My First Ever Build - Female Predator

[Henaii]

Hi

Ok, so i'm a newbie to this forum, please be nice, haha. I'm gonna attempt to win a scholarship competition for a special effects school which is due in april, so i'm starting to feel the pressure It's a cosplay competition, and as i love the predator movies, i decided pretty quickly that i wanted to make a predator, and thought it would be fun to make a female predator. I've never made a costume before, but i have no doubt that i can do this tho, hehe. I've always loved to create things, even tho i don't have a lot to show for it, haha.

So to the point of this post... I figured posting my progress would help me stay motivated and kinda pressured. Maybe even get some tips and tricks. I've tried to make a design, but i can't draw to save my life. So i've been looking online for pictures of different predator designs to get some insiration. I think i finally decided on a design, and it's the armor for Machiko Noguchi. Even tho she's a human hunting with the predators, i wanted to use it as an inspiration for my predator.

I've started working on the bio, i downloaded pepakura and used paper mache and clay to shape it. I see many people using epoxy, or whatever you call it, but that was just too complicated for me, haha. Durability is not the most important factor for me here.

I already attempted making one bio, but i wasn't happy with it and it was also a little rushed, so i've started on a new one that i'm taking my time with to make it as good as i can. I'm still figuring out what to do with it, but this is how it is at this moment.


And this is the first one i made, which to me, is a total bust Made a mistake with the pepakura, so it made the whole thing lobsided..

 

[xdmray]

Your second attempt has much better proportions.  keep up the good work.

 

[Henaii]

Thanks

Since i had the day off i decided to try to make some patterns, it's not as easy as it looks! haha. Only thing i think i did ok was the part under the boob, it's supposed to sligthly bend backwards, towards the back, if that makes any sense... So i guess i got a little ahead of myself and finished that part, before making anyting else

So as you can see i got kinda excited about trying worbla.. i did the outlines with it too, and now that i look at it, idk if maybe i should have used craft foam or something, to get a crisper line, but at the same time, i like it kinda organic.
What do you guys think? Anyone with any advice to what might look better? I have such a hard time deciding things...

 

[Henaii]

so that last one i totally scrapped. after some days past i say how awful it really was, and not at all the look i wanted to go for.. so i decided to start over again, and do some of the more easy parts, i did the butt covering part, and finished one side of the thigh. much more happier with the result this time. only thing to do with these now it just connect all the parts

first part i made, gonna cover the butt:

second part, one of the thighs, learned a few things from the first one in this one, so this is the one i'm the happiest with

as you can see it's almost a copy of most machiko noguchi pics you see online, but i just love that armor. some places i try to do some changes, but trying to design it all myself just seems too overwhelming.. so that's kinda where i'm hoping i'll end up in the end

 

[Henaii]

i also think this thread was moved to the wrong place, idk who fixes that? hehe..

 

[guannihkoute]

It looks really nice! I've also been thinking about taking some inspiration from the Machiko armor

 

[A Hunters Moon]

i also think this thread was moved to the wrong place, idk who fixes that? hehe..

If you intend to make a full costume you're in the right place.


Armor is looking nice. Weathering looks great. You're well on your way and have knack for it. If any questions arise I'm sure one of us will be willing to help. Keep at it!

 

[BATIMAN]

This is looking great , love what you are doing so far , very clean work , keep the updates coming




Alex

 

[antcarb]

Hey henaii I built a female suit ways back if you go to my profile it should be up if not I will post some pics maybe it will help you with some ideas I think the best work is done under strong deadlines you don't overthink ideas keep up the great work

 

[Henaii]

Thanks everyone! i'm sure i'll need help sooner or later. Hoping i can get started on the other thigh today, when i'm done work.
The thing i'm dreading to make is the breastplate. Anyone got any tips on how to do that? I've been experimenting some, but i find it difficult to get the fitting right, and it can look kinda weird, or crooked...

I'm basically just making armor/props. Not making the mask, just the bio, not making the skin, gonna do that with special effects and makeup But other than that, i'm doing it all i just wasn't sure this was the right place, that's all

 

[A Hunters Moon]

It all depends on how involved you want to get but a duct tape dummy might be a way to go. Especially on a budget build: http://predatorium.com/search/1331/?q=duct+tape+dummy&o=date In this case you'd simply do one of your torso and fill it with spray foam. The more layers of tape the sturdier. You'd then have a basic form to design the armor against.

 

[Lowdmekon]

Looks the fricken nutz matie, where can we buy this worbla stuff in the UK?

 

[Henaii]

Looks the fricken nutz matie, where can we buy this worbla stuff in the UK?

i bought my stuff from cosplaysupplies.com, but i also think there is a site in the uk too, don't remember what it's called, but i'm sure you'll find it with some googling i used worbla for the base and friendly plastic for the lining and shapes..

 

[Lowdmekon]

I'll look that up, What's friendly plastic matie?

 

[Henaii]

you can find videos about it on youtube, tutorials and stuff like that. it looks like small plastic beads, you heat them up with a heatgun, and mold it to whatever you want, once it cools down it gets hard thought it was really easy to use, and it was my first time testing it out

 

[Henaii]

It all depends on how involved you want to get but a duct tape dummy might be a way to go. Especially on a budget build: http://predatorium.com/search/1331/?q=duct+tape+dummy&o=date In this case you'd simply do one of your torso and fill it with spray foam. The more layers of tape the sturdier. You'd then have a basic form to design the armor against.

i already did that, except fill it in. the way it is now there is no way i can use force to shape my armor around it. spray foam, is that the kind of stuff that expands? will that be hard enough you think?

 

[A Hunters Moon]

I wouldn't use what they call great stuff as it tends to cure on the softer side. Most others harden pretty well. Two cans of triple expanding might do it. To keep it from distorting the dummy you'll likely need to do it in layers. Start with a layer against the tape and then fill in the rest with additional layers after each has dried. Don't be afraid if the layer against the tape doesn't full cure. I usually have to puncture the dummy with an xacto for that to harden.

It's a pain in the butt and you spend a day on it but it's worked for me thus far. Here's a dummy head done the same way . . . http://predatorium.com/threads/the-...tern-opinions-needed.18746/page-3#post-304465

 

[Henaii]

got started on the breastplate today, finally figured out how to do it think it turned out ok, just needs some priming and paint and it's all done, took me all day, hopefully i can finish the other one tomorrow.. so boring to do the same one over again tho, much more fun to make something new hehe...

here's some pics of the breastplate i did today:

thought i'd wait till i got several parts and paint it all at once so i know i get the color right

 

[HAL1138]

Beautiful!!! Can't wait to see how this turns out!