Captain’s Table Restaurant: 2 Captains, 1 Mission, a New Experience.
It appears Captain Picard and Commander Sisko have opened a restaurant in San Jose, California!
Captain’s Table is a new SciFi-themed restaurant featuring Star Trek lookalikes and a display of authentic costumes and props. Sounds awesome! And it’s not exclusive to Star Trek. The restaurant will also have themes from Star Wars, Dr. Who and superheroes.
An added attraction will be our unique display of original memorabilia consisting of costumes and props which has been carefully assembled over the last two years and costing many thousands of dollars.
We intend to offer fast internet access for all visiting customers, giving them the opportunity to promote us to their friends and acquaintances whilst on-line at our premises.
But best of all — if you come in costume, you get a discount! Wow, a restaurant full of Klingons, stormtroopers and superheroes. That just sounds so fun.
When a customer attends in a recognized publicized Sci-Fi costume, they will receive a discount on their final bill. This will also add to the ambiance of the restaurant, and the experience of fellow customers. In addition, this will ignite the curiosity of passers-by to come in for a look at what is occurring in our establishment.
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.
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!
The Transformers are out in full force! Check out this video - it was just recently uploaded to Youtube. This guy wears an Optimus Prime costume at the midnight showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
He seems quite popular. Everybody loves costumes, they are just so much fun!
It seems like everytime you see Johnny Depp in a new film, you fall in love with him all over again. Even in Charlie and the Chocolate factory, Depp was so quirky and brilliant you couldn’t help but love him.
It’s going to take some getting used to Johnny’s new look, though. If you haven’t guessed, the picture above is a first peek of Depp as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s upcoming Alice in Wonderland adaptation. In place of the dark, floppy hair and tan skin we ladies love so much, Depp is unrecognizable with curly orange hair, pasty skin and pink make-up.
In addition to costume transformations, the cast’s features have been digitally altered, making them look even more garish. Check out these photo firsts of Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway:
The Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter, above) has overthrown her sister, the White Queen (Hathaway, below) and has turned Wonderland from a peaceful kingdom to a land of paranoia and fear. Her head has been digitally ballooned as a representation of her character’s enormous ego.
As you can see, the look of the film is decidedly Burton-esque, with Victorian styling and extreme colour contrasts.
Fans will have to wait until March 2010 to see the film, but thanks to Disney, we have these first glimpses of what’s to come!
I have my reasons for liking Sci-Fi…and none of them have to do with the dangerously appealing male characters in other-worldly costumes. Yeah, okay, that was a lie. The truth is, I fantasize about men in sexy Sci-Fi costumes.
So, I was hardly opposed to taking a peek at Convention Fans’ Top 20 Sexy Male Sci-Fi Costumes when it was presented to me by a friend. While I agreed with some of the elected winners, others left me perplexed and unimpressed.
That’s when I decided to make my own list. It is my opinion that this list should be expanded to include Sexiest Male Fantasy (including the paranormal genre) costumes as well. While technically Fantasy is NOT Sci-Fi, and visa versa, there is a great deal of overlap between the two genres which both fall under the umbrella of speculative fiction (so there). Besides, it’s my list so you don’t really have a say in the matter…but I highly doubt you’ll be disappointed!
Anyway, here’s what I came up with…
Medieval Majesty
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy – The chivalrous medieval-style warrior, whether peasant-like or knightly, will ever attract the romantically-minded female.
Lusty Leather
Jason Mamoa as Ronan Dex in Stargate Atlantis – # 7 on the CF Top Twenty List. Nothing says “All Male” like distressed, form-fitting leather.
Keith Hamilton Cobb as Tyr Anasazi in Andromeda – The long dreads and fitted leather vest strategically cut to highlight one firm pec really made Andromeda worth watching (no, I didn’t watch it for Kevin Sorbo).
Eclectic
James Marsters as Captain John Hart in Torchwood – The blending of historical, weathered and modern costume elements creates a Steampunk-feel that’s bad-boy appealing. (# 20 of the CF Top 20 list).
Adrian Paul wore many costumes in his role as an immortal, from kilts to aviator gear to tuxedos…and he wore them all well. But if I had to choose, the traditional Scottish plaids would be have to be my fave.
Attired for Adventure
Brendan Fraser as Rick O’ Connell in The Mummy - Reminiscent of the tough adventurer persona in Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones character. It has a rugged quality that says “I’m man enough to protect you, battle supernatural forces AND find you a nice little treasure!”
Military Masculinity
Michael Beihn as Dwayne Hicks in Aliens: Military togs give off that strong, fit and disciplined vibe that compels women to croon, “I love a man in a uniform.”
Tantalizing Tanks
Hugh Jackman as James Howlett (aka Logan) in X-men Origins: Wolverine - What girl wouldn’t smack her lips in the presence of the feral Wolverine looking alarmingly virile in muscle tank, dog tags and denim…GRRR! (#3 on CF top 20 in his X-men suit)…simple but savory.
Steve Bacic as Telemachus Rhade in Andromeda – His snug sleeveless T-shirt and long fingerless, leather gloves compliment his muscular arms perfectly (by the way, this guy also looks great in SG-1 in a Gladiator-like costume…that’s him at the very top of post).
Vampire Vestment
Alex O’loughlin in Moonlight - Thank heaven’s vampires no longer wear the goofy high-collared black cape and tuxedo-like suit. This long black duster over a tasteful button down Henley and snug jeans is more likely to seduce a woman into letting the undead bite her…right, ladies?
Werewolf Wardrobe
Jason Behr as Varek in Skinwalkers – Biker denims accessorized with leather holsters, arm cuffs and a cool tattoo (Oh, and great facial hair) hint at the beast within.
Michael Sheen as Lucian in Rise of the Lycans – Knowing that a primal creature lurks under all that structured warrior-y leather goodness could drive a gal wild.
“Dressed” to kill Dragons
Christian Bale as Quinn Abercromby in Reign of Fire - If one is going to slay the dragon and save his people (including his damsel in distress) he needs to demonstrate that he has the strength necessary to get the job done. I’d say this less-is-more “costume” rather proves that Quinn is up to the task. The minuscule proportion of the teeny-tiny neck scarf augments the broad expanse of his ripped chest (I think I’ll buy my husband one of those scarfs).
This October, Woody Harrelson will kill lots and lots of zombies. Wow, this looks really funny and, well, GOOD. I mean, Bill Murray plays a zombie, how cool is that?
Here are a few promotional stills from the movie. I think it’s great to see Woody Harrelson back in action.