Bass Armor W.i.p. (Megaman Armor Discussion)

[Kasinator]

Hi Everyone I'm kasinator.



A couple months ago. My friends had invited me to anime north convention. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to attend and promised to more then make up for it next year. Now me and my friends have all been long time Megaman fans. So I decided next year, i'd pull out all the stops and go cosplay as Bass. Since my deadline is next year, I want to put in as much work as i can into this costume. So after seeing the most badass halo costumes had came from this website, I decided to take a look into your forums and was very impressed with the organization, moderation and various tutorials found on this website. I was also impressed with the non halo stuff like the iron man suits, the fallout 3 props and especially the portal gun. So here I am asking for some help with my own project. here is some reference photos of my planned costume:

The main issue I ask this community is how exactly I should proceed. My original plan was to use football padding as a template for the torso armor, and put fiberglass and bondo over it. But now I am not so sure if that would be the best thing to do. Apparently football padding in adult size is hard to come by for retailers.



I really want this to look the best it can. I have looked around for different materials tools and techniques on here, and using pepakura from printouts. The problem with me in this situation is I'm obviously doing a far lesser known character then your typical spartan. And the second problem is I can't print .pdo files on my mac, let alone design them myself. the most i can possibly do is make it in blender and publish in .pdo but from there i can't do anything. The second option I can do is make a model from scratch and then mold it for light weight. Any other suggestions feel free to mention.



The under suit is less of a problem as well as the gloves. The combat gloves posted on this site will be more then perfect (all i have to do is color them white) and the rest is either some skintight material such as this http://www.shockdoctor.com/product/crushtech-5-pad-sleeveless-impact-shirt.aspx . The helmet may not be an easy option so I may opt to go without a helmet. But until I cross that road I'll keep my focus on the torso.



Money Isn't a problem at all I just made a mod on the for the rockband drums.you can see them on http://www.overclockedanimation.com that's going to selling like hotcakes soon. But I really don't want to buy my costume through someone else's labor. That's just stupid, noobish, and if I am not mistaken quite frowned upon on these forums. The most I would do is ask for advice on what would be my best option given my circumstances. I have a workshop in my basement with tools I can use to make this. I have done the research, checked the forums closely, and am trying my best not to do anything noobish. If this entire thread was a noob move on my part, I apologize right here and now. I hope my thread will help similar people in my predicament, and will showcase my finished product.



Thank you for your attention,

Kasinator

 

[HeavyGunner]

Hey man. Welcome to the 405th.



Bass eh? It's been eons since I've played megaman, but I think I remember the character. This costume might be a bit of a tough one. But it's by no means impossible. Since pep is unavailable, that kills a lot of possibilities. For starters, I made a few highlights to one of your photos.



[attachment=10946:Bass megaman.jpg]



This photo with the red outlines shows where the "soft" parts of the armor should be. Kind of like the undersuit from a spartan costume. I think that you might be able to do this part well with only two things. I looked at the inpact shirt you posted, and I don't think that's exactly what you need. You might be better off with just some simple underarmor. Underarmor makes

This longsleeve shirt that comes in a color called "vegas gold" that I think is pretty close to the color of the undersuit in those pictures. Unfortunently, I could not find a pair of pants that matched this color. You might want to check other brands to find the best color match.



[attachment=10947:Bass Megaman 2.jpg]



This photo shows the "armor" parts of this suit. This is what will be very tricky. Megaman characters are very different than many others because of the smoothness of their suits. Every armor part is very neat and trim with very little wiggle room as far as improvization goes. Since pep is unavailable, we're gonna have to consider more advanced routes. Pepakura is a very simple easy way to make armor. Most other scratch builds ways are possible, but also more expensive and difficult. For starters, you could sculpt and mold every single piece. This could be done in the way that most other people sculpt and mold pieces of armor. I myself have never done it, so I'm not going to try and pretend like I know what I'm talking about. :rolleyes I believe most people use clay, applied around a mannequin that accurately represents a human body. You might want to get in touch with some people who have a lot of sculpting experience, such as Devin White from BlueRealm studios, or Privateer, or maybe even Ithica or Adam.



When I originally started typing this post, I wanted to give you another idea regarding other assembly routes, but the more I thougth about it, the more I knew I couldn't think of anything. Sculpting would probably be the best way to go hands down, due to the smoothness of the armor parts.



Hope this was at least partially helpful, and let me know if you need any more help.



EDIT: I almost forgot! One more thing for the fine details. If you want to really impress people, you could get some fire-red contacts for your eyes, and some purple face paint for the purple details.

 

[Kasinator]

Thanks for the reply. The facial details i had more then planned for. I Even am working on a hairpiece for later. For as the "soft" parts I had planned to use underarmor until i find better. I say this because they look more like peter pan tights and i definitely don't want that. But i kinda want to give it the hollywood makeover in the end. Make the armor more a gritty, tough spartan-like roughness. or else i fear it might look like this:





http://grza.net/GIS/Mega Man Cosplay Group.jpg



DUN!



DUN!!



DUN!!!



I think that goes for anybody with their project. I plan to use some sort of rubber look for the under but not so shiny. as for the helmet I intend to make the fins smaller like the pencil sketch.



I guess the best way to describe this is i'm looking to make the spartan-look in a retro future character.



I really want to put all my effort into this. I am even working out to achieve the body builder look (killer robots have to stay in shape or else they are forced to be upgraded or worse replaced with a crappy robot master). Maybe under armor will do it I don't know. What I do know is i can work on sculpting. However I don't know these users and they probably don't want another person PMing them right away. So in the meantime i'll take your advice and try to find a mannequin my size.

 

[Robbymrodriguez]

May I suggest soft foam with a colored cloth covering? Similar to an Arby WIP hanging around here, look at the feet.

 

[Kasinator]

May I suggest soft foam with a colored cloth covering? Similar to an Arby WIP hanging around here, look at the feet.

Iam sorry what is "Arby WIP"? I am afraid I do not understand this term. Now I know why they were so fussy abut the whole proper grammar thing here. But yes the feet I am not as worried about, and as far as the soft foam is concerned, what kind? Once I figure out the torso its all down hill from here.

 

[Enrisan]

I'd like to know as well, I've been wanting to create a Megaman costume for a while, but have no idea where to start. If anyone has a link to a Megaman pepakura helmet, please PM me!

 

[Robbymrodriguez]

Arby is short for Arbiter... like from the halo games? Anyway WIP is not poor grammar it's Work In Progress. Here's the link anyway: Arby.

 

[Kasinator]

"I'd like to know as well, I've been wanting to create a Megaman costume for a while, but have no idea where to start. If anyone has a link to a Megaman pepakura helmet, please PM me!" I sense a collab! Yay!

"Arby is short for Arbiter... like from the halo games? Anyway WIP is not poor grammar it's Work In Progress. Here's the link anyway: Arby."



Ill do that. but in the meantime i gotta find a good sculpting/mold tutorial on here. perhaps it is time I ask the higher ups for some help. What do you guys think? hould I just Pm one of the experts to post their suggestions, links, or tutorials here so anyone else with my problem can learn? or should I keep lurking? In the meantime i'll keep lurking here.

 

[Enrisan]

I noticed Bass' helmet is the same as Megaman, but with the big V thing. So if you figure out a good way to make the helmet, let me know!

 

[Kasinator]

Actually I do have a pdo for a low res one I found (unfortunatly i don't know what it looks like since I can't view it let alone print it. Take a look. http://rapidlibrary.com/index.php?q=pdo&page=2&filetype= it's on page 2. But what i plan to do is make mine in blender If i can. Iplan to buy a new PC so i can do this pep stuff if i can. but if not i can go helmet less. I could pick up some fangirls that way .

EDIT: I still am in the dark as to what I am going to do. Heavy Gunner mentioned trying to sculpt and then mold. But I am afraid I still need some pointing in the right directions. In the meantime I'll keep lurking.

 

[Mavrick]

I too thought about a megaman costume last year. I also would recommend foam as a basis. Instead of a fabric overcoat, i'd put a hard resin over top of it (be careful to find a foam the resin wont eat) and smooth it, then paint.



Great idea btw!

 

[BenStreeper]

I got a Zero file if that will help??? they look alot alike.

 

[Kasinator]

I got a Zero file if that will help??? they look alot alike.

Damn thats awesome. But I am afraid it still doesn't solve the problem with me being unable to print it. unless i go to a library or something. I don't think they would like me installing random programs and replacing the paper in their printers. But after a little more lurking I found this awesome tut:





[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_yvkLUiaoI[/media]



Enrisan, Try this guy's technique for his helmet. Just make sure the squares at the top are pimped out with the LEDs. As for me, I'm gonna need to make a mannequin and get myself lot of clay. STAY TUNED! I'LL SEND PHOTOS SOON! In the meantime keep posting anything helpful. Any advice on where to get or how to make my own mannequin would be helpful to me. And this works as well as i hope the helmet will be next!

 

[ADOR]

Damn thats awesome. But I am afraid it still doesn't solve the problem with me being unable to print it. unless i go to a library or something. I don't think they would like me installing random programs and replacing the paper in their printers. But after a little more lurking I found this awesome tut:





[media]http://www.youtube.c...h?v=g_yvkLUiaoI[/media]



Enrisan, Try this guy's technique for his helmet. Just make sure the squares at the top are pimped out with the LEDs. As for me, I'm gonna need to make a mannequin and get myself lot of clay. STAY TUNED! I'LL SEND PHOTOS SOON! In the meantime keep posting anything helpful. Any advice on where to get or how to make my own mannequin would be helpful to me. And this works as well as i hope the helmet will be next!

You should be able to sweet talking them into using your paper, but still charge you the same price per sheet. As the program there is no need to install. Go to your program files and just copy the complete folder to a CD or USB DRIVE. It will then be a "portable" program, it doesn't have a lot of registry installs so you don't need a special program to make it portable. But if you have a product key installed it doesn't travel with it, it stays with the computer it came off of. ( I have tried this several times with the designer. I haven't tried just the viewer on this)

 

[Kasinator]

You should be able to sweet talking them into using your paper, but still charge you the same price per sheet. As the program there is no need to install. Go to your program files and just copy the complete folder to a CD or USB DRIVE. It will then be a "portable" program, it doesn't have a lot of registry installs so you don't need a special program to make it portable. But if you have a product key installed it doesn't travel with it, it stays with the computer it came off of. ( I have tried this several times with the designer. I haven't tried just the viewer on this)

Thanks but i'm going to stick with molding. In the end it will look more detailed and I have both the money, time, and tools. But anybody know how i can make my own manequin? or get one for cheap?



EDIT: found one DIY mannequin here: http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3630/duct-tape-dress-form-1 God bless search engines! XD when I get upgraded to veterans, I'll post all this stuff in tutorials and will youtube my project. in the meantime I gotta get some supplies. the only thing i need to figure out now is how to make the purple thing in the middle. I guess I'll do what that one guy did in that iron man vid, just leave a spot for it to be placed.

 

[Kasinator]

Update: I am now ordering materials for the build, but In the meantime I am hoping to move my topic to creation discussion with Adam's permission. Thanks to to everyone who has helped me so far. Still looking for a way to make the the purple light in the middle of the torso and helmet. Any ideas? I will definitely LED the thing, but I don't know what I can use to make the thing transparent, let alone give a purple tint. any resins maybe? I don't know.

EDIT: UPDATE: Newspartancreator Has a plasma grenade project and showed how to achieve the glow effect I need. So the rest I guess is up to me.

 

[Enrisan]

thanks for the link! What kind of clay are you using?

For the purple jewel you could try clear resin with a purple dye, then some LEDs behind it.

 

[Kasinator]

There's an art shop in the city where I live. I should have no problem with that. The tricky part will be to put the emblem on. Unless I can apply the resin and the smoothcast 300 simultaneously.



EDIT: any ideas on how to do this anyone?

 

[Spartianintraining]

i would guess by first making the mold and them if possiable making the emblem stick to the helm by once its poured in just lay the helm on the mold and let the emblem stick to the helm

 

[Kasinator]

i would guess by first making the mold and them if possiable making the emblem stick to the helm by once its poured in just lay the helm on the mold and let the emblem stick to the helm

I'm not quite sure i understand so please bear with me. I a to first make the armor mold and then make the emblem second by making a second mold? BTW I do know I have been a little behind on sending pics, but I still have my job I am working on. But be sure that I'll be posting my detailed plans! In the meantime here is a poll to keep people interested. YAY!!! Thanks 405th for all your wonderful help! I return the favor by helping everyone else!