Point me in the right direction for the touches on my Deadshot cosplay

[ChadVanHalen]

So after finally reading John Ostrander's Deadshot miniseries from the late 80's I've come to the conclusion that Deadshot is the coolest cat on the planet but now that's he's been on TV shows, the games and now a movie he's going to start becoming maybe not quite Deadpool and Harley Quinn level but pretty popular to cosplay as, so I might as well get one in before the movie...

Anyway, as much as I love his comic book costume a full spandex body suit not only isn't compatible with my body but I don't even know how to begin with the mask, since in the books it looks like it's some sort of metallic cloth that holds shape or whatever with all his stuff still attached so browsing through various Arkham City and Arrow versions I stumbled upon this guy's Deadshot he made for a Nightwing fan series on YouTube and it's incredible and I decided I'll base my design off this one


So overall it's pretty basic, standard military/paramilitary tactical shirt and pants, red tactical vest, etc. The famous Deadshot wrist Magnums seem pretty simple, make myself a couple gauntlets with EVA foam and buy some airsoft pistols, cut em in half and glue them on top. The mask is also pretty simple except for the armoring, the only problem is 1) what sort of material would he have used/I should use. It looks metallic, but very thin and flexible while not easily breakable and 2) Where can I find a pepakura that looks something like this or what's the best course of action to get me something resembling that sort of armoring? It's the perfect blend of referencing the source material and translating to real life really cool.

I'm having difficulty finding a red bullet proof looking vest, so taking a cheaper one made from nylon (as the internet description says) dying it a red like that wouldn't be too hard, right? Then simply spray painting the logo on the chest

Also lastly I found some sort of steampunk-y silver/red eye piece. If I decide I want it to light up red how hard would it be to rig up an LED in there? I've never even looked at cosplay with electronics in it so I have no idea how difficult it would be for someone with real basic soldering skills from being a guitar player

Anyway, nice to meet you all, new to the forums, and thanks for any help you can give me... Really hoping to step up my "cosplay" from quickly heading to a thrift store a week before and throwing something together last minute

 

[Vox]

Hey Chad, welcome to the RPF!

The helmet actually looks like they started with an existing base, some kind of military helmet (maybe special ops?) and then added their own details. Unfortunately without close-up pictures or at least pictures from a few different angles, it is hard to say anything about it with any certainty. My best guess is that the front metallic details are sheet aluminum or really well painted/crafted pepakura/foam work. You could check out BlackKaos's Pepakura Files. He has a really nice library of helmets, so there might be one there that could suit your needs. If it were me, though, I'd be looking for a cheap modern military/tactical helmet that I could build off of, and then purchasing some craft foam to experiment with templating.

Dyeing clothing is not necessarily a hard process, but it is pretty precise. Be sure to scour the internet for what is involved and how best to get an even dye, particularly for whatever material you end up with. They all behave slightly differently.

Rigging up an LED in the eye piece shouldn't be TOO hard. I recommend The Book of Cosplay Lights eBook sold through the RPF. It's $5 and will probably answer any questions you could have about the process and implementation of an illuminated costume piece.

Hope that all helps!

 

[ChadVanHalen]

Hey Chad, welcome to the RPF!

The helmet actually looks like they started with an existing base, some kind of military helmet (maybe special ops?) and then added their own details. Unfortunately without close-up pictures or at least pictures from a few different angles, it is hard to say anything about it with any certainty. My best guess is that the front metallic details are sheet aluminum or really well painted/crafted pepakura/foam work. You could check out BlackKaos's Pepakura Files. He has a really nice library of helmets, so there might be one there that could suit your needs. If it were me, though, I'd be looking for a cheap modern military/tactical helmet that I could build off of, and then purchasing some craft foam to experiment with templating.

Dyeing clothing is not necessarily a hard process, but it is pretty precise. Be sure to scour the internet for what is involved and how best to get an even dye, particularly for whatever material you end up with. They all behave slightly differently.

Rigging up an LED in the eye piece shouldn't be TOO hard. I recommend The Book of Cosplay Lights eBook sold through the RPF. It's $5 and will probably answer any questions you could have about the process and implementation of an illuminated costume piece.

Hope that all helps!

Ya I figured the black helmet part was some sort of base Jason-looking basic plastic mask and I found a suitable base mask on the plethora of faux military paintball/airsoft sites that will work fine underneath the main garnishments. The metallic detailing is mainly what I was finding hard to pin down. Now I'm not trying to rip everything off exactly from this guy, he was very creative bringing his own design into his costume and any attempt to recreate perfectly would just end up failing... I've got some EVA foam at home, so you would suggest using that and painting it to look metallic? Does anyone have any tips on freestyling that sort of design? I'll try and see if there's some sort of medieval/eastern dynasty era looking designs I can work off of in the mean time to give a semblance of that design

Good to hear dying clothing materials isn't too difficult... I'll look into it more then

And perfect, I'll get a copy and see what I can do... If it's too difficult the eye piece would be red anyway so no biggie

Also, if anyone is interested, I don't want to spam the page with a bunch of pictures other people took of him without their permission, but there's a ton of different poses if you look up "NYCC Deadshot" and this interview with him shows a little more detail on the helmet as he moves around
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xuaxIZKL1Q

 

[Vox]

Creating your own templates is pretty much a trial and error process. When I was going about it, I found this video to be immensely helpful. Although his safety and maintenance leave much to be desired (e.g. he drops his hobby knife point first onto his work bench, and doesn't once mention how you should wear a respirator when sanding/beveling foam and using aerosols) his end product looks pretty great. And it just happens to be similar, at least in basic form/appearance, to what it sounds like you are trying to achieve.

 

[George]

Hi Chad,welcome to the RPF forum:cheers
For your custom or rare pepakura concepts you could post a request/message in Laellee's "What Pepakura files would you like? Redux" thread with a detailed description and pics from different angles.Other than that you could pick a helmet from the "JF's custom foam files" thread that resembles the Deadshot helmet and customize it,like Vox said.

Soldering isn't that difficult,even for beginners,just as long as you have all ingredients.Youtube has several instruction videos on different costuming/cosplay subjects,including soldering.

Good luck with your build and make yourself at home here at the RPF.

 

[Ari K]

I just found some more shots of him, I can't tell you for sure, but I do know that the suit is cool as hell.
http://41.media.tumblr.com/069cc8b9f5a59c7ef61e3d13b960dd61/tumblr_nmreqpFy3U1u3z6aco1_1280.jpg
http://th02.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2014/316/6/9/deadshot_by_ohrocco-d868gq8.jpg
http://t01.deviantart.net/abe24KSEV.../2014/316/8/f/deadshot_by_ohrocco-d868fvx.jpg
http://41.media.tumblr.com/55767f8c7f2b7f7aedb3f2c95e614f84/tumblr_nmrtvka6ds1u3z6aco1_1280.jpg

 

[ChadVanHalen]

Thanks for all the help everyone, everything seems to be coming together as I wait for packages to arrive...

One of the only things I'm having troubles with is this little tactical earpiece thing

So I'm thinking with the LED eyepiece I can stick a 9v in and a switch in that earpiece, only problem is I can't find any cheap like headphones or something to hollow out and use that for and to stick to the helmet... Anyone have any ideas of other cheap things I can use that's big enough for a battery and some wiring? Doesn't have to look exactly like that, just like what looks like a tactical radio earpiece somehow

 

[Hazmat]

Have you looked in dollar stores? they usually have cheap police office costume sets with a gun, holster, badge and, most importantly, walkie talkie. Also, Dollar stores often have really cheap portable speakers that might have the look you're going for.
Also, I just remembered they have these cheap headlamps that would make a good eye piece if you put a red filter over it