Universal soldier eyepiece

[bdude93]

currently working on an entire Universal Soldier costume, which you can find here...http://http://www.therpf.com/f24/universal-soldier-armor-141617/index2.html#post2260092

began constructing the pieces for the eyepiece out of mostly PVC this week. it looks very crude at this stage, but just wait!!

the base the ear piece is made of 1/4 and 1/8 PVC sheets.

the bottom end of a plastic pen cap will be used as the receptacle for the lens. going to use some plastic filler to flatten the sides of the cap.

made of two different sizes of PVC tube. the black rubber end and cable are from an old XLR cable. once everything is sized up correctly, the cable will be cut shorter and glued into the pen cap on the base earpiece.

also got a pair of vintage headphones on eBay, which will be used as the rear (lower) band of the headpiece

for the top, i'm thinking of getting maybe a 1/6 or 1/8 thick strip of aluminum from the hardware store, shaping it and wrapping the top side with black vinyl.

going to use this...

as the eye cup. it's rounded as opposed to squared, but i'm hoping that if it has a squared piece to mount to, it might take that shape.

stay tuned...

 

[marsattack]

Very awesome dude,
Excellent start.
AwesOne hair cut too!!
Thanks for posting
Mars

 

[bdude93]

today i got a fair amount of work done on the eyepiece!
joined the lens and earpiece

then added the micro tubing to stabilize and reinforce the lens/eyepiece

cut the rear corner off, added a second piece of PVC to thicken it up, and rounded it over

here you can see, on the inside, where the padded earphone is going to mount

all the edges of these two joined pieces still need to be filled and sanded with putty

now you can really start to see it take shape and resemble the piece from the film. the little squared box in the upper corner has been added

next up will be to start making the cylindrical piece where the microphone mounts... stay tuned.

 

[marsattack]

Awesome use of everyday things mate!
I think you are on a winner here ,
Although since this is my thread I think you should either give me that one or male me one, I think it's only fair!!
Mars

 

[bdude93]

microphone parts added

...with lens

all primed black

easy construction of the main head band. just cut a strip of my PVC sheet and used a heat gun to curve it to the shape of my head. i then wrapped it with thin costuming vinyl

cut a strip of craft foam to pad and line the inside

earpiece painted with rustoleum satin black

lens is still only primed. not gonna hit it with rustoleum until the eyepiece gets mounted to it.

i'd be lying if i didn't say that the weight is beginning to concern me. what happens is, when i lean forward, the rear adjustable band lets the weight of the left side slide forward. i think on the adjustable band, i'm going to add a single spec of solder that will keep it locked in place.

hoping hot glue is strong enough to keep the two bands held together. still need to add the beveled edged plastic piece for the right side of the band

eyepiece construction-

made out of 1/4" PVC, shrouded with a strip of 1/16"? PVC using the heat gun. still trying to figure out how to make the mount for it adjustable.

ALMOST DONE!!!

 

[Chris27989]

llooks awesome dude!

 

[marsattack]

mate, that eyepiece and that MOW , well they might as well as hire you for the next unisol movie!!
that is awesome..
I dont understand why here no one has id that camera lens.
We know its a 18mm so it s an old small camera , but no one has one???
Mars

 

[bdude93]

mate, that eyepiece and that MOW , well they might as well as hire you for the next unisol movie!!
that is awesome..
I dont understand why here no one has id that camera lens.
We know its a 18mm so it s an old small camera , but no one has one???
Mars

THANKS!!! I KNOW, trying to track down ANY lens that small has proven impossible. that's why i went the route i did, just using PVC tubes. actually think i might redo the lens piece and bump it up a notch in diameter. looks to be slightly bigger in the movie. it's hard to tell in the photos i posted, but i actually made a little phoney iris out of black poster board in the center. will still my eye out for a sizable lens to use instead, though

 

[TheMadGasser]

Awesome build! I made a quick and dirty eye piece similar to the UNISOL ones for a Shadowrun/Cyberpunk style costume. I used a pair of swimming goggles with a piece of wood with the same amount of holes drilled into the small block so I could still use the eyepiece to see through. I recall I had attached them to a pair of broken headphones. I wish I still had it as I recall it was fun to make and was convincing enough. Sadly, I reused it for a borg (pre-First Contact) costume and it's been lost to time.

 

[marsattack]

Bdude I can measure up my pentax 110 18mm for you and see of that is to scale.
That is the lens used in mostly all Aliens props.
It is getting harder to find and usually have to fight in eBay with some other aliens fanatic but not impossible.
Being a 18mm should be the right size bit definitely not the one.
It has turned out really good , the lens , I agree could do with a real one, it would change the whole thing .
Great job mate!
Mars

 

[marsattack]

Swimming goggles , very clever dude!!
Kids size could be even better , might be even what they used.
Clever indeed !

 

[bdude93]

DID NOT EVEN THINK OF SWIMMING GOGGLES!!!!!! bought a pair the other day! going to be sooooo much easier, and better i'm sure too. thanks for the tip

 

[bigbisont]

Very cool. Nice piece & very underrated costume.

PLUS, I actually love the bringing old threads back from the dead. If more people revisited old threads, there would be less duplicate threads/topics and more complete info in one place.

 

[SofaKing01]

GREAT JOB!

 

[bdude93]

UPDATE! so after a bit of new info and progress on the thread, i scoured eBay for a pentax 18mm lens (which measures 1 1/4 across the lens) that was PERFECT for the eyepiece!!!! like i said, i bumped the lens housing up to the next bigger sized pvc tubing (1 inch) and shortened the tail end of the cable a bit and i am MUCH HAPPIER with this now!!!! it's primed, but i can't paint it until i get the adjustable mounting attachment for the actual eyepiece glued on.

BIG THANKS to marsattack for the tip on the pentax lens!!

 

[marsattack]

bdude, that is a super clean build!!
if i find the real lens, you should have no probs selling that one!
I still reckon they should employ you for the next unisol, (badguy of course , unless you let your hair grow).
again mate, awesome.
keep the pics coming
Mars

 

[TECKNOVIKING]

Awesome job with the headset build.
This is going to be great

 

[SofaKing01]

GREAT JOB SO FAR! Love it!

 

[das 1]

very nice well done Ishall keep learning from better than myself .

 

[nick daring]

Another eyepeice went up for auction recently with some good photos-