#prox build

[sam-a-menace]

I finally had five minutes to sit down and work on Prox today. I got pretty far, at least!

I started with the raw measurements for a vambrace. I cut it out and taped it on, and from there, modified it for fit and comfort. This is meant to be an all day and theme park costume, so comfort and maneuverability is key.

After getting the design where I wanted it, I transferred it to paper for design elements. I tried to keep it practical, but there's still definitely some rule of cool stuff going on.

Here's today's end result. The glue needs to set before I can move into the thermoplastic. The strong curve to the bottom is for my elbow, the big block is the back of the wrist.

[sam-a-menace]

Before I went kayaking yesterday, I worked on my Prox build some more. I've got lighting and power pieces on order, mostly for the disk. I've got a test piece of armor made out of leather, drying on my bench. Instead of heat forming, leather responds best to getting it wet, then letting it dry in the shape you want. This is called wet forming, and it's one of the oldest shaping techniques. It has the added bonus of hardening off the leather, too!

I can't wait until the new house is completely done so I can start moving crap in and find the rest of my leatherworking supplies that are on the missing list. When I moved, it was to escape a DV situation and things were... pretty jumbled. The new house is just about move in ready. I'm missing two custom windows that have proved to be nearly impossible for Lowes to get right, and the epoxy floor is being poured this week. It'll be great in just a little while longer!

Back to the build.

Once the EL wire and the different inverter gets here, I'll evaluate how I'm going to attach the wire to the armor. I also need to do a heat stress test on the armor to see how delicately it needs to be handled. This costume is going to travel, after all, and I need to know if I've got to build an insulated container for it, or if a plain ol' black'n'yellow tote from Costco will work.

I ordered the underlayer today with some custom mods, including a zipper for bathroom purposes. You do not want to have to strip off your entire rig just to pee, especially with the hydration levels Orlando or Caribbean heat require! It's not cheap, but it's worth it to just not have to dick with stretchy fabrics. I can sew them, I just don't want to. I'm willing to pay the PITA fee to someone else!

Once I get the technique for the armor ironed out, finishing the costume will be fairly simple. I know what I need to do, it's just how to do it. I'm still feeling fairly confident I'll have this done by September.

[sam-a-menace]

...foam shrinks while heating. Well that explains a whole helluva lot. Shit. At this point, I'm wondering if a leather backing wouldn't be any less vexing and/or hot. At least I know how leather behaves! Also, leather won't warp in a hot car.