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Coolest Homemade Thomas the Tank Engine Child Halloween Costume Idea

My son is a really big Thomas the Tank Engine fan, so I decided I would take the plunge to make him his own Thomas to ride in (this homemade Thomas the Tank Engine child Halloween costume idea was also a benefit because when he got tired at the end of trick-or-treating; we just loaded him in the wagon and pulled him home).

* 1 wagon
* 1 large box that fits well over the wagon – rectangular is good
* 2 shoe boxes
* 5 gallon bucket
* 1 roll of blue painting block tape
* 1 quart of exterior semi gloss paint colored to match the block tape
* 1 roll red electrical tape
* 1 roll black electrical tape
* various printouts from computer
* 1 roll 2 sided scotch tape
* small amount black paint
* large and small paint brushes

I started with an old Radio Flyer wagon that was mine when I was a kid. I didn’t want to damage the wagon, so I placed the big box (that was the main structure) on top then measured where to put 2 long 1×1 pieces of wood on the bottom. These keep the box firmly in place without taping, gluing or screwing anything to the wagon.

Then I started cutting pieces out of the box – the whole front came off, then a big section above where I wanted to stick the 5 gallon bucket for the steam tank. I just folded 2 parts of that section down and taped them to the bucket for the effect of the steam tank attached to the train. I used shoe boxes to support under the bucket to get it up in the air. Next I cut the hole for kiddo to stick his head out and a door. Finally I started taping up all places where it comes together and exposed edges, and then painted the whole thing blue.

I found a box that fit inside as a good seat then cut a hole in the bottom of the box so that his feet would rest inside the wagon, rather then the flimsy box bottom. I also stuck a 2×4 under the “seat” box to reinforce it.

I used red and black electrical tape to make most of the details. I had to create the 1 and the boxes outlined in yellow on the computer and print them out. The face is a printout from a picture I found on Google. I just finagled it around till I had the perfect size for the end of the bucket. 2 sided tape was a life saver for putting on the details!!



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