Body
Base
The very core of the build is the structure of the body. Using the Engineer game model, I created a sphere and distorted it to fit the shape of the body, neglecting the sacs for the moment. This was UV unfolded, then turned into paper templates in
Plushify which was then transferred to 6mm foam. This made it lightweight yet still strong enough to retain its shape. A removable PVC pipe sits in the center so that it can push out the shape of the body (and give me something to hold), and come out so that the body can compress for travelling.
Sacs
The sacs are made from a high density upholstery foam. They are created by cutting it out into a (very) rough circle, cutting about 20mm from the top and then shaping it crudely with scissors. The inside is gutted from the bottom, and trimmed as thin as I dared to give the foam the most flexibility possible with little resistance when deflating the sacs. A printed axel, with an EVA foam washer is inserted (to stop the plastic cutting into the upholstery foam), which contains a hole through the bottom in which fishing wire will feed through. The top section is glued back on with spray adhesive, cut back, and it’s all then rounded on a belt sander. There’s three large sacs, six medium sized, four small and one under the front armour that is non-functional.
The mechanism inside works simply by pulling on a printed ring connected to some 0.6mm nylon wire, which pulls the foam sacs inwards. The natural elasticity of the foam pulls it back out. The rings are slid over an old knitted glove, with Velcro-lined rings on the fingertips to stop the other rings slipping off. This allows me to slide on the glove (not too easily, mind you) and put the rings straight on, without fumbling trying to get them on the right fingers. Originally I had it so my hand was palm-down inside, sitting under the internal bracing, but later found that having my hand palm-up made working the sacs easier, and was much less strain on my muscles.
On the line between the finger rings and the sacs is another ring with three extrusions that allow me to install a small screw. This is a tightening mechanism; I can roll this up to shorten the length of the line, then add a screw to stop it from being undone.
Since this was my first time using upholstery foam to make a creature, BJ Guyer’s array of puppetry courses on the Stan Winston School was extremely handy. One trick among many I picked up is to use a sanding disc on your rotary tool to shape and carve the foam. By doing this, I was able to cut in the lines on the sacs.
They were initially glued on to the body with contact cement, then pinned down and further glued with E6000 for an even stronger bond. Protip, I made sure to use not-white pinheads so I would easily notice if I left any behind.
Further details were burnt in with a soldering iron. And by the Nine, of all the things I’ve burnt for cosplay, upholstery foam is by far the stankiest!
The next step was painting the sacs. For this I used Design Master spray paints – heavily pigmented and flexible. I used Ice blue and Black cherry for a stark contrast in colours (my colour reference was moreso based on how the model appeared in Blender, rather than in game, which not only is quite dark but is very difficult to get reference images). This same paint was used for the tentacles and head. Some watered down blue acrylic paint was applied to add the glowing spots.
Once dried, I use lots – lots – of rolled strips of foam clay, looping them around the sacs and on the sides. Using different sizes and patterns gives it some variety, and to eliminate flat spots, I Dremeled in some texture where the clay didn’t cover spots.
After sealing just the foam clay with Mod Podge, I mixed some black and white paints to make a dark grey and carefully painted that on. The divets in the sacs were spotted with light blue paint, and all the crevices were then airbrushed with black for shading - same with all the upholstery foam pieces.
Tentacles
The tentacles are again upholstery foam, cut and sanded to shape with lines scored in using a Dremel like described above. One important thing with puppets is to generate movement without having to physically control it yourself. I think the name varies but I've heard it called Implied Motion, where parts like extremities, fur, antennae etc. can move freely and loosely without the puppeteer having to put in any extra effort. This can really add a lot more character to the creature. So with the tentacles, I slit the bottom of them and added in three fishing ball bearings to each one, attached with just hot glue. This extra weight means that instead of the foam being stiff when it moves back and forth, the weight adds resistance to the motion, allowing the tentacles to curl and swing back and forth - as demonstrated:
Like the sacs, the tentacles and the tail got the same gradient treatment of spray paint, then the lines were painted with the airbrush.
The feathers used were dyed ostrich feathers, stripped down the center with a fresh blade and using a cut tapestry tool, were pushed and glued into the back tentacles. Because I was travelling internationally with this puppet, I cut all the segments before leaving but left them separate for travel. That way, if there was a customs issue on bringing it into another country, they would only dispose of the feathers and not the entirety of two tentacles. They're a little rough, but it's a tricky, time consuming job, especially considering this was done in the hotel room.
Kilt
The *ahem* “kilt” was patterned up with an old catalogue with the armour attached to the body. This was transferred to some cheap black fabric, sewn together and holes/slits were cut. The edges were burnt with a soldering iron to not only stop the fraying ends but also makes it look cauterised. The fabric was given a dusting with charcoal spray paint, then tipped with the Ice Blue Design Master paint (albeit it just looks grey and I didn't get 'round to hand painting it before leaving).
The kilt is attached by sliding it over two screws on each end of the armour.
