First time build - Lex Luthor's power armor - DC Universe Online

EurobeatJester

New Member
Howdy all! Been a lurker at the RPF for a few years and am blown away by some of the amazing creations you all make.

I've been a cosplayer for years but due to my line of work I haven't been able to keep up with it as much as I would like. With my work schedule I'm not even really able to attend conventions unless it's last minute, except for SOE Live (formerly SOE Fanfair) in Vegas once a year. The last two years I've gone, I've done DC Universe characters from my favorite SOE game, DC Universe Online. Last year I went as Bane.

This year, now that I have time and money, I want to do something really iconic from the game and just badass in general. I want to make Lex Luthor's power armor from the game. Here's a pic of the ingame model:

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I'm not going to be that big, as ingame Luthor's head is about half the size of the other characters, making the armor look bigger than it is. Using ingame units, the entire armor is just under 7.5 ft tall, as the grid is 20cm to a side. I myself stand 6'2", and Luthor is just over 5 feet according to his head size.

I have only a basic understanding of 3D modelling and Pepakura, which is how I started this build. I was able to rip the model from the game and optimize it to break it down into its component pieces(the game model is horribly unoptimized, with about twice as many polys as needed, random edges and vertices, a ton of clipping on items that don't even move). I mostly did some cheap test sizings to get an idea for the scale of the outfit.

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I've redesigned the pep files with the idea of splitting the armor into different parts to make vacuuforming bucks, but after doing more research, I'm not sure that's going to work, honestly. I still don't think the sheer amount of work I'd have to do to get something that large done, much less formed, is within my budget or the space I have available to work.

Reading some of the other threads here, it would seem that a foam suit would be my best bet, both for cost of construction and for the weight involved. I'm concerned though that most of the foam suits I've seen on here are skintight like Iron Man or Master Chief, while there's a lot of empty space in this armor. I'm worried it would bend or flex without some sort of reinforcement. Is there any type of resin or fiberglassing I could do inside a foam shell that wouldn't eat the foam away?

Is foam even ideal for this?

And is the model too low-poly to work to turn the papercraft into a foam template? It is after all ripped from an MMO.

Thanks for looking guys, I really look forward to any input and answers you may give :)
 
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Re: Lex Luthor's power armor - DC Universe Online

Someone has a full unfold of this on here already. Look for it. He offers the file free to anyone that wants to do it.
 
Re: Lex Luthor's power armor - DC Universe Online

Got some progress done. This is the first time ever modifying pepakura for foam, and I'm learning as I go!

Here's a shot of the chestpiece with all the extra bits I put in for fiberglassing removed.

luthorfoam.PNG

Progress pic on the front half of the chest!

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So far, for the first time doing this, it's coming out nicely I think.
 
Hopefully! Got another quarter of the back done last night.

I was wondering for those that work with foam armor - is there some type of "filler" I can use for gaps? Or just hot glue and carve/shave it down?

There are quite a few imperfections on a few pieces and I'd love to see if I can "buff" them out so to speak
 
Hey Jester,
I'm looking into trying this for my first big build... I'm wondering if you still have these files and if you were willing to share them? :)

Baddy
 
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