Bumblebee Costume

[aztravis]

Hey all. Noob here and I just wanted to share what I am attempting to build. I have somewhat framed out an 8 - 8.5 foot tall BB costume using drywall stilts. I have framed with wood and plan on using foam for exterior. My brother, cousin, and myself are in this together and have gotten this much done in 2 three hour sessions. I am more and more getting overwhelmed by the experience and quality coming out of this forum. There are some amazing replicas from many a user!

View attachment 34999
View attachment 35000
View attachment 35001

Now that I have buttered you up I am requesting some help. I was up till 2 am searching the forum but I could not find the exact answer I was looking for so if anyone would please direct me or answer my questions I would be ever so happy. here goes...

- I plan on using the blue "camping mat" foam for my exterior. what resin/bondo would be the best to create a smooth carlike finish?

- Is hot glue the best adhesive for foam to foam? what about foam to wood?

- Does the resin stick to the foam very well?

I know are probably questions that have been answered already somewhere on the forum and I apologize already for that.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

 

[LOGANCLAW22]

Looks like this is going to be one awesome project! Are you planning on seeing out of Bumblebee's chest portion? Awesome.

Paul D.

 

[aztravis]

Yeah the chest is going to come out about a foot and a half and it will leave room for some electronics for lights and sounds. I just need to be careful and not make it too frontheavy. I used a nice adjustable camelpack so it is comfortable.

 

[DoubleD]

Welcome to the RPF! You have certainly taken on a large project, but it will definitely be worth it if it comes out right.

There is a thread in the costume section where another member is building a foam Iron Man. I think some of the info it has will help you.

Here is the thread:

http://www.therpf.com/f24/my-iron-man-foam-build-mark-iv-95971/

FYI- They talk about using Rosco Flexbond as the adhesive to use with gluing foam.

 

[darthgordon]

Yeah, hot glue and foam is not going to work. It'll melt the foam.

It looks like there's some very good info on that Iron Man thread.

 

[Pilot]

What? No, hot glue and foam is the way it works. It's about the best bonding agent you'll find, and glue gun temps are not anywhere near hot enough to melt the foam unless you've got some kind of ridiculous industrial equipment.

Flexbond is a coating agent, used to prep the surface of the foam so it will take a coat of paint.

 

[Ikariya]

Make sure the proportions are nice! You don't want to go do all the work then realise the neck is too big or the arms are too small. Good luck! Go Transformers~~~~~

 

[joee]

i agree with pilot hot glue almost fuses mat foam to mat foam.

 

[izabel]

Wow. Nice. Good luck on your BB costume. You may want to check out ours HERE

 

[Chiok]

For foam, I find a contact adhesive like Evo-Stik 528. Spread some on both faces you want to glue, leave it for a few minutes and then stick them together. The only thing that Evo-Stik isn't good with is the heat-sealed edges you get on foam (like a selvage edge) so gluing cut edges to cut edges is generally advised.

Evo-Stik is great for sticking lots of things really, except polystyrene, it'll melt that.

 

[LOGANCLAW22]

I have to agree with Ikariya in regards to proportions. I was going to mention in my first post that the way that the hips jutt outwards sorta goes against the latest designs/forms for bumblebee that I have seen. I could also be totally wrong because we have not seen any design drawings of what will be your finished product. You are probably going to have to account for extended arms/being able to manipulate the arms to keep this proportioned with the rest of the body lengths or it will look like a Trex with short arms if they will be a little longer than your own arms.
When I made my bumblebee costume, I tried to account for these factors. Just my 2 cents but you have a great start going so far.

Paul D.

 

[aztravis]

Thank you guys for all the advice!!

So far my biggest headache has been the proportions. Second headache is making the arms move fluidly and accurately. I should be done framing arms today and than hopefully the chest/hood piece. I was having an issue with seeing where I walked and my feet but I "think" I figured a way where I can see through the hood so that my eyes are not visible and I am still able to see. I need to stay proportionate with BBs head and neck so I am going to have the head sit on top of my head and the bottom of BBs chin is where my eyes will be. His head will end up being 8.5 feet tall and when you are standing in front of him looking up you will see his chest/hood piece and than his head. My head/eye will not be visible. It is really hard to explain but I will have pics soon.

 

[aztravis]

Anyone know of any good Bumblebee head specs? I don't want to use the mask that can be bought in the store but I am afraid that I may not be artistic enough to create one...

 

[Cyrotec]

This looks really awesome, can't wait to see some more pictures soon!

 

[Ikariya]

There's this site =) it has a papercraft version you may be able to blow up and modify.
Transformers Bumblebee | FREE paper models
I actually built this model at 1/12 scale. The head is missing a lot of details but the shape is mostly correct. The jaw and mechanical details need to be added though.
Here is a slightly blurry pic of my build:
http://www.therpf.com/f11/paper-bumblebee-87982/#post1253072
A friend of mine made a BB for Wondercon in San Francisco and he actually used the BB toy head with modifications:
http://www.cotygonzales.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/010-bumblebee.jpg
My other friend Lionel made his helmet in the closed position by hand:
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs42/i/2009/079/b/8/BumbleBee___WonderCon_2009_by_faidoi.jpg
Hope this helps. Since I've made a couple of Transformers, I feel getting the face is pretty important since people usually look at the head first, then the body. Good luck!

 

[aztravis]

The Bumblebee that your friend Greg made is the one that once inspired me to start my build. He has a video of him him winning $7,500.00 at Rain and his costume looks amazing. All three BB builds are extremely impressive and I will probably incorporate a little from all 3 with what I am going to do. I got the arms done last night and will be posting pics soon after my classes and than I will start with the foaming and exterior. Cant wait!

 

[Ikariya]

Half the month over! Any progress =)?

 

[aztravis]

Half the month over! Any progress =)?

I have been outta town since yesterday and all I could think about was this costume and getting it done. I have enlisted the help of 2 of my friends and hope to get major work done this weekend.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Wow, very ambitious project. I didn't like the Transformers movies, but I'm looking forward to seeing how this comes out.
Izabel - the one you posted is great too.

 

[aztravis]

Ok... Sorry I have not posted in a while but it is because I was in a rush to finish the costume. I am very happy with how it came out. We did have to cut out a lot of major details (Wings!) to make it in time for Halloween but I plan on adding them in the upcoming weeks.
Bumblebee has fully mobile arms and legs. We made a light up blaster and movable fingers. The 2 main Headlights work and I am adding the bottom fog lights soon. Even though Bumblebee talks through the radio with songs I added a megaphone and a voice changer just so I could interact with people besides just hand and head movements. Again, before I get blasted, I know I went a little stray on certain details from the actual Bumblebee but I am happy with how it turned and to top it off i won a Halloween costume contest in AZ for $1000.00 bucks first place.

Here are some pics and as soon as I get video uploaded, y'all will be the first to get the link.
Thank you everyone that answered my questions and feel free to ask me anything about the costume.

P.S. I was wearing jeans cause I was at the AZ football game and I decided to bring it last minute. I have black under armor long sleeve and pants that make the costume look more like a robot that a person is not inside.

And Yes that is the Transformers Camaro that just happened to be at the game! Lets just say we were both pumped!