Guyver foam build

[GMer56]

If this is in the wrong place, will the mods please move it? Thanks.

I've been busy for a while, working on a large project as well as derping around. My plans for Anime Boston are become more corporeal, so I began work on my "Guyver" costume, using 3d models I made. You can see the history of the model at this thread:

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/35350-Guyver-.objs-for-building

Or if you just wanna see what the Guyver model looks like, here ya go

I've done quite a bit of research and decided to use foam. It would be both lightweight, flexible and able to be crushed for storage if necessary. But the question begged: What foam to use?

Then it hit me. Foam "underlayment". This is stuff that you put under a linoleum floor to act as insulation and to make it a little more cushy. However the stuff was a little too pricy for my budget, so I got this stuff for around $7.

When exposed to too much hot glue it regrettably melts, but if used in the right amount the foam will actually fuse together. It is quite a joy to cut, albiet hard to draw on

And in tradition of cameraphones, here's a picture of my foot.

While pink is a manly color, I'll be painting the sucker blue when I'm done.

Well, I've been up since 7:30 this morning and it's 1:17 (WTF?) according to my computer clock now, so g'night...

 

[GMer56]

No replies? Well, it is a Sunday after all...
But no rest for me! I made a shin! (Again with the crappy phone pic...)

This stuff is a breeze to work with, just my hot glue keeps melting it

 

[MikyVengeance]

Looks pretty darn good, pretty creative with the foam.

 

[GMer56]

Only one reply? Pedro is crying twin waterfalls!
Just kidding

Anywho, I ran out of hot glue yesterday and had to wait until today to get some sticks. So I got around to building some more stuff.

You may want to turn either your head or your monitor sideways for the next pics. And I finally found some batteries for my widdle camera.

Heh, knew those old shoes would come in handy...

Oh, and FYI, the only reason you can see those ridges is because the foam is a little transparent, and there are ridges on the inside. Yet I am confident that if I spray it with a coat of paint it will be hardly noticeable. Even so, it gives it an organic feel, yes?

The stuff is pretty flexible, meaning I have absolutely no problem moving around, just the thigh piece kept slipping down

Anyway, now to face a conundrum: to sleep or to work on the costume...

 

[GMer56]

Did some work tonight while listening the the Spice and Wolf OST and David Glen Eisley's "The Lost Tapes". Took some pictures too.

A close up of the codpiece parts and the wonderful socks I'm currently wearing... whose numbers are dwindling to the single digits

And a closeup of the chest parts... I only have the right breast and shoulder blade done at the moment. Yes, the shoulder blade has written on it "This end up".

The foam shows good resiliency from the crush test, which was essentially squising the parts around a bit then sticking a weight on them for a day.

I Found a can of spraypaint in my desk drawer just a few minutes ago, so I might be doing some paint tests on the parts tomorrow. Some snow came my way too, so easy cleanup.

It's funny how I only post late at night/early in the morning...

 

[Toacrabman]

That foam looks like it could have all kinds of uses as an undersuit layer for a spartan.

 

[GMer56]

That foam looks like it could have all kinds of uses as an undersuit layer for a spartan.

It could be used for an undersuit, if you'd like to sweat your bajoobies off. The foam is fun and easy to work with, but the only problem is that since it is meant to be an energy saving product there is a possibility of quite a bit of heat being contained within the structure. I wouldn't want to cover myself head to toe in the stuff

 

[Unity]

This is awesome! I've never seen a build implementing this kind of foam . Keep it up! My one question is , will spray paint ruin it?

 

[GMer56]

The paint should work fine. I don't think the paint is that acidic or the foam that weak.

 

[GMer56]

Sorry for the lack of updates. Just got back from spring vacation and bought some supplies today, including some guyver-blue spray paint. Should get this project back rolling in the next few days

 

[Cadet]

A Guyver is on my list of costume's I'd love to do. I think the shoulders and shins that were used as the base for the vacuum form bucks for my Mark V were made from a similar type of insulation foam.

It looks like you want to use the sculpted foam pieces as the actual components for your costume? I'm just afraid the pink insulation foam will be too brittle/hard, awkward to wear. It's a good sculpting medium, but if it were me, after it was sculpted I would then mold and cast the parts, in something like flex foam, or hot glue like the BioWeapons armor guy did (http://www.bioweapons.com/HOW_TO.htm)

If you did not want to hastle with molding and casting, I would have picked a softer/more flexible foam, that could then be sealed with liquid latex (like how many costumers make their own muscle suits/Predator under-suits) or even that floor mat foam, as it is softer and more flexible than insulation foam will be.

If you want to stick out your build with the insulation foam, seal it with modge-podge before painting

 

[GMer56]

A Guyver is on my list of costume's I'd love to do. I think the shoulders and shins that were used as the base for the vacuum form bucks for my Mark V were made from a similar type of insulation foam.

It looks like you want to use the sculpted foam pieces as the actual components for your costume? I'm just afraid the pink insulation foam will be too brittle/hard, awkward to wear. It's a good sculpting medium, but if it were me, after it was sculpted I would then mold and cast the parts, in something like flex foam, or hot glue like the BioWeapons armor guy did (http://www.bioweapons.com/HOW_TO.htm)

If you did not want to hastle with molding and casting, I would have picked a softer/more flexible foam, that could then be sealed with liquid latex (like how many costumers make their own muscle suits/Predator under-suits) or even that floor mat foam, as it is softer and more flexible than insulation foam will be.

If you want to stick out your build with the insulation foam, seal it with modge-podge before painting

I think you misunderstood the type of foam I'm using. Its very flexible (it is comprised of mostly air bubbles) and comes in rolls like this, and when I hot glue it the seams almost vanish... the only downside is that the foam itself is transparent, but that is what paint is for, right?

I saw that Bioweapons suit is pretty detailed, it is lacking some of the proportions, including the wider-than normal chest and an illusion of leg length, which I hope to achieve through a wider chest piece and thinner legs. But with Anime Boston Right around the corner I don't think I'll be able to do the Mega Smasher

Speaking of the breast cannons, I almost finished the chest. Here's a pic:

As you can see I'm thin enough for the abdominal section (5'11" -ish and 137 lbs, whoopdie doo :rolleyes) , but my arms will be poking through the armpit. But since there will be those tube things under there armpit it won't matter much.

And now since I got some foam I can get back to actually building the parts (which I do by tracing pepakura patterns), if my webcomic doesn't stop me first :$

But the weather is too nice here (high of 73 today) to spend inside. Perhaps I'll do my nerdy stuff tonight and enjoy the weather.

 

[vshore100]

Nice work you done here. This should be pretty cool once finished.

 

[Mstruvmgc]

GM, so far everything is looking great. I am subscribing to this thread. The guyver is one of my favorite movies from when i was a kid so when i saw this i had to see. keep up the good work man

 

[Kadus27]

Looks very good. My friend made me watch Guyver a few months back and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So how hard is the foam? Enough to walk around all day in a convention you think?

 

[GMer56]

GM, so far everything is looking great. I am subscribing to this thread. The guyver is one of my favorite movies from when i was a kid so when i saw this i had to see. keep up the good work man

Thanks!

Looks very good. My friend made me watch Guyver a few months back and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So how hard is the foam? Enough to walk around all day in a convention you think?

Thanks. I guess the flexibility is similar to latex of the same thickness, although my only experience with latex was when some latex paint was spilled on my parent's trailer and I peeled it off for fun and hit my brother with it.

So, now time for a creepy picture of me... I need to shave or something :rolleyes

Oh yea, then there's the other half of the helmet I need to make. The helmet was just as hard to make as the feet were.



UPDATE:

Finished the helm, which turned out a little bigger than I thought it would. I also ordered some mirrored sunglasses for the eyes.

Man, you can really see how transparent the foam is

 

[GMer56]

So... I added a few little pieces. I also assembled my mannequin I made last year and taped the armor parts to it... pretty froody, eh?

 

[Mstruvmgc]

That is looking fanfrickintastic man, keep it up!

 

[vshore100]

I really like the helmet. Great job!

 

[BioDelta]

this is epic ... I dont have any words my jaw is drop. Did you use pep files for this. Also did you finish your guyver peps?