Immortan Joe costume from Mad Max, Fury Road
- Thread starter ahoudini
- Start date
Bigboss1o1
Active Member
Well I'll let you guys know i'm hoping since it's a full leg I can do both the form and the upper arm part with these
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Bigboss1o1
Active Member
Well thankfully I'm trying to be a skinny lil Joe and I do have pretty thin fore arms, i'll know in a week if there a bad decision or not
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immortanjoanna
Jr Member
How wide are those leg thingamys? (wow, my english, huh?) I just haven't got wide forearms at all, and skinny wrists, and so don't want to buy something and be like "*********"
Bigboss1o1
Active Member
Well the width of the very top of the leg is 16 which is the same as my wife's leg (she didn't like me coming at her with the tape measure) and with her leg As reference it should be more than wide enough to fit around my forearm and the thigh part my bicep
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immortanjoanna
Jr Member
Hmmm, will need to attack myself with the tape measure tonight methinks.
aestheticus
Jr Member
Transparent worbla will be part of my villain origin story. I tried three different ways to make the shoulders and nothing was turning out right. Plus one mistake and that piece of worbla is ruined. So I'm going to be making some creative choices with my costume. To get the shoulder shaped a bit closer to the right shape, I just cut a triangle out of two sides, pinched it back together, and glued it. Direct heat for a few minutes wouldn't even weld it back together. Thankfully having distressed the worbla with sandpaper helps hide the lines and it isn't too obvious.
I tried shaping worbla to the chest on the Bob punching bag... It just wasn't happening. The pecs kind of turned out ok, and the abs weren't terrible. Overall though it just kind of looked like a hot mess. Also since the worbla expands while being heated, it began to cause wrinkles and left some awful blemishes in the armor. So I think I'm going to need to pattern out 6 pieces, shape it as best as possible, and if need be use the same approach I did with the shoulders. Thankfully most of the seams on the chest will be hidden by the painted on filth ab lines.
Speaking of blemishes, sanding really brings them out. Even when sanding the worbla before trying to shape it, there are irregularities in it that become very obvious. I'll upload some progress photos tonight to show what I'm talking about. Overall though, I'd only use transparent worbla with a vacuum form or for small detail type crafting.
I tried shaping worbla to the chest on the Bob punching bag... It just wasn't happening. The pecs kind of turned out ok, and the abs weren't terrible. Overall though it just kind of looked like a hot mess. Also since the worbla expands while being heated, it began to cause wrinkles and left some awful blemishes in the armor. So I think I'm going to need to pattern out 6 pieces, shape it as best as possible, and if need be use the same approach I did with the shoulders. Thankfully most of the seams on the chest will be hidden by the painted on filth ab lines.
Speaking of blemishes, sanding really brings them out. Even when sanding the worbla before trying to shape it, there are irregularities in it that become very obvious. I'll upload some progress photos tonight to show what I'm talking about. Overall though, I'd only use transparent worbla with a vacuum form or for small detail type crafting.
Ein
Sr Member
As someone with a jumbo sheet of worbla on the table in my house and a set of roman armor to form it over, that is somewhat ominous. I haven't tried working with it yet but I know I'm not going to have a vacuum former big enough to do the torso pieces. You think it'd work if you just uniformly heated the whole thing until it was mostly droopy and pressed it on over the armor?
I'd be interested in seeing pictures of your results, too.
I'd be interested in seeing pictures of your results, too.
Bigboss1o1
Active Member
That is extremely disheartening to me as well especially because I've never worked with any kind of worbla before
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aestheticus
Jr Member
As others (I think eriksmask) have mentioned, forming the worbla into something rather than onto something seems to work better. The problem with trying to form it onto a convex surface is that you need to cut out a larger-than-needed piece, then heat up the center as consistently as possible, and then pull it over the shape you want almost like a manual vacuum form. Otherwise the edges will bunch up and you'll have a rough mold. Another problem with this is you need a device big enough to heat that surface uniformly. I have a heat gun, but it's only got a 1 inch diameter and by the time I've heated up the final area, the beginning part has begun to cool and won't be as flexible as the last area.
When forming into a concave shape, lets say a quarter circle, it works a bit better. you'll want to tape the worbla down on one side and slowly work it into the curve taping it down every so often to prevent bubbling. So rather than working an entire shape, I did it in one or two inch increments. Basically, if it's going to expand at all, you want it to expand down into a shape, rather than expanding down around a shape.
Just play around with it. Looking at some of the work you guys have already done, you might have better luck than I did. We're lucky the costume is post-apocalyptic and can be sanded to hide stuff like seam lines (if you choose to go that route as I am). Plus the seam lines in my shoulders are only visible up close, from a meter away they aren't really even that visible.
When forming into a concave shape, lets say a quarter circle, it works a bit better. you'll want to tape the worbla down on one side and slowly work it into the curve taping it down every so often to prevent bubbling. So rather than working an entire shape, I did it in one or two inch increments. Basically, if it's going to expand at all, you want it to expand down into a shape, rather than expanding down around a shape.
Just play around with it. Looking at some of the work you guys have already done, you might have better luck than I did. We're lucky the costume is post-apocalyptic and can be sanded to hide stuff like seam lines (if you choose to go that route as I am). Plus the seam lines in my shoulders are only visible up close, from a meter away they aren't really even that visible.
immortanjoanna
Jr Member
With respect to the transparent worbla problems - would it be worth doing it in pieces, then trying to join it in spots where it will look less obvious with adhesive, or an adaptation of the original costume and add screws to give the idea of it?
aestheticus
Jr Member
That's what I'm doing. For the bracers, biceps, and back it isn't really needed since those are just simple curves. For the shoulders and chest though, I'm going to pattern them out, shape individual pieces, then glue them back together. While welding isn't entirely possible, hitting a seam with a lot of heat for around 45 seconds will somewhat join it together. I'm just smearing some E 6000 on the inside of the armor to make sure it won't separate. For the shoulders, I made two cuts. One at the top, one at the bottom. The seam line goes straight down the middle. For the chest, I'm going to try and make the seam lines around each muscle so the paint/shading will cover it up.
immortanjoanna
Jr Member
How much did you order? I am looking at ordering some this week or next and start having a play with it, start with some simpler pieces and going from there. How hot does it need to get? Will my hair dryer work, or should I steal something out of the boyfriends shed to heat it up?
I feel like I need to make sketches of what I want to do so that I'm not just fumbling in the dark with this.
aestheticus
Jr Member
I ordered three jumbo sheets with the intent of either storing what I didn't use or selling it to a friend (maybe an enemy with how rough it is to use
) The first sheet has made two bracers, two shoulders, and the chest. It'll probably be enough for the biceps as well. Back will be another sheet. Granted I've also messed up two shoulder pieces and used a 12x15 piece for learning on.A hair dryer definitely won't get the job done in a timely manner. Steal something from the boyfriend's shed.
Definitely make sketches and paper patterns first to see how they sit on you. I'm lucky my partner is able to do that part for me, otherwise I'd definitely be fumbling in the dark.
immortanjoanna
Jr Member
I ordered three jumbo sheets with the intent of either storing what I didn't use or selling it to a friend (maybe an enemy with how rough it is to use
A hair dryer definitely won't get the job done in a timely manner. Steal something from the boyfriend's shed.
Definitely make sketches and paper patterns first to see how they sit on you. I'm lucky my partner is able to do that part for me, otherwise I'd definitely be fumbling in the dark.
Oh dear this isn't going to be fun.
The dog probably won't be much help.Will have to con someone with cake and/or alcohol to help me with this then I think.
I think this is the answer. Separate pieces joined by glue. Online sources recommend super glue but I like the idea of E 6000, if it stays transparent. It will definitely be more flexible. Apparently, heat gun in one hand and wet sponge in the other is the way to go.
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aestheticus
Jr Member
E 6000 stays pretty transparent. Also a lot cheaper than using a bunch of super glue. You have 30 seconds or so to shape it after it's been heated so you don't need to rush in with a wet sponge, especially if you just approach one small area at a time.
