Costume: Predator 3 (Armor)

Wingapo!
I'm ashamed to say i failed in meeting my Halloween deadline for this costume...This design competition project we had got in the way and I had to give it my full attention in order to make it amazing! And so it was! Afterwards i passed out and had the best 20hrs of holy sleep ever. Anyways, I didn't want to rush the fun part of this costume which would be the gauntlets! So, it's decided i'll go out on this guy with led's, lasers?, retractable blades gauntlet, pivoting shoulder gun, back pack, and maybe, just maybe, i will hopefully experiment with latex and air brushing in order to make my own predator flesh mask, hands, and feet.

Now, back to process work! I went on to test out the attachment of the shoulder bell pieces with ...double ended fasteners? I really don't know what they are actually called but they are those golden pieces you see below holding the armor pieces together.

 Next it was finally time for the breast plate! I started out by these three pieces you see below that would cover the right side of my rib cage. To figure out the shape and size of these i started out by cutting approximations of the pieces out of scrap paper and testing them out. Once i had the desired shape and size i cut it out of cardboard, glued to foam sheets  (same process as with the previous armor pieces), and cut it out to end up with the pieces you see below:

 Glued these overlapping each other...

 Bent it and glued on the gauze for reinforcement...once dry the gauze was cut off...

 Now that i had a 'base' to work with that had the right curve i went on to make another piece as seen below. For the breast area i honestly didn't want to bother buying another moldable material so i simply tore apart a bra and fastened it on...Sometime in between i had some fun adding the weathering using a wood burner.

 Below you can see the other side of the fasteners for a better understanding of what they are.

The metal piece you see below came from some old suspenders and it was just perfect for this part of the breast plate.

 Rear view below:

 These piece would attach to the elastic shoulder strap...

 once all that fun stuff was done, which i don't know how long it took, came sealing the foam with a mix of tacky, white glue, water, and black acryclic.

 and FINALLY! Painting time! Below its the pieces after being sealed with the glue mix:

 These babies got a coat of black spray paint all over:

 Once dry they had a coating of satin aluminum to their tops, leaving the back gauze sides black.

Next on these guys is adding bronze colored highlights here and there, followed by a blackwash which is bound to define all the lovely imperfections i burned on them!
Thank you for reading!