Being a huge fan of Doctor Who I've always wanted to do a Cosplay and make it one I haven't seen much of at DragonCon so I figured why not give the Vashta Nerada a try.
This is my first full costume involving creating the major pieces from scratch instead of just acquiring the proper pieces like my Stargate SG-1 Off World costume. I've learned a lot during this build and want to thank everyone that posted advice, How To links, and Videos on Pep, Resin, and Bondo.
I started out looking in the Doctor Who Pepakura Thread but the Vashta Nerada files listed on the first page are no longer available so I kept digging. I eventually found a set here: vashtaneradasuit correct scale - Download - 4shared - Hell brell
The printed plans resulted in 36 pages. I used 100# card stock. After many many hours of cutting out pieces I was finally able to start assembling.
I used SuperGlue for my assembly and in hind sight that probably wasn't the best idea. I'll probably use low-temp hot glue in the future.
Once I had the pepakura model made it was time to move on to the resin and fiberglass phase
Next was the Bondo Phase. I've never worked with Bondo before so it was definitely interesting. My initial application leaves a LOT to be desired but the sander helped clean up my messy work.
I then moved on to Rondo the insides of both pieces. I'm not sure if I should have Rondo'd first or Fiberglassed first. I did a layer of Resin, then Fiberglassed and then Rondo'd the inside.
The bottom of the Helmet was rather weak so I got a piece of plexiglass and cut a rim out and then used Resin to secure it to the Helmet base.
Outside of both pieces was a few layers of Resin followed by Bondo and TONS of sanding and reapplying.
Once I had it "good enough" (DragonCon was looming closer and closer) It was time to paint. The inside of the helm got a Flat Black and the outside got Gloss White
After I got it painted it was time to work on the electronics. I'll post the electronics schematics and pics in the next thread.
I spent lots of time searching for "white work gloves" to use with this costume and found a pair that would get the job done (Harbor Freight $1.99 Goatskin Driving Gloves) then on the Monday before DragonCon I woke up from a dead slumber around 3a with an epiphany. Work Gloves was the wrong thing to think of. SKI GLOVES! I then searched and found a Seirus Innovation Men's Whistler Glove pair that looked perfect. Bonus: They were on sale for $14.97 and shipped Prime. (NOTE: Apparently the sale is over, they show $69.99 now. OUCH!)
I ordered a pair of Kamik Men's Lunar Insulated Boots for $29.96 but they only came in Black. A few coats of White PlastiDip and they became perfect. My lovely wife Jessica helped with all the painting.
I didn't have the budget for the Sparco Formula-1 Racing Suit that they used in the episode so I searched for something that could pass for it with some modification. I found a candidate at All Seasons Uniforms Men's 100% Cotton White Coverall
Again, my lovely wife to the rescue. She removed the pockets and crafted up some shoulder pieces to mimic the suit used on screen. She then used Fine Tipped Sharpies to color all the thread lines and then add more in the open areas to match what we saw in the pics I found.
I found a $9.99 skull mask at a local Spirits Halloween (lucky timing since they aren't around Nov-mid July) and overall I think it pulls off what I was trying to accomplish.
I took Scariest Villain in the DragonCon Doctor Who BritTrack 50th Anniversary Ball Costume Contest and lost track of how many people took pictures of me. If you see this costume around on the internet please let me know.
This is my first full costume involving creating the major pieces from scratch instead of just acquiring the proper pieces like my Stargate SG-1 Off World costume. I've learned a lot during this build and want to thank everyone that posted advice, How To links, and Videos on Pep, Resin, and Bondo.
I started out looking in the Doctor Who Pepakura Thread but the Vashta Nerada files listed on the first page are no longer available so I kept digging. I eventually found a set here: vashtaneradasuit correct scale - Download - 4shared - Hell brell
The printed plans resulted in 36 pages. I used 100# card stock. After many many hours of cutting out pieces I was finally able to start assembling.
I used SuperGlue for my assembly and in hind sight that probably wasn't the best idea. I'll probably use low-temp hot glue in the future.
Once I had the pepakura model made it was time to move on to the resin and fiberglass phase
Next was the Bondo Phase. I've never worked with Bondo before so it was definitely interesting. My initial application leaves a LOT to be desired but the sander helped clean up my messy work.
I then moved on to Rondo the insides of both pieces. I'm not sure if I should have Rondo'd first or Fiberglassed first. I did a layer of Resin, then Fiberglassed and then Rondo'd the inside.
The bottom of the Helmet was rather weak so I got a piece of plexiglass and cut a rim out and then used Resin to secure it to the Helmet base.
Outside of both pieces was a few layers of Resin followed by Bondo and TONS of sanding and reapplying.
Once I had it "good enough" (DragonCon was looming closer and closer) It was time to paint. The inside of the helm got a Flat Black and the outside got Gloss White
After I got it painted it was time to work on the electronics. I'll post the electronics schematics and pics in the next thread.
I spent lots of time searching for "white work gloves" to use with this costume and found a pair that would get the job done (Harbor Freight $1.99 Goatskin Driving Gloves) then on the Monday before DragonCon I woke up from a dead slumber around 3a with an epiphany. Work Gloves was the wrong thing to think of. SKI GLOVES! I then searched and found a Seirus Innovation Men's Whistler Glove pair that looked perfect. Bonus: They were on sale for $14.97 and shipped Prime. (NOTE: Apparently the sale is over, they show $69.99 now. OUCH!)
I ordered a pair of Kamik Men's Lunar Insulated Boots for $29.96 but they only came in Black. A few coats of White PlastiDip and they became perfect. My lovely wife Jessica helped with all the painting.
I didn't have the budget for the Sparco Formula-1 Racing Suit that they used in the episode so I searched for something that could pass for it with some modification. I found a candidate at All Seasons Uniforms Men's 100% Cotton White Coverall
Again, my lovely wife to the rescue. She removed the pockets and crafted up some shoulder pieces to mimic the suit used on screen. She then used Fine Tipped Sharpies to color all the thread lines and then add more in the open areas to match what we saw in the pics I found.
I found a $9.99 skull mask at a local Spirits Halloween (lucky timing since they aren't around Nov-mid July) and overall I think it pulls off what I was trying to accomplish.
I took Scariest Villain in the DragonCon Doctor Who BritTrack 50th Anniversary Ball Costume Contest and lost track of how many people took pictures of me. If you see this costume around on the internet please let me know.