Doctor Octopus WIP

Kobb

Kobb

Active Member
Greetings, right now this is still mostly theory crafting. After going to several conventions with my friend having mismatched costumes, I've become adamant about doing a pair that we could show off together for a group cosplay. He has locked himself down into wanting to make a Green Goblin costume and after much debate I've landed on doctor octopus as my costume of choice (followed closely by scorpion)

I have a rough idea right now of how I want to go about crafting the tentacles, but as with anything I need to start with a solid base. I'm having a little trouble narrowing down a good backpack/backplate that could be use to support the whole system. As it sits I'm still in the research stages and would love any advice you wonderful people have to offer. The search function has been less than helpful so far, but I could just be looking in the wrong places.

My current thought is doing something more akin to the ultimate spiderman tv series doc ock. I'm very much intrigued by the thought of a large glowing chest armor base. After landing on a good base I'll likely play the rest by ear in terms of how I want it laid out. Right now I just want to use that chest system.

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Thanks, I've got my alice pack on order to give it a strong base support. Also did a bit of wandering around lowes/home depot today. Trying to get a feel of what I can use for the inner structure, I'd love to have the arms be fully poseable. My current plan is to put a set of low diameter copper piping in each arm, that should give it enough rigidity to move around but hold shape once I stop.

Once my pack arrives I should get this started, will likely be about a week still.
 
As the great late Shao Kahn once said, IT HAS BEGUN!

My alice pack arrived in the mail and I immediatly got to work on it. Ran out and grabbed some supplies.

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A few drill holes, some hardware, and a home made set of straps. My backpack is well underway.

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Next step, begin setting up tubing. My current plan is to layer use copper tubing for the armature, I'll layer that with some plumbing insulation foam, and cut up pvc to stretch over the foam. With a decent paint job they should make for good tentacle segments. Depending on how those turn out, I may expand out on them. I'd love to make a larger set up, similar to the 3 prong tentacles of the movie, but with my own flare.
 
Sadly the copper tubing isn't working out quite as well as I had hoped. With a hollow inside it pinches to easily if I bend it wrong. Which will leave it prone to breaks if stressed to much. I've decided to go an alternate route and buy up some aluminium wire. I'll probably twist 2 or 3 thinner lengths together to try and create a strong armature. Will make it harder to set up wiring, but should create a stronger more stable base.

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Also, I can't help but say it. SCIENCE!
 
How were you bending your copper? You'd be able to get just about any kind of bend out of it with a cheap-o bender (like a $5 one) or even a tube-bending spring. I'm anxious to see how this comes together for you, I haven't seen very many Doc Ocs around... AWESOME.
 
Most of it bends pretty easily, the issue comes with it takes too sharp of a turn. when that happens it's essentially like corking a water hose. The goal is to have wire that's I can bend on the fly for picture positioning.

Quick picture for referance. This happened when I stuck it in the backpack to take the latest shot. It bent to sharply at the point of entry.

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Ignore the unpainted desk DRD.
 
Yep, hollow pipe will collapse if it's not supported properly and you try to bend to tight of a radius. I use one just like this, it'll bend very tight radii:

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I get the direction you're going for, though. Essentially like a oversized pipe cleaner, something that'll support the weight of the overall arm without deforming, but allow you to rebend on the fly. If the aluminum doesn't work, you can still use your copper, but run a length of the biggest heavy rope (clothesline) that will fit inside the pipe; that'll help keep you from kinking (the tighter packed that rope is in the copper, the better).
 
Have you thought of maybe putting hinges throughout each arm? Maybe one every foot? This way you could bend them, but still keep the strength. Screw the copper (it's expensive anyway) and just use plastic or a cheap-metal pipe.
The hinges would need to be tight enough to not collapse while hanging, but loose enough to bend on command.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
I'll keep the hinge in mind, I'm willing to try aluminium wiring. It's cheap enough to give it a quick try. I'm gonna return one of my un-opened copper pipe packs and exchange it for aluminium. I saw it work well for another build, but mine will likely have more weight on it. He twisted 2 lengths together, I'm aiming to do 3 and see how it holds up. For $5 it's worth a look.

If not I can see the rope idea working really well, would give it the necessary support I need.
 
I made some arms for a friend for his Doc Oc a while ago. We wanted something really light weight and flexible, but not droopy noodle like. I came up with the idea of using party cups. We poked a hole in the bottom of each one small enough for fishing line to go through (we used a heavy weight line, like 40 pound test or something like that). We made each arm much like you would make a popcorn string decoration. You take the line, add a cup, add a cut piece of landscapers tubing (it's black 1/4" thick tubing used for garden waterfalls and such, and can be cut with scissors), then repeat until you have a arm long enough for what you want. He didn't want them super long. I decided to use more fishing line to connect them to his coat so that they looked like they were moving over their own accord as he walked. It worked really well and held up great.
Here is a picture I could find of the customer. Also I made a graphic of what the cup system looked like.
I feel like the cups really added to the segmented mechanical arm look.

DSCN0855.JPG doc_oc_arm.jpg

I'm sure you could do something similar and have one or more of the arms have more structure to them to hold their place or even use this method with some type of click hinges to have them stay more in place too. Too bad they don't make the Lego click hinges, like on the Lego Doc Oc, big enough for something like this.
 
A very interesting take on things, and an ingenious method of going about it. But I'm not sure it would be able to support the kind of heft I'm planning on adding to these arms. I essentially want to layer the arms with cut and painted pvc tubing. If I decide to go with a closer look to the movie it'll add that much more.

Kudos none the less, always appreciate the advice and it's a fantastic idea.

I should have my aluminuim wire tomorrow, will be able to post some pictures of test arms tomorrow or wednesday. Thanks so far for all the idea's and support everyone :)
 
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I think i've resolved a few issues of my design. The issue didn't come a weak armature, i was just trying to throw to much on it. The stuffed copper tubing will be more than sufficient, i just need to find a lighter weight way of creating my segments. Should have the wire frame set up by the weekend, I'll try to have pictures up asap.
 
I've seen dryer tubes used to great effect for Doc Oc. A guy used clothes hanger wire on the outside of the tube, with each stretch of wire at 90 degree intervals (4 total on each arm), with a double wire on about the first 1.5 feet extending from the back, since that section would bear the most weight. I think to attach it to the tube, he actually threaded it through the tube at regular intervals (every 5 rings or so?) keeping most of the wire exposed to give a little more rough-tech look. Might be an alternative to explore if plan A does not work. Looking forward to watching the progress!
 
Unfortunately no. But I did a quick google search for "Doctor Octopus Cosplay" and while I saw a lot of "Spider-man 2" versions, I came up with this:
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That is not the fellow that I saw, but it is very close. It looks like whatever structuring he used is located on the inside of the tube, which is obviously also a design option.
 
I feel like the copper armature should be sufficient for my base. I'm actually doing a mix of my two initial ideas. I'll take the copper tubing and stuff it full with twisted aluminum wires. That should create a strong but bendable base, now i need to start working on how i want the outside "show" layer to go. The Challenge will be to find something that looks good but won't carry to much weight for the structure. Its likely to be a mix of plumbing insulation foam and corrugated tubing similar to that on a vacuum. I'm not opposed to stepping it up and molding something to link, but i'm a little less experienced in that area.

Anyway, base supplies bought earlier. I'll upload some pictures once i have it going together later.
 
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Happy to say the stuffed copper with aluminum has worked out fantastic. Incredibly strong while still being malleable, Albeit with a bit of effort. I ended up giving one of my helmets a ride on it with no noticeable bends from the weight. Pvc could still be an option, but i do like the alternatives you posted. I'll have to weigh options and pricing.
 
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