathers on the tentacles, as well as for the antennae, move with motion and the breeze to add some more animation.

The puppet’s armour was all 3D modelled in Blender, then 3D printed individually and attaches to each other and the body with screws (except the neck armour, which uses strapping and Velcro). To paint the armour, layers of spray paints (including black, metallics, clear coats then the final coat) were stacked up and then stripped back down using a brick, files and sandpaper for more natural-appearing weathering.

Read the full detailed build on the Engineer puppet here!