cptdragon9
New Member
SPACE GODZILLA
So for those playing along, I built my first foam suit last year (Godzilla) and had planned to keep that suit a few years. Unfortunately when I stored it in the shed, the heat melded the latex and I had a crumbling lump of foam and paint when I went to pull him out for the June Comic Con.
This just gave me a reason to build Space Godzilla. I had a chance to restructure the legs, get a better coat of paint, and experiment with more materials.
The shoulders would be the challenge, I wanted to keep them light enough that they didn't crush my neck, and they had to be see through and allow lighting. Finally decided on thin Plexiglas. Bought every conceivable glue on the market and ended up using the old hot glue gun. What was nice was the the frosted coating they use to protect the sheets for transport proved to be the perfect medium to give that frosted glow so I didn't have to paint them. I did coat them with hologram gel, along with all the other crystals to give them that granite sparkly look. I probably should have used chicken wire as a base for those shoulder crystals, but then again I wanted it light. The crystals flop around , a lot, so I have some thick gauge wire wrapped around the bases. Couldn't work it under the skin in time for the con, but maybe I can rework it before the next one.
The other questionable move was using poster board to make the spines. I tried to use the soft foam that I had used for the original Godzilla spines, but just couldn't get then sharp and angular enough; that and it took a ton of paint to get the solid sheen, so I mass produced enlarged crystal forms using the template from Minieo. After a while I got it down to minimal cuts and folds, falling back on the foam when they got too small to fold for the shapes along the tail. I did use 2 coats Modge Podge on the smaller foam pieces, along with the claws and toes so that the foam wouldn't suck in as much paint and it did work. Just make sure to let the Modge Podge dry between coats.
Again I used house Latex paint, a base coat charcoal grey to cover the green, then blue on top for the body, and a brilliant eggshell white gloss for the back and tail crystals. Had a bit of a problem with the plates sticking to the drop cloth and each other, never mind having to chase them around a bit with my new paint sprayer. The Caulfield sprayer was a good one to start with, but it clogged easily, the screw top canister would stick a lot I had to use channel locks on more than one occasion to open it) and it took forever to clean. Finally invested in a Wagner Spray Tech 0529011 Flexio 570 Paint Sprayer. MUCH easier to clean and use. The only thing bad for it is that it weighs five pounds, and that's a lot on one skinny arm. I probably should have gone with the 590 as it had an option for a finer spray for detail, but I can't see holding my arm still enough for any detail. I did by an air brush, but alas it is still sitting in the package. Seems to have an awfully small cup to be covering a whole suit. Next time....
The chest and belly plates are my first foray into EVA foam... also with using a Dremel. I wanted a smoother texture that the regular foam couldn't give me. I also was able to bore in some detail to give that ridged effect, then laid in some red paint toned down with the blue to give it some depth.
Everything else was straight forward. I did invest in some Barge cement to help glue some of the bigger pieces to either each other or to squares of cloth to prevent the tearing that happened last time around. Decided that I need to go with the non-toxic version of the glue because the fumes WILL make you heady, even in an open garage. Also made it so that the back opens up much wider so I don't have to lay the suit down to get into it and risk tearing it when I stand up. The tail now ties around the waist instead of being velcroed or stitched it; it helps hold the body together (which still didn't come out like I'd hoped) The head a body also got twisted a little so its not straight on, but it seems to add more of a swagger to the evil Big Guy.
Full build pictures:
So for those playing along, I built my first foam suit last year (Godzilla) and had planned to keep that suit a few years. Unfortunately when I stored it in the shed, the heat melded the latex and I had a crumbling lump of foam and paint when I went to pull him out for the June Comic Con.
This just gave me a reason to build Space Godzilla. I had a chance to restructure the legs, get a better coat of paint, and experiment with more materials.
The shoulders would be the challenge, I wanted to keep them light enough that they didn't crush my neck, and they had to be see through and allow lighting. Finally decided on thin Plexiglas. Bought every conceivable glue on the market and ended up using the old hot glue gun. What was nice was the the frosted coating they use to protect the sheets for transport proved to be the perfect medium to give that frosted glow so I didn't have to paint them. I did coat them with hologram gel, along with all the other crystals to give them that granite sparkly look. I probably should have used chicken wire as a base for those shoulder crystals, but then again I wanted it light. The crystals flop around , a lot, so I have some thick gauge wire wrapped around the bases. Couldn't work it under the skin in time for the con, but maybe I can rework it before the next one.
The other questionable move was using poster board to make the spines. I tried to use the soft foam that I had used for the original Godzilla spines, but just couldn't get then sharp and angular enough; that and it took a ton of paint to get the solid sheen, so I mass produced enlarged crystal forms using the template from Minieo. After a while I got it down to minimal cuts and folds, falling back on the foam when they got too small to fold for the shapes along the tail. I did use 2 coats Modge Podge on the smaller foam pieces, along with the claws and toes so that the foam wouldn't suck in as much paint and it did work. Just make sure to let the Modge Podge dry between coats.
Again I used house Latex paint, a base coat charcoal grey to cover the green, then blue on top for the body, and a brilliant eggshell white gloss for the back and tail crystals. Had a bit of a problem with the plates sticking to the drop cloth and each other, never mind having to chase them around a bit with my new paint sprayer. The Caulfield sprayer was a good one to start with, but it clogged easily, the screw top canister would stick a lot I had to use channel locks on more than one occasion to open it) and it took forever to clean. Finally invested in a Wagner Spray Tech 0529011 Flexio 570 Paint Sprayer. MUCH easier to clean and use. The only thing bad for it is that it weighs five pounds, and that's a lot on one skinny arm. I probably should have gone with the 590 as it had an option for a finer spray for detail, but I can't see holding my arm still enough for any detail. I did by an air brush, but alas it is still sitting in the package. Seems to have an awfully small cup to be covering a whole suit. Next time....
The chest and belly plates are my first foray into EVA foam... also with using a Dremel. I wanted a smoother texture that the regular foam couldn't give me. I also was able to bore in some detail to give that ridged effect, then laid in some red paint toned down with the blue to give it some depth.
Everything else was straight forward. I did invest in some Barge cement to help glue some of the bigger pieces to either each other or to squares of cloth to prevent the tearing that happened last time around. Decided that I need to go with the non-toxic version of the glue because the fumes WILL make you heady, even in an open garage. Also made it so that the back opens up much wider so I don't have to lay the suit down to get into it and risk tearing it when I stand up. The tail now ties around the waist instead of being velcroed or stitched it; it helps hold the body together (which still didn't come out like I'd hoped) The head a body also got twisted a little so its not straight on, but it seems to add more of a swagger to the evil Big Guy.
Full build pictures:
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