Scorpion, Mac is Back! (W.I.P)

Kobb

Active Member
Greetings again you wonderful community

So after long debate about which project to take on this year I've finally settled on a piece I've been wanting to do for some time now. I've always had a thing for Cheesy Spiderman Villians, and Scorpion is my bruiser of choice. Followed closely of course by... The Shocker, but that's a project for another day. Now about a year ago I had this same choice and was trying to decide between Doc Ock and Scorpion. At the time I ended up going with Doc Ock and while that project may have gone to the wayside, there is much I learned from attempting the project. I've decided to revisit those pieces again and re-purpose them into this new Project :)

Now first thing that I'm taking a crack at is naturally the Tail, being such a critical piece. When I came up with the concept for the Arms, I wanted something that was sturdy enough to support some decent weight, but that could be posed on the fly. After a wee bit of trail and error I ended up with what I'll be using for this project.

20140529_203626.jpg

This little beauty is copper tubing you can find for plumbing, I took aluminium wire and stuffed it through until I couldn't fit any more. The typical arm recieved 3-4 lengths, quite the endeavor I assure you. This was mounted into an appropriately sized Nipple and Flange setup. To solidify it I basically just filled the pipe with JB Weld and Stuffed the pipe down in there. Once it hardened the arm wasn't going anywhere

My original Ock backpack was made by buying an Alice Pack, drilling a few holes in it and attach a piece of sheet metal. Wood may have sufficed, I just prefered metal as it was the slimmer medium and weight was about even between the two. The issue with that pack being that it was far bigger and bulkier than I cared for, and was capable of working or shaping at the time. This time around I decided to build my own pack

IMG_20150613_193126.jpgIMG_20150613_193148.jpg

I setup a little 8"x12" pvc pipe rectangle and attached it to a similarly sized piece of sheet metal, placing the flange in the center. This makes for a moderately slim support bracket that should be able to comfortably sit on my back with the right padding and fairly easy to hide under a costume.

Of course as a thin copper pipe out of my back is far from intimidating I need to thicken the tail up, the solution to this one came easily in the form of a cheap swimming foam noodle from the local store. :)

IMG_20150613_194341.jpg

The next area in intend to tackle is creating sections for the tail, I want to keep the iconic "sectioned" look that you typically see in his different incarnations. (Pictured below) But I wish to add a sense of depth to it.

SpiderMan Reboot Fan Cast Character Scorpion.jpg



At the moment I'm working on finishing the strap setup and tinking with how I want to make the tail sections. Currently I have two thoughts on the matter, both of which just boil down to creating tubing I can slide down over the Foam piece. I'll likely either make them out of cardboard I've been collecting from work, or buying pvc tubing to cut down. Either way I intend to create 5" to 6" long tubes that will span the length of his tail. I should have it narrowed down and have construction started within the week.

As always, criticism and recommendations are welcome. Thanks!
 
First of all I wanted to say that it's about time someone started a build for this concept,since I personally haven't seen a decent Scorpion suit yet.He's a great villain and in my humble opinion not seen often enough at Comic Cons.

Secondly,I think PVC tubes all together might be too heavy.I would recommend making foam segments instead and plastic coat them.

Subscribed for this awesome (tail) W.I.P.(ping) concept ! :popcorn
 
Last edited:
I'll likely go down soon and grab a couple pvc couplers or lengths, depending on the inner diameter. I think the tail may be able to handle it, the thing can support a surprising amount of heft. If not I'll probably go the cardboard route, I'd rather not work with foam. I've been collecting a couple of shrink wrap cardboard rolls from work, if the pvc ends up to much this will be my next approach. They'll just take a little reworking to look good, I'd rather be lazy and just paint pvc

IMG_20150115_130148-nopm-.jpg
 
Last edited:
Well, so far I'm pretty happy with how it's coming along. There have been some things that are working quite well, and other's I'll need to change.

IMG_20150617_121312.jpg

First off, I'm happy to say the piping and armature I set up should have plenty of strength for holding the pvc pieces in place. They'll need some trimming and a paint job, but they should work out just fine for how I'm imagining this. The foam noodle will need a little trimming for them to actually slide in, but that's nothing terrible. Just a little busy work. After I do that I'm going to sew a quick black sheath to slide over it and hide the hideous blue foam and create a neutral black backdrop for the (soon to be) Green armor ribs to sit on. As of right now I'm not sure how I want to affix them in place, my first thought is to drill a hole and thread a bolt through the middle. This could add a more mechanical feel and create a little more depth.

IMG_20150617_121946.jpg

The issue I've found myself running into however is weak point where the tail connects to the board. Since I left it as loose threading in order to be detatchable, the extra weight on the tail leaves it able to tip over and unscrew. As such I'm aiming to re-address this portion of the base build.

My first thought for that goes back to an old cosplay tutorial (Here) I watched, in which a Doctor Octopus Cosplayer used Chandelier Roses in order to make for quick detatching of her arms. By having it separate at a different point she was able to permanently affix the inner support threading. You can see what I mean at about 8:30 into her video.

Thus far I've only been able to locate Chandelier Roses from the UK, so unless I'm just not using my terminology correctly for shopping in the states, acquiring one may take a little bit. Plus the joy of making sure to match up my threading and pip sizing. I think it will be well worth it.

IMG_20150617_123255.jpg

I've also began working on the armor plating for the rest of the costume. I'm using a pep file made for a Jaeger Pilot Suit. I think this will create a neutral enough base for me to customize off of. I very much want to go the Power Suit look that holds more true to the comics. This has also led me to wanting to give the plating a very heavy duty and armored look. I've been toying with the idea of adding on a Carbon Fiber Film overlay to it once I've finished pepping and sanding it to shape. I've found a couple of paint tutorial for doing such, but as this will have a couple of small nooks and crannies. I feel just using an overlay may be the better idea. Pricing on it isn't all that bad either, I should be able to get enough to do the chest for right around $15-20 off of ebay. I'm a little wary of it at that price, but it's at least worth a look in my opinion.
 
Hi Kobb,
I'm wondering if a lock-nut type thing might solve your problem with the tail tipping over. If you have any other piece with the same thread as the pipe/flange you could tighten it up against the flange and it should stop the pipe from rotating.

http://mymilescity.com/images/lock-nuts-to-bolts.jpg

I hope i'm not being over simplistic.

Just a thought. Looks like an interesting project.
 
Hi Kobb,
I'm wondering if a lock-nut type thing might solve your problem with the tail tipping over. If you have any other piece with the same thread as the pipe/flange you could tighten it up against the flange and it should stop the pipe from rotating.

http://mymilescity.com/images/lock-nuts-to-bolts.jpg

I hope i'm not being over simplistic.

Just a thought. Looks like an interesting project.
I've considered something similar myself, and while functionally it should work, i also have to consider how easy it will be to take on and off for traveling. That's why the chandelier rose is so appealing, it provides a simplistic method of removal and attachment with a look that i can work right into the costume.

uploadfromtaptalk1434580863674.JPG
 
So I've made some changes as i wasn't thrilled with how backpack was coming together. The strapping just wasn't doing the job and i knew the weight was only going to get worse. The base and pack itself could hold it, but it wasn't securing to me in a way i was happy with. No big, I'm only out $10 worth of straps and I'm sure i can repurpose them later.

I debated going with an altered backpack like in the doc video i linked, but in the end decided on going with a bit more full vest.

uploadfromtaptalk1435165712215.jpg

So the new plan

I've picked up a molle vest, one that will sit rather flush to me. This comes with an area in the back that i can slide either a piece of wood or metal into.

The benefit to this direction is using a securing system that

1. Has a look i can with directly into the costume
2. Created a large base for me to secure armor playing to
3. Let's the weight of the tail distribute fully across my torso.

I'll be ordering the chandelier rose in the beginning of July, at which point i can start working on putting everything together. In the meantime i can focus getting the tail fitted and painted :)
 
These last couple of weeks have been mostly concept design and pep work, I'm currently building up the funds to proceed to the next step on my tail.

I've mostly been focusing right now on how I want the chest armor and the helmet to look. Unfortunetly I forgot to snap any pictures of the completed face mask before hitting the resin and fiberglass and right now it's just a giant blob of Rondo. I should start to take more shape later on in the week. I started with a pep for the Skyrim Nightingale facemask, in which I intend to make a mock rebreather. I'll layer it in some cordura and add two circular mesh pieces on the sides. For the helmet, I bought the file for a daredevil cowl, i'll be smoothing it out a bit and removing the horns. Converting it into a very basic helmet structure. From there I intend to give it a type of layered metal plate look, continuing along with the "power armor" feel of the whole costume.

The original plan for the jaeger chest base I found just wont work with the Molle vest. They just don't quite right and I feel it would just look to messy and bulky. I'll be finding a new way to tackle that one. Luckily the molle vest will still make a good base for whatever i intend to do as I can load the thing up with snaps and armor panels and it'll still look like kevlar underneath.

Pictures to come soon :)
 
Last edited:
Is this project still active? Would be a shame if you cancelled it...
Not enough Marvel villains being crafted
Its partially on hold for the moment, life's been busy and plenty of other projects to distract me. I'll most certainly pick it back up later, but it's being shelved until i finish another go.

So far about the only thing I've really got set is the tail base and internal structure. Need to do a lot of work to determine what i want for the actual armor design and how to implement it.

Funny you should mention the villain thing though. Nearly all my current projects are Villains. I'm trying to focus on this, deadshot, and deathstroke. :)

Deathstroke just happens to be my focus, my nearest con is in 4 months and I want to focus on something I'm certain i can finish. Scorpion is my passion, but he's going to Need lots of work. Most of which will be trail and error.
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
This thread is more than 8 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top