MGS Solid Snake Vest... Help!

NEZAHUAL

hey folks. I've been seeing a lot of threads of amazing costumes, and I was wondering if someone could help me out.

I'm trying to make a vest based on the one in MGS1.

I want some opinions on how to make it. in my mind the vest is a two piece. 1) the vest underneath which serves to compress and keep the body warm. 2) the body armor on top. The armor is made to be shaped as the muscle pattern. It would sorta work like the TDK armor. having multiple pieces instead of just one for better flexibility.

All this is just my opinion from what I got from playing the game. I started making the muscle pattern out of foam floor mats I had. I carved out the muscle pattern onto the foam, but it wasnt flexible enough so i gave up on that.

I figure the outer armor could have straps on the side and shoulders to adjust it and have either a zipper or velcro on the front to easily remove it when it gets too hot. I dont want it to be too heavy though. so the vest underneath would be light but strong enough to be used as a compress and it should be adjustable too.

I have 0 skill sewing and making patterns, and I dont know what materials to use. So i was hoping someone could help me, either with info or making some(all) of it lol

here are some pics of some figures of snake.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/4933/img3487l.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...2/IMG_1322.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gyiu8752Ss...k/s1600/24.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-weUx_PhCV5...s/s1600/22.jpg

sorry for the long read. let me know what you guys/gals think. thanks.

MadMike

i don't think that i'm much of a help here, all i can say is that the muscle pattern is best made out of EVA foam. but, as i don't have any experience with that stuff, i can't help you.

the reason why i write anyway: i guess you should check out other references. i've played MGS of the PlayStation (a looooong time ago ), and i guess it was just because of the graphic-effects, but i don't remember with so many muscles. i guess it was just made for these figures to make him look more like a hero.

my advice would be to have a look at hi-res screenshots of the twin snakes (mgs1 for the gamecube), or - if you have the ability - to look at some drawings from the character designer (i think they published an art book, perhaps you can find scans of these somewhere)

if you want that masculine hero-look with many muscles...ignore what i've said ^^

Nobby

definitely looks like something that could be done in foam and then maybe coated in something like plastidip

GBrittelleJr

I'm not sure what your level of craftmanship is, but when I was sitting down a year or so, trying to devise a way to make this exact suit (it's by far my favorite), I came to this conclusion- id sculpt the main torso and upper back in oil clay, mold it in silicone or urethane, and then cast them in a material made by Smooth-On called FlexFoam.

FlexFoam is a wonderful thing. It develops a skin on the outside that takes paint easily, but it still flexes. It's what a LOT of Halo costumers use for part or all of their Spartians armor. What I would do then is take the unpainted foam muscle suit and glue my desired fabric over it. It would be comfortable to move in, but still give the desired effect. Same with the knee and elbow pads, but they would be exposed foam and painted.

Zorlord

gear wise, it just looks like he's wearing black flak vest thats been molded to his muscular form. He's wearing a riggers belt or an lc-2 belt with a rappelling harness, and some sort of double mag pouch on the front of his hips. I dont know what the gloves are, but you could try to look at nomex flight gloves, or hardnuckle tactical gloves. For his clothes, it looks like he could be wearing some sort of grey-blue flightsuit. His weapon of choice is an h&k mk23.

In some pictures (particularly from ssb), it looks like hes not wearing the flak vest, but rather a black LBV with the same belt, as well as a black dropleg holster for his mk23.

Hope this helps for the actual costume part.

NEZAHUAL

I was planning on getting a flak vest for underneath and some of the gear too but the local army surplus store didn't have the vest or the gear in the right color. I'm thinking of dyeing the gear but not too sure how permanent the stuff will be.

I am using EVA foam floor mats, but it's not as flexible as I want it to be. so, just to show my level of experience here are a couple pics of what I did. I'm thinking of just cutting out the muscle patter and using it as templates. then glue or sew the pieces onto the desired material. It just barely fits me, since I'm on the heavy side. If it had some velcro or a zipper up front it would fit. still need to add the straps on the side for it to be adjustable.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...1/100_2672.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...1/100_2680.jpg

Deelite

Your best bet is to work from upholstery foam. cut them into the shapes you need based on the pattern you see from your figures.

His vest is a SOFT vest, so harder foam like EVA foam or craft foam will not work (as you found out). You need a malabalbe foam like upholstery foam.


You do not need to know how to sew to make his vest. you just need to be able to make patterns out on paper, to trace onto foam, glue the foam to gether, then glue a fabric onto the foam. It may require some simple hand-sewing, and there are a ton of tutorials on the net on how to do that. as long as you can sew in a straight line (or somewhat straight) you can make anything.


its like making a muscle suit.

Sew a Straight Line: Muscle Suits, a tutorial

(instead of the sewing machine, you just hand sew it).

NEZAHUAL

Not sure if I worded it wrong but the reason why it wasn't flexible was because it was one big piece. Now I'm planning on cutting out the muscles and using them as templates and trace them onto the floor mats. I want to use the harder foam because it would retain its shape better and it wont be too squishy. Like I mentioned before, it would work like the Batman's armor in TDK. the armor pieces would be glued/sewn onto a mesh material then fabric on top.

After figuring out how to make the muscle part. I would still need to sew the velcro/webbing on the sides and the webbing/buckles for the shoulder straps.

let me know if you guys have anymore ideas.

Zorlord

If you want, shoot me a pm and ill try to help you out.. Im coming from an airsoft background so i tend to be able to source gear fairly easy, or find people who can do it for me.

NEZAHUAL

So I got the gear figured out but I still need some more input on the vest.