jblakey
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
I'm putting together a cosplay for this year's Ottawa Comic Con, and I thought I'd go as Negatus, the big baddie on Sky1's Yonderland, played by Simon Farnaby. Great show, kid friendly, very clever and funny. Highly recommend it, if you haven't seen it. They've got 8 episodes out, and apparently season 2 is on the way.
The character on the show is awesome. It's like they asked a 12 year old boy how the baddest villain in the world would dress and went with that. Black leather, some armour, steampunk feel. The whole costume has a "12 year old boy built this" kinda feel - spikes different lengths on the helmet, bad-ass beard, etc.
Anyhow, the costume looked do-able, given my restricted time I could spend on it. Most of the work would be in sourcing the leather and crafting the helmet. Here's the rundown on what I've managed to figure out based on screen shots.
Coat
Black leather duster. Has some kind of design on the back of the cape. Mine came with a Superman patch
Pants
Black leather
Gloves
Black leather, finger-less gloves.
Boots
Look like Equestrian or high motorcycle boots to me.
Vest
Black leather "club" style vest, with zipper up the front. Mandarin collar.
Belt
Black leather, about 1 1/4" inches wide. Silver squarish buckle.
Ring
Looks like a silver "poison-holding" ring to me. Black stone (Onyx?) Found something that looks similar on eBay.
Vambraces
These look like some kind of shin guards to me. Extra spikes added. Leather straps riveted on. I've got some soccer ones I'm going to use, but if anyone has any ideas for a better match, please let me know.
Communicator
This looks like some kind of old volt meter or stopwatch to me. Brass body.
Goggles
These look like some vintage RAF style goggles. Found some look-a-likes on eBay (they're on the way). I've got some stand-ins for now.
Beard
Cool dude beard. Working on it.
Hair
Reminds me of Kenny Powers. Curly mullet, dark brown.
Managed to track down quite of bit of the leather on eBay. I picked up a coat that's pretty close, some pants, found a nylon vest somewhere that's not bad. I knew the helmet would be the lynch-pin in the whole costume, so I sources that out as best I could. It looks to me like some kind of variation on a bassinet. The original prop might be some kind of plastic draped over a bike helmet, or something like that. I went with a "Gladiator Helmet" off eBay, 8 bucks. Looked like it would be a pretty good base. It also looks like it would be usable as a base for a number of helmets. Fits my medium size head not too badly.
To start off, I cut a bit of the helmet away, and made some paper templates. Then I added some foam for the cheek guards. Added another piece of foam for the forehead/nasal guard. Epoxied those in place (good ol' dollar store epoxy).
Then I started making spikes. I used a 1 1/4" softwood dowel, cut into 3/4/5 inch lengths. Then I used the old trick of mounting them (one at a time) in my hand drill (hammering a screwdriver bit into them to put into the chunk), and spinning the pieces while I held them up against my belt sander. Worked nicely. I should have sanded them after that, but, oh well...
Epoxied them in place, and then filled in the gaps with some JBWeld Plastic epoxy putty. Then I tried (as best I could) to fill/sand the foam... didn't work out awesome, but not bad.
Also made the two "horns" out of wood, about 3 inches long. Capped them off with some acorn nuts that I epoxied on. The original prop looks like it has these made from a stack of metal nuts, but I was worried about how much weight that would add.
Next up, I brushed slightly diluted wood glue over the foam, probably about 5 coats. It sunk into the foam, and made it much sturdier and more smooth.
Then I used almost a whole can of Gun Metal Plasti Dip on the helmet. This stuff is very nice. Goes on easy, dries fast. It does cost $20 bucks a can in Canada, though. Got my at Canadian Tire (only place I could easily find it).
Then I went over it with a little bit of black acrylic paint here and there, dabbing on and rubbing off. I just wanted to darken it a little, and pick out some of the features (raised rim, nose guard, etc).
And that's about it. This is my first piece of foam work, so be kind. I could have probably been more bold with the finished paint job, and I definitely could have shaped/sanded the spikes a little more, but I think it's pretty good overall. And it fits!
Thanks,
jason
I'm putting together a cosplay for this year's Ottawa Comic Con, and I thought I'd go as Negatus, the big baddie on Sky1's Yonderland, played by Simon Farnaby. Great show, kid friendly, very clever and funny. Highly recommend it, if you haven't seen it. They've got 8 episodes out, and apparently season 2 is on the way.
The character on the show is awesome. It's like they asked a 12 year old boy how the baddest villain in the world would dress and went with that. Black leather, some armour, steampunk feel. The whole costume has a "12 year old boy built this" kinda feel - spikes different lengths on the helmet, bad-ass beard, etc.
Anyhow, the costume looked do-able, given my restricted time I could spend on it. Most of the work would be in sourcing the leather and crafting the helmet. Here's the rundown on what I've managed to figure out based on screen shots.
Coat
Black leather duster. Has some kind of design on the back of the cape. Mine came with a Superman patch
Pants
Black leather
Gloves
Black leather, finger-less gloves.
Boots
Look like Equestrian or high motorcycle boots to me.
Vest
Black leather "club" style vest, with zipper up the front. Mandarin collar.
Belt
Black leather, about 1 1/4" inches wide. Silver squarish buckle.
Ring
Looks like a silver "poison-holding" ring to me. Black stone (Onyx?) Found something that looks similar on eBay.
Vambraces
These look like some kind of shin guards to me. Extra spikes added. Leather straps riveted on. I've got some soccer ones I'm going to use, but if anyone has any ideas for a better match, please let me know.
Communicator
This looks like some kind of old volt meter or stopwatch to me. Brass body.
Goggles
These look like some vintage RAF style goggles. Found some look-a-likes on eBay (they're on the way). I've got some stand-ins for now.
Beard
Cool dude beard. Working on it.
Hair
Reminds me of Kenny Powers. Curly mullet, dark brown.
Managed to track down quite of bit of the leather on eBay. I picked up a coat that's pretty close, some pants, found a nylon vest somewhere that's not bad. I knew the helmet would be the lynch-pin in the whole costume, so I sources that out as best I could. It looks to me like some kind of variation on a bassinet. The original prop might be some kind of plastic draped over a bike helmet, or something like that. I went with a "Gladiator Helmet" off eBay, 8 bucks. Looked like it would be a pretty good base. It also looks like it would be usable as a base for a number of helmets. Fits my medium size head not too badly.
To start off, I cut a bit of the helmet away, and made some paper templates. Then I added some foam for the cheek guards. Added another piece of foam for the forehead/nasal guard. Epoxied those in place (good ol' dollar store epoxy).
Then I started making spikes. I used a 1 1/4" softwood dowel, cut into 3/4/5 inch lengths. Then I used the old trick of mounting them (one at a time) in my hand drill (hammering a screwdriver bit into them to put into the chunk), and spinning the pieces while I held them up against my belt sander. Worked nicely. I should have sanded them after that, but, oh well...
Epoxied them in place, and then filled in the gaps with some JBWeld Plastic epoxy putty. Then I tried (as best I could) to fill/sand the foam... didn't work out awesome, but not bad.
Also made the two "horns" out of wood, about 3 inches long. Capped them off with some acorn nuts that I epoxied on. The original prop looks like it has these made from a stack of metal nuts, but I was worried about how much weight that would add.
Next up, I brushed slightly diluted wood glue over the foam, probably about 5 coats. It sunk into the foam, and made it much sturdier and more smooth.
Then I used almost a whole can of Gun Metal Plasti Dip on the helmet. This stuff is very nice. Goes on easy, dries fast. It does cost $20 bucks a can in Canada, though. Got my at Canadian Tire (only place I could easily find it).
Then I went over it with a little bit of black acrylic paint here and there, dabbing on and rubbing off. I just wanted to darken it a little, and pick out some of the features (raised rim, nose guard, etc).
And that's about it. This is my first piece of foam work, so be kind. I could have probably been more bold with the finished paint job, and I definitely could have shaped/sanded the spikes a little more, but I think it's pretty good overall. And it fits!
Thanks,
jason
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