Concept art Spider-Man build UPDATE: Finished for Halloween!

[Bloop]

I decided to put together a Spider-Man costume for Halloween this year. I've tried dressing as other heroes in the past, but I realized that my body type is much more Spider-Man-like than Wolverine, or even Starlord. So I might as well go for it. I should also say that Spider-Man has always been a favorite of mine. I wanted to do a costume, but while I liked aspects of all the movie costumes, there isn't one single costume absolutely loved. But I found this concept art for Amazing Spider-Man 2 by Jerod S. Marantz that I really liked, and decided to try to do a version of it:



I liked each of the designs, though the one in the middle is the one I mostly went off of. It actually is pretty close to the design that ended up in the film, but it has key differences, like the larger spider, curved webs, pointed belt and boot tops, etc. I did like the split belt of the left design, and I tried it out when designing my costume, but I couldn't make it work like the concept art, so I went with the more traditional style. After toying with the idea of customizing a zentai suit or trying to piece something together from compression gear, I decided to go the dye-sub route. I used the great patterns supplied by @kenlandrum here: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=207565 http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=208912 I used the Rami suit with muscle shading as the base, but I also copied the mask webs (and maybe some other design layout) from the ASM 2 file. I reversed the brick pattern from dark to light, reduced the amount of muscle shading to make it more subtle (more on that later):


Since I had to go away for work suddenly a few weeks ago, and will have to leave again soon, I opted for zentaizone to have my file printed and sewn. I read up on other custom dye-subs done by them and figured the speed, quality and cost were worth the risk. I always planned on making alterations and tweaks so I was prepared for that as well. I tweaked the CMKY colors since some of the dye-subs I've seen end up too dark or less vibrant than the supplied pattern. I went a little more bright than the concept art, figuring if it came out darker, I'd still be OK with it. I uploaded the file, gave zentaizone my measurements and requests and except for a couple snafus on my end with the uploaded pattern, the whole process was fast and painless. The suit arrived a little over a week after I ordered. I was still out of town, so I had to wait until a coupe days ago to see it. The good news is it looks and fits (for the most part) great! As I thought, the colors were slightly darker, but not too much. Though it could use some alterations in spots to really fit perfect, it is wearable as is.






Unfortunately, when I tried it on, I couldn't get my head through the neck hole! I had request the U -shape back zipper which goes from the armpits to the belt, so there was no neck zipper to open to get my head in. It might be my fault. I requested they make the neck of the suit and mask as long as possible, because I read other zentaizone reviews saying that the mask was often too short and would pull up. So maybe the longer neck meant a smaller neck hole, or it could just be my skinny neck, or the stitching limiting the stretching of the spandex. At any rate, I had to rip out some stitches, and planned to install an invisible zipper to fix it. Before installing the zipper, I was able to try it on fully.



The pics show the costume in natural daylight as well as incandescent or with flash. The natual light colors look the best.

While the colors look good, the brick pattern and muscle shading ended up being too subtle. The bricks still show up a bit on the blue parts, but are completely gone on most of the red. I did try to err on the side of too subtle, but I obviously went too far. Still, it looks good even without the extra detail, but I still wish it was there. I also added fake seam lines, which are difficult to see, but I plan to either enhance them with paint or sharpee, or (if I get ambitious) sew them into actual seams.

 

[Snakenator9]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build

Nice suit! I really love the concept art and design of it. Do you plan to puffy paint it at all?

 

[Bloop]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build

Nice suit! I really love the concept art and design of it. Do you plan to puffy paint it at all?

Thanks! Not sure about the puffy paint yet. I don't want to lose flexibility, and I don't want it to look too "handmade." I tested some tulip slick, but I don't like it so far. I thought about using ROD-407 mask making latex, but I'm also limited in time, so I may just use Sharpee to darken the lines. I plan on testing sliver metallic Sharpee too, with black Sharpee, see if I can get some shine as well.

On to the mask! I got the "removable hood" option from zentaizone, because I want to be able to drink on Halloween! I tried on the mask by itself, to see if it looked OK without a face shell.



So, hard to tell too much without the eye lenses, but not great. But since I won't be wearing the mask most of the time, I don't really want to carry a bulky face shell with my mask. So I had the idea to use foam for a lighter, flexible face shell. I used Foamies brand thin craft foam. Can't go wrong at 33 cents a sheet!
It's still a work in progress, but here's where it is now:



And, under the mask (with unfinished eye holes):



So, it's definitely an improvement so far. I'm still tweaking the foam. But the nice thing is it can bend and even fold up a bit when not in use, but still smooths out the mask when worn. I didn't use any templates or patterns, just based it off my own face. Plus the foam bends, so I didn't need to cut and glue it as much as pepakura options.

You can also see the neck are in the last pic. I still haven't sewn in a zipper, but I put the mask on before putting on the suit, and just folded the neck of the suit inside. So right now it looks bulkier and unfinished, but it actually works pretty well. I may even forgo the zipper, it seems like I might not need it.

 

[ANBUspidey]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build

Nice build! And it's funny you showed these concept arts, I'm currently having the one on the far left being done...I did change the colors and spider's though

 

[Snakenator9]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build

I gotcha on the puff paint part. I don't think it should lose to much flexibility, but I know what you're sayin. For my mask I used 3mm foam to make a pepakura mask, and it worked nicely. I do kinda wish that it was easier to get it on and off though.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build

@ANBUspidey: Thanks, I kinda wish I had gone for the left one too, it seems more of an evolution from ASM 1 to ASM 2. That was one of the things I though was odd about the change in the suits. The second movie looked very comic-like, which was completely different from the first costume. To me, the ASM 2 suit looks more like it should have come first, with the ASM 1 suit being the revised, newer version (because it really is).
I also wanted to make the web lines and design more similar, but it would have involved more work, plus I wasn't sure how far I should stray from the proven dye-sub patterns. I didn't want to find out things didn't line up right after spending the money to have it made. Plus, since this is Halloween, I stuck closer to "classic" Spidey elements, knowing the average person might not get it.

@Snakenator9: That's good to know, I'm glad someone else did a foam shell. I may redo mine using a pepakura pattern, but I haven't decided. Mines working pretty good so far, but it does need some adjustments.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build

UPDATE:
I tried the metallic silver Sharpie, but no dice. It doesn't look metallic on cloth, just looks gray, and it bleeds a lot, so it's not an option. I think I'm going to just use black Sharpie to go over the web lines. I think it will be safer that way. Although regular Sharpie also bleeds a bit, so I'll either use fine tip Sharpie or try to find a higher quality fabric pen that doesn't bleed.

For the lenses, I bought the ASM 2 "handmade" lenses on zentaizone, but only as a backup in case I didn't have time to fabricate something:


You can kind of see in the pic that they're not great. The frames would definitely need repainting, as they're smudged and don't have a good finished look to them. They also seem pretty brittle, and I don't know if they could be reshaped, since the curve wouldn't work as it is for me. I was never crazy about the shape either. I'll probably use the lenses themselves, though they're not super-high quality either, they look pretty good.

I free-handed a frame and cut it out in foam as a test. I may use foam as the final frame, but I may sculpt something more rigid, I haven't decided.




I test fitted the foam frame with three neodymium magnets, taped into place, with three matching magnets taped into my foam face shell:



And here's a photoshop with the lense in place and the tape bits removed:



I may play around with other frame shapes, but I like my first attempt.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build

UPDATE:
I decided to try to alter my suit. From the seat of the pants down to the knees was too baggy for my tastes. So I took it in myself. No pics (you probably don't want a bunch of butt shots anyway), but it looks much better so far. I still have a little more to sew, but I'm glad I took the time to alter it.

I also tried sculpting a frame out of Loctite epoxy putty:

I'd never used it to sculpt anything, but it's strong and cures quickly, so I wanted to try it.

First up, I wanted a concave surface to sculpt on. I planned on sculpting it face down so I could embed the neodymium magnets into the putty. Plus it would help make the front smooth to model it face down.

I found an empty Folgers coffee container that looked like it had the curve I wanted, so I cut it in half, and (crudely) traced my frame onto the inside as a guide.




The photo makes it look like it's convex, but it really is the concave interior of the container.

Next I took half of the epoxy putty and kneaded it as directed, until the two parts are mixed. The working time is listed as only 5 minutes, so you have to work fast, but I'd say I worked on it closer to 10 minutes. I don't know if temperature affects the time it takes to set, but the room was warm where I was working. I used my fingers and an x-acto knife to shape the putty. I also had a paper template that I pushed onto the putty that helped me shape it, since the putty covered the pen marks I had made on the coffee container.
As it set up more, it was easier to get smooth cuts with my x-acto. Before it set too much, I pushed the magnets into place.



After I couldn't work it anymore, I actually slid the frame a little to make sure it wasn't bonding to the plastic container (it wasn't). I let it set for a few hours.



The package says it's at full strength in 45 minutes, but even after several hours, I could bend it pretty much flat, and started to crack a little in a thinner area. But I was able to file and sand it, adding beveled edges.



Obviously it still needs some filling (not sure if I'll use more epoxy putty or something like bondo spot filler). I tested it with my face shell and mask to see how the curve fit.




As you can see, the curve is almost perfect! I was still worried about the strength, but after several more hours, it feels as solid as bathroom porcelain. I'm not sure how durable is, but it feels like it won't break too easy. I plan on modeling the matching frame, as well as filling and finishing the set in the next couple days.

 

[Snakenator9]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build UPDATE: epoxy putty frames

Great progress so far, I'm really digging the lenses you made! Quick question, what do you plan to use as the actual lense?

 

[Bloop]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build UPDATE: epoxy putty frames

@Snakenator9, Thanks, glad you like them too! Kinda unconsciously John Romita Jr. inspired, I guess. I'm probably going to re-use the lenses from the zentaizone frames I got. They're just clear plastic with what looks like a vinyl decal of white with holes (check the pic a couple posts above). Although I'm tempted to try some mirrored lenses, see how they look.

Here's the current progress, both frames sculpted and filed/sanded. I was able to use some of the epoxy putty to fill spots on the left frame, so I plan to do some more filling on both, and work on improving symmetry, though they're pretty close right now.



I decided to try a pepakura face shell. I wasn't thrilled with my foam one, and it was easy enough to make a new one from a pattern out of card stock. I realized I don't need to have my shell fold up when not wearing it, since I'll have to carry the mask anyway, and the paper mask isn't much heavier or bulkier than the foam. I'm hoping the rigid shell will be easier to put on because I don't want to fuss with the mask every time someone wants to see it on or for pictures.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build UPDATE: epoxy putty frames

UPDATE:
I've been testing out Tulip Slick "dimensional" fabric paint to try to get cleaner lines. I had some success, so I tried it out on the fake seams I had in my pattern, since they're really hard to see.

First, I put painter's tape on the backside of the fabric of the area with the line I was going to paint. This just makes the surface more flat and easier to work with, and it won't stretch. Side note, I use painter's tape when sewing too - it makes an easy line to follow and smooths the fabric so it doesn't bunch up.



I taped off the line with painters tape, making sure the edges were firmly affixed to the fabric.



I squeezed out the Tulip paint over the line. You don't have to be too careful, and you don't need too much paint (less is better). Then I used a scrap piece of cardboard to lightly spread the paint over the whole line to get a smooth, even layer. Just enough paint to have a nice shine. You can add more paint if needed, smoothing again so that the paint is about the same thickness throughout the line. It looks messy, but it should be OK, as long as your tape is pressed down well.



After letting it dry for several hours (Tulip says let it dry flat for four hours), carefully pull off the tape.




So I was pretty pleased with the result. The pics show the line looking a little wavy, but that's just because the spandex isn't stretched flat. The final result is a screen-printed effect. I may do at least the front spider of my suit this way. I did a test with a larger area to see if it would work.



It's still a pretty small test patch, about the width of my finger, but it shows that I can make a pretty even coat over a larger area, with clean edges. I imagine that this would work with Tulip's puff paint too.

 

[Snakenator9]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build UPDATE: "screen-printed" puff paint lines

That's awesome! Great thinking on the painting technique. I'm not sure how easy the spider would be unless you have a stencil already made, there's a lot of details and curves that could be difficult to deal with.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build UPDATE: "screen-printed" puff paint lines

Thanks, Snakenator9! Yes, the spider might be challenging. I'm not sure if I want to risk it at this point. Work will take me away from this project once again, so I have to finish up the bulk of this build this week.

UPDATE:

My new frames are finished! They did snap a couple times when I was sanding them, so the epoxy putty isn't quite as strong as I had hoped. But it's also because I sculpted it fairly thin, and the spots where I embedded the magnets were even thinner. So it's not really surprising that I'd have a couple breaks. But nothing I couldn't fix with super glue and more epoxy putty to reinforce it. So after sanding, primer,Bondo spot glazing putty, more sanding and primer, and a few coats of gloss black, I got this:

There's a lot of sunlight in that pic, so it doesn't look quite that shiny most of the time! I removed the lenses from the zentaizone frames and glued them in place.

I decided to attach the magnets to the mask. The tagboard faceshell I made looks ok, but it has its problems. So I figured if I attach the lenses to the mask I can go with or without a faceshell.


Once I attached the frames, I think it actually looks pretty good without a faceshell. Although I want to try adding some upholstery-type foam to the mask to give it a better shape. Also, my beard pokes through the mask at times, so I'd like a layer of something to prevent that.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build UPDATE: Frames & lenses completed

Update: Shoes!

With Halloween just hours away, I'm forced to finally decide how I'm going to add soles to my suit. I bought a pair of $10 water shoes a while back, but I wasn't sure how I wanted to use them. I was going to separate the soles and glue them to the feet of the costume, but I liked how the shoes looked inside the costume. Plus, I didn't want to risk messing up the suit, and also make it more difficult to launder if I glued on the rubber soles.
So I found an even cheaper $5 pair of water shoes, that are slightly bigger, that I can fit over the other shoes. The cheaper shoes also looked like they'd be easier to modify in the way I wanted, so that I could cut away the mesh portion, and still have enough material to help keep the shoe on, even with no glue or sewing.



I plan on at least covering over the yellow stripe with red paint or something, maybe even make the black section red too, depending on time. Or I may just make the yellow stripe black with a Sharpie. And I will also probably cut off the area that is folded over above the heel in the picture.

 

[Bloop]

Re: Concept art Spider-Man build UPDATE: Double water shoe soles (no glue needed)

Update: suiting up for Halloween
So I put the finishing touches on my suit before heading out last night. I colored the yellow on the shoes with black Sharpie, and added a little double face tape along the sides for added grip. Worked great, no problems walking through crowded bars and streets, the shoes never slipped once.
I used Shoe Goo Boots and Gloves on the index and thumb tips to try to get added grip. It worked ok, but didn't dry as evenly as I wanted. It actually made the tips a little more slick I some situations, but I was able to grip the tiny zipper better to get in and out of the costume on my own, so it was ok.



I added more Goo after I took this pic, covering more of the fingers. In hindsight, I think I could have just used hot glue and gotten better results.

Unfortunately, I didn't get many good shots of myself in the full costume, mask and all. Most of the pics taken were from random people I met that wanted their picture taken with me (it was pretty cool, especially the kid that really thought I was Spider-Man). Most of my personal pictures were without the mask (can't drink with it on!) and don't show much of the suit. I managed to get a couple selfies before heading out, though one is pretty blurry as I was in a rush.




I'm hoping I'll get the chance to suit up again in the near future, get some better pics. But at least that gives you a something to see the completed suit. All in all, I'm pleased with hone it came out. A couple notes though. The fabric is really prone to snags, so I don't know about the longevity of the costume. Also, I had a backpack on, and notice some of the red from my suit rubbed off on it. Maybe that's common with dye sub, I don't know.