Suicide Squad Deadshot Costume build

I'm making a functional screen accurate paintball wrist gun over on my own thread. I'll try to keep progress on them on this thread additionally for anyone thats interested
 
For my own Deadshot rifle I used the following Nerf parts;
Stock: Retaliator
Blaster: Recon CS-6 (can use Retaliator)
Barrel: Longstrike
Grip: Retaliator
Scope: Zombie Strike Clear Shot
Magazine: Standard 18 dart clip with some craft foam. Would have gotten a proper banana mag but considered it to be a minor detail ;)


At my local hardware store (Bunnings in Australia) I found Rust-Oleum Colonial Red as a nice match.


I didn't get time for weathering, the crosshairs or the slogan.
DSC_0005.jpgSS-supanova-2016-(59).jpg
 
this is really handy since I'm going to make the rear holster out of foam initially and once I have ironed out any teething issues I will go to a final version made from plastic guttering and base layer it with 3mm foam and then a layer of then rubber to hopefully avoid movement on the back. I hate wearing rear harnesses and holsters any way so this might be a part of the project that I mount with industrial Velcro so I can remove it when it is itching or annoying me.

For making the holster there is a really good video on youtube I have used before. Will try to post it later if I can.
 
It is quite common for prop masters to rig the stunt crew out with rubber items. A couple of my personal friends are stunt coordinators and I speak to them occasionally.

Quite often the rubber helps to stop the vests and outfits from moving during action scenes, not to mention the added safety on the prop items. A good prop master and assistant will try to layer up the lower pieces often to make them more resilient. Not forgetting when foam is used sweat and water damages the outfits rather quickly. it is for this reason that many will heat seal the foam initially, use plastidip or another sealer, and then sometimes use a fabric base layer, which can then be reinforced with rubber on the outer details and joints.

I have recently started layering a thin piece of rubber around the edge of some of my most recent foam builds and will do so for this one, as it grips the under shirt a lot better and stops movement.

You are quite right many internal rivets and clasps will be layered over to make them more comfortable, though after speaking to a props master recently this has to be closely monitored since sometimes comfort, manouverability and practicality are on a thin line. Just one of the many reasons why cost escalates and their might be numerous version of the outfit between the stunt crew and hero/actors. I prime example of this was when the Dark Knight was filmed.. (if you look at the ras Al Ghul legend stunt crew nearly every one had a different out fit in that, must have been a knightmare for the costume and design team).

The rifle is an AR15. Like Wes said it's all off the shelf except for the hand-guard. A long-barrelled M4 or a HK416 would look similar.

Wow, that is awesome information, thanks for sharing! It's funny with what you say about rubber gear in the wall-repelling scene - I noticed in a set photo from that day of filming that the end of the pistol on the thigh was bent, I wondered if it was rubber!
Would you be able to confirm the purpose of the fabric going down between the plates on either side of the front torso armour? It looks like a strip of fabric hiding fixings underneath, or was it just for aesthetics?
 
It is quite common for prop masters to rig the stunt crew out with rubber items. A couple of my personal friends are stunt coordinators and I speak to them occasionally.

Quite often the rubber helps to stop the vests and outfits from moving during action scenes, not to mention the added safety on the prop items. A good prop master and assistant will try to layer up the lower pieces often to make them more resilient. Not forgetting when foam is used sweat and water damages the outfits rather quickly. it is for this reason that many will heat seal the foam initially, use plastidip or another sealer, and then sometimes use a fabric base layer, which can then be reinforced with rubber on the outer details and joints.

I have recently started layering a thin piece of rubber around the edge of some of my most recent foam builds and will do so for this one, as it grips the under shirt a lot better and stops movement.

You are quite right many internal rivets and clasps will be layered over to make them more comfortable, though after speaking to a props master recently this has to be closely monitored since sometimes comfort, manouverability and practicality are on a thin line. Just one of the many reasons why cost escalates and their might be numerous version of the outfit between the stunt crew and hero/actors. I prime example of this was when the Dark Knight was filmed.. (if you look at the ras Al Ghul legend stunt crew nearly every one had a different out fit in that, must have been a knightmare for the costume and design team).

Thanks for the information, I hadn't heard of this mutli-layering (foam, fabric, rubber) technique but it sounds useful. I'd love to see a picture of how you've utilised rubber on the edges of your build if you don't mind sharing.
Do the prop masters you've spoken to mention using rubber foams in sheets like EVA, L200, etc frequently or do they prefer to cast a sculpted piece straight to rubber?
 
Thanks for the information, I hadn't heard of this mutli-layering (foam, fabric, rubber) technique but it sounds useful. I'd love to see a picture of how you've utilised rubber on the edges of your build if you don't mind sharing.
Do the prop masters you've spoken to mention using rubber foams in sheets like EVA, L200, etc frequently or do they prefer to cast a sculpted piece straight to rubber?

Should not be much of a problem, just waiting for my mannequin to arrive in my size then I'm going to be working on the suicide deadshot. I'm thinking I am going to cut the foam using templates, glue them with some 2 inch strapping possibly since I want to maintain some flexibility between the chest armour and the abs. Then I'm considering cutting some old combat trousers up and putting that behind the foam as a base layer. I saw this idea many moons ago when a professional costume maker (on youtube) was using this technique to build LARP armour. He stated that since people wearing armour tended to be more active they sweat more. This outer base layer would stop sweat and moisture getting into the foam joints quickly and help maintain the costume for years rather than months. He also quite often reinforced weak points and glue seams with rubber to maintain flexibility and seal the seams.

I've rarely done that, but then it gave me the idea to use rubber occasionally on the edges of gauntlets to stop them sliding around your arms. It also helps to some times put them on the shoulder straps as it stops the armour sliding on the points which tend to have more action. Also is very handy when using compression suits as a base layer as some foam does not layer good on compression fabric.

It must be a good idea because it is similar to what they do on first aid supports now.. they prefer to use silicone bands around the edges of supports which are next to the skin as it prevents bandages and supports moving and sliding.

Once my mannequin arrives I will start my Deadshot tactical vest build and take regular photo's of the build. I am Still looking for the template for the Deadshot vest armour, but I think I am going to use the vest pattern from the 1/6 action figure as a guide. I have posted the figure in my public profile album along with other items I will be using too.
 
View attachment 647362
And since we're sharing progress pics, this is my armour so far, none of it is perfect but it's decent enough for conventions. Thanks for sharing yours too Dirtbag, it looks great.
For anyone still seeking reference pictures, a load of new high-res stills from the movie were released at SDCC yesterday, including some useful ones of Deadshot (Even showing how the mask's faceplate removes for fitting and how the wrist guns are loaded!)
View attachment 647363View attachment 647364View attachment 647365

My apattern for the armour is taking a while trying to get it in proprtion for my 5ft9 height and 49chest is a bit awkward. I've done two pattern small scale.. then resized to 120% and 135% and each one is not accurate for my perspective and proportion. Think I m going to have to have the upper plates at about 130% and the lower plates around 115/120 - I really DON'T WANT TO FREEHAND them again.. But might just print will smith's off if i can get a nice front copy.. and then rescale as a last resort..What have people done for the decal and graphics I was hoping there might be stickers or decals on line but have not found any for the vest, armour, guns and rifle etc
 
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My apattern for the armour is taking a while trying to get it in proprtion for my 5ft9 height and 49chest is a bit awkward. I've done two pattern small scale.. then resized to 120% and 135% and each one is not accurate for my perspective and proportion. Think I m going to have to have the upper plates at about 130% and the lower plates around 115/120 - I reLLY DON'T WANT TO FREEHAND them again.. But might just prints will smith's off if i can get a nice front copy.. and then rescale as a last resort..What have people done for the decal and graphics I was hoping there might be stickers or decals on line but have not found any for the vest, armour, guns and rifle etc
As far as I am aware, there are no decals already out there. I omitted the decal on my chestplate and just painted it straight on by marking out a basic crosshair (but I wasn't going for 100% accuracy). For the "I am the light, the way" decals on the wrist gun, I matched the font and gold colour then printed a strip of text (gold coloured text on black paper) that would fit neatly in between the grooves either side of the decal.
 
this is really handy since I'm going to make the rear holster out of foam initially and once I have ironed out any teething issues I will go to a final version made from plastic guttering and base layer it with 3mm foam and then a layer of then rubber to hopefully avoid movement on the back. I hate wearing rear harnesses and holsters any way so this might be a part of the project that I mount with industrial Velcro so I can remove it when it is itching or annoying me.

I created a template for the rear holster but it's a "flat image", so once you mold it around your guns it actually takes on a different shape. Oops. But then I figured who is going to be taking a photo of my butt, so it's a minor thing. I used a layer of foam for the base, a "core" of some stiff card to reduce flex, then molded craft foam over the top. Since I'm only using light plastic toy guns the whole thing is really light weight, so I've just used some velcro to attach it to my tactical molle belt which is quite comfortable to wear.

Should not be much of a problem, just waiting for my mannequin to arrive in my size then I'm going to be working on the suicide deadshot. I'm thinking I am going to cut the foam using templates, glue them with some 2 inch strapping possibly since I want to maintain some flexibility between the chest armour and the abs.

Once my mannequin arrives I will start my Deadshot tactical vest build and take regular photo's of the build. I am Still looking for the template for the Deadshot vest armour, but I think I am going to use the vest pattern from the 1/6 action figure as a guide. I have posted the figure in my public profile album along with other items I will be using too.

My apattern for the armour is taking a while trying to get it in proprtion for my 5ft9 height and 49chest is a bit awkward. I've done two pattern small scale.. then resized to 120% and 135% and each one is not accurate for my perspective and proportion. Think I m going to have to have the upper plates at about 130% and the lower plates around 115/120 - I reLLY DON'T WANT TO FREEHAND them again.. But might just prints will smith's off if i can get a nice front copy.. and then rescale as a last resort..

Given my time and skill level I made the body armour out of a roll of garage floor foam as the base layer that the armour "plates" (9mm camp floor tile) were glued onto the top of. The foam already had the colour and texture I was going for so I didn't neat to paint it it, and it was flexible enough for me to get through the day. The individual pieces (front and back body armour, shoulder and arm pieces) was held together with nylon webbing of different sizes heat glued to the underside, then velco to put it all together.

For references in terms of creating design templates it was sometimes easier to use detailed shots of the Deadshot toy statue than it was movie stills as it had the front/side/back facing angles I was needing.


I made a little blog with a few WIP photos and lower resolution design templates I created - http://cybermike.id.au/deadshot-cosplay-from-suicide-squad/


I've a Facebook Page with some additional photos of the project and me wearing it at a con - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...073741838.166253493709010&type=1&l=10d9d81ca4
 
thank you - cut the foam base today. Hardest bit is the neck collar and detail. Trying to do the neck detail on foam mats is hard. I drew the template and resized three times.

I used one rough template to use as a base guide for doing under cuts on the back to angle the small side plates slightly on this first build. Though might do another template and cut those small side plates off and use car mats instead on those, n use contact cement n secondary hot glue.

The neck piece I might completely cut off - I did it in garage floor mat but thats not really up to my high standards with so much detail being on that neck piece. Really wish I could afford a lazer cutter for detail work like that :(

The neck piece might be better done on 3 pieces of 2mm foan glued togethers sprayed carbon and then adding the detail with a sharpie :(


I created a template for the rear holster but it's a "flat image", so once you mold it around your guns it actually takes on a different shape. Oops. But then I figured who is going to be taking a photo of my butt, so it's a minor thing. I used a layer of foam for the base, a "core" of some stiff card to reduce flex, then molded craft foam over the top. Since I'm only using light plastic toy guns the whole thing is really light weight, so I've just used some velcro to attach it to my tactical molle belt which is quite comfortable to wear.





Given my time and skill level I made the body armour out of a roll of garage floor foam as the base layer that the armour "plates" (9mm camp floor tile) were glued onto the top of. The foam already had the colour and texture I was going for so I didn't neat to paint it it, and it was flexible enough for me to get through the day. The individual pieces (front and back body armour, shoulder and arm pieces) was held together with nylon webbing of different sizes heat glued to the underside, then velco to put it all together.

For references in terms of creating design templates it was sometimes easier to use detailed shots of the Deadshot toy statue than it was movie stills as it had the front/side/back facing angles I was needing.


I made a little blog with a few WIP photos and lower resolution design templates I created - http://cybermike.id.au/deadshot-cosplay-from-suicide-squad/


I've a Facebook Page with some additional photos of the project and me wearing it at a con - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...073741838.166253493709010&type=1&l=10d9d81ca4
 
I'm going to repaint and custom a nerf till I find a cheap airsoft M4. Though trying to get spare parts for nerfs in the UK at the minute is a pain :(

For my own Deadshot rifle I used the following Nerf parts;
Stock: Retaliator
Blaster: Recon CS-6 (can use Retaliator)
Barrel: Longstrike
Grip: Retaliator
Scope: Zombie Strike Clear Shot
Magazine: Standard 18 dart clip with some craft foam. Would have gotten a proper banana mag but considered it to be a minor detail ;)


At my local hardware store (Bunnings in Australia) I found Rust-Oleum Colonial Red as a nice match.


I didn't get time for weathering, the crosshairs or the slogan.
View attachment 714431View attachment 714432
 
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The armour was sized for me ;) I used the width of the top armour plates to scale it to my own body (ie if I could reach my arms out in front of me then it wasn't too wide).

I did spend a lot of time on the neck piece and went through at least 4 different prototypes before cutting it up into 6 different pieces, with my aim being to achieve those crisp angles. You can see in one of the images below I drew a red line to show you the pieces. The end result isn't perfect but I was working towards a deadline and skipping a few nights of sleep.

Note that the garage floor mat is only the backing for the neck piece to hold all the armour pieces together. I made the actual neck piece from camp floor mat - the same foam as the body armour plates. This was then glued onto the backing.

It is worth noting that garage floor mat is a lower quality EVA and if you were to source it from a cosplay supplier it will be much higher quality (and higher cost) - less imperfections/bubbles, smoother texture because it has a higher density. Less time spent sanding off the checker plate design too ;)

I collected a crap-ton of reference photos and if you look at the photo of Will Smith below you'll see part of his armour is coming apart. So the 6mm you mentioned might be good for that piece lifting off but the top collar part seems a bit chunkier.

Since I was using blue foam I had to paint it. I used a peel-able rubber automotive spray. Where it rubbed my neck on the middle top the paint wore off as it's not the most durable of paint when it comes to wear/friction. So I had to carry a black marker at the convention to colour in the blue foam (which then rubbed off onto the shirt!). I used the same rubber spray on the front and back armour plates, as well as the shoulder and arm plates and had no problem there as they were low-wear zones. Naturally I couldn't use a sling for the rifle because that would have been disastrous on the rubber paint. Whatever paint you use, keep in mind it's still foam and may flex, bend or be indented, so if you use enamel instead of acrylic you may be faced with chipping, cracking and flaking.

DSC01872.jpgneck1a.jpgDSC01875.jpgneck2.jpgneck3.jpg1SS-13504.jpg



thank you - cut the foam base today. Hardest bit is the neck collar and detail. Trying to do the neck detail on foam mats is hard. I drew the template and resized three times.

I used one rough template to use as a base guide for doing under cuts on the back to angle the small side plates slightly on this first build. Though might do another template and cut those small side plates off and use car mats instead on those, n use contact cement n secondary hot glue.

The neck piece I might completely cut off - I did it in garage floor mat but thats not really up to my high standards with so much detail being on that neck piece. Really wish I could afford a lazer cutter for detail work like that :(

The neck piece might be better done on 3 pieces of 2mm foan glued togethers sprayed carbon and then adding the detail with a sharpie :(
 

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yeah buddy I already noticed cracking on Will Smiths armour - on some photos the centre was rippled and on others it was clean and crisp - giving you the impression he had 2 or 3 chest plates which is normal on set.

I've gone for high density foam matting here in the uk, it's a pain to cut and work with but hopefully it might last longer when under duress and stored. I've cut two base plates today hopefully one as a test, then the other for fine tuning and amended later for the new film. The neck piece I had planned on doing in three layers so you could be right it may end up being 5 or 6 pieces and the straps to the rear will be sandwiched between two as well.

I tend to heat form and seal with heat gun, then use white rubber/school pva glue watered down and brush on for three coats to seal the mat base plate. If I can get some better quality black foam I will do the top layers separate and possibly may not paint, and just seal and pva depending on how things go. I do have some angelus black I could use but normally would always use acrylic spray.

Most of my build is on my cosplay page - but will post photos up on my profile here and drop a couple of images in here if you approve to help others and give some others some inspiration. back plate I hope to start tomorrow, though had a tragic bereavement in the family so might have a couple of days set back. I have 10 days to finish this before a charity event I am attending :)

The armour was sized for me ;) I used the width of the top armour plates to scale it to my own body (ie if I could reach my arms out in front of me then it wasn't too wide).

I did spend a lot of time on the neck piece and went through at least 4 different prototypes before cutting it up into 6 different pieces, with my aim being to achieve those crisp angles. You can see in one of the images below I drew a red line to show you the pieces. The end result isn't perfect but I was working towards a deadline and skipping a few nights of sleep.

Note that the garage floor mat is only the backing for the neck piece to hold all the armour pieces together. I made the actual neck piece from camp floor mat - the same foam as the body armour plates. This was then glued onto the backing.

It is worth noting that garage floor mat is a lower quality EVA and if you were to source it from a cosplay supplier it will be much higher quality (and higher cost) - less imperfections/bubbles, smoother texture because it has a higher density. Less time spent sanding off the checker plate design too ;)

I collected a crap-ton of reference photos and if you look at the photo of Will Smith below you'll see part of his armour is coming apart. So the 6mm you mentioned might be good for that piece lifting off but the top collar part seems a bit chunkier.

Since I was using blue foam I had to paint it. I used a peel-able rubber automotive spray. Where it rubbed my neck on the middle top the paint wore off as it's not the most durable of paint when it comes to wear/friction. So I had to carry a black marker at the convention to colour in the blue foam (which then rubbed off onto the shirt!). I used the same rubber spray on the front and back armour plates, as well as the shoulder and arm plates and had no problem there as they were low-wear zones. Naturally I couldn't use a sling for the rifle because that would have been disastrous on the rubber paint. Whatever paint you use, keep in mind it's still foam and may flex, bend or be indented, so if you use enamel instead of acrylic you may be faced with chipping, cracking and flaking.

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I'm sorry to hear of your bereavement.


It's hard to see but the center strip down the front of the body armour is a flap of fabric that covers a zipper, was that the spot you mean rippled? I went for a textured strip of foam to simulate this zipper flap(heated it up, mashed my thumb into it).


I did the heat gun and PVA method on all foam except the backing layer which I just hit with the heat gun. I didn't paint the leg holsters (made from the garage mat) as they looked fine as they were, and when the PVA gets stretched or scratched it looks natural, as Deadshot's gear is extremely worn and beat up. I also did not paint the backing layer as this appears to be layered or padded (and stitched) fabric. The texture of the garage mat seemed more appropriate than a painted surface, and I didn't have to worry about paint being damaged/rubbed off.


I didn't create this thread but I'm ok with helping others based on my experiences :) I think perhaps I'll also update my blog with the rest of my build photos.
 
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