Nova (Sam Alexander) Build WIP - FINISHED

[Crimotaku]

Hi all,

I am currently building a hybrid Nova (Sam Alexander) of the toy, comic and game. Taking out the good bits and making something i am happy with.

Materials

• Helmet Kit: RuthlessFX
• Undersuit: Just going to use spandex from AliExpress
• Armor Pieces: High density foam based from Lumin's Workshop.

Armor pieces will consist of:

• Vest (neck, shoulders, belt)
• Calves
• Forearms
• Upper Forearms

Electronics

• Chest (front/back)
• Eyes

Reference Pics
I wont be doing the super detailed black undersuit.

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 02 / 03, Helmet Kit. The basic stuff. Dremel, sanding, priming, painting, paint sealer, weather protection.

Oh yeah, one more thing about the chest LEDs, i used foil for the back to get rid of the hollow black area when it's turned on. Sample.

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 04/05 - Eye mesh. I used to cosplay Spider-Man, and i've always loved the white eye comic book approach. So i applied it to Nova too.

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 06/07 - Taking my time setting up LED casings to put into my vest. Standard 5050 LEDs. Found some make up casings from Spotlight then i just dremel-ed what i needed. Used baking paper as a diffuser, coz cheap!

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 08/10 - Had to go thru multiple ideas from the RPF. Can't let Iron-Man and Batman cosplayers get all the LED glory.



Video Sample

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 11 - Managed to finish off the helmet with a 9V power source (until i find a really compact 12V one, which is what i am looking for).
I am convinced that LED eye fashion is the trending thing for Netflix Ultraman villains now.

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 12 - Working on Leg Armor pieces. Used duct tape to make a template for my legs. Same will happen for all armor pieces.

Shoulders and forearm pieces.

Basic base has been completed. Will be adding some thin foam layers for details.

Hand armor pieces

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 12 - Shoe covers were created. Not a fan of wearing foam shoes.

Thin foam layer was added for depth details.

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 13 - had to create a foam mannequin for my body shape, so i could start drafting my own templates for me.

Checking to see if the scaling is me.

Commencing the template draft.

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 14 - Carefully cut off the template and started working on the chest armor bit.

The mannequin does help make sure the scale is correct.

Made the LED casing holes with a Dremel.

Shoulder frames.

Side Abs

Had to dremel a 45 degree angle on the abs to position it right.

Glued up the pieces.

Had to putty and carefully send some areas to hide the seam lines coz i derped.

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 15 - LED casings.

Used a foam bevel cutter to get me these shapes.

Wrapped it carefully around the casings with premium contact glue for foam.

LEDs are a simple thing. Clip on and no soldering required.

Noticed a gap in the middle so i improved it by adding foil in the middle and made back covers to hold them in place. All glued down.

Light LED kit complete!

 

[George]

Cool project so far! Keep it up!

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 16 - Working out the belt templates

The abs templates

Results

Testing out with the LED kits.

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 17 - Coating with plastidip and primer.

I use a portable green house to do the painting and stuff on my balcony while protecting my walls and my props from birds and wind.

Few pics of Plastidip and i will skip the rest.

Primer the dried plastidip

Note that the combination of Primer and Plastidip will bend the foam at the tips. But when it is dry it is completely safe to heatgun and bend the foam without causing cracks (with/without final paint layer on).

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 18 - Final gold paint. No Clear/Gloss Coat needed because this brand peels off or the chrome ends up fading away (Rustoleum Metallic Gold).

Reinforced to hold the LEDs in place with foam and contact adhesive.

Made some shoulder plates to cover the seam lines and extra support.

The velcro straps under the chest/back chest armor pieces.

 

[Crimotaku]

Week 19 - Chest armor is controlled with infra red remote. 2 packs of 12v AA batteries. Helmet is powered by a 9v. Chest armor has different light features. Can be remotely changed to 25/50/100% brightness with different light settings.

Noticed a difference when taking pictures. Will be modding the helmet to have 12v as well with the same infra red remote features.

The inside of the bucket. Mostly soldering work. The lens reflect and cancels out 80% of the LEDs outwards instead of into my eyes.
Visibility is 80% at full power.

Done! (Just the helmet upgrade remains!)

The armor pieces are all foam, weighing less than 3-4kgs in total. Strapped together onto a gloss pvc spandex with velcro straps on it.

Summary:
Total working hours on project is 19 weeks and only on the weekends.
Which totals up to 38 days of 2-6 hours a day.

Roughly around 114 to 120 hours spent on this project.

 

[George]

So cool !!
Thank you for sharing your build and please post some pictures of the entire costume while wearing it

 

[Crimotaku]

So cool !!
Thank you for sharing your build and please post some pictures of the entire costume while wearing it

On it, just test fitted it over the weekend (next weekend is the con itself). Just have to add a few more tweaks!
Then i will do a full body shot. Or con pics!

 

[Crimotaku]

Light sync test.

 

[Crimotaku]

Full costume posing with a Thanos statue.

Can be kinda creepy when you hang out in the dark areas of the con LOL