Ok, so about 2 years ago I decided, after seeing 300, to get off my butt, get in shape, and be one of the first people to do a '300 spartan' costume! And I think I might have actually been one of the people to start the bandwagon. I started off by posting a modest picture, where I had gathered some cape fabric, and started to assemble my helmet. I had barely begun construction on some of the more 'intimate' parts of the costume:
After 3 weeks, my pain from working out and eating right was starting to pay off in a BIG WAY. I'd never seen myself develop in such a short period of time (and in such a healthy way) as when I was doing this workout regiment! The fat was shredding away and my muscles were bounding! I picked up a few more things for my costume. A cheapo sword from the flea world, I made a sheath for it and re-worked my helmet. And started a *failed* attempt at my gauntlets out of foamies. I don't think I'll ever try to make armor out of foamies again, looking back.
Scrapping the foamies, I decided to go straight to more advanced materials. For the first time I decided to use fiberglass, thus re-imagining my helmet and the possibilities I had for armor making. I also decided to get a fake beard to simulate Leonidas', and decided to pattern my costume after his.
Moving forward with my project I realized something.... I didn't want to be the primary character... for some reason that took the fun out of it for me. I decided I wanted to do it in my own way, so I shaved, and re-made my cape, and *as you will see* I shaved off the crest to my "would be, Leo" helmet.
So I began to make the other armor, this time out of cardboard just like the helmet... because I had simply fallen in love with the process after adding the weathering and battle damaged details to the helmet... However, this is kind of where I fell off of the horse.
It was at this time in my life that I moved out of my parents house for the first time in my life, to live on my own. In the craziness of the move, and learning how to effectively PAY RENT. I significantly abandoned everything project related. My parents cleaned out my room, and so for the most part, all of my costume stuff (that wasn't complete) was thrown out. This really dissapointed me and is the reason I lost focus... I finished a few other projects in between, but the undertaking of Finishing the Spartan... and maintaining my healthy lifestyle was eliminated.
SO. Here we are now, 2 years later. Halloween is coming up, I'm dating a girl again, feeling inspired, starting school up again, ABLE to pay all of my bills responsibly... I decided it was time to get back into my passions! So my goal, has been Halloween.
THIS time, I'm going to do it for real. So here we go, since my armor was scrapped... I decided to take the best parts of everything I already knew, and eliminate the worst.
The best being... DUCT TAPE! I've learned it's great for molding body parts.... and it can hold under fiberglass. Cardboard is nice for certain things but not anatomy.
As you can see, I "molded" my arms and legs, with duct tape, and then fiberglassed them directly. I know this isn't the 'professional' way, but since I don't have the extra $200+ for expensive molding compounds, this was a cheap (and very effective) way to make fiberglass armor. And I'm still learning!
The rest was just a process of sanding, priming, bondoing, sanding more, repriming, and then adding the all important painting and weathering techniques.
All that's left is to throw on a little blood
Now, even 2 years ago and today, the most daunting part of the project (to my mind) was going to be the shield. But again, experience really is such a learning tool. The last shield I made was LINK (if you remember that costume), and I pretty much carved the entire base from wood. Leaving me a 2 sq. foot, TEN lb shield after it was done! THIS time, it was going to be foam. I opted for expanding foam so that it could be easily sculpted, re-filled (if necessary), and directly fiberglassed.
After the arm and leg armor... the rest was a sinch!
Add, some snapped dowels and blood... and WALAH. Holy crap... I can't believe I've FINALLY just finished it.
And so... I'm back to the daily workouts, eating right, and biking my A$$ off to try and shred the accumulated body fat in my bones the past 2 yrs of non-dedication.
And that's my costume story. Thanks for reading guys
Here's what I'm (FINALLY) wearing for Halloween!
P.S. Got Maul> Please let me join the 300DC forums!
After 3 weeks, my pain from working out and eating right was starting to pay off in a BIG WAY. I'd never seen myself develop in such a short period of time (and in such a healthy way) as when I was doing this workout regiment! The fat was shredding away and my muscles were bounding! I picked up a few more things for my costume. A cheapo sword from the flea world, I made a sheath for it and re-worked my helmet. And started a *failed* attempt at my gauntlets out of foamies. I don't think I'll ever try to make armor out of foamies again, looking back.
Scrapping the foamies, I decided to go straight to more advanced materials. For the first time I decided to use fiberglass, thus re-imagining my helmet and the possibilities I had for armor making. I also decided to get a fake beard to simulate Leonidas', and decided to pattern my costume after his.
Moving forward with my project I realized something.... I didn't want to be the primary character... for some reason that took the fun out of it for me. I decided I wanted to do it in my own way, so I shaved, and re-made my cape, and *as you will see* I shaved off the crest to my "would be, Leo" helmet.
So I began to make the other armor, this time out of cardboard just like the helmet... because I had simply fallen in love with the process after adding the weathering and battle damaged details to the helmet... However, this is kind of where I fell off of the horse.
It was at this time in my life that I moved out of my parents house for the first time in my life, to live on my own. In the craziness of the move, and learning how to effectively PAY RENT. I significantly abandoned everything project related. My parents cleaned out my room, and so for the most part, all of my costume stuff (that wasn't complete) was thrown out. This really dissapointed me and is the reason I lost focus... I finished a few other projects in between, but the undertaking of Finishing the Spartan... and maintaining my healthy lifestyle was eliminated.
SO. Here we are now, 2 years later. Halloween is coming up, I'm dating a girl again, feeling inspired, starting school up again, ABLE to pay all of my bills responsibly... I decided it was time to get back into my passions! So my goal, has been Halloween.
THIS time, I'm going to do it for real. So here we go, since my armor was scrapped... I decided to take the best parts of everything I already knew, and eliminate the worst.
The best being... DUCT TAPE! I've learned it's great for molding body parts.... and it can hold under fiberglass. Cardboard is nice for certain things but not anatomy.
As you can see, I "molded" my arms and legs, with duct tape, and then fiberglassed them directly. I know this isn't the 'professional' way, but since I don't have the extra $200+ for expensive molding compounds, this was a cheap (and very effective) way to make fiberglass armor. And I'm still learning!
The rest was just a process of sanding, priming, bondoing, sanding more, repriming, and then adding the all important painting and weathering techniques.
All that's left is to throw on a little blood
Now, even 2 years ago and today, the most daunting part of the project (to my mind) was going to be the shield. But again, experience really is such a learning tool. The last shield I made was LINK (if you remember that costume), and I pretty much carved the entire base from wood. Leaving me a 2 sq. foot, TEN lb shield after it was done! THIS time, it was going to be foam. I opted for expanding foam so that it could be easily sculpted, re-filled (if necessary), and directly fiberglassed.
After the arm and leg armor... the rest was a sinch!
Add, some snapped dowels and blood... and WALAH. Holy crap... I can't believe I've FINALLY just finished it.
And so... I'm back to the daily workouts, eating right, and biking my A$$ off to try and shred the accumulated body fat in my bones the past 2 yrs of non-dedication.
And that's my costume story. Thanks for reading guys
Here's what I'm (FINALLY) wearing for Halloween!
P.S. Got Maul> Please let me join the 300DC forums!
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