1St Ever Costume

[Panther]

Hi everyone,

Just joined the forums and thought I'd introduce myself here. I'm from the uk so if anyone else is also please say hi. Ill give you a little run down about myself and how I ended up finding this forum.

I've been invited to go to a comic con with a friend sometime next year, about 6 months away and I get thinking about costumes that I could wear. I was wanting something fairly unique and cool looking and was having a look round the Internet for ideas. I've done a couple of zombie makeup effects on myself before for Halloween parties using liquid latex and tissue paper to build up bite marks on my face, and peel the tissue paper away to make fake flaps of skin and filled this with fake blood and face paint to get a realistic look as well as makeup to get the sunken eyes. However for next year I wanted to do something that people probably haven't seen me do before and test myself also.

I've always wanted to make movie costume replicas, from lord of the rings to Star Wars. I've always felt that costumes are an integral part to character within movies and that as an actor puts on the layers of the costume they are no longer an actor but that character and I feel that's the same for anyone, whether they are actors or not. However I've never really had the confidence to take on a project such as this but that's something I wanted to change.

I'd seen the predator movies from a young age and the predator always fascinated me, not just as a creature but as a race too, and how each predator was different. While trailing through the Internet and YouTube videos I came across a video from the San Diego comic con titled predator apocalypse which then led me to this site. Since then I have been set on creating a predator outfit, hopefully to the same standard as many on here, which I doubt.

I've been reading up on a few things on here and watching how to YouTube videos which has given a lot of insight. I have a fair few questions to ask but I won't bombard you with them all at once. Hopefully they haven't been asked before and if they have I will apologise. Sorry for the long post, just thought you guys would be interested to know where I'm coming from and why I want to do things like this. Who knows, might become a new hobby which I'm sure the girlfriend will love as I already have one expensive hobby and she doesn't think I need another one lol.

I like to get as much information as I possibly can before taking on any project and do my homework so if you get fed up with me asking all the questions please say. I see from a post that a lot of your costumes take between 6-12 months. Bearing in kind this will be the first costume I have ever undertaken, is 6 months a realistic time scale with hard work and dedication to get a predator costume to the standard I'm looking for? Also from your guys personal experiences is there a certain predator (p1/p2 etc.) that would be easier for a complete noob to undertake as there first project?

Thanks for reading and for any help that you guys may be able to give me and speak soon.

 

[Usurper]

Welcome fellow UK'r and thanks for the intro.

heres he link to the welcome thread http://www.thehunterslair.com/topic/20822-new-members-introduce-yourselves-here/page__st__3075


Time scales are a personnel thing, some want suits yesterday, some just want them done right so time is not a issue. it depends on the time, effort and quite often the amount of cash you throw at a build.

good luck and enjoy the reading, as a vast majority of the questions you will have are already within these pages.

good luck.

 

[Double H]

Welcome to the boards my friend and welcome to another fellow UK'er,

There is a wealth of knowledge and expertise that has been shared on various threads across the boards from mask making to armour painting, remember the the search will can be your friend. When you start your build, make a thread and people will follow your progress and chime in with feedback and answers to questions when you need it.

This is one journey that you'll never forget. The time that journey takes is dependent on you, the amount of time and money you through at it. There are many ways of making suits and out of many different materials.... even a bottle can be incorporated somehow.

Good luck and welcome again

ps what part of the UK you at?

 

[Lflank]

Welcome to the Lair.

My advice to beginners is always the same---break everything down and do it one part at a time. Building a Pred suit from scratch can be an overwhelming task, but it become far easier if you do it one simple small step at a time.

Use the "search" function here heavily. There is an awful lot of collective experience here. And of course we're always happy to answer questions.

Good luck with your build.

 

[Panther]

Hi guys. Thanks for the warm welcome. Much appreciated. I come from Suffolk region of the UK, near Ipswich.

Going to start by getting together some reference photos from the movie and start sketching out designs and working out a few measurements first. I was thinking of separating the entire suit as different parts, e.g. Helmet, feet etc. sorry don't know all the different terminology for parts. An I right thinking you call the helmet the bio and the head the mask?

As for time I'd like to have it completed in about 6 months but to me getting it right is more important so if its not done then no sweat, as there's always other times it can be worn. I'm a bit of a perfectionist at times so if something doesn't look quite right I won't be happy until it does. As for money I'm not the richest guy in the world but I am willing to save to get the best quality.

Preferably I'd like to build everything myself rather than buying any premise stuff, would give me more satisfaction I think with the end result. Will definitely be using the search function on here before asking questions.

I was thinking of starting with the helmet on my build regardless of which predator I pick, mainly due to the fact that I've seen so many tutorials on making this part of the suit. Making the initial clay structure, then moving on to making the mould and finally casting in resin (I believe). Can't remember the names of the exact materials off the top of my head but it doesn't take long to find. Really want working lasers in there for the helmet. Really liked the videos I've seen where people have managed to do this in their suits. After that hopefully the rest should follow and fall into place. (With a bit of hard work).

Thanks again for the feedback so far and hopefully my project will be underway soon. I'm going to leave this thread open as a sort of progress report and question area for my project, purely to not start loads of different threads and clog up the forums.

PS. @doubleH - just out of interest, what can a plastic bottle be used for on a pred suit? Cheers.

 

[Double H]

Sounds like you got a plan and it seems we got another sculptor, I great to see more sculptors coming to the board.

The plastic bottle can be used to make a gauntlet I.e a Persil fabric softener bottle, cut in half to make a gauntlet top or even converted onto a plasma cannon

 

[Lflank]

I've seen plastic two-liter soda bottles also be used to make shoulder bells.

 

[Panther]

Ah right, very interesting. Didn't think of that. I'm hoping to create my costume with materials that can withstand a little bit of abuse, not that it's going to be used for or expecting it to take any physical damage, but I'd like to feel safe in the fact that its going to withstand a knock or two.

Sorry for posting lots, been on the forum looking through a lot of threads as I probably will be for a while to come as yet and keeping an eye on my own thread to respond to comments posted. There's so many great ideas throughout this whole forum it just drives my imagination and inspiration. Something I definitely want to incorporate into my suit is a retractable blade that actually retracts in and out which is powered by a motor. Saw a post by some guy on here. Also would be cool to have a spear that could do a similar thing. I have a feeling my pockets are going to be emptier than they've ever been before. But like lflank previously posted - one step at a time.

Not too worried about the weight either. I'm used to carrying a lot of weight around while playing airsoft. At the moment though I'm just enjoying reading through the forums and taking a few notes here and there when I've got a spare moment. Only really have weekends free due to work but those weekends are going to be productive.

Thanks again guys and really glad I stumbled upon this forum. Finally given me the inspiration I needed to try something like this.

 

[wonko]

Nice to see some 'new blood' taking so much interest in the hobby! I spent almost 8 months searching and reading here before even attempting my own build. Every time I thought I had decided what I was going to do, something new popped up and I was "back to the drawing board". Best thing I can tell you is get a plan, and try to stick to it. I also recommend setting a realistic budget, and sticking to it, unless your willing to drop a bunch of $$$ from the start. It's easy to add something here and there, and blow the budget in no time. Good luck on your build, and keep us all up to date on your progress.

Brian

 

[TitanPredator]

welcome to The Lair fellow hunter and to quote a fellow hunter "foamies are a wonderful thing"

 

[Panther]

Hi guys,

Sorry I haven't posted again for a while. Been reading through loads of different threads on the forum. Had a little trouble with the search function not bringing up the kind of information I'm looking for (no doubt because of me typing the wrong kind of things in) so have literally been scanning through the forums page by page and opening up threads of interest and threads that are specifically related to the way that I'm planning on building my costume. Don't get me wrong I think all the costumes are great on here, however I'm having kind of an information overload as it is without complicating it by reading up on too many alternative methods.

Perhaps i should have read all the posts in case I missed any vital information, but for now I feel that I have found out enough to at least start forming a plan of action.

I will write out my plan here along with things that I still need to find out as little side note questions to myself. I going to probably write everything in kind of diary form, writing out some of my notes and how I plan to go forward with the build, so that anyone who is looking to make a suit in the future can look at this thread and see how I created mine from planning to completion. Ill also provide progress photos, with descriptions of what I've done and where I'm heading next with the costume. Ill post about mistakes I've made as well which will hopefully help anyone in the future to avoid making the same mistakes. Hopefully by the end it will become a fairly detailed guide on making a costume. That's what I'm hoping anyway. Also if I become completely stumped ill post my questions here also.

Mods feel free to move this thread to the WIP section if it fits there better as the thread goes on.

Ill put up the beginnings of my plan later so you guys can see what you think. Hopefully things will go well and this will become a great guide for people. Anyway stay tuned guys. Thanks again.

 

[wonko]

Sounds like you've been busy!  I did exactly the same thing as far as researching before starting the build.  I also made notes on certain topics I found helpful and wrote down key words so I could search it faster.  It was/is so helpful and time saving for me to have all the info in one spot, instead of spending hours searching for something.

If I were you, I would go ahead and start a new topic in the WIP section.  The mods may or may not get a chance to move this, and allot of people may miss it all together if it stays here.  

Good luck with your build, and be sure to post up a pic or 2 of your progress along the way.

Brian

 

[Panther]

Ok thanks for that Brian. Ill open up a new thread there shortly. Got to go back to work soon so it won't be till later tonight but it will certainly be up there within the next day. Keep your eyes open for it and will hopefully be starting to get a few materials together within the next week or two.

 

[BonzRus]

Welcome. You are off to a good start. The research you are doing now will help you to make good decisions as you go and should save a lot of time, $$ and potential heartache. I did much the same thing as you and came to the conclusion I needed to start with a bio and go from there as well. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Steve

 

[Impactor]

I experienced information overload too, it'll go away with time haha. Looking forward to what you'll build.

 

[Panther]

I have now opened up a new thread in the WIP Section which is pretty much a continuation of this. Ill update this thread also to keep both areas updated and hopefully reach a wider audience. The more help the better I guess.

 

[Panther]

Right guys, here goes. Started getting together some form of a plan now. See what you think.

I've decided to do my first costume build as a predator 1 jungle hunter. I decided on this a) because it was the first ever predator (and it was cool seeing it kick arnies arse - probably the toughest human opponent a predator has ever faced on screen) and b) because it would give me a logical starting point if I decide to do more predator costumes in the future as I can then move onto the predator 2 city hunter and then the other predators that show up at the end of p2 and so forth. That's my logic anyway.

HELMET/BIO

I'm thinking of starting with the helmet as it seems to be the easiest part to start with as it has the most tutorials and how tos. I've never sculpted before so I think I'm going to make a wire frame firstly to then sculpt on with clay. I think it would be harder to sculpt something without some form of underlying structure. Now I'm not sure of the pros or cons to this method but we shall see as the sculpt progresses.

Then after creating a silicon mould of the sculpture I will the cast this in resin. Obviously once cast things will need to be sanded down smooth.

Now for my bio/helmet I wanted to create a few cool gadgets (lights basically lol). The tri lasers are obvious and I found a thread which pointed me in the direction of these little lasers. Link below:

http://dx.com/p/2-5mw-dot-red-laser-module-5-pack-3v-46386

I have no idea what they're like, but as long as they show a visible dot on someone I don't mind, as that's something I'm looking for. If anyone has any experience with them please feel free to post.

Another cool idea I wanted to do was put yellow LEDs around the inside of the lenses that can be switched on and off. I wanted to do this to kind of replicate the yellow eye glow that the predator has in the movie while he had his cloaking device activated if any of you remember that? Can't remember the exact point in the movie.

I also wanted to add the little oxygen tubes or whatever they're called to the helmet which the predator has to release when removing it. The helmet will attach to the mask using magnets as most are but I thought this would be a cool little feature to have these tubes coming off the side and attached to part of the backpack or wherever they're normally attached to (will need to look that up) by some form of snap release like on some Molle pouches if anyone knows what they are. Might not work and might need to find another way to attach them or scrap them altogether but only time will tell for this idea.

Everything will be hand painted as I don't own an airbrush and have no idea how to use one anyway. I've got quite a bit of experience hand painting tiny war hammer type models from when I was a bit younger so something of this size shouldn't be too difficult, just getting the colour schemes right.

I'm thinking of making mesh lenses for the mask too instead of glass/sturdy plastic as I don't want the lenses to steam up as I think that would be a major problem.

Any comments are welcome. More later.

 

[Usurper]

You may wanna keep the build to your other thread and not here, this section is for "HOW to" and you have just posted the same as in your other thread ( which is in the correct place for a BUILD   ) , which is pushing other more appropriate threads here down the list.

 

[Kithunter]

really?..is it just me ...Lee you know this board so freaking well bro. 

thanks for still helping out.  I always dig this kind of intro thread ..people share their reason for building this suit and what it means to them..

i've come to realize people from all walks of life from now till forever will always want to build this costume.


AM