Snake-Eyes DIC Era Costume

[PDGorath]

I decided I wanted to do a costume of Snake-Eyes from the DIC era of G.I. Joe. This particular figure was my favorite while I was growing up.

I know it is quite possibly one of the most hated versions of the character, but this version has always appealed to me. I just like the colors, and the fact that it is in a more commando style, while still having a bit if the ninja feel.

I also have not been able to find any pictures of anyone having done a costume of the Black, Blue, Grey, and Red Snake-Eyes. So I figured what the hell. I'm gonna do it.

Here is my inspiration, Build Photos will follow, I think I may save the finished photos for a later post. (everyone loves a little suspense)

Source images came from YoJoe.com
The first 2 are of the 1991 figure, the 3rd is the "25 anniversary" Dollar General Figure.


I decided to merge the 2 styles and make it my own.

 

[PDGorath]

first thing I did was acquire the easy to do parts, the ones I didn't have to make.


Blue Compression Fabric shirt,
Black over shirt,
Grey Tactical vest,
Belt,
Gloves,
Pants,

Then I started work on the Balaklava to go under my helmet. I bought a second of the same blue compression fabric shirts to make the balaklava,


then I grabbed an old broken airsoft gun and tried on everything I had at the time. The results were less than pleasing, I looked like a scrawny counter terrorist from counterstrike source.



It gets better, trust me.

 

[PDGorath]

My first attempt at the helmet, goggles and mask. I used the method shown by evil ted smith on making the helmet, it worked quite well but the EVA foam floormats I used were just to thick, I was also not satisfied with the airsoft mask and goggles. My baby daughter loved it though.


So I started over.
I used thinner foam for the helmet, Bought new goggles, and sculpted the mask from foam floormats.

I also purchased two of the toy snake-eyes swords from GI Joe Retalliation.


After a few coats of PVA glue and Plastidip on the helmet, and Smooth-On's Epsilon on the mask I finised with paint.

 

[PDGorath]

After I realized that I just do NOT have the physicality of a super hero I decided to beef up the upper body of the costume through methods that did not require months of pumping iron... EVA foam.

using the armor on the snake-eyes costume from GI Joe Retaliation as a reference, I began sculpting a chest piece, shoulder pads and biceps. and re-designed the forearms as well. I don't have any pictures of the bracers before the redesign.



I put the Arasikage logo on the bracer intended for the right arm, and my older daughter designed me a dragon to put on the left. added Plastidip to these then sculpted the rest.

Shoulders, Biceps, and Bracers


I used scraps from my second compression fabric shirt to upholster the Chest, Biceps, and Shoulders. that was much more difficult than I expected.


After the upholstery was done, I attached snaps to the shirt as well as the back of the foam armor pieces and tried it on. Please ignore the "love handles" I need to hit the gym (Not gonna happen).


Also I painted the bracers and tried them with the gloves.

 

[Wes R]

Looks good so far. I actually bought the DIC box set of the cartoon and man they really mangled it after Sunbow lost the rights, i'm glad they didn't get Transformers too lol. This is actually a more realistic version of Snake Eyes though as the gear is more realistic than him just running around in a black costume. We can't blame DIC though as Hasbro was behind all the changes in the costumes every time they introduced a new toy line yearly and the animation/comics had to feature it.

 

[PDGorath]

I deeply apologize for the amount of time since my last update, but here is the finished costume.
as well as my friend in his Storm Shadow costume.

For my fist costume build that I wore myself, I'd say it was a success. It handled the convention like a champ, and wasn't as hot as I figured it would be.



- - - Updated - - -

If anyone wants to see them, I can post more build pictures.

 

[cayman shen]

Dude that came out great! Nice to see an under-represented Snake Eyes