incredible hulk costume build

[sketchman1981]

Hey, my name is Mike. I've been thinking about building a hulk costume for years. All the ones I had seen that you could buy sucked. So I started doing some research andplannig of my own to create and build my own mean green monster. In the past year I've seen several attempts at this beast, many failures. Mikescostumes.com made the most impressive one I've seen so far. Harmonic_distortion on this site seems to have a pretty good plan in works and I look forward to seeig his finished results. Im planning to start my build soon, starting with the designing and testing of the skeletal support structure to make my 6'3" 205lb body turn into a hulking 7-8ft smashing terror. The biggest issue I'll probably have is the mechanical hands. My goal is to keep them man powered, trying to keep it low tech while still maintaining full ability to grab things with a decent force. Balance and weight I fear will be another issue that will make this a hard build. Im an artist and aircraft structural mechanic, so the sculptig should be easy for me. And I know how to build things that are strong. But the engineering will take some study and many months of research. Hopefully I can keep the costs down, but since this is not only a costume for me, but also hopes to lead to some sort of career I will put what it takes to build it right. Anyways, glad I found a site like this, I was starting to think I was one of the few that was crazy enough to try and build stuff like this. Glad to know there are other like minded people out there.

 

[somerset fox]

Good luck, keep us posted on progress and don't forget pictures!

 

[sketchman1981]

Of course. I'll try to update constantly as I progress. It'll likely be a year or more till completion. I work 70-74 hours/week, and have a newborn son due in may this year. But I'm hoping to get started with the physical designing soon

 

[sketchman1981]

I believe I have the basic design for the hands completed, will try and sketch out a more detailed drawing of it to post on here. It includes all 4 fingers and thumb that moves, and a wrist that can be bent. I have considered a rotation ability, this I know is doable, but will require some modifications to the current design. And may not be completely necessary. Though it would add a little more "realism" to the movement of the hands. Not likely to attempt anything other than basic movement with the feet.

 

[Harmonic_Distortion]

I have a schematic for a finger rig if you want it. Just let me know.

 

[sketchman1981]

Sure, I'd like to see anything that could possibly be of assistance in this process.

 

[sketchman1981]

I'm actually looking into buying cad, and a couple other 3d programs. I want to get them anyways for a business I'm hoping to start. I think they would come in handy for this though because I can simulate the movements and have a 3d visual of what might and might not work. That and I'm thinking about looking into finding a company that can do a 3d print for me. I'd like to buy one of the 3d printers, but from what I've seen to get the size I'll need for some of the pieces it would require a pretty good size printer. Of course this is only an idea. My goal is to keep it cost effective as well. So if that is too expensive then i'll just have to build it using my own methods of shaping, then mold them using plastic resin. I believe the plastic will be strong enough, yet light enough to accomplish what I'm looking to do.

 

[sketchman1981]

I plan on building the entire sub structure to function before applying the muscles over top. that way I know it'll support me and the freedom of movement I hope to achieve. Nothing crazy though. haha I don't expect to be able to do any jumping or picking up heavy things.

 

[calibr1735]

Hello sketchman,

You should consider Flex Design Costumes.com, ask for Brandon. He did a muscle suit for a Kilawog costume for someone not to long ago. It might be helpful for your muscle scenario. He also has a friend who might be able to help you accomplish a coverage for your custom made hands too. I would love to see all of your notes on this subject. I myself have been in the idelas of designing ' The Goon ' costume and he is somewhat similar build too. Let me know if this helps or not and keep me posted as well. Good luck, in your new venture. If you do speak with Brandon, tell him Brad sent you.:lol

 

[sketchman1981]

Thanks Brad,
I didn't plan on using someone else to do the build, but I suppose if they could accomplish the goals I'm looking for at a lower cost it'd be worth looking at.

 

[sketchman1981]

I just checked out their site, I'm not sure I like it for the purpose I'm looking for. That and their muscles are misshappen, with improper gaps.

 

[godproject]

I had at one time been working on an in-depth oversized Optimus Prime costume and had come up with a design that would work to make the actions of my hands operate a larger hand unit. Also they would've been nice because you could still hold and manipulate with them because your hand sat in the palm of the larger hand. If I can find the time I'll try to translate them fomr my sketchy pencils to a vector based design schematic so you can see if the build would work for you. If you're interested PM and ride my tail about getting them done.

 

[sketchman1981]

Im open to all ideas, I may not use them, I may modify them. But anything can help because I've never done this before. I know the basics, but have never tested my theories so they may fail. I seen a mechanical hand that was ran by remote, or by sensors in the suit...not sure. Either way its impressive. Used for farscape I think. Its on YouTube

 

[Harmonic_Distortion]

Personally, I love Brandon's work over at Flex designs. I'm pretty sure he has things really realistic and if there are any differences, they're artistically done. Just my opinion

(removed schematics at someone's request)

Hope it helps.

 

[Hunterbat]

Those reach rigs are pretty slick!! There was a bone-hand version in halloween stores in the 90's and it worked well, but for kids/all plastic.... I have also seen stilts around that would probably work well, sprung and all.... looking forward to seeing this build!!

 

[n0regret5]

thanks for posting that up!! thats pretty awesome. i'd still like to figure out a way to get the thumb to move, even if its only a limited range of movement.

 

[the_batdemon]

I had at one time been working on an in-depth oversized Optimus Prime costume and had come up with a design that would work to make the actions of my hands operate a larger hand unit. Also they would've been nice because you could still hold and manipulate with them because your hand sat in the palm of the larger hand. If I can find the time I'll try to translate them fomr my sketchy pencils to a vector based design schematic so you can see if the build would work for you. If you're interested PM and ride my tail about getting them done.

Sounds like what Henson used for Hoggle in Labyrinth.

i'd still like to figure out a way to get the thumb to move, even if its only a limited range of movement.

The cable for the thumb most likely will have to run through a pulley and double back on itself to get the action.

 

[Mithredates]

This should be an interesting build. An oversized character like the Hulk presents a host of significant engineering challenges (which you seem to appreciate). In addition to this, with the hulk you have large amounts of skin that must be textured and realistically painted. I would guess that some sort of armature will have to be articulated, skinned in some sort of textured rubber and painted. I dabbled a bit with silicone prosthetics and thus can appreciate the significant difficulty of replicating realistic skin texture and shape.

 

[sketchman1981]

the_batdemon, the pulley and doubling back for the thumb is actually how I drew the design I'm working on. I had thought about gears and levers, but I think the cable/pulley system will be the most fluid as long as the tension springs/bands have the proper pull so the movement is smooth.

 

[sketchman1981]

Mithredates, Yes, I plan to texture the skin, and will likely spray the color, using an airbrush for the finer details. Though I've been thinking about layering the latex or silicone using a combination of green, clear and maybe some redish brown. by doing that I hope to get a more realistic looking skin look. As for the texture I'm looking at using a "sculpted" flexible stamp system to give it a skin texture.

For the Veins, I will be using a combination of various size flexible rubber tubes that will be fastened to the foam muscles prior to spraying on the silicone/latex skin. I would call myself an amateur, but I have a strong attention to detail. I don't have any recent drawings on there, but you can check out a few of my older works on sketchman1981 on deviantART including a hulk I was playing around on photoshop with.