Is the Space Pope reptilian? - Finished pics up!

[fallimar]

So, yeah! Building the Space Pope from Futurama. Not exactly a major character but heck, he'll be a fun one to cosplay.

References:


I'm building in my good old tried and tested materials - EVA and upholstery foam, fabric and fleece. Eyes and claws are resin, tongue is silicone, the rest is carved foam and fabric.

I've started with the hands and feet as they're kinda fiddly. Progress so far:


I'm covering him in antron fleece as it's cartoony and apparently hides seams well. Not sure if I'll do a tail yet as you never see one in the series, might be fun if there's one poking out the back of the robes though. Got the fabric for the robes so that's all in the pipeline and I've made a basic start on the head but nothing fun enough to photograph just yet. Update soon, this shouldn't be a long one.

 

[imonafalcon]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

That's awesome! I've seen some great Futurama costumes, but never Space Pope! Can't wait to see how this turns out!

 

[fallimar]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

imonafalcon - Thanks! Yeah, I can't wait either, though since it's stuff I'm familiar with using it's humming along pretty easily right now. Nice to be making actual progress for a change

Speaking of, here's the feet and a shot of both gloves. Now they all need skin!


All except my over-curious cat, of course. She has plenty of skin.

 

[fallimar]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

Hands! Still got to glue around the claws, but they're looking nice already. I had to dye the antron a bit darker, so that was my afternoon. Great stuff to work with - this is just with the cover pulled over the foam. No glue or seam picking yet. When that's done they'll be pretty cool.
I'll probably unpick this one and use it as a template honestly, needs a longer arm and slightly smaller claw holes. I also hand sewed it which was a bit of a mistake, machine sewing two new ones will be much quicker and more even.

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

Looking good! This should be a fun costume to take to a con and see how well people remember the show.

"Who is that?"
"Futurama?"
Wait, is that...it's the Space Pope!!!"
:lol

 

[SteveStarkiller]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

hah, awesome. Can't wait to see more.

 

[fallimar]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

hah, awesome. Can't wait to see more.

Thanks

Looking good! This should be a fun costume to take to a con and see how well people remember the show.

"Who is that?"
"Futurama?"
Wait, is that...it's the Space Pope!!!"
:lol

Oh yeah - that's the idea really. Everyone does the main cast, I like to be difficult!
This would be the best costume to have if religious protestors show up too - need a sign that reads "I have no idea why they're here either" or something

 

[fallimar]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

Today's work - a foot. Antron fleece is AMAZING. It's got the perfect stretch, weight and fleeciness to cover surfaces and hide seams. I'm loving this stuff!

 

[fallimar]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

Both feet fleeced and the arms have been made much longer. Elbow length now. Still have to do finishing touches like some drybrushing, seam picking and edging. I've got to add the ribbed rubber mat on the feet for grip too, but aside from that they're done enough, you only ever see toes in the show, no cheeky pope-ankle.



The eyes are drying (see the more yellow backing areas and cloudy pupil), I just use PVA glue since it dries clear. Takes about a week to dry since it's all sealed in but once it's done you get a nice clear eye. Good stuff.

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

If you ever get a chance to do a step by step on the eyes I would love to see how you do them. They turned out great!

 

[fallimar]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

If you ever get a chance to do a step by step on the eyes I would love to see how you do them. They turned out great!

Sure, it's a really simple process considering I bought the domes - but of course you can make them yourself with a half sphere mould and clear casting resin (mine had yellow tint too).
All you need is photoshop (or a similar image editing program), glossy photo paper and a printer, your resin domes and PVA glue.
Open a new file the size of your dome (2in square for mine), use the shift key to make a circular selection that fits your square, fill with your base colour, add a pupil and any iris details you like - I've done all sorts of eyes with this method. Being an artist helps but you can get all sorts of textures online. Keep in mind that the domes magnify your design like crazy, so shrink your pupil down to about half the size you actually want it to look.
Once you've got it the way you like, test print on normal paper (remember to flip the second eye design horizontally before printing), then if you're happy with your design, print on glossy photo paper. Cut out the rounds, glue to the back of your domes using PVA and leave to dry until clear.

It's that easy.

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

^ Wonderful and simple! My kind of project! Thanks!!!

 

[fallimar]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

Right! Here's the inside bits of the head. All foam. The jaw movement is pretty good, I'm just hoping it stays that way when the fabric's on. Shouldn't be too bad. Not entirely sure what I'll do for vision since the Space Pope doesn't have any tear ducts, I'm thinking I might paint the mesh a slightly darker green and use them as sort of eye bags. I'll figure it out somehow.



And just for laffs and reference:

 

[darianwiccan]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

This is glorious and awesome!

 

[RBJ]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

YES!!!! This is great..makes me want to make a hedonism bot!

 

[fallimar]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

YES!!!! This is great..makes me want to make a hedonism bot!

Dooo eeeet! I want to annoy a friend into making Calculon .

 

[fallimar]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

Finally starting the skin! His head has six magnets that correspond to ones on the bottom of his pope hat since his head shape doesn't really lend itself to hat wearing. I just hope they're strong enough to stay on through the fabric, but I can always shave down the fleece if necessary.

 

[jsher1010]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

Wow, you have some amazing skills! Can't wait to see this finished.
The head looks terrific!:thumbsup

 

[Alpha Proto]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

I am not familiar with the character, but your foam fabrication skills are top notch.
Are you using templates? Or is this all from trail and error?
I have been trying to figure out how to make some feet for a monster of mine and your method looks like a good template to follow.
Thank you for posting this great work.

 

[fallimar]

Re: Is the Space Pope reptilian?

Wow, you have some amazing skills! Can't wait to see this finished.
The head looks terrific!:thumbsup

Hey, thanks! Me neither, though it's coming along nicely now

I am not familiar with the character, but your foam fabrication skills are top notch.
Are you using templates? Or is this all from trail and error?
I have been trying to figure out how to make some feet for a monster of mine and your method looks like a good template to follow.
Thank you for posting this great work.

Thanks again! Nah, this is all freehand work. I used to make fursuits for the furry types so I honed my foam skills with that stuff. It's pretty simple, just make a sort of foam "helmet" from EVA, carve your facial features from upholstery foam and fill in any gaps. Use stiff fabric mesh for vision and such. The nice thing about EVA is that it's pretty elastic too, meaning you can get nice jaw movement out of it without any complex engineering. Contact gel adhesive works wonders for the whole kit and kaboodle.

I've got old pictures of headframes I made back in the day, so if you need any more visual reference for the method then just let me know.

~~

Last night's progress - apologies for the crap photo:

Trimming up the back and handsewing the seams today, then I start gluing it all on. Then, drybrushing in details and robes!