My First Predator Build, EVA foam WIP (Pic Heavy)

[Mille2ej]

Hi all! I've been doing a lot of research on Predatorium among other online resources and have finally decided to make a predator suit! I've been working on it on and off for the past year but recently have been putting a lot more time into it. Below are some pictures of what I've made so far. It's mostly an AVP Scar version with some minor tweaks. I plan to order the Bio and half mask from Corey very soon.

• Foam is a mix of .5", .25", and 125" EVA
• Used pepakura files I found on this website, modified depending on foam thickness
• Weathering was done with dremil tool and sanding.
• Suit was a Mr. Incredible suit which I applied latex to and airbrushed (first time airbrushing)
• Started with hot glue for assembly but switched to Barge! Soooo much better and cleaner!

Let me know what you think! First time building something like this but I feel it has turned out pretty good thus far. I'll continue to upload photos as I progress through the build, constructive criticism is welcome.

View attachment 265719

 

[Mille2ej]

First update to the build, been working on the blade gauntlet and med-pack backpack (thanks to VinMan's scratch build). Also started the chest armor, needs a lot of work still.

The gauntlet is mostly together but I need to figure out how to make the blades out of foam...and make them look good!

The backpack is starting to take shape, I used a PVC pipe for the backbone portion, drilled some holes to lighten it a bit. Probably could have done a lot more but got bored.

all in all I think it should look pretty good when all painted up. Below are some pictures of the process, maybe it will help some others out...maybe not.

 

[ksj]

On my blades I used 1/4" sealed foam and just coated them with fiberglass resin. On your foam product you will have to seal with mod podge or wood glue and then use resin. The fiberglass resin gets darned hot when curing. Once I had enough material built up I then sanded it down. If any foam showed through once sanded I sealed it all with plastidip and then painted with Valspar paint. The imperfections ended up making it appear worn from use and battle damage.

 

[Wreav]

You're doing great, love the progress pictures bud

 

[Mille2ej]

Here are the second set of updated pictures to my predator build. I've mostly been focusing on the wrist gauntlets and the Med-pack.

Few things that I have learned:
1. You can apply a bit of heat to the barge cement to make it cure faster, has speed up the building process quite a bit.
2. So far Flexible Dap has held up well filling seams and it is remaining flexible. We'll see what happens after I apply a paint.
3. One thing I haven't seen people do is use their cellphone for the wrist bomb/computer. I found an app on this website that displays 4 of the 5 countdown lights as well as some other lights that when pressed plan a few different noises. I plan to place a bluetooth speaker under the med-pack and play the sounds out directly under the plasma caster.

Med-pack with Flexible Dap, needs to still be sanded.

Symbols created with soldering iron, melting foam.

Pinning foam in place helps to locate parts before gluing, also allows you to trace overlapping parts so you don't put glue on exposed surfaces. heat gun should seal most of the tiny pin holes.

Wrist computer with cellphone, app only has 4 lights but that's goo enough for me.

View attachment 265872

Testing fit, everything but the belt pieces are just resting on the latex suit, still need to figure out how to attach them....

Let me know what you all think! I'm pretty happy with it at this point. Trying to get in finished for a local Con by late September....fingers crossed!

Also just want to thank everyone on the forum till this point! I've spent countless hours reviewing other peoples builds and suggestions/tips. Could not have got this far without you all!!

 

[Isubomo]

Tank!

Excellent, excellent work and progress!!!

 

[LORD NEMESIS]

that has come up really well

 

[Jmen]

Good job, really. Impressed.

 

[Mille2ej]

On my blades I used 1/4" sealed foam and just coated them with fiberglass resin. On your foam product you will have to seal with mod podge or wood glue and then use resin. The fiberglass resin gets darned hot when curing. Once I had enough material built up I then sanded it down. If any foam showed through once sanded I sealed it all with plastidip and then painted with Valspar paint. The imperfections ended up making it appear worn from use and battle damage.

I really like that idea, and will probably make a set this way! I plan to have the blades removable since some Con's only allow "foam" weapons . Thanks for the info

 

[Mille2ej]

Thanks everyone for the kind words! Here is another small update of the wrist gauntlet painted and weathered. I added some 3D printed parts to add a little more detail to the gauntlet. Easier than making a bunch of small parts out of foam. Also I've added some length to the leg armor, they seemed a bit short before. Lastly connected to Bluetooth speaker into the med pack, now I just need to find a way to secure it to the chest armor.

 

[Mille2ej]

Blade gauntlet completed. Used sintra for the blade and covered with foam, I hope I can get this into Cons...

 

[DarthStevius]

Enjoying watching this.
Amazing work bro!

 

[Mille2ej]

Thanks UglyMF! It's been a lot of work thus far and a lot more to go. I should have another updated posted this weekend. I plan to complete most of the armor pieces and show the plasma caster I've been working on...stay tuned!

 

[Mille2ej]

Here's the next update, I wasn't happy with the texture I got with the dremel tool so I went back in and retextured everything with a soldering iron. It took a lot of time but I really like the result. What do you guys think?

I've also been working on the AVP Scar plasma caster which is almost complete. Not 100% screen accurate but some of the detail is to complex for the tools I have... I haven't seen to many of these on the website so I made a thread under the props section to help people out if they're looking at making this. Here's the link: AVP Scar Plasma Caster Scratch Build (15 Pics)

 

[Shoguno]

i love your canon ...is it made of EVA foam as well?

 

[Mille2ej]

i love your canon ...is it made of EVA foam as well?

Hey Shogun, thanks! If you click the link on the previous post it will take you to the plasma caster build.

 

[Mille2ej]

Alright, here's another update to the AVP predator build. Hopefully this isn't to many pictures for everyone. I've noticed this thread is becoming very picture heavy.

Legs completed, I needed to add a fill piece to the back since they didn't fit entirely around my legs. it just Velcro's on so its easy to remove.

Finished the hands, used a $5 pair of gloves from the hardware store and glued claws from some latex hands onto them. Then I latexed the whole thing and painted. I had issues with the paint sticking to the latex with adhesive promoter so I mixed the createx airbrush paint 50/50 with latex for the first coat and that stuck really well. Need to finish with perma-wet still.

Completed chest armor, hooked it the back with 3 straps. these will be covered by the dreads, backpack, and back strap piece.

Finished Med-Pack, still need to determine how I'm going to mount the plasma caster to it so it doesn't shake around. Any thoughts? What have others done?

And finally here are a few pictures of where I current am with the suit. Everything is completed except for adding the back strap and zipper to the latex under-suit, mounting the cannon and wiring it to the gauntlet, everything on the head and feet.

Also I did use a fishnet body suit for the netting.....whatever works!

 

[Isubomo]

Woohoo, almost complete!!! Looking phenomenal!

 

[Mille2ej]

Woohoo, almost complete!!! Looking phenomenal!

Thanks Isubomo, this has taken a lot more time and work that I had expected. I'm sure my wife will be excited when its finally done....1. She won't need to listen to me talk about it all the time and 2. I won't ask her to help me try it on every few days!!

 

[gabri]

Where you buy the net suit?

Ps i love your costume.....