DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [FINISHED]

So right off my Brienne of Tarth build I've decided to jump into another big-ish build, which is DC Bombshell Hawkgirl, designed by Ant Lucia. She's my favorite of the Bombshell designs - I love her more tomboyish look and I think the jetpack + helmet is a fun twist for Hawkgirl.






I had hoped to have this done for a convention this coming weekend, but the jetpack is taking longer than expected and I'm probably going to make the jumpsuit from scratch as I've not had much luck with finding one I like. I want to get this pretty close to accurate, but I may skimp on a few details (like painting the boots, because I may want to re-use them for something else).


The Helmet

For the helmet base we used a cheap army helmet found at a Halloween store. I spent a lot of time making a template for it, then made the foam base which I covered in Worbla. Admittedly, Worbla might not have been the ideal choice - I probably could've just coated the foam in Plastidip or resin or something - but I really like the added durability that Worbla gives. It was a HUGE pain getting the 3 different layers onto the helmet - you can see in one of the photos below that I totally screwed up the back (thank goodness for Bondo putty!).











The helmet is almost done - just needs some touch-ups and it'll be ready for painting!


The Jetpack

My boyfriend has done most of the work on this so far, as I've got some learning to do when it comes to power tools. He cut down the PVC pipes and used the table saw to cut in the grooves. The nose cone and exhaust piece (not sure what it's called) were designed and 3D printed by him, then I puttied, sanded, and primed them.

Here's what the rockets will look like, minus paint and details and all that.



We've pretty much got all the other pieces planned out, but we're still trying to figure out how to tackle the tank. This is the best shot I've found of the back of the statue:



Any suggestions for the tank? At this point I'm leaning toward my trusty ol' Worbla and foam, but I'm sure there are cheaper, possibly easier ways of making this.

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

Carve it out of a styrofoam block and then drape the worbla over it. I t would remain light weight that way.

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

My boyfriend did experiment a bit with both pink foam (stacked in a block) and expanding foam. Though if Worbla is going over it, I imagine thick EVA foam could also work, and keep it hollow.

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

Or try the green florist styrofoam. I would be much easier to sculpt. Hobby Lobby carries it.

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

So, this is a thing that is totally still happening! Progress on this kind of died last fall, but I'm hoping to have it done for ConNooga in two weeks so Chris and I have been putting quite a bit of work into it lately.

The statue came out on Wednesday, and it really was just in the nick of time, as I'd finished adding Worbla to the wings and had already started spackling and sanding them. Fortunately, I had only done one layer of wood filler, so I was able to add the inner panel that I didn't know was there (since there were no good photos of the back that I could find).







My wings are a bit too narrow, but oh well - that's what happens when you have very few reference photos.

The tank has definitely been a challenge. Chris ended up working with the pink foam some more and carved the shape of the tank:



Unfortunately it's a bit too wide, but he's currently in the process of resin-ing it, so, once again... oh well. :\ I'm a terrible perfectionist so these inaccuracies bug the hell out of me, but it's probably not worth taking the time (and materials) to redo these pieces. I have a feeling it's the kind of thing other people won't even notice.

One thing I am pretty pleased with is the helmet! It's almost done! We've got the base coat on:



I've got a bit more WIP to show but I'll do another update later!

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

My wife and I both love the statuette, so it'll be really cool to see how this turns out, she wanted me to tell you that she's impressed!

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

Looking great so far, and an awesome idea for a costume

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

Love me some Hawkgirl! Your Brienne was astounding, so I'm excited to see your progress.

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

Looking good! Just happy to see this costume being made. This design for Hawkgirl almost looks like a combination between the Rocketeer and Tank Girl.

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

Thanks, everyone! I love this design so I'm really excited to be doing this costume - just hoping it all comes together okay!

Here are some more WIP shots!



Decals: I commissioned a friend at work to vectorize the jetpack designs, then another friend of mine cut out the decals for me. Super happy with these!

Dog tags: I opted for the notched, debossed WWII design for a nice touch of authenticity. I had no idea what to put on them, so just made stuff up. You can barely read them anyway, haha.

Tank: Getting close to paint-ready!




The jumpsuit is done! Aside from hemming the pants. I'm not in love with it but I think it turned out alright. The collar came out too wide (probably because this is a pajama pattern, and I didn't think to adjust it) and it chokes me a bit, but I doubt I'll ever wear it zipped all the way up. I will probably wear the suit mostly zipped up next weekend, though, since it'll be cold out.

The gross weather this week has actually been kind of a blessing. Chris and I both got to work from home all week, so we got a bit more done than we would've otherwise. Also very thankful we have a garage for sanding, priming, and painting! This weekend we have a big goal: assembling the jetpack. Then the next few days will be dedicated to painting and adding the strapping. Let's hope we can get it done for ConNooga next weekend!

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

Well, I'm a little bit worried about finishing this in time for this weekend. Chris thinks it's possible but we might be losing some sleep this week... Normally I wouldn't fret over a costume for a con this size, but I'm just really excited to wear this and don't want to have to wait several months for another con.

So, one of big challenges we're facing is how to attach the strapping.

First of all, I had to figure out how the strapping even works, because it doesn't make total sense on the statue. Specifically, she has straps around her legs, but where do they go? They must serve a purpose, right? A typical safety harness has the leg straps going to a waist strap - which would make sense, especially in this case, because when you take off in a jetpack, you'd want it to be secure against your body - but the straps don't go anywhere on the statue itself. Her jacket hangs down right over her waist and there are no straps going to the pack from her waist.

This is what I figured out:



Top harness and bottom harness are separate, but can be clipped together in the back via two smaller straps. When the jumpsuit is hanging down like in the artwork, those straps would be unclipped and hanging down under it. That's not a totally dumb idea, is it? Though instead of connecting to the top harness, we may connect it to the hardware on the jetpack. We'll just have to see what works best.



For the shoulder straps, I bought a cheap backpack at Walmart and ripped off the straps, then replaced the pull straps with slightly wider webbing. I accidentally ordered the wrong type of adjusters, but then I realized I could use D-rings instead, which is actually a bit more accurate to the design. (As for those silver buckles on the top of her straps, I'm ignoring those - I have no idea how to go about doing those and they seem rather pointless.)

I was going to make a simple belt with webbing and a big thick plastic buckle, but I thought a different type of buckle, such as a parachuting cobra buckle, would look nicer and more authentic. Then I realized we have two BSG gun belts, and Chris rarely wears his, so I removed all the pouches and a voila - I have a ready-made belt!

So, back to the attachment problem... The pull straps on the shoulder straps will just be one long strap that goes across the small of my back. We're thinking of somehow attaching two D-rings to the tank for the strap to go through. (We considered using picture hangers, but can't find anything big enough for 1.5" strapping.) For the top of the shoulder straps, we were thinking about attaching rectangular rings to the tank and sewing the straps onto those. If anyone has any other ideas, and the necessary hardware can be bought at a local hardware store or Walmart, I'd love to hear them!

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

Majority of the assembly got done last night. First coat of paint (black) went on to dry overnight, and we got to bed around 5am. I've been up till at least 1am every night this week and it's taking a toll on me. The things we do for costuming...

Chris sprayed it silver this morning. So shiny! It's looking like a real thing now!





Tonight we'll weather it and add some paint details. Then clear coat overnight, and tomorrow we'll add the decals. I think we might hold off on some of the extra details on the rockets (seen here) and add them on later, since time is so short. It bugs me to debut it as unfinished, but I think it'll still look pretty impressive without them.

Oh, and tomorrow is also attaching the straps. Kind of dreading that, but hopefully it won't be too bad. I don't think I'll make both harnesses this time around because, honestly, I'm flat out pooped, and as long as I can actually wear the thing, I'll be good. I've yet to see anyone else even attempt making the leg straps.

We also decided to keep the handles separate, for easier transportation. They're made of thin PVC and will slide into PVC fittings on the pack, which should hold them fairly well.

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

This is looking spectacular. I can't wait to see the final look!

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

So metallic silver paint + sealer = bad.

We tried the floor wax/finish method, and it left smears all over. Now we're going to try weathering it some with acrylics to see if it helps. If it doesn't... I have no clue what to do.

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

Weathering helped! Much happier with it now. Even though the shiny was really pretty!







I think we're going to leave off most of the extra details and just do them later. Trying to get the red stripes on the nose cones is trickier than we'd expected, and we don't want to mess it up. I might see if I can get decals made for those, as well.

Speaking of decals... my main decal is totally too big. There's enough space for it to fit but I can't slant it and get the bombs in the right place. I can probably get my friend to redo the pair of them, but I really want them on there for this weekend, because I feel like they're kind of important.

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

This is really looking amazing.

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

The shiny did look pretty, but I think the weathered version looks more realistic. It's awesome either way!

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

We ended up leaving off the decals for the weekend - I'm going to have my friend recut them at a smaller size so they're accurate. I hated not having it 100% done, BUT I am overall extremely pleased with how well the costume came together.

Here are a few shots from the con this weekend:



Same photo but a little closer up:






My little group! We had hoped to have 6 ladies total but two of them weren't able to finish their costumes in time. I'm still very happy with how great everyone looks, though! Can't wait to have a bigger group together.

Here's the same photo in black-and-white/sepia because I like the vintage look, haha:




Photo by free4geeks.com

We also happened to find a Bombshell Wonder Woman!



I think the jetpack was sitting a bit too low on me so next time I'll have to be sure to pull it up a bit higher. I also don't really love how the jumpsuit top hangs down but I guess there's not much I can do about that. *shrug*

Not that it's really obvious, but we only put wires on one of the handles. It started out as a mistake but we decided to keep it as is, because she only has a button on one side, so why would there be wires on the other side anyway? We could add the extra piece later if we wanted, but from a practical standpoint, it doesn't make much sense to me.

Oh, and here's how we ended up doing the strapping:



I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this thing is actually pretty comfortable to wear and not as heavy as I expected. It's a little tricky to get to with the pack on but I can store stuff inside the tank, which is kind of cool.

We'll probably take a break from this for a week or so, since last week was exhausting, but I hope to finish up the rest of the details soon so it'll be ready for whatever con I decide to attend next. And at some point I want to add flames.

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

Saw this up on the Facebook feed. Nicely done! It turned out great and the rest of the group really sells the pinup style!

Re: DC Bombshell Hawkgirl [WIP]

Love it all, especially the B&W photo, looks classic:thumbsup