DRG
Active Member
I'll put the finished pics up here for the contest entry:
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I'm working on a Groot build (based on the Guardians of the Galaxy film) for Halloween this year and figured I'd start a build thread to share my progress.
I've been working on minor elements of the costume for a few months while now. I'm an over-planner and I really wanted to make as much as this as movie accurate as my skill level will allow, so I've amassed and studied an insane amount of reference photos to the point I probably know what Groot looks like more than James Gunn does! (Okay maybe that's pushing it...) I'm finally to the point where I something to show for all my planning and testing.
I'm making the Groot head out of EVA foam. I decided on a sort of helmet approach. In my early attempts I stuck to the one-piece wraparound face style that alot of the Groot builds seem to use. I drew up a template and made a few test builds, but I just didn't like the way they turned out. Either the head was too cylindrical or the jaw came out too fat. I just wasn't seeing the Groot facial shape in my attempts.
So I scrapped the template I had been working on and had to rethink the head. I bought a cheap action figure and studied the head from multiple angles. The issue seemed to be that Groot's chin and muzzle area has a defined shape and curve, different than his forehead. So I made up a new approach to my template.
I split out the muzzle so it would reduce the size of the chin and also help naturally create some of the additional 'cheekbone' and brow shapes Groot has (see this effect 2 photos down).
I made a separate back piece to bridge the front.
This is how it looked initially put together. I added in shaper pieces behind the brow and chin to help the form along (I can show these if anyone is interested.) Those pieces also help in fitting it to my head... I can address that later. As you can see, I wanted a slightly smiley Groot... he often looks a bit depressing and my favorite moments of him in the film are when he's smiling. I also started weathering work on the 'wood' with a dremel sanding head and a hobby knife.
I decided to make the 'eye pits' separate pieces versus carving/sanding them from the main face. I felt this not only improved the facial structure of the area around the eyes, but also allowed me to better control the depth of the eye pits in comparison to the face.
Here's how they look from inside the head. Also, you can sort of see the chin piece here.
Here's how that turned out. I also should note I cut out the bridge area between the eyes and layered it a bit to define the brow ridge.
I've done a bit more inside the head and added a 'top', but those pics aren't ready yet so I'll save them for my next update.
I also had some feet/stilts that were 80% completed, but I decided they were too big and cumbersome (and didn't stay on the feet properly), so I'm starting over on those. Here's what I have done so far on those:
I'm stacking 2" pink insulation foam and standing out the shape I want. I only got partially done with one and had to stop because the mouse sander made my hand numb! I have plans for what I'll do with my feet and will explain more when I get to that point. I'm only going 8" higher for now because I'll mainly be wearing this inside people's homes and don't want to be taking out light fixtures all night. Plus I'm gaining about 6" up top if you count the highest peak on the head piece. This should get me just under 7 feet in height. The good thing is if I decide I want to add more height I can just cut out a few more layers and tack them on the bottom.
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I'm working on a Groot build (based on the Guardians of the Galaxy film) for Halloween this year and figured I'd start a build thread to share my progress.
I've been working on minor elements of the costume for a few months while now. I'm an over-planner and I really wanted to make as much as this as movie accurate as my skill level will allow, so I've amassed and studied an insane amount of reference photos to the point I probably know what Groot looks like more than James Gunn does! (Okay maybe that's pushing it...) I'm finally to the point where I something to show for all my planning and testing.
I'm making the Groot head out of EVA foam. I decided on a sort of helmet approach. In my early attempts I stuck to the one-piece wraparound face style that alot of the Groot builds seem to use. I drew up a template and made a few test builds, but I just didn't like the way they turned out. Either the head was too cylindrical or the jaw came out too fat. I just wasn't seeing the Groot facial shape in my attempts.
So I scrapped the template I had been working on and had to rethink the head. I bought a cheap action figure and studied the head from multiple angles. The issue seemed to be that Groot's chin and muzzle area has a defined shape and curve, different than his forehead. So I made up a new approach to my template.
I split out the muzzle so it would reduce the size of the chin and also help naturally create some of the additional 'cheekbone' and brow shapes Groot has (see this effect 2 photos down).
I made a separate back piece to bridge the front.
This is how it looked initially put together. I added in shaper pieces behind the brow and chin to help the form along (I can show these if anyone is interested.) Those pieces also help in fitting it to my head... I can address that later. As you can see, I wanted a slightly smiley Groot... he often looks a bit depressing and my favorite moments of him in the film are when he's smiling. I also started weathering work on the 'wood' with a dremel sanding head and a hobby knife.
I decided to make the 'eye pits' separate pieces versus carving/sanding them from the main face. I felt this not only improved the facial structure of the area around the eyes, but also allowed me to better control the depth of the eye pits in comparison to the face.
Here's how they look from inside the head. Also, you can sort of see the chin piece here.
Here's how that turned out. I also should note I cut out the bridge area between the eyes and layered it a bit to define the brow ridge.
I've done a bit more inside the head and added a 'top', but those pics aren't ready yet so I'll save them for my next update.
I also had some feet/stilts that were 80% completed, but I decided they were too big and cumbersome (and didn't stay on the feet properly), so I'm starting over on those. Here's what I have done so far on those:
I'm stacking 2" pink insulation foam and standing out the shape I want. I only got partially done with one and had to stop because the mouse sander made my hand numb! I have plans for what I'll do with my feet and will explain more when I get to that point. I'm only going 8" higher for now because I'll mainly be wearing this inside people's homes and don't want to be taking out light fixtures all night. Plus I'm gaining about 6" up top if you count the highest peak on the head piece. This should get me just under 7 feet in height. The good thing is if I decide I want to add more height I can just cut out a few more layers and tack them on the bottom.
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