A little bit tweaked... but not so much...

Mannowar

Mannowar

Sr Member
OK... Well I haven't been posting progress pix of my new male and female suit builds because I've been so busy getting them finished in time for Halloween. In fact, I was still putting in the last 4 bolts on the chest armor straps at 8:00PM on Sat. night as they were walking out the door on their way to a costume contest. I didn't even have time to get the net suits done. Normally I work much faster than this, but I was in a pretty bad car accident early in the month and it really slowed me down as far as how fast I can move in my garage, getting up and down off the floor, etc...

Anyway, my girlfriend Mary's daughter and her boyfriend were going to be wearing them in a competition in Venice, CA and had to be there by 9:00 to be entered. We were so rushed that we didn't even get photos when they came up to be fitted and they forgot to grab the camera on the way out in the rush. We will be photographing them in the next couple days, so I will have some posted soon.

Anyway, here's what tweaked me. I grabbed a shower and went down to join them at the bar they were at. It was a huge turnout and they were clearly the big hit. In fact, we took the $1,000 first prize. But there were a couple complaints that they were "store bought" costumes, to which I pulled the plaintiffs aside and explained that I made them and showed them the black universal tint stains still on my hands from making dreads all day. Once that was dealt with, everyone was happy.

Then, this AM I find this: And the Winning Halloween Costums are...

I of couse responded... you have to be logged in to their site to join in the forum discussion and respond but here's a copy and paste of what I responded:

"Regarding the Predator costume being “bought”… I've spent the last 8 months sculpting most of the pieces for this costume. It was sculpted, molded, cast in latex, resin or foam, depending on what piece it is, airbrushed (8 different color layers) and assembled by ME and I have the progress photos to prove it! NO, I don't work in the special FX industry. I work in the music industry, but this has been a hobby of mine for the past 5 years. Are you so narrow minded that you believe no one out there has the talent to accomplish something like this? BTW… If you know of a store where something like this can be “bought”, please share it with me, as it will save me a tremendous amount of time in the future because I'd certainly be more than happy to shop there.

Here are links to show the head from sculpt to finished product along with a couple other sculpts… Please don't just assume that everyone in the world is without talent."

Now I know that grabbing $1,000 in cash should have more than squelched my frustration at the club, but seeing this online really just PISSED ME OFF this AM... LOL We've all been down this road before, but I just needed to vent on someone who would understand...lol

Anyway, I'll be posting some decent photos in the appropriate forum in the next few days.
 
I got your back on this one. Me and Munster38 went to a local dance hall the year I finished his Dark Hunter and my Ceremonial suit. We won the contest but had to hear all that same crap all night. One guy was yelling "thats store bought, you bought that crap, thats ********" So me being me, between judging time I walked over to him pulled my mask and gloves off, did the same thing you did...showed him my stained, cut up, and glue crusted hands. Same thing again...name me one store in town that sells this kind of work. I also told him me and Dale had busted are ass putting these together and if he still didnt believe us we would be happy to discuss with him further...right after we take the cash prize away from his friends standing next to us. That was my first and last bar/dance hall suit up.

Congrats on the win and cant wait to see the pics. The suits are epic...... Im pretty sure of that.

And to "Bret" the writer of that article....just stop writing and go get a job flipping burgers.
 
"I’m pretty sure it cost a lot to buy and is a replica of some movie character"

Seriously ...a reporter living in the capital of the film industry..and that was a replica of SOME movie character. Dont even worry about it ...this person is plain stupid. Take the money... laughing all the way home
 
Scott , screw em buddy, lets face it we dont do this for money anyway do we. even though its cool you won, you shouldnt have to defend your work ffs.

and to Brat Bret whatever hes called.

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Thanks all! I knew everyone on here would understand.

On the upside, Mike and Madison were two perfect people to sport these suits. Madison is 5'11" and in costume with my lifted feet stood around 6'6"... Mike is 6'3" and topped out right at 7' with the lifts and my Elder mask. Predator is one of Mikes favorite movies so he had all the poses down. It was pretty cool seeing them up on stage dancing after the winners were announced. Mike wouldn't even take the mask off when it was all over. I offered to buy him a drink and hold the mask after they won and he just shook his head no and later told me he just loved the feeling of being in that massive costume and wanted to stay a predator as long as possible. They live about a block from the club so he wore the suit walking to and from, stopping and posing for traffic.... dude was in that thing for probably 4 + hours without ever even lifting the mask for air, so even though they frequent that club and know all the bartenders, no one had any idea that it was him.

Mary wondered if I was frustrated by not having time to finish my own costume, but I pointed out that once I knew it wasn't going to be possible, I figured it would be cool to see the overwhelming response as a bystander. I was right, and for all the attention that they got for being in the costumes, I got just as much when people found out that I built them.

The other big upside is that the main bartender at the bar is the biggest pred fan. His brother who was the GM of the club told us he has so much Pred memorabilia in his apartment that it's scary... Needless to say, we drank for free all night!!! lol

I'll finish the net suits tonight and put them on before taking pix and selling the suits. Really didn't want to sell them but after totalling my Jeep last month I need to get another car as my 8 MPG Ford F-350 crew cab with 36" tires isn't a practical everyday driver...lol
 
'Store bought' damn thats a bit of an insult. It would be nice to have a store that sold stuff of this quality though.
It will be interesting to see hir response, if he gives one that is

In any case congrats on the well deserved win, at least we can appreciate all the time, effort and tallent that went onto creating the suit :D
 
Glad to hear you won first place at least. The guy who wrote the article obviously has no clue what he's talking about. Awesome sculpts and awesome work!

Charlie
 
I hear ya, Scott. Like so many others here, I got the same kind of response when I won $500 as the predator back in '04 at a big contest. I had some photos of me putting together the costume that silenced the skeptics and the angst mongers. Look at it this way, consider the crits of your stuff being store bought as a compliment. The quality of your work and others on this board speaks for itself. The inspiration we create and receive from our fellow pred creators causes us to continue to perfect our skills.
 
sore loosers for sure! i cant really say how i would have responded at the time , but i look at it this way....what a compliment , they are so shallow minded and have so little talent and creativity , that they cant imagine someone actuallly making something that awesome!!! sorry for them.....thats why they are prey!!! and we are hunters!!
 
carlart said:
I hear ya, Scott. I like so many others here, I got the same kind of response when I won $500 as the predator back in '04 at a big contest. I had some photos of me putting together the costume that silenced the skeptics and the angst mongers. Look at it this way, consider the crits of your stuff being store bought as a compliment. The quality of your work and others on this board speaks for itself. The inspiration we create and receive from our fellow pred creators causes us to continue to perfect our skills.
Click to expand...
lol carl!!!....great minds do think alike...i was responding to this the same time you were.....didnt mean to be redundant...lol! :D
 
Thanks for the support all!!! LOL... I'm pretty much over it now, but find myself critical of the fact that they also used such a crap picture...LOL The mask is popped out of the neck ring, the belt is askew, the comp guant is turned... OH THE LITTLE THINGS!!!! LOL Must've taken the photo right before they left the venue because Mary and I as handlers were all over fixing the little issues as they came up, so this photo must've been right at the end of the night.

I'll get some good photos soon and to be honest, other than the height factor of the male being so tall, I actually think the female is a more menacing costume, but once pix are done, I'll let everyone else be the judge of that.
 
It amazes me that people think you can just walk into a store and buy a ready made pred costume of this caliber. It has already been said, but they have no idea of the time and sweat it takes to put one of these together much less sculpt, cast and paint the ones that you did Scott. Don't let them get to you. Rest up and get well.
 
You deserve all the praise for the work you do. By the way I sported your armor for my big Halloween Block party reveal I've said thanks before in another post. But just so you know THANKS your stuff ROCKS. :D
 
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