We have a special post for you today! MyDisguises reader Patrick Neese was kind enough to send us photos of his Terminator costume - along with a detailed description of how he made the costume!

This costume looks so professional and incredibly well made. Very, very impressive, Sir. And now…Heeeere’s Patrick!

The mask I made was a take on Arnold…thought it would be fun to use Arnie even though the story line didn’t call for it.

I started on the costume after seeing the trailer and thinking the t-600 looked like a Quake 2 Strogg zombie character. Then some friends that do marketing at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin said they would like for me to be at the opening night just kinda walking around. So I moved the finishing date from Oct 20th to May.

The ammo backpack is a foam core square on an Alice pack frame. The ammo belt is a PVC rain gutter I made into a square using a heat gun, gloves and a mask.

I then put them into small pieces with a 200 tooth saw blade on a miter saw. Glasses and respirator required.

As in the picture I then laid those down and spaced them apart with Popsicle sticks and hot glued them to a 2×4 for support. I then epoxied a nylon strap to them so they would stay together but move with the mini gun. The mini gun is made up of an old electric scooter (found on craigslist as not working). I cut it apart and welded it back together for the shape I needed.

Then I attached PVC pipe to 4″ PVC caps I drilled holes into. I used epoxy here as well. This PVC was bolted on to the wheel of the scooter and was painted matte black. Then I glued the ammo belt to it. It spins and looks pretty sweet. I’m surprised a cop didn’t pull me over as I transported it in my front seat to the theater.

The masks were sculpted in WED clay (water based clay with glycerin to prevent early drying). I pulled a silicone two part mother mold for the fiberglass endoskeleton. 3-4 layers of fiberglass were poured/laid into the mold, sanded, then painted.

Arnold was cast from a two part hydrocal mold, since I would be pouring latex…and the porous nature helps pull the ammonia and water from the latex so it may dry/cure.

The body parts were PVC, foam core covered with fiberglass and full fiberglass. The chest piece was foam core I hot glued together than covered with fiberglass. I connected this to the all fiberglass shoulder piece that was originally done in foamcore and had body filler smooth out the transitions, molded in silicone then fiberglass poured.

I connected them using a PVC pipe and two ball joint male pieces I picked up at http://www.grainger.com/ locally in Austin. There was a pneumatic piston attached to the bicep area in the front for looks.

The lower right arm was all PVC pipe, cut and glued, then painted. The leg piece was PVC heat gunned to the right size for my leg and only covers the outside and front half. The calf was PVC and had two pneumatic pistons for looks. They moved when I moved my leg, but are for looks only.

The glowing eyes were LEDs with a AA battery pack. I painted the back of them black so no light shinned into my eye directly and had tem bent at a 90 degree angle to point straight out. Works well if people aren’t using flash. If I had more time a 45 degree piece of tinted plexi with the led above would work great.

I wore body tight black clothing under the endoskeleton to hide my light skin to help with the illusion of the endoskeleton being the bottom layer. I had a BDU shirt and a green sweater I sliced with a razor blade and burned. I did this to the latex face too, wearing a respirator and outside.

I think that is it. Overall the cost was probably about $300 including the casting supplies etc. I still have all the molds in a closet.

As a note — I use RTV silicone from Wal-mart. This can be thinned to pour, but I normally do a thin first layer painted, once cured I then pop out a tube of silicone, I dip it in water using latex gloves to remove preservatives and start the curing process. RTV uses humidity to cure(so soaking in water and kneading speeds this up), thick RTV takes DAYS to cure if you do not knead it in water for 10 seconds (watch out for water/air bubbles) then I add a few drops of acrylic and start to spread over the thin layer and really get into the under cuts.

I try to get rid of the undercuts as much as possible so the mother mold doesn’t freeze on. This is no longer workable in about 5-10 minutes time. I use some pinkie sized tubes to make hold points for the mother mold. After that cures I make a mother mold…it is backasswards from how you normally do a matrix mold…but it works for this.

You can use fiberglass or plaster. I like two layers of fiberglass. It holds up under the weight to support the silicone and is semi rigid so if the silicone won’t move with the fiberglass positive in the mold you can tweak it some to help get it off. I don’t know full cure time. I usually demold 3 hours after and let the acetic acid vent outside for a bit…once again…outside…and I still wear a mask.

This byproduct of the curing has an inhalation rating of 2. I learned this silicone trick from some taxidermists. DO NOT use tin cure silicone for anything that is going to touch skin…like masks or prosthetic pieces…use the more expensive platinum cure…trust me your skin is worth the extra 50 bucks.

Always wear the proper respirator. Just because you can’t smell it doesn’t mean it isn’t killing you… RIP Lance Pope.

– Patrick Neese

Follow Patrick on Twitter: @pjneese
 

Thank you so much, Patrick, for taking the time to share your photos and for writing about your awesome costume! Such amazing work. Great job - you totally rock!

I have a very special post for you today. I’ve had the chance to talk with an amazing woman who lives in the Hollywood area, who wrote, produced and starred in a movie about costumes!

The world is about to fall in love with Rebecca Jupiter and her new movie, All Dressed Up.

Rebecca Jupiter plays the main character, Daphne, who loves dressing up in costume. So she throws a Halloween party in June - “Everyone loves to dress up! Why should we wait until October?”

Through her love of costumes she finally meets the right guy. Aww, this story sounds too good to be true!

Here’s the trailer for All Dressed Up.

This movie looks really funny and romantic. It’s awesome that her love of costumes leads to finding the right guy.

I asked Rebecca how she came up with this idea, and she explained:

The character of Daphne is definitely based on me and my experiences. People kept telling me, you’re a great writer, why don’t you write yourself an awesome role, and I kept starting different screenplays and they wouldn’t go anywhere. Then I realized - it should be a comedy! And then everything fell into place.

I have always loved dressing up in costume, and waited all year for Halloween, and then last year for the first time I went to Burning Man and everything just clicked. My creativity was opened up, and when I got home, I wrote the script and starting working on it. So much fun. It turned into a much bigger project than I had originally planned! But the films looks great so I am really psyched.

A hennin that Daphne wants to wear to dress up from the Renaissance period, but her friend Sarah thinks it’s a dunce cap and doesn’t understand.

All Dressed Up is currently making the rounds at film festivals, and Rebecca is shopping it to cable channels and other various means of distribution. How exciting!

The movie will be screened in Los Angeles at the Dances with Films festival on Monday June 8th at 5pm. You can purchase tickets here.

For more information about Rebecca Jupiter, and All Dressed Up, you can visit the following links:

Official Movie Website

Rebecca Jupiter’s Demo Reel

Rebecca Jupiter on IMDB.

Rebecca Jupiter’s Blog

All Dressed Up on IMDB

Rebecca Jupiter’s Performing Website

Rebecca Jupiter’s Performing Resume

Rebecca Jupiter is extremely lovely and talented. I’m honored to have had the chance to talk with her and promote this special costume movie.

Here at MyDisguises, we will certainly be keeping an eye on her, and hope we get a chance to feature more of her work in the future.

Thanks, Rebecca - and congratulations on a job well done!

There’s an excellent article over at io9.com about creating superhero movies from the comics.

As they critique two interviews with Alan Moore and Michael Uslan, one comment in particular caught my eye.

Uslan, who owns the movie rights to Batman, explains what went wrong with Batman Forever and Batman Returns.

It’s a mixture of paying homage to the 1950s and 1960s versions of the character, and the studios wanting lots of villains with brightly colored costumes, so they could sell toys.

Okay, so the producers wanted a campy and goofy Batman, AND colorful villains for… toys? Well, that makes perfect sense. If you put merchandising before quality, you will fail every time.

Real life costumed superheroes? You betcha. They may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but they are definitely fighting to make this world a better place.

At the World Superhero Registry, you can find a long list of superheroes from around the world who help charities and patrol their local neighborhoods. While most of them do public appearances at hospitals and schools, some actually train to fight and are considered borderline vigilantes.

This is such a great idea! Although, reportedly the cops aren’t too thrilled about costumed civilians fighting crime.

Here’s an interview with Razerhawk from Fox News.

This makes me want to join the superhero registry! I wonder what kind of costume and secret identity I would have?

How about you - what kind of superhero would YOU be?

What else is there to say? The Zombie Kid likes turtles. And everyone likes the Zombie Kid.

Todd, the blue alien

I had a great time last weekend at CONduit, the annual sci fi/fantasy convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. The event, which ran from May 23-25, is a great way for fans of the genre to come together to discuss and share ideas about all things sci fi/fantasy.

CONduit features professional authors, artists, actors, game designers, singers…and of course, COSTUMES!

CONduit Registration Booth

When I arrived, the registration booth was hopping with activity. Right off the bat, I was handed a free copy of ‘Defeated,’ a novel by local author S. D. Mckee.

The story is about the future of mankind that finds itself in a war with a sinister alien entity after a wormhole experiment goes horribly wrong. Fun stuff!

Costume Workshop

Eventually, I wandered into the costume workshop. It was full of tables and sewing machines for people to work on their costumes.

I chatted briefly with Todd (blue man featured above), Elise and Jessica, who were preparing their costumes for the Star Wreck Tempest, which is an adaption of Shakespeare’s The Tempest using Star Trek characters. Wow, what a great idea! Jessica was covered in green makeup, preparing for her role as a Vulcan in the story.

Jessica (left) and Elise (right) prepare for the ‘Star Wreck Tempest’

Elise shows off the dress she has sewn

Dealer’s Room

The Dealer’s Room was an especially fun place to browse. A Sci Fi farmer’s market, local vendors displayed their wares in style.

The room was packed with authors, jewelry makers, tailors, masks and sci fi weaponry.

CONduit - Dealer Tables

I had a chance to talk with Heidi Evans, the owner of Accentuate!, which sells Gothic and novelty clothing, accessories, jewelry, incense and oils. She looked great with her green hair and white makeup.

Heidi Evans, owner of Accentuate!

I’ll confess, I’m not entirely certain if she was in costume or just dressed normally. But she was very excited to be at the Con and her custom jewelry and clothing were a big attraction for the attendees.

I also talked with Anna del C. Dye, author of ‘The Elf and the Princess,’ a fantasy trilogy for young adults. It’s a story of “true love, high adventure, and medieval-style warfare between elves, men, and orks.”

Anna actually learned the art of medieval swordplay in order to write with authenticity. “I have to do a lot of research and see how other writers explain their battles. I did not find many with whom I was happy. So, I did the fights in my head and watched battles scenes in movies. Then I found a medieval sword class, and my husband and I enrolled in it,” she explained.

Her husband was at the Con with her, dressed as the Elf in her story. Anna herself was dressed as the Princess. She designed and sewed both of their costumes, and together they looked magnificent.

The Elf and the Princess
Author Anna del C. Dye and her husband, Rodney

Discussion Panels

CONduit offered an enormous amount of discussion panels for aspiring writers and sci fi lovers. This was a great opportunity to meet with experts in the field and discuss all aspects of sci fi and fantasy.

To name a few:

• The Morphing of Language

• Worldbuilding

• Realms of Star Wars

• Poetry Workshop

• Victorian Ghost Stories

• Disaster Films

• History of Weapons

Con attendees pose in their costumes

All in all, this is a great event for sci fi/fantasy lovers, particularly aspiring authors, to come learn and discuss the finer details of the genre.

Stay tuned for Part Two, as Camilla shares her own experiences at CONduit. And special thank to the hardworking volunteers who made this event a great time for everyone.

Baton Bob is a street performer in Atlanta, Georgia. The self-proclaimed “Ambassador of Mirth,” Baton Bob dresses in a variety of costumes and marches around midtown Atlanta, spinning his baton. His goal is to “lift people’s spirits and put a simple smile on people’s faces during their daily routine.”

He frequently wears a tutu or wedding dress, and sometimes dons a superhero costume. When Christopher Reeve died, Baton Bob dressed as Superman to pay tribute.

He often participates in local parades and festivals. He was recently named one of the 2008 10 Best Colorful Characters in Atlanta. In 2007, he won “Best Local Hero,” “Best Local Celebrity” and “Best Street Character” in a local newspaper, and was Grand Marshall of the Inman Park Festival Parade.

“Very rarely does a single street performer capture the imagination of an entire city, but Atlanta has embraced Baton Bob with open arms. His infectious good humor and broad smile have been welcoming guests and locals to Midtown since 2005. If you have a chance to see him, Bob’s sure to make your Atlanta visit memorable.”

Keep twirling that baton, Bob. You are a true hero.

A Maker or Breaker Deal?

Donning a costume can be a hard task for a superhero, but it may not be as hard as making a Marvel film studio fly.

Well, hard or not, it’s happening. Marvel is working on releasing both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk this year, and prospectively working on 2 more titles for ‘09. Purpose? Marvel wants to have a good deal of control over how their various IPs get thrown on screen. Heavy undertaking, if you ask us. In fact, Screen Rant reports that limiting factors may be putting this fancy goal on hold.

As the first film to be birthed by the studio, Iron Man appears to be setting them up all pretty. The movie has boasted so much buzz, that one hardly wonders about success. But amongst the rumors and scuttlebutt orbiting this new venture is the fear that the formula has already been overworked. From an article found in Newsday today:

Launching a major movie production company right now seems like a dicey venture. But the Marvel formula has been a spectacular success for other studios the past eight years. The self-doubting Spider-Man, the bickering Fantastic Four, the misunderstood X-Men and all the other Marvel misfits have racked up a stunning $5 billion in worldwide box office, most of that for Sony and Fox.

So the question is, has the genre already made its chunk of money? Investors may chomp at the bit to get a piece of this pie, but are there enough capes with compelling enough stories to make this juggernaut of an idea turn into marketable goods?

[Image via MyExtraLife.com]

We interview Scott Johnson for his take on the new Marvel Studios

We sent a few questions over to Scott Johnson, cartoonist and comic artist. Scott pristinely runs a couple of popular podcasts about World of Warcraft as well as comics and all things of the sort. Scott’s work is mostly shown either on his website, MyExtraLife, or on his Flickr page. In short, he knows his stuff. Here’s what Scott had to say:

MyDisguises: What do you think of Marvel starting their own film company? Do you think it will serve a need that hasn’t been served with other studios?

Scott: I think its actually a little weird. They should just leave it to the people in the know, and press more for creative control over their own property. Heck, maybe that’s why they are doing it in the first place. The film business is such a jungle sometimes.

MD: Is the whole comic-book-into-film thing hitting a dead end anytime soon? Most of the big names in comics have made it to film… is there much else out there to explore?

Scott: I think there is room to grow, but I think Marvel and others need to start working on building new character possibilities like folks at DarkHorse, Image and others have been doing.

MD: How vital do you think it is for Marvel to get this first film right? Will fans lose faith fast or will they trust the Marvel name?

Scott: I think the first movie that comes from this will make or break the deal. if they deliver the goods, then people are on board. If the first effort sucks rocks, then they are screwed.

MD: Now that Marvel has their own studio, do you think we’ll be seeing
some more obscure characters get some time on screen?

Scott: I hope so. Cable anyone? Oh yeah, baby.

MD: How do you think fans would respond to animated features by Marvel?

Scott: I think they will give it the one big shot, but they will be picky.

MD: Why do you think there are so many comic book characters that flop in film?

Scott: Because people don’t really think through the characters and such. Take movies like 300, Road to Perdition, the first Men in Black, Spiderman II, X-Men one and two…these movies were taken seriously by both the creators and the film makers and as a result, we got really great stuff. I think if you put really talented people on it that love the work, great things can and will happen.

With a couple of the big blockbusters set to hit this summer, we’ll find out soon enough.