As I mentioned in other threads, the whole fam is getting involved for an event this weekend. My wife talked my sister in law into being the "alien"! They are twins, so I knew my wife's old alien costume would fit with no modifications so I dug it out of the shed.
The two years in a box were NOT kind to our old buddy, though. The tape had started to disconnect all over.
Attachment:
20141014_184734.jpg [ 162.52 KiB | Viewed 5274 times ]
I was toying with the idea of resculpting and retaping everything down, but on a whim I thought "what happens if I try to just burn the edges/flappy parts" off and spray everything with rubber from a can?
Sure enough, a heat gun tightened up the 'loose' ends pretty damn good!!! I took a heat gun to the entire costume. I then made the jaw and teeth smaller to make it look better overall and re-did the tendons on the jaw. After a blast from the heat gun I have to say everything is much improved.
Attachment:
20141015_085701.jpg [ 219.67 KiB | Viewed 5274 times ]
Hit everything with a can of $10 "flex seal" rubber
Attachment:
20141015_095621.jpg [ 423.08 KiB | Viewed 5274 times ]
Attachment:
20141015_095627.jpg [ 410.34 KiB | Viewed 5274 times ]
As thrilled as I am with the overall result, I do have regrets/worries
-I ran out of rubber before I got to the tail. Would hate to buy another can for one part, but we will see.
-I also want to hit everything with a coat of "gloss", but I am not sure how spray gloss coat will deal with the rubber. Maybe a big bottle of "mod podge" gloss would work better, but now we are losing the "budget build" principle of the thing
-I wish I had masked off or not put the teeth back in before I sprayed. I may wrap them in foil or something, but now the texture makes it hard to just paint
-Was going for "aliens warrior", but the new treatment solidified an AVP:R warrior (at least to me when I see the ridges).
Oh well!
But that is the 'rebuild' so far. 3 days to drop!