Lost in Space Battle Armor

[Sandman0077]

Hey guys, I've been designing a working version of this battle armor used by Major Don West, played by Matt LeBlanc in the 1998 movie adaption of Lost in space.

Some problems with designing this is the obvious 'growing armor'. The ear pieces seem to simply 'grow' bigger as they come up:

Other than that, the hard part has been trying to develop a method for it to open. I was thinking about using cables to push the pieces up and over the head, revolving around the outer edge of the ear pieces. The helmet isn't round, which is difficult to figure out.

Anyone have any screen used prop photos or concepts of the body armor? I can't seem to find ANY but one picture on yourprops.com, and it's covered by a jacket:

 

[Vlair]

I cant wait to see what you do with this..embarrassingly, this was one of my fav movies when I was younger.

 

[Boxman430]

The film itself, I could take or leave, but I've always liked that armour, especially the way it "grows".
I look forward to seeing how you go with this

 

[Grey]

Some problems with designing this is the obvious 'growing armor'. The ear pieces seem to simply 'grow' bigger as they come up:

Because it was CG.

Do you have any work thus far to show for this project?

 

[justanuthercap]

I think I remember the propstore selling the mask, so they may still have the reference images in their archived photo section.

 

[Sandman0077]

I think I remember the propstore selling the mask, so they may still have the reference images in their archived photo section.

Here is a rubber halloween version:

As far as making it, we were discussing this over at sinza.forumotion.com, and the real problem is going to be making the pieces come out in a 'square' type of order. This is what happens when it rotates on a single pivot point:

 

[nickytea]

I dare someone to blow my mind and make this work. :lol
Heck, at this point, just a static version would be cool.
I remember reading that he had to be screwed into the two-part mask.

 

[Sandman0077]

 

[agliarept]

I for one being a massive LIS movie fan, would like to watch your thread and future work on this mask. I even almost opted to buy the prop store mask but it doesnt include the behind part. the armor is really well done, and althought hard to make in real terms, its so awesome to see it in film. the growing affect is what makes it cool to me.

 

[nickytea]

I think the only way to make it functional would be to pull the slats as super-thin vacuform plastic pieces.

 

[Sandman0077]

I think the only way to make it functional would be to pull the slats as super-thin vacuform plastic pieces.

That or aluminum I would think. Nothing too heavy.

 

[nickytea]

That or aluminum I would think. Nothing too heavy.

I was thinking more of the potential space issue ... that many slats folded up could get pretty thick.

 

[Sandman0077]

I was thinking more of the potential space issue ... that many slats folded up could get pretty thick.

You have a point. It would have to be super thin. Nothing more thick than poster board I would think.

 

[CSMacLaren]

Gosh, that's a tough one. The inside recessed surfaces of the eyes basically make it impossible for the sections past the eye holes to fold up under the eyes, unless you paired the eye section and the one immediately after it, and then pair the ones above the eyes all the way back to the head. Then you would have to allow certain amount of headroom to facilitate the depth of the inner eye surfaces.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[Sandman0077]

I'll either have to leave the eye holes flat with no recession, or make the piece below it not go all the way up. The neck piece that holes them all is tall enough, it just won't be as magical as the movie version lol

Like this:

 

[Thermalized Plastics]

The belt is from JUDGE DREDD !! Check it out!:rolleyes


thermal

 

[Wolfdagon]

I look forward to seeing your progress on this. I loved this armor in the movie. I reminded me of the batmobile armor in the firs Keaton film.

 

[micdavis]

Jaffa armor in the Stargate movie, I believe is the first use of this style of animating armor. Makes it damn tough to replicate. Good Luck.

I love the LIS movie.

 

[Phelyx]

I'm thinking this is going to be a difficult project, but I've seen some really impressive things from RPF members, so I'm curious to see the progress.
I don't know if this is going to work as non CGI engineering, though. Assuming the elements pivot around from the back with the ear disks as their axis, the parts that form the top of the head and the chin will have a much larger radius than the parts that would form the face. That type of action would work okay for a sphere or with parts that have the same radius from the ear disk.
If you imagine the part that has the eye holes pivoting on the ear disk axis, it would almost immediately hit the actor's forehead. In order for the pieces to fan back and forth from a starting point at the back of the head, the profile would either need to be pretty much a circular shape like a pill bug, or it would take some serious engineering to have a sliding axis point on some of the parts to get it to look like the helmet in the film; close to the face and "head-shaped" like that.
Now I fully expect to be proven wrong about the "impossibility" of this project by the crafty artists/engineers on this thread.

 

[Sandman0077]

Phelyx, you are absolutely right. There is only so much you can do by making something CG into real working parts. I think we can get it close, but time will tell.