Don West Lost in Space (netflix 2018) space suit.

[importsusa]

Alright Danlex9 you got me worried now....haven't seen any updates or are you going to sneak like 1,000 updates on us?! lmao

Hope everything is going smoothly for you good sir, I'm just over here making sure your thread keeps going and continues motivating others!

I even got you starting on a fresh new page #4! lol

 

[Danlex9]

Alright Danlex9 you got me worried now....haven't seen any updates or are you going to sneak like 1,000 updates on us?! lmao

Hope everything is going smoothly for you good sir, I'm just over here making sure your thread keeps going and continues motivating others!

I even got you starting on a fresh new page #4! lol

No need to worry, I’ve just been revamping and polishing up my iron mark 15 suit. Jumping back on my don west suit starting this week. I do however have a few updates since my last though.

 

[Danlex9]

Whipped up the gloves in my spare time over the last few months. Lots of custom pieces. Lots of teaching myself how to make gloves. I knew these would fit tight before starting them so I added an orange zipper from the side of the pinky to the wrist.

 

[importsusa]

No need to worry, I’ve just been revamping and polishing up my iron mark 15 suit. Jumping back on my don west suit starting this week. I do however have a few updates since my last though.

omg thank god...lmao I've been on a serious campaign to get your suit seen by anyone I show mine to. It is so incredible to have you be doing my second favorite character from L.I.S.

Allllll of your build is beyond amazing and again I am beyond grateful you decided to do this. The fact you're doing it from scratch is like being able to watch Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel from the start.
The gloves are super badass by the way......LOVE how you found exact fabrics for everything. Here in Iowa we are unfortunately not greatly equipped with places that can get you what you need/ want. I have had a hell of a time trying to source fabrics and being a bit old school means I often want to see/feel the stuff before buying. That means online purchasing is a pain in the ass for me......lol ha ha

Thanks again Dan for all of the awesome pictures you have posted for both your process AND the Will Robinson suit you captured. I cant begin to tell you how much all has helped guide me.

 

[Danlex9]

Finally getting to the boots again. I added the black heel with orange accent piece a while back when I noticed it during a fresh look at the boots. I also noticed the Met guard straps action attach to an elastic band that goes through some flaps and around the heel. Did my best to recreate that with some 1 inch elastic and more foam pieces. I’m gluing some of the elastic near the foam to help prevent the foam from tearing while walking. Hopefully I’ve given myself enough allowances in my measurements to keep that from happening. Below is a photo story of how I pieced this all together as things had to be seen before being placed and then seen again. Added some Velcro to hold the met guards in place too. Currently the toe guards are drying(clamped with painters tape with sticky side facing out). Tomorrow I finish the treads that go around the outside bottom and the boots will be finished.

 

[Danlex9]

Also starting gathering some materials and paints for the space pack. Looks like I will be putting my Cricut back to work on this one. Going with a flatter looking orange so the hard shell pack parts will stand out more from the suit

 

[importsusa]

Also starting gathering some materials and paints for the space pack. Looks like I will be putting my Cricut back to work on this one. Going with a flatter looking orange so the hard shell pack parts will stand out more from the suit


View attachment 1491511

all i gotta say is get ready for the fun! lmao ha ha I am sure the cricut will ease in a million ways though plus your pack will be normal unlike all the hellish mods i had to do with mine to make sure it fit my daughter. I havent even reached my December deadline and shes already slowly not fitting the damn thing!! lol

Soooooo incredibly exciting to see ya be back on it. I wish mine could last til next year but with the rate of growth she is having not likely. Keep the greatness comin Dan, this suit will be in my top 6 suits I love from this site!

 

[Danlex9]

Jumped right to drawing out the back of the pack while rewatching the show so I could take some screen grabs. Based on my size I based my pack on a max of 14 wide and 16 tall. Started with the face and then drew the sides on tracing paper using the face for reference points. Transferred those drawings to some hot and fresh pieces of foam core board while my glue gun warmed up. I then went to town on the geometry. Edges are a bit rough but I’ll clean those up then gap fill. The two shapes aren’t actually connected yet, this will make cleaning it up easier. I’ll glue them together just before paint. Next I’m going to stand up one of my iron man suits and build the chest and neck ring over that. That portion will be Eva foam like my iron man suits. All nice and light.

 

[importsusa]

Jumped right to drawing out the back of the pack while rewatching the show so I could take some screen grabs. Based on my size I based my pack on a max of 14 wide and 16 tall. Started with the face and then drew the sides on tracing paper using the face for reference points. Transferred those drawings to some hot and fresh pieces of foam core board while my glue gun warmed up. I then went to town on the geometry. Edges are a bit rough but I’ll clean those up then gap fill. The two shapes aren’t actually connected yet, this will make cleaning it up easier. I’ll glue them together just before paint. Next I’m going to stand up one of my iron man suits and build the chest and neck ring over that. That portion will be Eva foam like my iron man suits. All nice and light.

View attachment 1491971View attachment 1491972View attachment 1491973View attachment 1491974View attachment 1491975View attachment 1491976

damn, in total record time....so you didn't use the cricut for this one? Soooo awesome to see ya update this!! AWESOME!!

 

[Danlex9]

damn, in total record time....so you didn't use the cricut for this one? Soooo awesome to see ya update this!! AWESOME!!

I’ll be using the Cricut for the lettering and other graphics. That will make life a lot easier there.

 

[Danlex9]

And….boots have treads! Cut and sanded out of eva foam. Once the glue is dry I will paint the treads and any exposed fabric underneath them black. And that’s an end to a weekend of solid progress.

 

[importsusa]

I’ll be using the Cricut for the lettering and other graphics. That will make life a lot easier there.

SUPER cool my friend, I am beyond happy to see it all coming together. The boots looks great and just everything is making me super excited to see.

 

[Danlex9]

Fantastic amount of progress last night, after setting up my jacket on one of my iron man suit stands to act as a makeshift mannequin I was able to rough out my hardshell chest and back with paper and foam core board. I’ll use this to make tighter more refined patterns for my eva foam tonight. I even tried it out over my body and have really solid range of motion still. Before I recut my patterns I will be rounding the front inward a bit more. Hopefully Friday night I will be working the helmet ring and all the bits bobs and panel pieces. Going with a foam construction so I can heat shape the curves into the build as I go. Lots of foam iron man suit building going into this.

 

[importsusa]

Fantastic amount of progress last night, after setting up my jacket on one of my iron man suit stands to act as a makeshift mannequin I was able to rough out my hardshell chest and back with paper and foam core board. I’ll use this to make tighter more refined patterns for my eva foam tonight. I even tried it out over my body and have really solid range of motion still. Before I recut my patterns I will be rounding the front inward a bit more. Hopefully Friday night I will be working the helmet ring and all the bits bobs and panel pieces. Going with a foam construction so I can heat shape the curves into the build as I go. Lots of foam iron man suit building going into this.

View attachment 1493306View attachment 1493307View attachment 1493308

Flying through it like a Jupiter 2 through space my friend...LOVE IT! I've been trying my damnest to pick up the pace so maybe we can get done at same time....lmao awesome man, love it!

 

[Danlex9]

Used my foam core mock up to make tighter patterns for my Eva foam final chest piece. Neck ring was the hardest, I put painters tape around the inside and had to keep moving and adjusting it to get it to sit right in order to pattern the neck ring, then I took that pattern and transferred to 10mm thick foam and hand formed it into place. Once it fit right I put contact cement on both pieces and in the slowest most careful way possible started connecting the two pieces while being sure not to let unguided parts to glue themselves together before it was lined up correctly. After that was in place I started adding panel pieces and making adjustments to edges that didn’t look right.

Ended up have to cut, trim and re-glue a few edges around the front center. Once I felt I had things more where they should be I started transferring panel lines to the foam. I then cut into this lines a bit with my blade for the fun heat gum trick, once I hit it with heat the lines opened up.

I then jumped into sanding all of my edges, some more than others to get a more correct bevel. Then started with gap filler.
Currently waiting for that to dry. Right now the plan is to have this ready for a week of seal coating and wet sanding. Meanwhile I planning out the vinyl lettering for my Cricut. More later.

 

[importsusa]

Used my foam core mock up to make tighter patterns for my Eva foam final chest piece. Neck ring was the hardest, I put painters tape around the inside and had to keep moving and adjusting it to get it to sit right in order to pattern the neck ring, then I took that pattern and transferred to 10mm thick foam and hand formed it into place. Once it fit right I put contact cement on both pieces and in the slowest most careful way possible started connecting the two pieces while being sure not to let unguided parts to glue themselves together before it was lined up correctly. After that was in place I started adding panel pieces and making adjustments to edges that didn’t look right.
View attachment 1494096
Ended up have to cut, trim and re-glue a few edges around the front center. Once I felt I had things more where they should be I started transferring panel lines to the foam. I then cut into this lines a bit with my blade for the fun heat gum trick, once I hit it with heat the lines opened up.
View attachment 1494095
I then jumped into sanding all of my edges, some more than others to get a more correct bevel. Then started with gap filler.
Currently waiting for that to dry. Right now the plan is to have this ready for a week of seal coating and wet sanding. Meanwhile I planning out the vinyl lettering for my Cricut. More later.
View attachment 1494097

lol much faster then my Penny R. suit but about the same problems i encountered.....KEEP IT GOING DAN, you're kickin Ass!!! Here is some more inspiration I found for ya....DONT STOP!!!! lol

 

[Danlex9]

Thanks to Importsusa for sharing those pack pics I went back around my chest and pack to add some bits and bobs around the neck ring and elsewhere.

Started mapping out my paint lines a bit. They should show through the seal coat for reference when I paint. Also added pop rivet heads to take the place of the screws.




also cut open the underarm panels and attached elastic to the front and magnets to the back, makes it really easy to put on, just open slide in and it snaps shut.

 

[Danlex9]

Prepping the base suit for a small local convention, need to break it in. Used some of my extra material I was going to use to make a snoopy cap to make a mask for my mask so I can wear my mask while wearing my mask.



Looking into making the helmet currently. Hmm something I’ll work on after the mini con.

 

[importsusa]

Thanks to Importsusa for sharing those pack pics I went back around my chest and pack to add some bits and bobs around the neck ring and elsewhere.
View attachment 1495838
Started mapping out my paint lines a bit. They should show through the seal coat for reference when I paint. Also added pop rivet heads to take the place of the screws.
View attachment 1495839
View attachment 1495840
View attachment 1495841

also cut open the underarm panels and attached elastic to the front and magnets to the back, makes it really easy to put on, just open slide in and it snaps shut.
View attachment 1495842
View attachment 1495843

You are most welcome good sir.....just making sure we are both as dead on as possible on these suits! I've already seen one from Dragon Con that wasn't half bad but definitely not as much detail oriented as we have been.
Incredibly happy to see this all coming together. I also wanted to soooooooo bad to do the helmet but my time is drawing to a close. I just won't have the time to research all and get it situated before my deadline....plus she's alreasy slowly outgrowing everything!!! At least your suit will be around for a long time....which is well worth it! Keep up the amazing work Dan, you are truly an inspiration to myself and others!

 

[Danlex9]

Okay latest update time. Still doing finishing touches to the base suit to wear it out for the first time this coming Sunday.

Finally got the wrist gauntlets painted with my airbrush and the rubber knurled pieces with grey primer.


Used CA glue to attach the knurled bits and some puff paint lines to finish them off.


And then the moment I waited almost a full year for. Connecting them to the sleeves.

By design these don’t actually connect to the gloves like real space suit gloves, the gloves are long enough that they extend up into the sleeves to appear as though they are connected. This is so I can use my phone at a moments notice during a convention, never know when a wild 5th Doctor regen or team avatar will appear and you need to have that camera ready.