I've been lurking here on the RPF for a few years now - but the members posting their awesome projects using the WalMart Camping Mats inspired me to finally get started on a costume I have been aching to see someone really tackle - Dr. Doom.
You know, THIS GUY:
In my opinion, the greatest comic book villain of all time. Also the greatest villain DESIGN of all time. And although you can find some pics online of people who have attempted Dr. Doom - no one has really given him a serious go, especially when it comes to the mask. I think the Ultimates Doom is fairly cool, but for my money NOTHING compares to the "Byrne-era" Doom, which the image above is a good representation of.
So, A trip to WalMart later, I got started!
Above is one of the arms. Getting the rounded section along the top is gonna be tricky - you can see I also made the hinge itself out of the foam. This stuff is a lot of fun to work with! Hot glue bonds it together instantly and a sharp X-acto cuts through it like butter. You can see I already started experimenting with coating the outside of the foam in resin. My initial test was pretty successful. I'm not looking forwards to all the sanding, re-resin, sanding in my future, but the foam takes the resin very nicely and is still fairly flexible, which will really help with mobility (I hope).
Next - The Mask!
This has been the most fun so far. I built the mask in paper around my face, and then transferred the designs to the foam. This stuff is so forgiving. I feel like I can't make a mistake - all I have to do is cut it up and re-glue it correctly. I'm leaving the back open in order to help keep my head as cool as possible. It fits VERY snuggly on my face, but I very much want to avoid the "too big" look I see on a lot of masks.
One thing I NEVER see in other Doom costumes are the distinctive "bell" shaped gauntlets - here's my effort so far.
And lastly - just HOW forgiving is the foam? My initial build on the arms was too tight. Solution? Cut them:
And then insert a sliver of foam to increase the inside surface area:
This stuff is perfect for someone like me who doesn't have a garage. I can do all of this in my man-cave basement, no problems.
Next up- figuring out the elbow pieces, getting started on the fingers for the gauntlet (that's going to be time-consuming), and then moving on to creating the legs. Obviously there's a lot of work left to do but I'm having a blast so far.
Thanks to all the costumers of the RPF whose work has been so inspiring!
You know, THIS GUY:
In my opinion, the greatest comic book villain of all time. Also the greatest villain DESIGN of all time. And although you can find some pics online of people who have attempted Dr. Doom - no one has really given him a serious go, especially when it comes to the mask. I think the Ultimates Doom is fairly cool, but for my money NOTHING compares to the "Byrne-era" Doom, which the image above is a good representation of.
So, A trip to WalMart later, I got started!
Above is one of the arms. Getting the rounded section along the top is gonna be tricky - you can see I also made the hinge itself out of the foam. This stuff is a lot of fun to work with! Hot glue bonds it together instantly and a sharp X-acto cuts through it like butter. You can see I already started experimenting with coating the outside of the foam in resin. My initial test was pretty successful. I'm not looking forwards to all the sanding, re-resin, sanding in my future, but the foam takes the resin very nicely and is still fairly flexible, which will really help with mobility (I hope).
Next - The Mask!
This has been the most fun so far. I built the mask in paper around my face, and then transferred the designs to the foam. This stuff is so forgiving. I feel like I can't make a mistake - all I have to do is cut it up and re-glue it correctly. I'm leaving the back open in order to help keep my head as cool as possible. It fits VERY snuggly on my face, but I very much want to avoid the "too big" look I see on a lot of masks.
One thing I NEVER see in other Doom costumes are the distinctive "bell" shaped gauntlets - here's my effort so far.
And lastly - just HOW forgiving is the foam? My initial build on the arms was too tight. Solution? Cut them:
And then insert a sliver of foam to increase the inside surface area:
This stuff is perfect for someone like me who doesn't have a garage. I can do all of this in my man-cave basement, no problems.
Next up- figuring out the elbow pieces, getting started on the fingers for the gauntlet (that's going to be time-consuming), and then moving on to creating the legs. Obviously there's a lot of work left to do but I'm having a blast so far.
Thanks to all the costumers of the RPF whose work has been so inspiring!
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