DIY Marceline the Vampire Queen Axe Bass

mariacassano92
Oct 28, 2015
3 min read

So it seems that the cartoons-for-grown-ups trend is still on the rise, and no one's more thrilled about this than me. One of my all-time favorites? Adventure Time. That's why I decided to construct my very own Marceline costume for Halloween this year, and everyone knows she's all about that bass. (Let the record show that the author of this article shows 0 remorse for dad-level one liners).

You Will Need:

2 large styrofoam sheets
A small saw, carving blade, or utility knife
Sandpaper
White Primer
Acrylic paints
Gorilla glue (or other strong adhesive)
Thumbtacks
Wooden accents in various shapes
Silver elastic string

Firstly, you'll need to draw out your design. I made a stencil of the axe shape, and freehanded the neck part. Once you've done this, you're going to trace your axe shape onto the styrofoam twice, because you'll be glueing two of them together to form the body of the guitar. The second layer of the axe needs to have a little square niche where the neck fits in. Then you just cut out your shapes.

Here's a vague sketch of what you're doing. The size and general shape is entirely up to you, but ultimately, you'll be gluing part A on top of part B. Then, once they're glued together, take your sandpaper and shape the axe (AB) until you're happy with the angles, curves, and gouges. Finally, glue part D (the neck) into the hole that is C.

Here's mine after sanding AB, but before gluing on D.

Once your guitar is in one piece, it's time for the primer. I laid out a bunch of newspapers on my garage floor and went to town. The primer I used was an aresol spray, so I sprayed one side, let it dry, flipped it over, sprayed the other, let it dry, and repeated the whole process once more. After two coats of primer, this is where we're at.

After this step, I left the project alone for a full twenty four hours. While it did dry relatively quickly, I wanted to give it a chance to really set; the primer acts as both a blank canvas for your paint and a tough outer shell for your syrofoam, so it's pretty important. In the morning, however, it was time to break out the acrylics.

Marceline's bass differs depending on the source, so I decided to go all red with silver accents. In order to get a nice deep color, I started with a bright red, and then painted over it with maroon. Next came the various wooden accents, which I painted silver. These wooden accents included: four pegs for the tuners, two flat oblong shapes for the pick-ups, two flat rectangles to mount the strings, and four round circles (two glued on top of each other) for the dials. I glued them in the appropriate places, and then it was time for the strings.

As you can see, to mount the strings, I stuck four thumbtacks (also painted silver) into either wooden rectangle. Each of those strings is one big circular loop; I twisted them with my fingers before mounting them so they appear much thicker than they are.

And alas, you're done. A light but sturdy bass guitar that compliments any Marceline costume.

Happy Halloween!