Captain America Armor Variant WIP (Pic Heavy)

Short update this time. I'm tinkering with a kind of segmented collar piece to bridge the suit and the helmet. Using the pep files for the Iron Man neck, I cut out several of the sections and tested them in 2mm foam.

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All four segments were too tall to wear well, so I left off the top.

I spray mounted the remaining foam pieces to the blue cordura and cut the pieces with a 1/2" seam allowance. Using a zipper foot, I stitched each segment together matching the edges of the foam backings. The seam allowances were then folded over to each side and stitched down.

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The collar still needs a closure in the back and I'm not sure it's going to make the final cut, but I'll see what it looks like when all the other pieces are assembled.

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Next up, the finishing continues on the helmet and construction resumes on the accessories.


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The saga continues...

With the collar together, I moved back to the helmet. I used some flexible caulking to refine some of the edges a bit and hide some seams. Once that was set, I gave it a couple more coats of Plasti-Dip, masked off the inside and put a base coat of navy blue on the whole thing.

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The base coat was then covered with metallic blue and the helmet was masked off for the silver accents to be painted.

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The next steps on the helmet are detail painting (including aging/weathering) and the chin straps. In the meantime, I got started on the boots.
I found a pair of boots online that I liked for style and decided that they would be the inspiration for this project.

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I sketched out some basic paper templates based on these boots and then transferred the front to a tracing paper template to begin cutting the pieces.

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I cut the foundation piece out of 2mm craft foam and worked from the center out. I created a pad for the center section with headliner foam. I then layered a piece of red faux leather on top of that and added detail stitching.

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Next, I covered the upper/side area with brown. Then, another layer of 2mm foam covered with red cordura created the top layer.

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I used some scraps of Swedish tracing paper to sketch out a rough template for the upper. I haven't yet found the boot that I'll actually use (it will be brown, not black) so the one in these images is one I had to hand just for drafting. Anyway, I made the upper by covering 2mm foam with red faux leather. Once I have the actual boots all of these components will be attached together to fit.

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I then turned to the backs. These will work in a similar fashion to the inner parts of the gauntlets - they will form the calf and have elastic in the front. The shin guard will then strap over them to make a complete boot shaft. The backs are made of brown faux leather lined in black for stiffness and accented with a red cordura stripe over the center back seam.

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The last major component of the boots to attend to was the knees. I created a template for the knees and constructed them using the same methods as the rest of the boots. The main knee pads were made of foam covered with red cordura. I then added a shaped brown section (also backed with foam) to the bottom of the knees.

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The knees were then stitched to the shin guards as well as the straps and buckles (just as they were on the gauntlets). Here are the boots at this point.

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The knees are unfinished - they need more substance above the top line of the boot, I just haven't decided what I want that to be. So, I'll be figuring that out soon as well as the new backpack/harness/whatever-it-ends-up-being and the belt/pouches.

Cheers!
 
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This is absolutely GORGEOUS work! I mean, this is top-notch, movie-quality stuff. In fact, IMHO it's hands-down better than what we saw on-screen in The Avengers - it's what the modern Cap outfit should have looked like on-screen instead of what we got.
 
This is absolutely GORGEOUS work! I mean, this is top-notch, movie-quality stuff. In fact, IMHO it's hands-down better than what we saw on-screen in The Avengers - it's what the modern Cap outfit should have looked like on-screen instead of what we got.

Cheers! I did like the movie versions and I wanted to do a mash-up of that style and approach as well as nod to some of the different versions that have come out in the newer books. The main thing was, I wanted to do something new that would stand out.

:)
 
You know, if there were a word for doing a thing so well that it even impressed someone who wasn't particularly interested in that thing, this would be that word. I was never a Cap fan until I watched the first movie because I thought, "Well, it's a WWII movie and I like WWII movies so why not?" By the end I was blown away by the whole thing. The uniforms and the shields and the whole damn story was just incredible.

But this is better and I really want to see a more armored version of the suit like this in upcoming movies. Amazing work!
 
You know, if there were a word for doing a thing so well that it even impressed someone who wasn't particularly interested in that thing, this would be that word. I was never a Cap fan until I watched the first movie because I thought, "Well, it's a WWII movie and I like WWII movies so why not?" By the end I was blown away by the whole thing. The uniforms and the shields and the whole damn story was just incredible.

But this is better and I really want to see a more armored version of the suit like this in upcoming movies. Amazing work!

Wow, cheers! Always love to see a new Cap fan enter the fold. ;)

I'm only 5'9" and not bulky (I usually do characters like Littlefinger and such) but I really, really, like REEEEEEALLY wanted a Cap suit of my own after all the ones I've made for other people. So, I thought, well, the only way to come close to pulling this off is if it's very strategically made and padded to hell and back. Hence, armor. Plus, I love mash ups and wanted to pull from a lot of different art and versions and make something uniquely my own vision.

And, as you can see in the thread, it's gone through several direction changes. It's become more than just a costume for me, it's an experiment - and I'm as intrigued as anyone to see where it ends up. ;)
 
Well, after a mad few months I'm back on this guy and trying to get finished up for HeroesCon in Charlotte next weekend. So, picking up where I left off...

The back knee pads are still to come. In the meantime, I decided to get the harness together.

I used my templates for the AoU straps and created the base straps using 2mm EVA foam and covering it with faux leather. I then added a red cordura (also backed with 2mm foam) detail to the upper strap. The two connect under the arms with the same silver side-release buckles that were used on the gauntlets and boots.


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I decided to use a back piece that had already been playing around with as the base for the 'back pack' that the straps would attach to. This piece was simply a piece of 2mm foam covered with cordura. The straps were fitted and then sewn down.


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The next step was to create the detail piece that would go over this base. To do this, I traced out the shape and created a template on tracking paper with all the details that I wanted. I used a piece of 2mm foam as the foundation. The first piece to go on was the star.


Cutting the center circle from the metallic blue vinyl, I tacked a 2mm cut out of the star to the center and then mounted them to the foundation. The star detail was stitched in using a teflon zipper foot. I then tacked down all of the other details and made the cover out of cordura with the circle that surrounds the star.


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The inside edge of the circle was finished and the cover was mounted to the foundation. All of the detail lines were then sewn down with a zipper foot and the edges turned under and sewn down.


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I then added some grommet details and glued the piece to the back of the harness as well as adding some blue details and hardware to the upper straps.


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Here's the completed harness on the costume.


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I posted earlier about a helmet that I was working on in foam. That needs a lot more experimentation to get where I'd want to be for this suit - so, I was able to procure this beauty from Graphic Jordan and will be using it with the suit. It's a fantastic fit and looks amazing - I couldn't be more excited to add this to my suit up next week. :)

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More to come!
 

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Amazing work. I love all the little details you've done, and the harness came out perfect! And looks awesome for your design. Loving the helmet as well, I saw Jordan's post that he was working on this for you and couldn't wait to see it with your suit.


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Amazing work. I love all the little details you've done, and the harness came out perfect! And looks awesome for your design. Loving the helmet as well, I saw Jordan's post that he was working on this for you and couldn't wait to see it with your suit.


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Thanks! I really went round and round on what I wanted to do with that harness. I didn't want to just do a big buckle as I was really trying for a more original design. At the same time, I couldn't reconcile a "back pack" either. So, I just decided to use a piece I'd made earlier and thought I'd discard and just build it up similar to and to match the chest. Basically, I just had to stop over-thinking it. Haha

Jordan's helmet is almost as awesome a Jordan himself. :) I love it! We have a new project coming out soon as well - so updates on that are nigh.
 
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You did a fantastic job. It was awesome to see this whole suit come together from start to finish.


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You did a fantastic job. It was awesome to see this whole suit come together from start to finish.


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Thanks man! I'm in awe of your Wolverine project and love the way you've documented and put that together.

- - - Updated - - -

I love it! That came out beautifully! Great work.

Thank you! There's a companion piece in the works. Here's a teaser...

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