Baby Steps, Seriously.

[JunglePred]

I hope it's okay me posting something like this. I'm as new to the lair as could be. I've been lurking on the site for a while and the idea of being able to envelop myself in the body of a Predator, so to speak, excites me. I really want to do this, and I'm sure I'm following in the footsteps of many other young hunters when I ask where in the name of all that's holy do I start? I've done the research and looked at huntorials until I couldn't stand to look at the screen anymore and repeated. So much knowledge is exchanged and so many veterans have reached out and taught so much I'm a quite overwhelmed. I am not in the least bit experienced in anything like what it takes to create one of these suits so I'm not just a beginner I'm a beginner. I'm unsure whether I should do a complete Predator face or do a mask or even how to begin. How do I make the cannon and the armour? So many questions. I just ask for a simple first step to take, something to get my mind on the suit not the finished product. I hope I'm not coming off as whiny, I would never want to anger a brother in the world of the Predator. Thanks for any suggestions and thanks for any time taken just to look at my post, make fun of me or share knowledge.

 

[carss66]

Welcome too the hunt.My advice would be read all huntorials,then you will know what you need to buy too make the parts you want.Would start at the head and work down to feet if you want a full suit,or just a head to display.

 

[xdmray]

i think you answered you own question. instead of wondering how you will make an entire suit, look at one piece and concentrate on that. forget about making a whole suit, and just pick one piece of it and have a go at that.

 

[LadyZero]

Write EVERYTHING down - what you're going to need, how much of it etc, and set yourself a schedule. That way, it won't seem so overwhelming and will give you realistic goals to work towards, as well as breaking a seemingly impossible task down into itty-bitty nibbly pieces. Then pick the thing that you think is going to be the most annoying, or take the longest, and start with that. Cuz after tackling that, everything else will seem like a breeze.

Good luck.

 

[JunglePred]

Wow guys, I did not expect such quick response. Thanks so much for the tips. I am on a limited budget and so I am considering breaking it down into stages beginning with saving up for head parts and buying them first then while building that start on the funding for the body. I'm giving myself 2-3 years and taking my time to achieve this. Also I had thought if I ONLY did a head I could display so I think carss66 was reading my mind. Again, thank you, all 3 of you got me pumped being so positive.

 

[Badgerhunter27]

Try to find as many budget builds as you can in the complete and WIP from there you can get plenty of ideas on armor and other weapons on how and what others have used as material and then just put your own spin on it if you want there is no right or wrong way when it comes to making your own suit. But as lady zero has said def break it down into pieces and knock the hardest ones out.

 

[JunglePred]

I want to make this a very accurate Predator 1 suit but obviously the lower budget may hurt that a bit but yes, I will be checking out the low budget huntoials. I am curious about something. I want the actual mask the Predator wears so should I bother making the "face" mask or leave it open for the plate mask to settle over my open face? Haven't really seen that said on here, yet.

 

[Double H]

Hey dude, we all had to start somewhere so budget is never an issue. There are many people on the site that have made/ in the process of making budget suits. I myself am one of them and there is also member LFlank I think he has made atleast 3 or more to my knowledge and he always manages to find new unique was to make the simplest and sometimes cheapest thing look awesome! There is a wealth of information all over this site at literally every angle, and most threads are literally making weapons, armour, even bio's from nothing. I have seen cardboard bio's, plasma cannons made from toy guns/fake cctv cameras, armour made from football gear - you name it you will find it.

I made my original armour and suit on a budget - heres a couple of build threads for ya to have a look through

http://www.thehunterslair.com/topic/25918-my-p1-bio-budget-build-final-update-complete-see-page-2/

http://www.thehunterslair.com/topic/26097-revamping-on-my-armour-18052012-body-suit-repaint/

its old but it still works http://www.thehunterslair.com/topic/26598-hunter-hunteds-avp-complete-wip-more-halloween-hunt-pictures-added/

I totally agree with what everyone else has advised you, break it down into pieces and let it follow. I started with the head infact my first head was a 3/4 rubies with a baseball cap glued in and 40 backerrod dreads sewn in.... it can be done lol

Good luck with your build, looking forward to seeing your progress and welcome to the hunters lair

 

[Double H]

I want to make this a very accurate Predator 1 suit but obviously the lower budget may hurt that a bit but yes, I will be checking out the low budget huntoials. I am curious about something. I want the actual mask the Predator wears so should I bother making the "face" mask or leave it open for the plate mask to settle over my open face? Haven't really seen that said on here, yet.

I believe what you are referring to is a 'half mask' that is a mask that comes with the face area missing which means that you face will be on show and the shape of the predators head will be around yours. It is covered with the Bio helmet.

 

[JunglePred]

Thanks for the input Double H. I'm a bit new to all the termonology and what-not. I will definitely be taking those into consideration. I'm still looking at huntorials to see if I want both masks or just the half. We shall see.

 

[REYALS1]

Yeah man... one step at a time. That is what I am doing right now to be exact.

I started my BIO armature and am in the process of laying down the resin and fiber cloth then layer again and smooth. I am also working on a plasma caster.

Just take your time... watch video tutorials... read the how to's... and most of all... have fun.

 

[Lflank]

I totally agree with what everyone else has advised you, break it down into pieces and let it follow. I started with the head infact my first head was a 3/4 rubies with a baseball cap glued in and 40 backerrod dreads sewn in.... it can be done lol

I'm impressed that you made this idea work. I considered trying it, but couldn't think of any good way to make it happen, so I went with the full Rubies mask instead, and modified the heck out of it.

 

[Lflank]

My advice would be to do as many of the smaller cheaper parts as you can first. That'll give you some idea of what sort of look you're going for, so you can later match the head/bio to it.

My favorite material to work with has always been foamies (craft foam, sheets that you can find at Walmart or any craft store). With enough foamies and enough glue, you can make absolutely anything.

There are lots of good tutorials here from many people on usign foamies to make cannons, gauntlets, armor, all sorts of things.

As for a head, the Rubies deluxe mask can be modified pretty cheaply to make it look pretty good. There are couple of tutorials here for how to do that (just search for "rubies mask").

Good luck and post lots of pics. We all love to see lots of process photos.

 

[JunglePred]

I'm considering either trying to sculpt with clay over a mannequin head or modify the rubies mask. I'm not good with sculpting or anything but I think I might be able to pull it off if I can just get the head the right size as a Predator`s skull is longer than my own. Of course this rubies tutorial is very tempting since the mask is so cheap:

http://www.thehunterslair.com/topic/4161-modifying-a-rubies-mask/

What bothers me about the rubies adjustment is that you can still see the fake dreads underneath leaving a bit of a mess.

 

[LadyZero]

If you're on a real tight budget, cardboard is your friend and you can do amazing things with it - Double H made a pretty sweet bio out of it. It bends, it's easy to work with and if you collect like cereal boxes or packaging from anything, it's free. Also paper mache. It's the paint-ups that make the costume, not what it's made of.

If you're stuck for a skin, try to get clothes that are passable as Pred patterns or get creative with fabric paints. And don't be afraid to raid charity shops or your friend's wardrobes. Be original. The possibilities are endless.

 

[Lflank]

What bothers me about the rubies adjustment is that you can still see the fake dreads underneath leaving a bit of a mess.

On my modified Rubies, I painted those fake dread beads black so ya can't see them.

 

[JunglePred]

So guys I have spent the days in-between postes researching and have decided that I will in fact try the clay scultping method. I'm not 100% confident in my sculpting skills but I want to at least try. I am curious if anyone has tried this method and if the latex creates a nice mask or not. Any suggestions for brand of liquid latex would be much appreciated. My goal right now is to get a nice Predator, close-mouthed head made. I may never make the complete outfit but I at least want a nice head to display that could be worn as well. Thanks for your time and again thanks so much to everyone who has had input so far. Gonna buy clay today and while saving up for latex begin to mold!