Hey all,
It's been a while since my last build, my Budget Ghostbuster suits and gear from 2009 (Budget Proton Packs).
I'm 6'2, wear glasses, and always near 300 pounds, and I know my limits for costuming. Last year I made a budget Darth Vader hoping to conceal my weight within the robes, and I was happy with the results but I looked like a fat guy dressed as Vader. Being my size, I don't have many options for actual characters - only really Doctor Octopus or Krang.
Krang and his Android Body has always been sort of a dream costume for me, and I've always tossed the idea around as a joke costume. The design is absolutely embarassing - a near nude fat, bald man with red underwear and booties and brain in his belly. I've tossed around the gamut of ideas over the years, but never committed - first it was sweats and a bald cap, and various canvas straps. Then the idea of a morphsuit with Krang's chamber made out of foam.
This year, I finally committed. Two years ago I half finished a Dive Suit reminiscent of a Bioshock Big Daddy. I was unable to finish due to a surprise work trip to Sweden, but my friend wore the suit to a bar last year and took home first place. The costume gave me some good experience using EVA foam, and that's what I've decided to use for Krang. Here's a pic of that suit:
I plan to make full body armor out of EVA foam - both smooth floormats and the textured blue mats from Walmart. For the head, I'll sculpt a buck out of insulation foam, split in to front and back, and vacuuform EVA foam to create a lightweight helmet consistent with the rest of the body. Krang himself will be made out of the insulation foam for his main body, and flexible foam with a metal core to make his tentacles bendable. I'll finish off Krang with a paintjob and a thin finishing coat of latex, resulting in a fleshy, rubberized feel for the alien.
I started with a few sketches. I wanted to make something that brought together some of the cartoon design, the bizarre toy design, and my own additions of making the suit resemble a robotic suit of armor.
This is my first sketch and still the one that I'm using for main reference. I was to add flexible foam on the inside of the elbows and make the elbows and knees in to working joints. The shoulders will also be more like shoulder pads (like Dr. Doom) than just regular shoulders. I wanted his mouth to resemble those of the Sentinels from Marvel comics.
I started out taking measurements and drawing up rough plans to translate in to templates. Here is the one I made for Krang's chamber:
I wanted Krang's chamber to have some depth and since I'm not thin, I needed make the upper torso oversized with a false belly.
After the first night, I had the base shape of Krang's chamber complete (forgive my iPhone pics and the dirty bathroom mirror, thanks):
I was really happy with the results. The next day, I started working on templates for rest of the torso. After modifying my cuts significantly from the template, I had a false stomach that I was happy with:
Tonight I found some time to add on the shoulder pads, essentially finishing the upper torso and chamber. I plan to add velcro in the back, leaving a seam down the middle, to get the torso on and off without a struggle.
Thanks for looking! I'll add updates to the thread as I go along. I'm not sure what I want to do next - I'm itching to get to the helmet because it requires something that I've never done before (vacuuforming foam). I can always use a nude zentai suit as failsafe for the arms and legs, but I'll always need to make a head for either type of costume.
- Rob
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just an idea
