JPorterCreative
New Member
Hey, I'm new to RPF even though I've been doing Cosplay for about 3 years now. I've always meant to join and heard how awesome the group is but just never did it. But all of that has changed! I just wanted to say hi to everybody and post my latest costume, Sweetums from the Muppets.
Further Explanation of the build:
Image 1 - The Fur - I knew how important getting the fur right was so I didn't start anything until I found the perfect fur. It was the most expensive part of the build but it's such an important part of Sweetums.
Image 2 - Templating - Since Sweetums was a less popular Muppet, there are no schematics or drawings of how he functioned so I had to make it up myself. I spent about a month just looking at the few good photos of him trying to figure out how to build it. I also wanted a way to build it so the weight wasn't on my head, I have another costume I did with the weight on the head and I knew that doing that for an entire convention is painful. I ended up getting used hockey shoulder pads and build it all attached to them so the weight is distributed through the entire body.
Image 3 - Gluing Foam - I know I could have used mattress foam instead of EVA to make it lighter but I wanted a more durable skeleton that would hold up to a convention well plus I had all the tools to work with EVA already.
Image 4 - The Eyes - This was probably the longest and hardest part of my entire build! I was trying to use techniques that Jim Henson would have used for the 70s Sweetums but I just couldn't find the correct sized eyes. My GF had the idea of using kids ball pit balls which is what's shown in the picture but they where too small and also too soft. I was worried they would cave in on themselves and be impossible to pop back out. I ended up custom designing and 3d printing my own eyes which took a lot of finishing (with Bondon and lots of sanding) to make perfectly smooth but it was totally worth it, they turned out amazing!
Image 5 - He Has a Face! - This day was exciting. I had done a lot of testing and was pretty sure I had all the proportions correct but attaching the face and seeing him come to life even a little bit is pretty awesome.
Image 6 - So Much Fur - My apartment looked like an animal had exploded when I was doing all the fur but it was exhilarating to see him become Sweetums with every piece of fur I laid down. I wish the bags under his eyes would have turned out a little better but they aren't too bad.
Image 7 - Unibrow - My GF to the rescue again for the eyebrows. We were wandering around Michaels and she found these black furry pipe cleaners that I just cut a bit, bent and glued on. They where perfect!
Image 8 - The Mouth - I really wanted to have the mouth move but I didn't want to give up one of my hands to operate it, you need all the hands you can get at a convention. So I built a basic hinged jaw that my jaw fits into that I can move up and down with elastics pulling it back to create resistance. I don't have the same movement that the actual Sweetums costume has but it's enough for people to get a kick out of him actually talking. If anybody has more specific questions about the jaw, I'd be happy to answer them.
Image 9 - The Feet - I had some rubber boots from another costume that I cannibalized (sorry Galactus). It helps that my feet are already size 13 so I didn't have to add that much to make them look really big. I pretty much just glued the foam on and covered it in felt and fur. One thing I learned, rubber boots are not fun when you wear them for an entire weekend indoors. Plus when they are covered in fur, the amount of humidity in them . . . I don't want to get too graphic, let's just say, not fun.
Image 10 & 11 - Hands - I don't know why I left the hands until last. For some reason I thought they wouldn't be hard and wouldn't take long. I was incorrect. It was an insane amount of hand sewing the hand sewing. They turned out great though, once I did some felting on them so the edges where a bit softer then it really came together as well.
That's Sweetums! It took me every weekend for about 3 months to build, I'm guessing around 30 hours. He was also in the Western Cosplay Championships at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle.
Further Explanation of the build:
Image 1 - The Fur - I knew how important getting the fur right was so I didn't start anything until I found the perfect fur. It was the most expensive part of the build but it's such an important part of Sweetums.
Image 2 - Templating - Since Sweetums was a less popular Muppet, there are no schematics or drawings of how he functioned so I had to make it up myself. I spent about a month just looking at the few good photos of him trying to figure out how to build it. I also wanted a way to build it so the weight wasn't on my head, I have another costume I did with the weight on the head and I knew that doing that for an entire convention is painful. I ended up getting used hockey shoulder pads and build it all attached to them so the weight is distributed through the entire body.
Image 3 - Gluing Foam - I know I could have used mattress foam instead of EVA to make it lighter but I wanted a more durable skeleton that would hold up to a convention well plus I had all the tools to work with EVA already.
Image 4 - The Eyes - This was probably the longest and hardest part of my entire build! I was trying to use techniques that Jim Henson would have used for the 70s Sweetums but I just couldn't find the correct sized eyes. My GF had the idea of using kids ball pit balls which is what's shown in the picture but they where too small and also too soft. I was worried they would cave in on themselves and be impossible to pop back out. I ended up custom designing and 3d printing my own eyes which took a lot of finishing (with Bondon and lots of sanding) to make perfectly smooth but it was totally worth it, they turned out amazing!
Image 5 - He Has a Face! - This day was exciting. I had done a lot of testing and was pretty sure I had all the proportions correct but attaching the face and seeing him come to life even a little bit is pretty awesome.
Image 6 - So Much Fur - My apartment looked like an animal had exploded when I was doing all the fur but it was exhilarating to see him become Sweetums with every piece of fur I laid down. I wish the bags under his eyes would have turned out a little better but they aren't too bad.
Image 7 - Unibrow - My GF to the rescue again for the eyebrows. We were wandering around Michaels and she found these black furry pipe cleaners that I just cut a bit, bent and glued on. They where perfect!
Image 8 - The Mouth - I really wanted to have the mouth move but I didn't want to give up one of my hands to operate it, you need all the hands you can get at a convention. So I built a basic hinged jaw that my jaw fits into that I can move up and down with elastics pulling it back to create resistance. I don't have the same movement that the actual Sweetums costume has but it's enough for people to get a kick out of him actually talking. If anybody has more specific questions about the jaw, I'd be happy to answer them.
Image 9 - The Feet - I had some rubber boots from another costume that I cannibalized (sorry Galactus). It helps that my feet are already size 13 so I didn't have to add that much to make them look really big. I pretty much just glued the foam on and covered it in felt and fur. One thing I learned, rubber boots are not fun when you wear them for an entire weekend indoors. Plus when they are covered in fur, the amount of humidity in them . . . I don't want to get too graphic, let's just say, not fun.
Image 10 & 11 - Hands - I don't know why I left the hands until last. For some reason I thought they wouldn't be hard and wouldn't take long. I was incorrect. It was an insane amount of hand sewing the hand sewing. They turned out great though, once I did some felting on them so the edges where a bit softer then it really came together as well.
That's Sweetums! It took me every weekend for about 3 months to build, I'm guessing around 30 hours. He was also in the Western Cosplay Championships at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle.
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