SOE Live 2015 - Lex Luthor Power Armor costume!

Discussion in 'Joker’s Funhouse (Off Topic)' started by Kristyana, Nov 7, 2014.

  1. Kristyana New Player

    Wooo! Decided to post this here. Will update this thread with new stuff as it happens. Wanted to share this with you all.

    So, people that know me know I always do a DCUO costume at SOE Live. The last three years I did Dark Knight Joker (really, just a cheap thrift store suit a makeup kit from Spirit Halloween), Bane (that was a fun one) and this last year I went as Future Joker (had an absolute BLAST and won prizes). However, Future Joker wasn't my original plan for 2014. I was running out of time with my original plan so with a few weeks left I decided it would be better to pool my resources towards something else and do the best I could with that!

    My original plan was to do Lex Luthor's power armor - and this is what I'm doing for SOE Live in 2015. I'm using this thread to document the construction of it and share it with you all :)

    I'm using the Pepakura method to make this - the way that a lot of cosplayers make Master Chief, Warhammer, and Iron Man armors. For those not familiar with Pepakura methods, it's a method of cosplay that was pioneered by the Gundam cosplayers in Japan.

    Pepakura is a program that takes a 3D model and unfolds it into something similar to a UV texture map. It then allows you to print the pieces of this out onto cardstock or paper and reassemble it to make a replica of the model in real life. People use it for all sorts of things but it's become very popular for cosplay the last few years. People can rip models directly out of games, or they can build their own. These are made into wearable suits of armor by strengthening the paper with fiberglass or Bondo, and sanded smooth before painting. It's a tremendous way to make costumes as accurate as possible.

    Here's a picture of a Master Chief helmet I made a few years ago. Sadly, I wasn't able to finish it as it got crushed, and the whole homeless thing happened...

    [IMG]

    I knew I wanted to do something for 2014, so I decided to see if I could do Lex Luthor's power armor - there's no reason I couldn't use the actual ingame model! So that's what I started with.

    [IMG]

    Editing the model to something that was Pepakura friendly was not easy. The early models for DCUO are horribly unoptimized. There's invisible submodels that clip, random polys not attached to anything, duplicated parts, etc. I assume these were caused by downsizing the original hi-poly model for use in the Unreal Engine that DCUO uses. But after a ton of work, I was finally able to break apart the model into the appropriate parts of armor (Codpiece, buttplate, shoulders, chest, etc) The next step is to put them into Pepakura, where they look like this. Here's the calf, arm, and shoulder.

    [IMG]
    [IMG]
    [IMG]

    For anyone that does one of these armors, the next step is to figure out the scale to make the armor fit your body, and this is another wall I hit. In the model shot for Luthor, each grid is 20 centimeters in game, meaning Luthor's character model from the bottom of his feet to the top of the guns is 222 CM, or 7'4". Luthor is bulky but really doesn't tower over everyone.

    What this means however, if scaled from his head, Lex himself is barely 5' tall, and his character model without the armor is definitely larger than this. The head was made smaller on this armor to make the suit look much larger than it actually is.

    Now, I'm 6'2. If I built this to match the scale based on Luthor's height, this suit of armor would be over nine feet tall and impossible to move around in. So I decided to keep the scale of the armor as it is in the game, even if it means that my head is larger. You'll see in subsequent photos what I mean :)

    Going off of this scale, I decided to print out half of a chest piece and assemble it. This is a picture of what Pepakura does to one of these models when it "unfolds" it. This screenshot needed a lot of cleaning up, but you can see how it takes the model and breaks it apart into pieces that you can print out, cut, and glue back together.

    [IMG]

    Well, a ton of work later, I had a few pieces I had built to test the size on.

    [IMG]
    [IMG]
    [IMG]

    That bottom image is one of Luthor's calves, and it's almost four feet tall on its own.

    This was finished up near November of 2013. I realized at that point that the amount of sanding that was required and the amount of material I'd have to build up in order to smooth the pieces out would be absolutely gigantic, and make the suit almost impossible to wear because I couldn't think of any way to make this thing weight less than at least 100 lbs. I still wanted to do it, but I had to find another method.
    • Like x 5
  2. Kristyana New Player

    One of the modifications the last few years in the Pepakurat community is the use of EVA foam, like the kind you find in linking floor mats and yoga mats. The pepakura files are modded in such a way where you can make much more broad sweeping shapes because the foam will curve unlike paper, and you can carve and work details into it directly. It's pretty amazing to see how people can treat foam to look just like metal, and I've seen some breathtaking Iron Man suits done with it. It's easier, usually cheaper, lighter, and much quicker to work with! I took my files, modified them to work with large sheets of foam, and started cutting the pieces out with an exacto knife and gluing them together. Progress was made really quickly! In a short amount of time I was able to make a complete chest.

    [IMG]
    [IMG]
    [IMG]

    Work then changed (started a new job) and progress on the suit slowed to little more than a crawl. Plus, given that it was my first time working with foam or pepakura on this scale, there were a LOT of problems with the chestpiece. It was lopsided, wasn't glued properly in some angles, and I didn't reinforce it so it was bending under its own weight. And at that point I couldn't really fix it because using a heat gun would cause the glue to separate and it would fall apart. I realized a few weeks before SOE Live that there was no way I was going to get it done, or if I did it would have been a disaster waiting to happen. Since I'm also wearing stilts, I wanted to take the time to do it right as there's actual risk of serious injury when wearing something this big (A few years ago, one of my gundam cosplay friends broke her knee when she just twisted it wrong in a costume of that size.)

    That was when I decided to do Future Joker and take the time to do Luthor right for 2015. Spytle and a few other people who knew what I had originally planned teased me about it (Spytle actually pokes fun of me in the DCUO keynote :p)

    Well, a few things have changed since SOE Live. The main thing is I got access to Techshop, which is a facility that has access to most forms of fabrication under the sun - imagine if the Mythbusters opened up their shop to the general public. They have laser cutters, 3D printers, CNC routers for both metal and wood, a flowjet machine that can cut through six inches of solid steel, full welding facilities, etc. I activated my membership there about two weeks ago, and have done more on the Luthor armor in that timeframe then I have ever though possible. The reason is because of this bad boy right here:

    [IMG]
    [IMG]

    Before, I would have to print out the pieces, cut them out, tape them together for something that would work for foam, transfer that over to the foam, then cut it out by hand with a razor blade. Now, I can do all that in much simpler steps and end up with something far more accurate than I ever would have been able to do by hand. I can do in minutes what would take me days.

    [IMG]

    I'm out of foam, and I ordered over a hundred square feet of the stuff. I'm going to need that much again to finish the legs and other odds and ends. But right now, I have the following cut out and I'm working on assembling them:

    Codpiece
    Buttplate
    Chest with high collar
    Both forearms
    Both shoulders

    Stuff that remains to be cut out (after I get more foam)
    Both boots
    Both legs
    Backpack
    Holsters for side
    Guns on the back (not sure if I'm going to make these out of foam or something different yet)

    Here's a pic of the buttplate after the pieces were cut out on the laser cutter, glued, and shaped. This method does leave some gaps but those will be filled in and sanded later when it comes time to seal the foam and paint it.

    [IMG]

    So! That's where it stands currently. There's still a ton of pieces I need to take back to Techshop to get filed down and put angles on, and I need to order more foam to finish the rest of the pieces. But overall, I'm really stoked to see this coming together and I can't wait until SOE Live 2015.

    I'll update this thread as more gets done on it!
    • Like x 7
  3. The Enquirer Steadfast Player

    I'm very, very much looking forward to seeing this.

    EDIT: Crap, just saw you post again. I'm hoping I didn't post in the middle of a string of posts. If that's the case, Kristyana, just report this and the mod that sees this has full permission to move the comment or what have you so it's not awkwardly sitting in the middle of what appears to be a manual for the most complex Lego set ever built.
    • Like x 3
  4. Kristyana New Player

    Nah, that was it :D Was able to cram everything into two posts :p

    I'm also working on getting foam for an Iron Man suit by the Avengers premiere, but I won't post some images of that until I have some tangible work done
    • Like x 1
  5. The Enquirer Steadfast Player

    Now that I'm looking forward to seeing. This too, but I mean, Iron Man :p

    Either way the really well done cosplay costumes are really, really cool to see when they're finished.
    • Like x 1
  6. Remander Steadfast Player

    Wow, man. This is taking it to another level! I can't wait to see the final result!
    • Like x 1
  7. Breakforce Loyal Player

    Is it bad that I want to go to SOE Live just to see this beast in action?



    This year is a maybe, leaning closer to the no side than the yes. Have a couple other big trips planned, so will be tight from both a time and financial point of view.
    • Like x 1
  8. El Presidente Well-Known Player

    This is pretty very awesome. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more updates.
  9. Drifting Dreamer Steadfast Player

    Look'n awesome so far!!! Please keep us updated!
  10. Eminence Dedicated Player

    Shaving your head too?:p
  11. Doctor Nova Devoted Player

    Gymnastic floor mat rolls? industrial foam flooring roll? Exhibit floor foam? ...trying to think of resources larger than the one shown with puzzled edges to interlock with other pieces to avoid the wasted inch or so of puzzled edge material. If using a larger material unit one could potentially, cut the material unit to small pieces in order to to fit within a cutting machine. although, i've not even begun to consider cost differences between the potential vendors.

    Looks great! GJ

    this place is not far from my office and i sometimes want to use their machines to make a costume/cosplay. http://www.creativeartsinc.com/work/

    I tried using http://www.homedepot.com/p/GREAT-ST...Sealant-162848/100003351?N=5yc1vZbaxjZ1z1188h and then carving the dried foam into shape. I stopped after one piece was made. meh, with the right skill might be a useful technique. Although when it gets to paint phase... hmm. I had this in mind: [IMG]
  12. Doctor Nova Devoted Player

    I stopped after seeing.... this.
    other examples since then,

    impressive Warhammer:
  13. Kristyana New Player

    Went back to techshop tonight and spent several hours trying to bevel down all the foam edges to where I needed them to be. It's still sometimes difficult to account for the thickness of the foam so it's not perfect, but still pretty good. Gonna need a LOT of sanding, though.

    Anyway, got the codpiece and one shoulder done tonight. Soda can for scale.

    [IMG]
    • Like x 3
  14. The Enquirer Steadfast Player

    Very nice looking! Can't wait to see the finished product.
    • Like x 1
  15. Kristyana New Player

    Thank you sir!

    Ran out of glue!
  16. Remander Steadfast Player

    You used up all the glue on purpose!

    [IMG]
  17. NVAemilianus New Player

    I have been forwarded to this post as I to am looking into cosplaying (https://forums.station.sony.com/dcu...f-ion-gear-cosplay-request-assistance.227827/), however my intention is to take the pieces I use for the Scion of Ion gear (Chest, Legs, Hands, Feet) and Mask and the aim is to replicate my main guy Emerald Lad (Light-Hero) I'm unsure if I would get a response from DCUO about this request, however I would love and pull the schematics from the game and look at getting it made IRL.

    As I'm a PlayStation gamer I don't have the files on the PC so if anyone can pull them like the OP would help me on my way to having an Emerald Lad cosplay outfit.

    Regards