G1 Swindle, Work log for costume

I am going to restart this thread, because I am going to start work on this in the near future.

I had purchased black coroplast for the base. I found a place that sells rolls of self adhesive vinyl for signs and decals, and in the right colors too. My only problem is the ridges in the coroplast show through, so I will get some thin craft foam and use that as a sub layer under the vinyl. The helm, however will be made partly or entirely of thick foamcore, covered in black vinyl.

Underneath will be black leggings (I am using my own thighs LOL) and a purple top.

For the wheels, I am using actual rubber wheels. I found some with plastic hubs that are much lighter than the ones I bought with metal hubs. I can actually carry all five around in a bag with one hand, the previous ones it was all I could do to lift the box of five. What was I thinking???

I have saved a mess of poster mailing tubes in different diameters for his arm cannon.

I have some preliminary patterns traced onto paper - I laid down and traced myself - and then will work on the poster board mock up. The body should be fairly easy to do (Swindle is mostly boxes). It's the helm I think will be the problem child.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.


P.S. I am scrapping Ani Mixmaster and Humanformers Frenzy for now. I'll be doing good to work on Swindle.

Supplies



I got some swatches of the vinyl, and stuck them to a piece of coroplast I happened to have lying around. The colors I am using are on the left. The yellow on the right is too light - too lemony. I will be using a Con decal like the small one stuck there, only bigger.



One of the wheels. It's about 8" dia. The hub is plastic and I will paint it silver. There are five - one on each shoulder, on on each lower leg and the spare on the back.

I will post links to my scribbles in this reply -

Some of my original sketches. I was figuring out what exactly I wanted to do here:
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x201/Dr.../scan0003-1.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x201/Dr...od/scan0004.jpg

A photocopy of Swindle's page from The Ark, with measurements scribbled on:


The torso and cod :


The arm:


The helm:


The leg:

(I am somehow going to fix the front part of the foot to pivot on rivets or something to make walking a little easier.)

The glove:

That looks like it's going to be really awesome . What exactly is the self stick vinyl though? I tried finding it through google but I can only find tiling.

Awesome!

It's so....organized!

Making my costumes like that gives me a headache for some reason. (It's all the numbers)

Props to you for doing it though. It makes it so much easier for others to see and learn from.

oh cool cant wait to see this!

0o0 Wow. Just wow. That;s gonna look amazing. I could never make a a sketch that was that organized.

...The pen above your mask that says 'You Can Draw TRANSFORMERS' Does it say 'Simon Furman' after that?

Thanks guise!

ILOVEDINOBOT - I found the supplier on ebay, but they have a website. www.govinyl.com. You can buy the uncut vinyl in rolls.

dragal996 - that's actually the spine of the book you see, and yes it is by Simon Furman.

I have some experience in drafting, so I like to have all my plans thought out and as much detail as I can think of at the time. I scribbled these out while home sick with the flu.

Oh. That makes so much more sense... Did you learn with C.A.D. or take classes or what?

I am old school...way before CAD.

I am old school...way before CAD.

Besides anyone who knows CAD should know how to hand draft anyway...

Well Geoff one would think but sometimes I am not too sure.

I'm a graphic designer and have worked with the self stick vinyl for 5+ years now. I did my son's costume symbols from it, and also used coroplast as the base under his foam and fabric. I sell designs on vinyl on the side too. I know how stubborn vinyl can be at times too, but it will last a LONG time after you get it on there (just don't let it get too wet or it'll start to peel at the corners and you'll have a doozy of a time getting them to stay down...so no rainstorms for Swindle...lol) I plan to do the shiny detail areas on my in progress costumes in vinyl since I have a small backstock now and used the cardboard tubes too.

Your design and ideas look incredible. I wish I was that organized even on paper! Keep going, I'm interested in seeing your progress for sure! Is this a BotCon project?

Oh Ra... That's so... organised!

LOL I love how you all say it's so organized. Those are random scribbles. Okay I am anal.

Anyway, I got my shipment of vinyl yesterday, so I think I will start on the helm. That is the part I am actually dreading, because it's the most complicated. And I have the foam core handy. My coroplast is in storage for now.

MegaGirl- I am/was also a graphic designer (have a B.S. degree in it). I love the vinyl. I was contemplating spray paint, but that's so messy. At least this I can work on in the evenings in my room. I am not making it to BotCon this year but my goal is SDCC and various group photo shoots...

UPDATE:

I ordered a black hood and over-the-elbow black gloves from Rivers Edge dance supplies so those are on the way. I have started work on the helm so I'll get some pics post shortly.

For Swindle's "waist" I was originally going to make a cummerbund out of stretch PVC fabric (from that places that someone linked to on this forum) but the purple was not the right color. I decided that I could make one out of the craft foam covered in the purple vinyl and close with velcro. This is the 3-4" in between the upper torso and the cod that is my own belly.

HELMET

So far I have part of the helm substrate done. I am using a kid's astronaut helmet as the base. I am using 1/2" thick foam core for the helmet. It is lightweight and is not load bearing, and I happened to have this sheet of it around. I am using green duct tape because I don't care...it won't be seen.

The back and sides:

The top part of the sides angles inward. Those have to be cut with beveled edges to fit.

The back:

There is another center piece that sticks out.

The side:

The kid's helmet had some kibble that was attached with screws, so I used the screw holes to attach the foam core to the helmet. The screws will be covered by the craft foam.

The craft foam "skin":

This will be covered in the black self-adhesive vinyl and will cover the foam core.

Putting the black vinyl on the back of the helm:


The center thing down the back:


The center ridge, just placed, not attached yet:




The bevel cuts were tricky, as were the semicircle cuts to fit over the plastic helmet.









The helm with the front "forehead" part:


With the purple "goggles":



(blasted flash!)

It's coming together, great going, can't wait to see it =)
It's lovely when you can mix however you want and it wont be seen later anyway

I am going slower than I would like. With my mom losing her second cat to kidney failure, things have been in an uproar. Plus when I get home from work sometimes I am brain dead and just don't feel like working on it.

I know how that feels, it's really hard to work when you just want to sleep and don't have the strength to do anything when you get home.

Helm Update 1-30-10

http://z4.invisionfree.com/transcostumers/...dpost&p=2378251

Oooh, that vinyl's looking real nice.

Yeah I love the vinyl. It's surprisingly easy to work with.

Looks great!