So, I've been planning a Grunt suit for a while now. I'm about to begin, so to kick my butt into gear I've started this thread. Always more motivation when you've got people spurring you on, or at least looking at what you're doing! heh.
Right, so I'm planning resin-coated foam for the armour, with fabric/latex undersuit, stilts for height, latex head/biceps, mouth vision, probably with jaw articulation via simple mechanical means using my own jaw movement.
I've gotten a friend to take some pictures of me for scale and proportion reference, and I've done a couple of overlays and a quick mockup sketch of how it might sit around my... less than ideal body shape. It should work with a lot of tweaking.
So, here we go.
Ideally I'd like to use creature stilts, though for purely practical purposes they'll be hard to (a) get a hold of for less than an arm, a leg and some toenail clippings and (b)use for any period of time. I've got plasterer's stilts as another idea, though something with a nice low profile would be much better. Plan A involves creature stilts and makes building up the leg musculature very simple. Plan B involves straight stilts and makes the leg shaping a lot more annoying, but still doable. I've done false digitigrade legs a few times successfully using foam padding.
My main proportion issue is the arms. I have very short arms and... am short. I'll have to basically pin Grunt's upper arms close to his sides and just move the forearm. I can tweak proportions a bit but the arms will always be an issue. Bulk isn't a problem, keeping my own arms at the inner edge solves that issue and hands can be padded up a bit and still be usable. Oh well, Robot Arms Grunt will probably be amusing if nothing else!
For proportioning the armour, I've got the little pepakura grunt model. I plan to make up the model in parts, then use the shape of each piece to mock up a full size paper pattern and transfer that to foam for the final build. Small parts and details I'll cast in resin if I can manage to learn it, and I'm currently figuring out the rough size of the head so I can set up a foil armature and get my fingers into the clay. I'm new to sculpting and casting, but I'm eager to learn.
Lights and such... I don't know. I'm a complete electronics newbie, but I'm sure I can get some help. EL wire looks like a good bet for the grunt electronics, and the fan/turbine on his back would be a very cool feature if it rotated and had lighting behind it. Good for air flow too if I can pull it off! Cooling good.
Major learning experience here, can't wait to get started. Constructive input or motivation would be very much appreciated
Right, so I'm planning resin-coated foam for the armour, with fabric/latex undersuit, stilts for height, latex head/biceps, mouth vision, probably with jaw articulation via simple mechanical means using my own jaw movement.
I've gotten a friend to take some pictures of me for scale and proportion reference, and I've done a couple of overlays and a quick mockup sketch of how it might sit around my... less than ideal body shape. It should work with a lot of tweaking.
So, here we go.
Ideally I'd like to use creature stilts, though for purely practical purposes they'll be hard to (a) get a hold of for less than an arm, a leg and some toenail clippings and (b)use for any period of time. I've got plasterer's stilts as another idea, though something with a nice low profile would be much better. Plan A involves creature stilts and makes building up the leg musculature very simple. Plan B involves straight stilts and makes the leg shaping a lot more annoying, but still doable. I've done false digitigrade legs a few times successfully using foam padding.
My main proportion issue is the arms. I have very short arms and... am short. I'll have to basically pin Grunt's upper arms close to his sides and just move the forearm. I can tweak proportions a bit but the arms will always be an issue. Bulk isn't a problem, keeping my own arms at the inner edge solves that issue and hands can be padded up a bit and still be usable. Oh well, Robot Arms Grunt will probably be amusing if nothing else!
For proportioning the armour, I've got the little pepakura grunt model. I plan to make up the model in parts, then use the shape of each piece to mock up a full size paper pattern and transfer that to foam for the final build. Small parts and details I'll cast in resin if I can manage to learn it, and I'm currently figuring out the rough size of the head so I can set up a foil armature and get my fingers into the clay. I'm new to sculpting and casting, but I'm eager to learn.
Lights and such... I don't know. I'm a complete electronics newbie, but I'm sure I can get some help. EL wire looks like a good bet for the grunt electronics, and the fan/turbine on his back would be a very cool feature if it rotated and had lighting behind it. Good for air flow too if I can pull it off! Cooling good.
Major learning experience here, can't wait to get started. Constructive input or motivation would be very much appreciated
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