New bio for I'teki Thwei

[Elkman]

Since I bought and painted up a new mask, I had to make a new biohelmet for it as well. My inspiration comes from the comic "Predator: Cold War". That comic has four or five different Predators with different bio designs, so I picked this one:

Here's my sculpt:

I'm sort of rushing to get this done by Dragon*Con next weekend, so I'm going to work on molding and casting it this weekend. I probably won't be able to do a detailed paintup on it, but I'll see what I can get done. I'm not going for perfection here, just awesomeness.

 

[ptgreek]

right on! ..you pretty much nailed it ...Love custom and recreation bios. Was wondering when someone was gonna start tackling some from the comics

 

[MasterAnubis]

Man... lookin' good.

My only specific comments are would be that I would have interpueted the eyes a little different and did you want the laser housing to be pointed up so high?

Where you going to add lasers or LEDs?

 

[hez1]

Very cool...looks rather cylon-ish.

 

[Darth Pinhead]

Looking really good, brother! Looking forward to seeing it painted up!

 

[Elkman]

I just finished casting it this evening. Here are a few pictures of the raw cast on my mask, which is sitting unceremoniously on a table in my shop:

(note the poster in the background)

The sort of variegated gray color is because I was mixing Smooth-Cast 320 with black and white tints. I knew I wasn't going to get the same color every time, but that's OK because I'm going to paint the bio tomorrow night. With the gray base, though, if the paint ever gets chipped, it'll just look gray underneath, rather than pure white.

As far as the comics go, there are some other interesting bios that I'd like to sculpt and cast eventually. Sometime soon, I'll post a few pictures of the ones I'm thinking of.

 

[Lifeburn]

Elk, that looks killer bro! Can't wait to see it painted and with the lenses (or mesh) in.

 

[MasterAnubis]

Holy cow, that came out great.

 

[Mazingerj]

very very cool Elkman great job

 

[Elkman]

Here are a few pictures of the paintup in progress. I'm using PredatrHuntr's tutorial. I probably need to do some more blending in spots, although I think I'm pretty close to where I want to be on the top of the helmet.

I'm also not sure what to do with that recessed area by the mouth. I'm debating leaving it just a flat black, versus trying to hit it with a highlight on just the raised parts of that waffle-like imprint.

Once I get done with the paintup, I'll be putting LEDs into that hole. I'm not going to use lasers since I'm going to be at conventions with this, and I don't want to put anyone's eye out.

 

[MasterAnubis]

Am I seeing that right? Your laser housing was solid and you used a Forstner bit to bore it out?

 

[PredatrHuntr]

Good to hear my tutorial came in handy

 

[Darth Pinhead]

That bio is coming along nicely, Elkman...I like the idea of keeping the eye area and waffle pattern area black. I think with dark lenses or mesh, that will look badass...

 

[Elkman]

Am I seeing that right? Your laser housing was solid and you used a Forstner bit to bore it out?

Good observation. Yes, I made the laser housing solid and then bored it out with a Forstner bit. It saved me time and kept me from having a big undercut in the silicone. I probably could have sculpted, molded, and cast the laser housing separately and then attached it to the bio, but I just didn't have the time.

That bio is coming along nicely, Elkman...I like the idea of keeping the eye area and waffle pattern area black. I think with dark lenses or mesh, that will look badass...

I'm going to make it out of mesh. I did red plastic lenses for a photo shoot, the one where I was in the woods, but having solid lenses in there made it hard to breathe. (Yeah, I know I don't breathe through my eyes, but there just isn't a lot of air circulation in a biohelmet.) I think a red mesh would be cool, like in the character from the comics, but that depends on what I can find at my local art store. There's a copper color that looks good, but that might be a departure from the rest of the biohelmet.

 

[ReverendScapegoat]

Why don't you lay some actual waffle fabric or matting into the recessed are at the mouth?
Would give a bit more texture and detail to the face
( This is becoming a running theme in my suggestions of late :| Oops! )

As for mesh - There are two main meshes used in Airsoft masks... Woven and punched.
The woven mesh is stronger, and better quality. The punched is cheaper - But has enough flat surface area that you can paint it quite well.
Maybe consider that for your eyes?

 

[Darth Pinhead]

Yeah, I was thinking along the lines of Reverand and just spray painting a mesh. Red would look pretty sweet. Hell, you could make it attach via velcro and have all kinds of interchangables, LOL...

 

[Island Hunter]

Nice work Elkman. It is good to see the comic Predator world come to life. Your suit is comming along great. Keep up the good work.

 

[Elkman]

I decided to go with a red mesh for the eyes. Here are a couple pictures of me trying it out:

Biohelmet done 2 by Elkman, on Flickr

Biohelmet done by Elkman, on Flickr

All I have to do now is to put the three LEDs into place and glue the mesh into there permanently. Then, it's off to Dragon*Con!

 

[Tatsu]

Todd, Keith here. I've been watching this thing come together over Facebook & I think it's best said here. That thing looks fantastic. I love the unique design of the bio, the red mesh lenses, everything about this is just so awesome. Be sure to snag lots of pics at Dragon Con. Good luck finishing it up & I can't wait to see I'teki Thwei all finished.

 

[ReverendScapegoat]

That actually looks pretty good for such a wide mesh
Didn't expect the woven stuff to look so red...