Hell cat costume - kitty of doooooom!

[fallimar]

So I've wanted to play with a premade resin base and accessories for a while now, and I ordered some pieces from Dreamvision Creations on etsy a while back. I bought a discounted hinged big cat resin base and accessories such as a nose, jawset, tongue, LED eye blanks and other bits and pieces. I'll be doing a lot of modification as well as doing all the fitting, finishing and the rest on my own, of course.

I usually make these sorts of things from scratch, but I've wanted to try using resin pieces. It's different, more difficult to fit and a lot heavier, and getting the jawset to stay where I wanted it took three attempts and a LOT of carving off unnecessary bits! I also had to file channels to place the eye wires where I wanted them. It's weird not just using foam, but I'm enjoying the challenge!

So, here's where I am right now:



Jaw moves well, profile is very tight and vision is... well, about the same as the space pope! I'll have a fan in the nose of this one though, so there'll at least be some air flow. The eyes also light up amber.
Horns and spikes and a mohawk and all sorts are going on this. Here's a little shape sketch to give me some idea jumping off points:



As for the remainder of the costume, most of it will be fantasy medieval-esque but with cat arms, legs and tail. Big claws, lots of scars and hunting trophies. Hopefully I can re-jig my old hollow core EVA tail mechanism designs to work with a long feline tail to give it bounce and lateral movement.
Fun side project, in any case

 

[fallimar]

Progress!
Back from OzCC Sydney now so I can finally work a little, though I'm also trying to put together a portfolio to apply for the WAAPA costuming course next year.

I've added some facial detailing to make the kitty angrier, added in the horns and spikes and redid the ears so they'd flow better with the horns and be a little longer and more demon-like. Sculpted in some lip detailing with magic sculpt too, so they'll be painted black once the fur is on the face.



Now I'm working on eyelids and attaching the face fur, which is already sewn but needs tweaking to go over the new foam details. Should be easy enough and hopefully look badass!

 

[Egon Spengler]

Looking awesome!

 

[fallimar]

Looking awesome!

Thanks
It is rather nice to be winging it for once, designing as I go. The horns are pretty darn gorgeous, can't wait to paint them up!

 

[kialna]

So...a bit like khajit?

 

[fallimar]

So...a bit like khajit?

Not really, more generic cat person with horns and scars and demon features. Almost... more like a charr from Guild wars 2 than khajiit, really. With fewer ears!

 

[kialna]

Ah, I've never played guild wars 2. Sorry! But it sounds interesting.

 

[fallimar]

No worries
It's a surprisingly fun F2P MMORPG, really well set up. Worth a look if you're bored!

Also, a little more progress, I did up the eyelids. Mask bases always look so much better with eyelids!

 

[gothic]

have no idea where its from but it looks cool

 

[fallimar]

have no idea where its from but it looks cool

Unsurprising seeing as it's from the weird insides of my brain
Thanks

 

[gothic]

lol that's were the best ideas come from

 

[fallimar]

Wow! I love the articulation of the jaw. The amount of different emotions you get from the mask just by tilting your head different ways is amazing.

Yeah! Deep-set eyes with the slight following effect let you do a lot like that; since the face itself doesn't move it's very useful. All the grumpy and condescending cat emotions!

The resin base is heavier than I'm used to and doesn't sit as well on my head but it's a really nice short cut that doesn't involve cutting up huge quantities of foam. I'll be doing the rest in foam though, the hands, legs, tail and feet. I'm working on the armour design now, nice and chunky and a bit rusty with horns or teeth on. Maybe some bone. Some leather and all that too.

 

[fallimar]

Working on the hands today whilst the face is getting a bit of a messy shave.

First, made a pair of thin jersey elbow length gloves to glue the foam details on to:
View attachment 539738View attachment 539739 (paw pads go on later)

Then started casting claws and carving foam fingers. The foam doesn't have to be particularly neat underneath fur but it's good to get the shapes as accurate as possible. I'm going for a beasty hand rather than a more human look, I want chunky claw hands!


Fun stuff! I like how quickly these come together once you've figure out how to get one finger to the shape you want. Just repeat the process until sufficiently fingered.
Next it's attachment time, gotta get them on to the gloves and then figure out how I want the fur on top to look. I'm considering having the forearm armour attached to the gloves, but it depends on the finished weight of the armour. Don't want it pulling on the arms and having them slump sideways or fall down. I'll integrate some upper arm strapping if I really need to.

 

[fallimar]

Finished off the left glove foamwork. Yay!
Moves pretty well for thick foam, cutting slits helps a huge amount. Without them there's almost no movement without straining the fabric, foam and fingers. Since you don't see them when everything's covered it all works out so long as the outer covering is a little loose. Fur hides a multitude of sins

 

[fallimar]

Quick update - made the basic tail core. Turns out my old simple method works just fine - gives a nice shape with almost zero effort relying on gravity and the elasticity of foam. The top three rings are reinforced with a circle of upholstery foam just to keep their shape. The top edge has a line of elastic running down it to help stave off the effects of gravity once the covering is on, preventing sag.

The static movement is mainly up and down bounce, but as you walk it follows your hip movement and sways, so you get a lovely natural look. It's a very simple method for a tail with movement without having to resort to anything more complicated than scissors, foam and glue!

 

[gothic]

the evil puddy cat now has claws :lol its coming along nicely

 

[Apollo]

Love this build!

 

[WereDrelf]

That is one nicely expressive kitty! Love it!

 

[jsher1010]

WOW! The horns look pretty cool on Kitty and the paws look great!
Hellcat with a pink nose, love it!:thumbsup

 

[fallimar]

Thanks everyone! I'm having a really great time working on this one. It's so different from doing a costume where the design work is already done like the Space Pope - there's more freedom. Instead of "How can I fit this over my shapes?" it's "What do I want this part of me to look like?". New challenges and a heck of a good time

WOW! The horns look pretty cool on Kitty and the paws look great!
Hellcat with a pink nose, love it!:thumbsup

Also pink paw pads. Pink is one of the best evil colours.