Cosplay Prop: How to Make a Harley Quinn Hammer

For me the most essential part of a DIY Harely Quinn cosplay is an iconic Harley Quinn prop! This is how I made a Harley Quinn hammer (also called a mallet).

MATERIALS I USED

• 2 Home Depot Buckets
• Half of an Adjustable Drapery Rod with a Cool Finial
• Worbla
• Thick Craft Foam
•  Sticky Back Craft Foam
• Masking Tape
• Various Fabric & Ribbon Trim
• Drill with  1″ Paddle Bit
• Epoxy or Super Glue
• Hot Glue Gun & Sticks
• Black Spray Paint, Clear Acrylic Spray Paint
• Red & White Craft Paint

STEP ONE: BUILD OUT YOUR HAMMER HEAD

I cut the top off of two Home Depot buckets and stuck ’em together. Then I smoothed out the seams with a combination of masking tape and craft foam.

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 STEP TWO: COVER IN WORBLA AND EMBELLISH WITH TEXTURE

First I covered the whole thing in worbla for a uniform, paintable texture. Then I used a hot glue gun to add some rhinestone ribbon trim and diamonds cut out from sticky back foam. This added some cool texture to my hammer head- and also cover some seams. 😉

 STEP THREE: THE HANDLE

First I covered the curtain rod in worbla and used epoxy glue to attach the finial to one end. Then I chose the paddle bit closest to the diameter of my covered rod and drilled a whole in the hammer head where the handle would be attached.

I applied epoxy to end of the rod opposite of the finial and inserted it all they way through so that the end of the rod hit the opposite end of the hammer head. I carefully held it in place until the epoxy set and my handle was secured to the inside of the hammer head.

I also added a gasket of craft foam where the handle met the head and used epoxy to secure it in place.

STEP FOUR: PAINT IT BLACK & RELAX!

When my fabrication was complete, I spray painted the whole thing black and then finished with a light coat of clear acrylic spray paint. I then I took a break and let it set for a day. It’s hard to be patient but if you let the paint cure your less likely scratch or smudge stuff. 🙂

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STEP FIVE: FINISH IT OFF WITH DETAILS

To finish off my Harley Hammer, I used a couple different techniques. I dry brushed red craft paint over my textured parts and added some Harley touches with a bullseye and psycho laughter. I cut strips of some left over deep red velvet and glued it in a spiral pattern around the handle and added some assorted ribbon details.

Although this mallet could be used for any Harley cosplay, I also made a little hobo satchel that we attached to this mallet to fit the Gotham Hobos theme of a group cosplay.

    

Gotham Hobos Cosplay: Takin’ a Stand & Makin’ New Friends at Long Beach Comic-Con 2014

Succinct writing is not always my forte but I’m kinda wiped out so here’s my best go at it:

Girls tired of seeing girl cosplayers only representing the sexy side of women.

Girls drink a lot of wine and hatch a plan to do the most sexualized characters we could think of in a whole new way.

Gotham Hobos are born and I send my early costume sketches to Jimmy at Been Better comics for a cartoon rendering:

Old friends meet new friends and several months of crafting (and giggling) ensue.
Crazy Cat-Lady Catwoman was the first to take shape:

Then Homeless Hippie Poison Ivy started to come together:

And last, but not least, everybody’s favorite certifiably insane girlfriend, Hobo Harley Quinn, came to life:

Hopefully con-goers would see us and get a chuckle. Hopefully, a few gals would see us and  think “hey that’s cool, I don’t always have to be sexy to be awesome.”

As long as we were having fun we were stoked!

We never thought in a million years we’d win anything- all day we went back on forth on whether we should even enter the official cosplay contest hosted by Nerds Like Us!

So you can imagine how stoked we were when Gotham Hobos actually won Best Group Cosplay!!! There was lot’s of squealing and jumping up and down, lol.

Best of all we made friends with some very talented, creative and awesome female cosplayers who are not afraid to cosplay outside the sexy box, so to speak! All in all, it was a fantastic experience and so  much fun.

I could not have had two better partners in crime than Ms. Natasha and BHArtDesigns!