So this was what I wore for my Halloween, the weather here in Ireland was awful so this Batman e(X)treme (E)nviroment suit came in pretty handy! It was actually extremely warm and cosy in the suit!
I’ve been building the suit for the last 2 years and I didn’t really get to dress up last Halloween as I didn’t have this one ready in time. Hopefully it’s been worth the wait
Everything was sculpted, moulded and cast in various grades of urethane rubber by me. Super soft rubber for the flexible parts and firmer rubber  for the hard armour parts. The shoulder armour that the cape and upper exo-skeleton mounts onto is made from fibreglass and aluminium powder to take the weight.  

Here were the steps involved in making the costume:

1. Sculpt. I had a bunch of 12x12x18 Styrofoam blocks to begin with which was left over from other projects, I figured I could block out the primary forms of the creature in foam then go in and refine to a secondary level which I was happy with given the time I had.  These foam blocks were glued together with spray foam and then carved and sanded

2. Refine sculpt and surface coat. Secondary details were sculpted in and then a thin layer of joint compound was applied over the foam, then sanding and primer applied to get smooth finish.

3. Prepare sculpt for molding. Flashing cut in 3-4" strips for mold shim. Sculpt separated using flashing and seamed w/clay. PVA release applied to sculpt.

4. Fiberglass.  First, Bondo/resin gel coat applied then resin and fiberglass mat applied . This was repeated for each section. Once cured, holes were drilled for securing molds and excess flashing/glass was trimmed.

5 Clean molds. Pull all foam out then pressure wash.

6. Casting and seaming. This was a latex and poly-foam suit. I brushed up a layer of latex for the skin, once cured I then brushed up a few layers of the poly-foam to give the suit some fullness. this was then seamed them up using latex on a duct tape body form of my daughter.

7. Painting. Base coat painted using a mix of latex and house paint, tinted with acrylics. Airbrush secondary details w/thinned paint.

Attempted to make cable mechanism for the petals, however, the weight of the headpiece and amount of tension needed was just too much for her.

Thanks for your consideration, best of luck to everyone!

Jason

Amazing Man Spider by Mikey Carrver
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/6555/amazing-man-spider

Starcraft II King of Blades by Kelton Ching
http://stanwinstonschool.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/6685/starcraft-ii-king-of-blades

Draenei Costume by Enishi
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/6519/halloween-costume-contest-draenei-costume

Swamp Witch by Courtney
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/6675/swamp-witch-costume

Swamp Thing by Bryan
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/6515/swamp-thing-halloween-costume-contest-entry

Kid or Zombie by Will Knoll
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/6624/kid-or-zombie-why-not-both

Ao Kuang, King of the Eastern Seas - SMITE by Manlima Cosplay 
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/6535/ao-kuang-king-of-the-eastern-seas-smite

Happy Hell-o-ween by Josef Rarach & Vlad Taupes 
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/6641/happy-hell-o-ween

Bubble Head Nurse (Silent Hill) Costume by Jennifer Cresswell
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/6673/bubble-head-nurse-silent-hill-costume

The Moon God by Jeffrey Taylor
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/6599/kalfu-the-moon-god-by-jeffery-taylor

Terminator T1 and T600 costume by Harley guy
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/6536/terminator-t1-and-t600-costume

To enter this contest simply post a new discussion in the "2019 Halloween Costume Contest" category. Please include a description and high rez pictures of your costume.  Video submissions are cool, too! Just upload your video(s) to YouTube and share the link in your post.

We'll consider Halloween costumes of all shapes and sizes, the only requirement is that the submission is primarily the work of your own hands.

Have you created multiple Halloween costumes?  Not a problem!  You can submit as many as 3 entries to the contest.  So share your costumes, and you could win the Grand Prize!

Want to increase your skills to have a better chance at winning?  Start a 7-Day Free Trial subscription to access our new Learning Pathways!  They guide you through a curated collection of our courses, tracking your progress and helping you build your skills one step at a time.

Big thanks to our friends over at Mouldlife who have generously sponsored this contest with some of their amazing products!

All contest participants will receive a special promo code for 20% Off Stan Winston School subscriptions, live courses, on-demand courses, DVDS & merch! Code valid for one (1) month from date of receipt.

Your submission will be reviewed by the team at Stan Winston School of Character Arts and judged based on quality of work. Prior to judging you can update or remove your entries as often as you like. Once the contest has ended, our judges will review all submissions and the winner will be announced.

To be considered for the contest, all entries must be posted by Monday, November 4h, 2019

We will select and announce the winning entry on Monday, November 11th, 2019

Official Rules NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THE CONTEST (“CONTEST”). Entry into this Contest constitutes your acceptance of these Official Rules from The Stan Winston School of Character Arts ("SWSCA" or "Sponsor").

1. CONTEST ENTRY DATES: Contest start date and time, and end date and time are as outlined in the SWSCA Website(s) described below (“Contest Entry Period”).

2. WHO MAY ENTER: Contest is open to persons 18 years or older (or younger than 18 years with the approval of a parent or guardian) with valid email address OR who are new or existing registrants of www.stanwinstonschool.com with valid email address OR who are Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and/or Twitter “fans”/“followers” of SWSCA with valid email address. When entering the Contest, an opportunity to sign up to receive follow-up information from SWSCA and its advertisers may be available. Entrants subject to all notices posted online including but not limited to Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Employees of SWSCA and their immediate families (spouse, parent, child, sibling or partner and their respective spouses/partners, regardless of where they reside) or those living in the same household (whether or not related) of SWSCA, are not eligible to enter or win. Contestants may need to provide proof of residency upon request.  

3. CONTEST PRIZE: As indicated in contest sign up, as Sponsor may designate. 

4. CONTEST ENTRY: All submissions can be based on either an existing work or an original design, as long as the creation of the costume is primarily the work of the contest entrant, and received by the date and time outlined on the Website(s). For purposes of these Official Rules, “receipt” of Entry occurs when Sponsor’s servers record the Entry information resulting from contestants’ entry being posted in the SWSCA 2019 HALLOWEEN COSTUME CONTEST forum category. Any automated computer receipt (such as one confirming delivery of email) does not constitute proof of actual receipt by Sponsor for purposes of these Official Rules. By entering this contest, you grant SWSCA the irrevocable right to share your submission photos and/or videos on our website, email, and social media channels, copyright is retained by original author. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Entry for any reason, in its sole and absolute discretion. Odds of winning depend upon number of entries received.  

5. WINNER SELECTION: Within seven days from the end of the Contest Entry Period your submission will be reviewed by the team here at the Stan Winston School of Character Arts and judged based on quality of work. Once the contest has ended, our judges will review all submissions, and the winner will be announced.

6. WINNER NOTIFICATION: Winner(s) will be notified by email, and, if Sponsor so chooses, will be listed on a Website blog posting and Facebook wall. Winner(s) will be required to provide mailing address which will be used to fulfill any physical prize.

7. MODIFICATION OF RULES: Sponsor reserves the right to, at its discretion, reschedule the Contest, entry and/or end dates, modify the entry procedures, or cancel the Contest. Prize(s) are not redeemable for cash.  

8. GENERAL CONDITIONS: Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, damaged, stolen, altered, garbled, incorrect, incomplete or delayed Entries, all of which will be void. Sponsor is also not responsible for problems related to technical malfunctions of electronic equipment, computer online systems, servers, or providers, computer hardware or software failures, phone lines, failure of any Entry to be received by Sponsor on account of technical problems, traffic, congestion on the internet or the Website, or for any other technical problems including telecommunication, miscommunication or failure, and failed, lost, delayed, incomplete, garbled, or misdirected communications which may limit a contestant’s ability to participate in this Contest. Sponsor is not responsible for any other errors or malfunctions of any kind, whether network, printing, typographical, human or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors or malfunctions which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of Entries, the announcement of the prize or in any Contest-related materials. Mass entries generated by a script, macro or use of automated devices will be disqualified. Sponsor reserves the right to modify, suspend or terminate the Contest in the event it becomes infected by a computer virus or is otherwise technically impaired, and to cancel or suspend the Contest in its entirety should tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or other causes corrupt the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper play of the Contest and, if terminated, at Sponsor’s discretion, determine the Winner using all non-suspect, eligible entries received up to time of cancellation using the judging procedure outlined above. In the event of a dispute regarding entries received from multiple users having the same email account, the authorized subscriber of the email account at the time of Entry will be deemed to be the contestant and must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized subscriber is the natural person who is assigned the email address by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), online service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual (and void his/her Entries) it finds to be tampering with the Entry process or the operation of this Contest or website, intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other contestant, Sponsor, or any of its representatives or to otherwise be acting in violation of these Official Rules. 

9. MISCELLANEOUS CONDITIONS: Failure to comply with these Official Rules may result in disqualification from the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to permanently disqualify any person it believes has intentionally violated these Official Rules. Contest subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited by law.

10. ARBITRATION AND CHOICE OF LAW: Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Contest, Contestant agrees that (1) any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action lawsuit, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held in Los Angeles, California; (2) the Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; and (3) judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. Under no circumstances will contestant be permitted to obtain awards for, and contestant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, other than contestant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with entering this Contest), and contestant (or, if an eligible minor, his/her parent or legal guardian) further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of contestants and Sponsor in connection with this Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of California.

Thank you all for sharing your creations with our community here at the Stan Winston School of Character Arts Forums. 

Please click the "Like" button on your favorite contest entries.  We take the community's reaction into consideration during the judging process.  Let your voices be heard!

/Chris