simul8r

Member
Greetings RPF, I’ve been mostly a lurker for a short while. I've seen a lot of cool and creative things developed amongst you all and honestly I'm really impressed with all your work. I’m most inspired with the methods you all use to create such interesting works of art which motivated me to start a project of my own and try my hand at completing something possibly for next Halloween. So, here it is…my version of a xenomorph made entirely mostly from foam. That is foam sleeping mats, noodle foam floats, HVAC insulation foam for pipes and some canned expanding foam. The direction I’m going with this costume is to have all the parts Velcro strapped to a black body suit with the creature’s head casted in plastic resin from a foam sculp I made around a bicycle helmet.

I do have some experience making a set of costumes for my sons when they were quite young before but nothing this elaborate and although I’m liking how it is currently turning out I’m always inquisitive to hear other peoples opinion on it so far. And since this forum first started the inspiration I’d like to hear some of yours whether good or bad.

BTW, the person wearing the suit is not me. The young lad is about 5'7" and the suit may seem long for him, I'm 5'10" but dim the lights and walk creepy like either way appears pretty convincing
 
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Re: Xenomorph - My version out of foam

Very nice use of the foam tubes! It looks like its coming along really well.
 
Re: Xenomorph - My version out of foam

Use stilts, I say! The upper body proportions look awesome, you definitely might look into the stilts option for long legs, that would make it really perfect, I´d say.
 
Re: Xenomorph - My version out of foam

looks great so far...what are you using to seal it so that you can paint it?

take care,
Tommy
 
Re: Xenomorph - My version out of foam

Dang, that's looking pretty darn cool, nice job on that.
Gave me some good ideas for my own build too.
 
Re: Xenomorph - My version out of foam

Hey, thanks everyone for your kind responses. Great to hear your approvals.

Use stilts, I say! The upper body proportions look awesome, you definitely might look into the stilts option for long legs, that would make it really perfect, I´d say.

Thanks Naboo, I've actually thought about degigrade legs but originally I wasn't planning on going that far. I'm still working around the idea of animating the alien's jaw and inner jaw and it's tail that's not dragged around but rather in the air. I may revisit the stilts after the completion though, there is always room for upgrades :)

looks great so far...what are you using to seal it so that you can paint it?

take care,
Tommy

Thanks Tommy, Plasti Dip from Performix worked best after experimenting with standard enamel, it just flaked off badly. The dip actually made the foam a bit tougher as well which was noticable after drying.

Working with the noodles and insulation has been more of a learning experience. Cutting, shaping, strategic hot glueing and cauterizing or shrinking the foam has given me ideas for future projects. Really enjoying this.
 
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awesome work.. a friend and coworker had did the queen alien this way for a Halloween costume at work and for costume contests at some local bars
 
awesome work.. a friend and coworker had did the queen alien this way for a Halloween costume at work and for costume contests at some local bars
Thanks Nyne, I'd be very interested to see any photos of your friend's work. Who knows, he might have some fresh ideas I might incorporate into mine.
 
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Looking great!
My 7 year old daugther wants to be the Queen Alien this Halloween and this is the route i was going to take and your techs are a great layout for me.
Keep those progress pics coming:)
 
Looking great!
My 7 year old daugther wants to be the Queen Alien this Halloween and this is the route i was going to take and your techs are a great layout for me.
Keep those progress pics coming:)

Sure, here's a few more. There is a process when cutting/shaping the foam tubes to resemble muscles so to speak even thinning the edges so that they flush better with each other when glueing. And when glueing in a curved shape I usually start with one end of the piece and then gradually add more glue while working it around holding the pieces together tightly as the glue cools. Sometimes enduring the pain from the hot glue when in contact with it. For quick cool downs I keep a water spray bottle close by.

BTW, this process of cutting and shaping the foam was the learning part. While building the main alien body it became apparent that I could actually build a muscle suit of my own and just slip it under any spandex suit for other projects with no problem.
 
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Another BTW, this is the photo of an alien statue I found while googling which is more or less what I'm using as reference. I believe it's the xenomorph swimming version from Alien Resurrection.
 
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I love the muscles details you have made out of foam , it's not easy to make with this kind of material .. Good job !
 
I love the muscles details you have made out of foam , it's not easy to make with this kind of material .. Good job !

Appreciate it Gorgot, the thing that makes this build easier as I went along with the construction is that since the alien itself is organic each piece does not necessarily have to be matching perfect for both sides just as long as both sides, though, look proportionate.

The problem I have though is that right after I've completed a body part I end up ripping pieces off of it because it didn't quite look good and I wanted to do it over. I've actually pulled off more foam in areas where I had to patch it up with more foam and hot glue.
 
Very nice work, Would love to see a tutorial how you made the head!!!

I suppose I could give a quick run through of how I came up with the head....

It's basically pink insulation foam glued together forming a foam block roughly 3 feet long and about 10 inches wide.

I cut a section out to fit the bicycle helmet and filled up the gaps with expansion foam. There after I just went to town with a cordless sawzall and shaped out a rough carving.

I then took out the sander and smoothed out the edges. I had some ribbed plastic plumbing tubes leftover from a blow up pool and cut in half (longways) and strategically hot glued it in both sides of the head forming the xenomorph's gills or veins.

I encased the entire head with car body filler aka bondo (several layers I might add) and sanded it smooth like there was no tomorrow.

Added little bit of rope for the lips, more bondo and ton of glue sticks for texture and last but not least black paint and whalla!!

At first I was going to use the head as is but it's now quite heavy as you can understand why. That's the reason I decided to make a mold out of it and cast copies instead...my son want's one, lol

The jaw is basically cardboard I mocked up and the teeth were carved out of some left over foam wall trimmings.

Photos below:
 
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I know what are you talking about .. this is my Predalien made of foam
PredAlien_02.jpg


Good luck and Keep the good work !
 
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