Why have I been so quiet?

Discouraged, out of money for crazy costuming projects and working solo....I have foregone this for a while.  I am sorry to those that were interested for the lack of progress, though I am starting to get the itch a bit again.

If anyone has any suggestions on how a full time worker with little expendable income can make this happen...please share!

In the meantime, I hope to finish the Shepard costume some time this year.  The helmet keeps staring at me from my desk!

The Shepard Costume is coming along nicely

Hey folks...it's been a while.

To tell the truth, not a lot has happened lately, though I am getting close to completion on the redo of the Shepard N7 Armor.

Here are a couple of shots to keep you interested:

Multiple Costumes and the Inevitable Injury

It's been a while since an update, so this might be a slightly longer one than usual.  We have managed to get quite a bit done recently, so I will update by character.


Most of Shepard is now finished.  All that remains is one boot, the helmet and some minor alterations.

Here is the helmet so far (comparison to the old one)

It still needs considerable sanding to get it right, but I think we have a nice base model going here.  The way we got to this stage was by using fiberglass on the inside and resin and bondo on the outside.  Then sanded it and primed it.

Here are some updated shots of the rest of the Shepard costume (including lights)

 

The boots this time around are made with vinyl and EVA foam.  They basically just wrap around a pair of Harley Davidson boots and velcro in the back

 

The back is much more sophisticated than it's predecessor.  The housing for the lights at the bottom is several pieces of foam.

 

Five ultra bright LEDs create this effect

 

Finished gauntlet

 

The N7 logo on the chest is just a place marker as I am waiting for my fabulous brother to make the proper ones for me.

 

EL wire used here again in order to create this effect.  Not sure that I am 100% pleased with this part of the back yet.

 

Foam buckles like last time, although they have to come over as I am going to use thinner elastic (the legs are a bit too big and have to be adjusted.

 

The fabric in the middle of this piece is the same as what is used for the boots.

That's basically gotten you up to speed on Shepard.  On to Grunt.

I have showed this piece before and since decided that I didn't like it!!

Here is the replacement!

That's all for grunt so far.

Here is a selection of Liara bits and pieces:

Finally....the inevitable injury.  Anyone who knows me well knows that sooner or later, I was bound to hurt myself in some way doing this.  That day arrived today (on Mardi Gras).  I was bias slicing though the foam and the knive popped out and into my arm!  Quick visit to the hospital and 3 stitches later, I was back at the table working!!!

well..there you have it.

Update again as soon as there is something worth showing.

Mostly Shepard Stuff This Weekend

We are still plugging away at the costumes and I thought I would give a brief update about the progress (short as it may be).

I was feeling a little rough on Saturday and managed to get a ton more of the Shepard armor done.

Below are some side by side comparison shots.  I have learned so much since the inception of this that the new costume is truly light years ahead of its predecessor.  I actually look at the old one and think that it isn't very good now.  Each shot below shows the old version and the new one side by side.  The new one is always on the left.  Subtle changes have been made to the design in order to make it closer to it's video game counterpart.  The chest was increased in size.  The neck was elongated and the back made smaller and lower.  The details on the neck are also smaller and more in line with the game.  The shoulders have much better lines, the upper shoulder portion has been streamlined and the main shoulder pad has been sized up.  The bicep pieces also have much better lines, thanks to Micah who introduced me to an attachment for the Dremel that allows me to make a straight line at a constant depth.  I also have one of the gauntlets mostly done, but it is drying right now and not ready for display.

Here are the pics:

In addition to more armor work, we fibreglassed the inside of the helmet today (it still needs a bit more).  It doesnt actually fit over my head anymore so some of the interior will need to be cut a bit.  The next steps are that we finish the fiberglass resin on the inside.  Paint the outside with resin (minus the fiberglass cloth), and fill in the gaps with bondo.  From there, I will spend many painful hours sanding it to get all the surfaces smooth and with the right curves.  Then we cut some bits out and add lights and details.  I will try to get photos of each stage so that you get the idea.

Anyway...here is a shot of Micah and I adding the fiberglass.  By that, I mean Micah doing the fiberglass and me holding the helmet (badly) and being overly concerned about the fumes.  Micah got a bit of resin on her arm and it didn't look like fun!  Chemicals can be dangerous, boys and girls!

What we end up with is a solid helmet

In case there is any doubt that this is now solid, I took a picture with a hobby air compressor precariously balanced on top of the helmet

finally for today...a couple of other fun shots:

Here you get an idea of the direction we are going in with the lights for Grunt (D. Bonck)

And finally....Alicia's head is made, looks better than mine, contains a full set of eyelashes (sorry dear), and has traveled to Micah's place so that work can begin on her prosthetic.

With that....I leave you in peace.  This week will be slow as I have lot's of work to do (the full time job), but we should be able to get some stuff done on the weekend.

Hope you enjoy.  Please follow the blog if you are enjoying the updates.  We are up to 15 followers and 400 hits!

helmet made from cardboard!

not much to report right now....but a promising start to the helmet.  I am anxious to see what happens once we fibreglass and resin it!

Day 2 of the Massive Effect Mission.

So....today we did the livecast of Alicia's head.  I don't have many pictures, because I can't find my camera and Micah ran off with hers, on which most of the pictures were taken.  Here is what I do have.....

We did the livecast for Alicia's head, which will help us (meaning Micah) make the prosthetic for her head.  She was way less whiny than I was while doing this!!!

I also managed to completely fabricate Grunt's front!

All in all, I would say that it is a good day.  Incidentally, here is the tip of the day:  When painting EVA foam, use enamels.  It seems they bond to the foam better than anything else we have found.

Oh...and here is my head!  Still a bit of work to do on it.

More to come next time.  Stay tuned!

Work Begins

So....last night I started working on Shepard Mark 2.  I am pretty pleased with the way that it is coming out so far.  We got more done today.

Here are some pictures of the progress:

I always thought the old chest looked a little like armored pads.  This time, I think it will look like an actual suit.  It is also much closer to the actual thing.

With the all important jock strap!  

But the real fun started today when we got down to making the live cast of my head!!

We used silicone and plaster bandages.  I was a bit nervous about the whole thing, if I am being honest, but it turned out to be much less uncomfortable than I had envisioned.

Here is the set up and the product we are using.

Then...on to the bald cap.  Please remind me whenever possible that this ISN'T a good look for me!

We then coated my entire head and shoulders with the releasing agent.  Clearly this is necessary in order the help the silicone come off my skin.  Then....on to the blue goo!

This stage wasn't so bad.  I could still hear, just couldn't really move.  This was two coats of silicone.  Once it had dried, we started adding the plaster.

Until full head mummification was achieved.

Then Micah decided she was a comedian!

Well...that was it.  I sat for a bit feeling mighty uncomfortable, and then we took the stuff off and it is sitting behind me waiting to be filled with plaster tomorrow.  Here is my face in negative form.

Tomorrow, we will be doing the same process for Alicia, who is going to be our Liara.  I will upload some more pics then....action shots perhaps.

I will probably work on Shepard a bit more either tonight or tomorrow.

Stay tuned!