TV Head Costume

So you wanna make a TV head maybe for a party or a convention, whatever the reason is it's a fun build and looks great in the end. But before we start I should add you need to do your own research into CRT TV's because they can be very dangerous if handled incorrectly. They have very dangerous components inside and have lots of things that could injure you. I am no expert I am just a teenage hobbyist so I recommend you look into the dangers of CRT's before taking one apart and watch plenty of Youtube videos on how to take the internals out safely as I only did this for fun and am showing how I did this. If you are interested in trying this do some further research as I will only show how I did it. Also it was much safer for me as the TV I sourced was from a local Dump that had cut the wires before hand but, on that note lets get into this!

NOTE for people who don't read intros: This can be very dangerous do further research before trying this. (I take no responsibility for an injury caused by doing this)

1) Broken or Unused CRT TV (Preferably small but still big enough to fit over your head)

2) Tint Spray Paint

3) Hot glue

4) Flexible plastic sheet (I used the plastic from a picture frame I got at Kmart)

5) Foam padding

Now on the back of my TV were 4 screws and once they were undone the whole back shell came off, revealing the whole mess of electronics. On the back on the TV is a very large red suction cup with all the research I've done into this I found no matter how tempting it is to touch it you must not as if it was plugged recently it could cause a high voltage to course through you, and even if it wasn't plugged in recently you still need to be careful as there are still plenty of dangerous things here with the TV turned off. So make sure to ground yourself and wear protective equipment. OK back to the explanation, the TV did not completely slip out when I took the back shell off it still needed a few more tricky hidden screws to be undone on the metal bracket piece. However every TV is different so keep this in mind screws may be in different places. Once the big bulky electronics are taken out you can put the shell back together and look at the fruits of your labor YAY! Now you can dispose of your TV guts by taking it to an electronics recycling facility, YAY recycling! But that's the hard part over now we can have some fun.

At the moment our TV head is an empty shell of its former self but lets make it full again with your head, and to get your head inside this TV shell you need to cut a hole. I used just a regular hand saw to do this bit (and forgot to take photos of this step) but it's really simple just separate the 2 shells and mark on the TV shell where you want to cut (I didn't bother measuring my head for this step I just eyeballed it and compensated with padding) And speaking of padding lets get to that! I just used spare EVA foam mats I had laying around. I just hot glued a bunch of chunks in there until it didn't hurt to wear and would fit snugly on my head. Once you are done with that don't forget the most important step TRYING IT ON of course! Make sure it fits and you feel comfortable wearing it around.

For this step I've used a spray paint for tinting car lights. I got this can for around $15 AUD at a local auto-body shop and it works really well! Just get a piece of clear plastic like the stuff from an old picture frame (for example a frame you bought from Kmart but the frame broke and you still have the plastic for some reason) That works great from my experience but I've heard plexiglass works well too! All you have to do to make sure the spray works is apply even coats to the plastic and let it dry between coats. If you become impatient like me you may end up with darker patches on the plastic making it hard to see in low light areas. But once the the screen is painted on the one side put it aside for my favorite part which will be paint the TV itself!

This is always fun and really lets your creativity shine. Painting the TV is simple enough the way I did it because I only did one solid color but you can do so much more than what I did. For example slap some decals on top or cut out a stencil and add a funky design, there is so much you can do. But I wanted to keep things simple So I used a cheap can of Spray paint I got from the previously mentioned Auto-body shop and painted it a nice blue, but you don't have to paint it if you want to keep that retro look!

This step is self explanatory but basically separate the 2 halves of your TV and just glue in your screen where the old screen was. If your plastic is flexible bend it into shape to fit the curve of the plastic and if you plan on wearing this and not just keeping it on a shelf make sure to use lots (and I mean LOTS of glue) I used hot glue because I have a hot glue gun and I find it reliable but super glue might work (haven't tried it so don't take my word for it) and with that you can reassemble your TV and add any final touches.

If your TV has a space for a label you could put something over it with a little double sided tape I did just that! It adds a bit of unique charm to the whole project and really makes it yours. I provided one I quickly mocked up but I encourage you to make your own. (Pro-tip: If you are taking this to a convention and fear it could get lost a label is the perfect place to put contact details in case it gets found!)

Have fun its a really cool way to dress up without a full costume and it looks really good in the end. I hope you enjoyed and if you made it please show it off! On that note I've passed down all my wisdom to you so I'll leave you with just the side-notes left, goodbye!

Just a few side-notes before I finish though

1) I can see just fine and no one can see my face but if the light is low it gets hard to see

2) Please do extensive research into the internals of a CRT I really don't want anyone getting hurt following my steps

3) Thank you for reading it was a blast to make and I hope you can have just as much fun making it safely!