Buzz Lightyear Costume Ideas

AJLoCascio

Sr Member
I saw Toy Story 3 at midnight at the Zeigfeld in NY and Woody and Buzz from Disney World showed up to open the movie (quite a treat).

For a While I've wanted to make a Buzz Lightyear costume but never really found any evidence of someone pulling it off. Now I have seen threads on this costume, but nothing has ever come of it.

I'm guessing foam is the way to go with his, but I'm really a noob when it comes to any kind of foam sculpting. I'm very curious what kind of brainstorming could be done here on how to execute a top notch Buzz Lightyear costume like the Boston Legal or Cruise Musical version.


Here's the Boston Legal one (only pics I could find):

boston-1.jpg


cbierko.jpg


The Musical:

buzzrexb.jpg


The Park:

Buzz_Lightyear_at_Disneys_Hollywood_Studios.jpg


2897208671_bb3796b824.jpg



TO INFINITY AND BEYOND !!!!!

Moony
 
My buddies wife asked me if I was going to make one a few months ago. She works for Disney in Florida, and she knows a lot of the "high-end-clientel" and she's always asked about Toy Story characters...

I would suggest using, and this will vary from person to person, but I would suggest carving the shapes out of architectural foam, then layering fiberglass or even painting over it with Shell Shock, and then do your sanding and smoothing.

OR - you can go the traditional route of a clay sculpt, molds and then your choice of fabrication materials.
 
someone should make some 3D models of the suit parts, and then unfold them with pepakura.... then you could make the armor just like the iron man or halo suits...
 
the cruise ship and Boston Legal costume look to be foam covered in a PVC fabric. More than likely the foam is EVA or a crosslink. the Japanese and Filipino cosplayers are masters of this technique. check out some of Izabel's postings of Don Robert's IM suits

a pepakura unfold of a 3d model would be a great way to start. this unfold is limited: Disney Pixar Printable Toy Story 3D Buzz | Disney | Disney Family.com
i'd search for a quality 3d mesh if I were you.
 
someone should make some 3D models of the suit parts, and then unfold them with pepakura.... then you could make the armor just like the iron man or halo suits...

No - they shouldn't - I think if you want something like this, that you should put in the work your self, not ride the paper-trail of someone else.

Or just make the pep yourself - but there's already a thread on that.

After things cool down here come mid July, I might take a throw at a Buzz Lightyear suit...
 
god I always wanted one. Started a thread a few times. tried to get to one of the top guys in Japan who do Armour, but never got back to me. Could be totally awesome. I THINK that park show one is cool. It has lights and such. And it's made to be able to actually walk and perform in! I would love to help find this and get it done...anyone????
 
I also wanted to make a buzz . But it would take a lot of my time that I would rather spend on other unfinished props. Will be watching this thread .
 
Wow - I'm so glad to see so many interested people on this topic !

That foam seems the way to go - but it also seems rather thin. Buzz's outfit seems like its a lot of bulk - especially around the chest and upper torso. Is there a foam that you could sculpt with that would be thicker and allow you to make the more blocky shapes out of one piece ?

I'm trying to wrap my head around this one. I just want to steal the one from Boston Legal !


If anyone starts anything on this I'de live to see !

Moony
 
It looks to me like he used mostly foamcore. I've used foamcore on quite a few projects. Problem is it a weak material and needs to be strengthened. If you you strengthen it with fiber/resin it first needs to be sealed.

Edit: After looking at more pictures. Yeh it looks like foam would be your best choice like the costume from the musical. Seems easier that going to whole fiber/resin/bondo bit.
 
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This is something I had on my ToDo list for a while now... the wife once strongly suggested I give it a try :)

I think foam is the way to go. You can easily play with different thickness depending on which part you're working on (like the green chest plate seems really thicker than everything else). Foam is also going to be more comfortable wearing that a fiberglass/bondo suit.

However, the thing I'd be curious to know how you guys would design/make is the backpack with the wings.

In my opinion, what we see Buzz doing in the first Toy Story movie (before he realizes he's a toy) is such a big part of the character... I mean the "lazer LED" on his arm, the communicator to Star Command and the fact that the wings pop out of his back pack at the touch of a button.
 
So when I take a look at this picture below I'm a little baffled at so what kind of foam the main body of this costume can be constructed from. It appears to be covered in a PVC lycra or something - but if that's true then is the green box also constructed the same way ? Also look at the sharp edge on the purple stripe is it possible that stuff is made from something else and not covered in fabric ?

I'm getting close to figuring this out in my head - my only hang up is exactly what kind of foam to use.

Foamcore: is essentially project board right ? Seems rather brittle and too rigid for this kind of construction.

Foamies: seem too thin - Although I'm sure there's a way to get thicker stuff in bigger sheets I just haven't found it yet.

Architectural foam
: Is is flexible? I did some research on it and I'm a little baffled as to how that would work. Does anyone have any example as to how that would work ?

If anyone has any pics of other costumes constructed with various foams I'd love to see. Foam is a relatively new medium to me. The only foam I've used is the stuff you get in blocks like cushion foam for some puppets. And that stuff sucks to work with since its got an incredibly high amount of friction



boston-1.jpg
 
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