MOS General Zod Kryptonian Build, slow but steady

[Creator1326]

Worked on the ab plates over the weekend. Used a piece of lycra and hot melt glued it to the back of the four plates. I could have used elastic but it is too stretchy and my experience with using multiple pieces is that it's difficult to get the tension the same on more than one strap. If they're not the same the attached pieces will not hang/stretch straight. Yes that's hook/loop on the top.


And here they are mounted


Started on the gauntlets. I've psyched myself out about these for too long. Finally bit the bullet and just did it this weekend. They are held closed by six pairs of neodymium 5mm x 2mm magnets on the inside seam of the gauntlets. There's still quite a bit of detail to go, these are just the base shapes more or less and the black foam triangles are the bottom of the bracers.

 

[JJGarza]

Wow!! This looks like it comes straight out of the movie!!

 

[Creator1326]

Thanks JJGarza I have a few small differences but it's pretty close.


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[Creator1326]

Thanks JJGarza I have a few small differences but it's pretty close.


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[T073]

Your armor looks amazing and your posts are great too, I'm new to making costumes and props and reading this thread is really helping me understand how some of these things are made.

 

[Creator1326]

You're very welcome T073


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[Creator1326]

HOLY SHIITAKE BATMAN! That was a pile (all 285 pieces of 335) of work to remove all of the 3D printed supports, file each piece and lastly use 100% acetone to remove the grooves (by hand rubbing) on each piece. I wonder if I dare start painting each of them tomorrow?

 

[Creator1326]

Well... after a few days of letting the base coat of silver leaf rub n' buff dry I've dirtied up the 285-ish belt segments. Now I can start building belts and trying to join these crazy puzzle pieces of armor together. At least above the waist for now. I still have to finish the boots before I can build the lower belts since they attach to the boots. :-/ Yes that is a freshly mown lawn.

 

[woodyROM]

Looks great! The lawn that is, the belt segments look like a nightmare!

 

[Creator1326]

Thanks woodyROM they were tedious but worth it in the end.


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[Creator1326]

I now have a Facebook fan page for cosplay, check it out: http://www.facebook.com/ericbrowningcosplay


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[Creator1326]

Gauntlets are currently just a basic body form for the right and left arms. I have lots of details and still have to work out the saber extension mechanism on the right arm (think lightsaber extension). Again, black parts are EVA foam and a Worbla sandwich for the body of the gauntlet. They are split along the inside lengthwise so I can get in/out of them with neodymium magnets holding them closed.

The black wedges are one thick piece of EVA tile and then two layers of 2mm foam. As you can see the middle piece is just a narrow strip and the top layer flows over it. I use a heat gun to form the top layer over to get that definition of the middle layer. The middle and top layers are super glued, hot melt glue would have been too bumpy but I used it to glue the tile to the bottom of each bracer. The black EVA tile in the inside at the top is used to push my arm down to the bottom of the inside of the bracer.

I also attempted to make the bevel from EVA that runs around the bottom edge but it was impossible with a hot knife, I think I need a hot wire instead. Oh well, I used a fair amount of Apoxie Sculpt to make the lower beveled shapes(white stuff). The big tip with Apoxie is to use water. Water will keep it from sticking to you as you mix it together. After you place it use water to shape it to a buttery smooth surface. Zero sanding (unless I goof it up).

 

[Creator1326]

I've been working on the gauntlets today. I have a few nerdy details to fix but it's going well. There are a ton of detail on these things.

This is the left gauntlet. I'm using foam when possible. And you can see I have to do some build up under the paper patterns at the back. FYI I don't use Papakura, all of these patterns are done by eye and by making measurements which are then transferred to Adobe Illustrator.

The second pic is where I blended worbla into the plate below it with my bone folder. This is one of my favorite things about Worbla.

 

[Lord Magneto]

holy hell man... amazing amazing work. I honestly didnt think anyone would ever try to tackle this.

 

[Creator1326]

Thanks. I saw another guy doing the battle armor here on the RPF but I haven't seen updates in a while on his. He's my inspiration for doing this.


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[Creator1326]

Got to the three top plates on the left gauntlet today. Started off with building in some foam supports and then use Apoxie Scuplt to smooth out the transition between all of the surfaces. I'll post a video demo of Apoxie later today on youtube, Monday morning worst case. My wife is consuming all of our bandwidth for Netflix :-/

 

[Creator1326]

Worked on finishing the gauntlet plates and redoing the buckles on the cod piece. The old buckle is being held above the new ones. They were flimsy and didn't support the strap segment from behind. The white stuff is Apoxie sculpt to help blend in the joints. Also, had to correct some indents that were really bumps.

 

[Lord Magneto]

hey man what size apoxie sculpt are you buying?

edit: disregard... i saw that they sell a 4lb container vs the 1lb that ive been using.

 

[Creator1326]

The one pound size on Amazon. I've had it for months and it doesn't seem to dry out.


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[Creator1326]

hey man what size apoxie sculpt are you buying?

edit: disregard... i saw that they sell a 4lb container vs the 1lb that ive been using.

Now Apoxie is great and all but I wouldn't make a whole outfit out of it. Use filler strips to eat up some of the space under it to save on the amount of Apoxie used and big solid chunks of it will add weight. It's not terribly heavy but you will notice it and it's not flexible.