Black Widow Build Help

ashleyin1drland

New Member
I am working on The Avengers Black Widow costume. However, I am fairly new to most of building my own accessories. So does anyone have any advice for making her bites, utility packs, and the SHEILD patches on her shoulders.

Would it be possible to carve the bites and utility packs? I have heard you can use polystyrene, however I have never been able to find it for sale. Also for the utility packs I have seen people use foam, the craft foam, but I don't know how to get it to the perfect proportions, or at least cutting in a sort of straight line. And I have no idea where to start for the shoulder patch.

Any advice would be great. Thank you so much!
 
My husband made a widow's bite out of polymer clay and molded it to cast in resin. I had made one before that with foam and styrene and it was wonky as hell so he remade it for me. With the clay, if you start with a rectangle and carve down slowly, you can get one that looks good pretty easily.

As for the boxes, I made mine out of craft foam....I don't love them, partially because I rushed and they aren't clean enough but also because I didn't figure out what the right size box for my frame would be. I made mine too big. However you put it together, I highly recommend you make a test dummy one (basic size, not all the detail) and look at it on you before you make all of them. When I guesstimated the size based on looking at pictures from the movie and then figuring out based on my height, I didn't account for the fact that I'm short-waisted so my boxes ended up too tall/scaled too big for me.

Lots of people at D*con had the embroidered patches and at a distance, they looked good. I haven't seen anyone making the silicone/rubber ones so I made temp ones out of grey rubber that I painted with craft paint (I painted the first set with plastidip and it melted the rubber - live and learn). They too looked ok at a distance but I want to replace them with something actually accurate for next time.
 
Well I'm new to costuming, so take my advice with that in mind. But it appears that original is just layered polyvinyl. Wouldn't be too difficult to get right shade of gray and black and make your own out of such.

A bit of hot glue or super glue under the edges, and hit the edge of the cut polyvinyl with a sharpie marker to mask any color distortion.
 
Well I'm new to costuming, so take my advice with that in mind. But it appears that original is just layered polyvinyl. Wouldn't be too difficult to get right shade of gray and black and make your own out of such.

A bit of hot glue or super glue under the edges, and hit the edge of the cut polyvinyl with a sharpie marker to mask any color distortion.


Just make sure you test your adhesive on whatever material he used before you make the patch pieces...I damaged my fabric choice accidentally using E-6000 (in addition to melting the first set with the plasti-dip)b/c I didn't do a test run with it :facepalm
 
Thank you guys SO much. Do you guys know where I might be able to find some polyvinyl for purchase? I have been researching like crazy and am coming up flat.
 
I sculpted my bites and cast them in a lightweight plastic resin. For the patches I have been using painted foam. I hope to upgrade to cast rubber ones eventually.
 
Hey Guys! I'm back with more questions!
My husband made a widow's bite out of polymer clay and molded it to cast in resin. I had made one before that with foam and styrene and it was wonky as hell so he remade it for me. With the clay, if you start with a rectangle and carve down slowly, you can get one that looks good pretty easily....I haven't seen anyone making the silicone/rubber ones so I made temp ones out of grey rubber that I painted with craft paint (I painted the first set with plastidip and it melted the rubber - live and learn). They too looked ok at a distance but I want to replace them with something actually accurate for next time.
Thank you again for the tips on the bites!! By any chance what type of clay did your husband use? I just want to make sure I get a good brand.
Also where did you get grey rubber? I have been looking everywhere for it and I can't seem to find purchasable rubber sheets.
I'm finally home for a long break from college so I'm hoping to get head start on most of these things! :D
 
so, apparently you had asked me a question, and i totally missed it. :p

I actually sculpted mine out of epoxy clay, but sculpy with the appropriate paint/sealers should work well, too. Then used to some silicone to mold, and black-tinted urethane plastic resin to cast. White resin with paint works just as well.

I am actually offering my new, fancypants, silicone patches for sale, now, if you're interested. http://www.therpf.com/f13/shield-patches-avengers-style-black-widow-shield-169266/
 
Casting wound up being too expensive an endeavor for me when I made this costume, so I wound up making the packs out of dental floss boxes (with a LOT of dremel work).
 
This thread is more than 11 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top