How to Make a Ben 10 Omnitrix

Co-authored by Amber Crain

Last Updated: October 25, 2021 References

The Ben 10 franchise revolves around Ben Tennyson’s watch-like alien device, the Omnitrix, which can transform him into 10 different alien creatures. You can make your own version of the Omnitrix at home, complete with the glowing hourglass watch face, with a few basic craft supplies. Unfortunately, yours won’t turn you into an alien creature, but it will still look super cool!

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:
Creating the Wristband

1
Cut 2 pieces of 3mm craft foam into rectangles. Both pieces should be approximately 4 inches (10 cm) wide. 1 of the white craft foam pieces should fit comfortably around your wrist with about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of extra foam. The second piece of white craft foam should be 2 inches (5.1 cm) shorter than the first piece.^{[1]
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- These 2 foam pieces will create the wristband of the watch. The smaller piece simply adds a layer of thickness.
- The 1 inch (2.5 cm) of extra foam is where you'll place Velcro later, enabling you to secure your wristband closed when you're wearing it.
2
Hot glue the smaller piece of foam in the center of the larger piece. Lay the larger piece flat on your work surface. Apply hot glue around the edges of the smaller piece of foam and stack the piece on top of the larger piece, right in the center. Press down firmly so the hot glue adheres securely.^{[2]
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- There should be about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of space on either side of the smaller piece once you secure it onto the larger piece.
- You don't have to do this, but it may make the band easier to manipulate later if you roll the stack of foam up before the glue dries to give the wristband a curved shape.
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3
Sketch a circle with a 2 in (5.1 cm) diameter on top of the foam. Flip the foam over so that the smaller piece is on the bottom. Lightly sketch the circle in the center of the larger piece of foam. It doesn’t have to be perfect circle, but do your best!^{[3]
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- You can also put a green finger light on top of the foam and sketch the circle around around that. After you trace around the light, put it aside. You won't insert it until later.
- You can order a green finger light online. It's a small LED light that illuminates when you press down on it.
- You can make the watch without the green finger light, but your Omnitrix won't light up.
4
Cut the circle out of the foam with scissors or an X-ACTO knife. Cut along your sketched line through both layers of foam and discard the circle of foam that pops out. Your craft foam should now have a 2 in (5.1 cm) circular shaped hole in the center of the wristband.^{[4]
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- If you're using a finger light, make sure the hole is large enough to accommodate it.
- Work slowly and be careful with the sharp X-ACTO blade. If you're a kid, get an adult to help you with the X-ACTO blade. They're super sharp!
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:
Making the Watch Face

1
Trim a 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide strip of foam and shape it into a ring. Make the ring out of a piece of white 5mm craft foam. Apply hot glue to the ends of the strip and press them together so the strip loops into a ring. It should fit around the circumference of the hole you just cut out and frame the watch face.^{[5]
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2
Glue the ring of foam into the hole in the wristband. Apply hot glue around the edges of the foam circle. Press it down into the circular hole in the wristband about .25 inches (0.64 cm) so that the bottom of the circle is flush with the wristband. About .75 inches (1.9 cm) of the strip should be above the wristband and the circle should frame the hole.^{[6]
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- Let the hot glue dry completely before moving on.
3
Trace around a white, plastic cap from a drink bottle on craft foam. Use a white plastic cap taken from a Gatorade bottle, juice bottle, or milk jug that's about 2 inches (5.1 cm) in diameter. Place it on top of another piece of white craft foam and trace around it. Then, cut the circle out with an X-ACTO knife.
- The bottle cap needs to be white so that the green finger light will show up underneath it. Even though the white is opaque, the light will illuminate the white foam.
4
Cut an hourglass shape out of the foam and glue it to plastic cap. Use an X-ACTO knife to punch an hourglass shape out of the circle of craft foam. After you cut out the hourglass, hot glue the foam directly on top of the plastic bottle cap.^{[7]
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- The hourglass shape looks like 2 triangles pointing toward each other.
- This is the familiar green hourglass shape you see on the face of Ben’s watch.
5
Glue a 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide strip of foam around the bottle cap's edge. This piece of foam should be very similar in size to the piece you trimmed earlier to go around the empty hole in the wrist band. Make your strip long enough so that the edges are flush when you wrap the foam around the outside edge of the plastic bottle cap. Then, hot glue the foam strip in place.^{[8]
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- This strip should be made of white craft foam, just like the previous pieces.
6
Cut a thin ring of black craft foam to frame the bottle cap and glue it on. The black ring should be the same size as the bottle cap. Cut the foam ring out with an X-ACTO knife and hot glue it in place on top of the bottle cap. The hourglass icon should be right in the middle.^{[9]
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- The black ring simply frames the hourglass watch face decoratively, so you can skip it if you don't have black craft foam. You can also use white craft foam and paint it black later.
7
Glue the hourglass watch face into the hole of the wristband. Apply a ring of hot glue around the bottom edge of the bottle cap and nestle the watch face into the empty hole in the wristband of the watch. The hourglass icon should be face up.^{[10]
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- At this point, your watch is assembled with a wristband and a watch face. The rest of the work is painting and decoration!
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:
Painting the Watch and Adding Velcro

1
Cut notches out of the wristband on either side of the watch face. Use an X-ACTO knife or scissors to cut angled notches out of the wristband, right above and right below the watch face. The notches should be about 2 inches (5.1 cm) wide.^{[11]
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- If you aren't sure what these notches look like, reference an image of Ben's watch.
- The notches are just for decoration and mimic the look of Ben's watch. You can skip them if you want to!
2
Paint the edges of the wristband and watch face gunmetal gray. Use a paintbrush to paint a gunmetal gray strip along the outside edge of the wristband. Then, paint the sides of the circular watch face and the foam piece with the hourglass shape gunmetal gray, as well.^{[12]
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- Use gunmetal gray craft paint.
3
Paint the rest of the wrist band black. Fill in the white foam space between the gray edges with black craft paint. When you’re finished, you should have a black wristband with gunmetal gray strips around the edges.^{[13]
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4
Position strips of Velcro on each end of the wristband. Use sticky-back black Velcro for this, or you can hot glue on strips of regular black Velcro. One strip should be on the top side of the wristband, and the piece on the opposite end should be on the bottom side.^{[14]
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- That way, when you put the band around your wrist, you can press the Velcro pieces on each side together to secure the watch in place.
5
Add 4 thin strips of white craft foam to the wristband. Ben’s watch has 2 white strips on either side of the watch face that angle out. The watch face is in the middle, so the strips look like an “X” around it. Hot glue the thin strips on to the top side of the wrist band.^{[15]
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- Reference images of Ben’s watch if you aren’t sure what the “X” should look like.
- You can skip this decorative element if you want.
6
Add 4 dots of neon green puffy paint around the watch face. If you need to, reference a picture of Ben’s watch online to see the positioning of the dots. If the watch were real, the dots would be positioned at 12, 6, 3, and 9 o’clock.^{[16]
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- If you like, you can also fill in the hourglass shape with a thin layer of green puffy paint. That way, it will look green even when you don’t have the finger light on underneath the watch face.
- If you're not using a green finger light, you should definitely paint the hourglass neon green.
7
Switch the finger light on and wedge it into the under side of the watch face. Turn the watch upside down, turn the green finger light on, and position it in the center of the bottle cap. Then, flip the watch over and you’ll see that the green light glows through and lights up the hourglass, just like Ben’s Omnitrix!^{[17]
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