Sci-fi enthusiast Cris Knight built a costume using Sintra expanded PVC board for the Comic-Con convention in Las Vegas. The character “Bender” from the popular animated television series Futurama, written and designed by Matt Groening, was the inspiration for the costume. Knight is no amateur when it comes to custom costume design. Modern films including Star Wars, the Fifth Element, A Nightmare Before Christmas, and 300 have influenced his handcrafted works.

Knight wore the Bender costume for a contest at the 2003 Comic-Con convention where he was placed in a “professional” category and won third place. Additionally, he wore the costume again in 2004 for the San Diego Comic-Con where it won an award for “Most Humorous” in a skit called “Not The Droid You’re Looking For.”

The costume was constructed using Sintra expanded PVC board, styrene, vinyl, nylon and fabric. The Sintra material was used for the costume’s structural framework. According to Knight, “Sintra was extremely lightweight and sturdy so it became the perfect material for the under frame of the costume. It is also really easy to work with, only requiring simple hand tools…”

Sintra’s easy workability allowed Knight to transform a material mainly used in retail displays and interior signage applications into a truly innovative creation.