The Morbius Build Diary Part VI: The LATEXING of Morbius!
Hey Gang,
So onward to part VI of the build. After letting the last round of Latex dry overnight we were ready for... more latexing! But on top of that we needed to finally finish up the claw, attach the legs and do a few other bits of fine tuning.
More Pics and info
Where Morbius left off the night before
Looking at the Claw a few functional parts needed to be added. First the hinge had to be worked out where it would open and clos eon my arm movements. Cutting out some latches into the L-200 foam and measuring and cutting some plastic PVC pipe to hold it in place did the trick. To get smooth movement a aluminum bar was slipped into the other side of the claw allowing it to slip inside just perfectly to act as a joint with the PVC.
Working out mechanics of the Claw hinge
Claw getting ready for action
We set this aside while the barge dried for the hinge parts. Next was the feet. Even though this was only designed to walk the con floor and stage, to help with durability, we cut out patterns for the fee tin the same tough burlap material used for the back zipper. This is where it's handy to save your paper patterns folks.
Pattern comes in handy for making feet protection
Once the two pieces were cut it was time for a double whammy of the barge. One to seal the fabric and another for gluing. Once applied there were stuck on. The soles of Morbius were ready for walking.
Attaching more tough burlap material to be the protective 'soles' of Morbius
Back to the Claw, the opposite sid eof the plastic to aluminum hinge was prepped for the smaller upper claw.
Prepping upper claw for the hinge
The bottom legs or boots were then coated to a 2nd layer of the thick black latex to really seal it in.
Bottom legs after 2nd layer of thick latex
Once the Claw was dried and together we gave it a test spin for functionality. It was moving great!
Moving the Claw hinge along with PVC help
The Hinge was reenforced in place with canvas straps also barged in place.
Re-enforcing
Also a PVC plastic handle was inserted into the claw and barged in place about mid way down. This is where I'll be holding the claw from the inside for solid control and to help hold it in place.
Where I'll be holding the claw inside
Claw Handle 'exterior'
It was coming together fantastically well.
Taking it for a spin
Then we turned to the simplicity of cotton balls. Why you ask? Hiding seams and more texture.
Fun with cotton balls
Not being sure which would look better we tried a test of pulled apart cotton fibers vs. a more haphazard globual/lumpy cotton ball then layered with latex. The result gave a nice monster texture and would act as the morter to our brick of a monster. We chose the blobbed look.
Cotton- fine fibers vs haphazard blobs - plus after latexing- we chose the 'blobbed' look
We prepped up several cotton pulls in pulled/blobbed fashion. Then carefully applied these all over the suit, especially at the seams and spandex areas to keep a consistent texture across the creature.
Applying pulled apart cotton blobs with spray glue - covering seams
Afterwards the Latez was applied over the cotton in appropriately goopy fashion. it really tied the suit together man!
Applying Thick latex over the cotton to help with texture and create the 'mortar'
Amusingly a lot of extra attention ad to be paid to the crotch were the largest smooth spandex piece was and had to be covered up.
The crotch needed the most to hide the smooth spandex surface in that area
All in all this was the most fun part of the texturing. Very arts and crafts.
After a round of Latex and cotton schlacking
While the cotton/latex treatment dried we set out the Claw and gave it a 1st round of sprayed on latex.
The spray glue texture treatment for the claw
Meanwhile in the shop, our new Brain was finished! It was a rubber pull from the newly created fiberglass mold seen in the last installment. This was then filled with expanding foam and voila- one Brain of Morbius ready for paint and mounting. Another box checked.
At last the Brain was ready for painting!
Backto the body, it was time to finally attach the legs. So we pulled the suit off the base and gave it a test fit in the boots. The ft wasn't quite right. Two adjustments were needed.
Morbius all grown up ready for his bottom 'booties' at last
First, we trimmed the back upper part of the boot. This allowed better knee movement in the back and connectivity.
Trimming the back boot/legs for bendable movement in the back leg
Then we applied sturdy foam 'bricks' to the bottoms of the body form to protect the boot and hep with the right height needed.
Applying foam brick bottoms to protect the bottoms of the boots
Once the boots were back on it was a simple matter of measuring the gap, cutting more 3/4" foam with the blades and barging the connecting 'knees' into place.
Adding the 3/4" foam joining knees at last
Legs attached!
Afterwards, we took more scraps of spandex and spray glued them to the back of the knees, again for durability at this high stress point.
Extra spandex scraps are spray glued to the back for extra movement protection
Then for aesthetics, extra 3/4" foam pieces were measured, drawn, cut and barged on top of the join to create the monster's kneecaps.
Adding Foam kneecaps for extra definition
Next, another layer of thick latex was brushed on over the knees to complete the effect.
Latexed kneecaps
To help hide the join a storm of cotton is applied with spray glue
Not to be left out of the fun, the knees got the deluxe cotton treatment too. Which was then shlacked with more latex.
Back of the legs- spandex still showing which will be covered with paint/fur
Knees after the latex/cotton mortar treatment
First layer of spray glue on the claw
Then the claw got the texturing Spray glue treatment to make it look more nasty.
Time for another round of painted latex spray
Now it was time for a full round of painted spray latexing on the entire connected body again.
The Real Deal
Finally yet another round of Latex in a lighter painted color
This was later followed by a 2nd layer of sprayed latex but in a lighter brown paint mixed color so we have a good layered range of base colors going on before the final paintjob.
Claw teeth- we looked at trying to make these out of pre-existing molds but this was abandoned.
We turned to making the Claw's interior teeth at the stage. At first we were going to make hard foam teeth out of some existing mold in the shop we wer eusing.... but after a test we didn't care for them and this plan was aborted.
Pronounced teeth on the idealized Action figure
Crappy teeth on the real thing
Plus we had an issue... in the show there was BARELY any teeth to be seen.. lumps more like. On the figure the Claw had been prettied up and idealized with loads of extra texture and very pronounced teeth. We opted to aim for a compromise, leaning more to the look of the TV Version.
Making Claw teeth with foam tubing and a saw
The solution was to take foam tubing and shave them into teeth on a saw. This required trial ad error but knocked out our teeth both small and large in no time! We then saved these teeth to be applied when we did the paint job.
Claw teeth for later application
Larger 'teeth' for the lower part of the claw
Next, the latex had dried, so we gave Morbius a pampering powder down using baby powder.. This was to make sure he wouldn't stick to anything going home.. or himself!
Morbius gets his pampered powder down
A Small chore lef tto do was undoing the zipper and cutting the foam inside to match to is would be an easy process taking the suit on and off later... it's the little things than count sometimes!
Undoing the back zipper and cutting it all the way down so it'll be ready to climb inside.
Looking inside I wasn't exactly thrilled with what I saw that awaited me... but I've toughed out VOCs and Cybermen, this was par for the course.
What I'll be seeing inside the suit
We also spent time measuring out the neck base and figuring out our dome dimensions. Theshop actually had a few hemisphered domes that we thought we could use but they all just a *little* too small or too big. Foiled again! We needed 14" diameter hemisphered clear dome no more, no less. But this would be a problem to solve on another day.
Checking the top 'plate' for size
Finally we packed up our gear and the creature after much wrangling to get him off the body form (and de-plastic wrapping the form n the process of course).
Ready to go home
Knees after the latex/cotton mortar treatment
Loaded up and ready to depart.
Once back in the garage, we spent a frustrating time hacksawing Paul's dummy/body form. The steel pegs below were too long for our new feet-attached Morbius. After some sweat and muscle grease we got there in the end. We finangled the creature onto the body form (the proper way to store such a suit when not worn) and it looked tremendous. Really smashing! We placed the brain on top symbolically and called it a day.
Applied Back on the Home Body Form for safe keeping. Ready for it's Brain and... Paintjob!
The Body was really looking quite the business now. After all that latex and texturing we were finally ready for the next level - the paint!
Part VII of the build continues with a little fur, a little brains and the PAINTING of Morbius!
-Honorarydoctor
So onward to part VI of the build. After letting the last round of Latex dry overnight we were ready for... more latexing! But on top of that we needed to finally finish up the claw, attach the legs and do a few other bits of fine tuning.
More Pics and info
Where Morbius left off the night before
Looking at the Claw a few functional parts needed to be added. First the hinge had to be worked out where it would open and clos eon my arm movements. Cutting out some latches into the L-200 foam and measuring and cutting some plastic PVC pipe to hold it in place did the trick. To get smooth movement a aluminum bar was slipped into the other side of the claw allowing it to slip inside just perfectly to act as a joint with the PVC.
Working out mechanics of the Claw hinge
Claw getting ready for action
We set this aside while the barge dried for the hinge parts. Next was the feet. Even though this was only designed to walk the con floor and stage, to help with durability, we cut out patterns for the fee tin the same tough burlap material used for the back zipper. This is where it's handy to save your paper patterns folks.
Pattern comes in handy for making feet protection
Once the two pieces were cut it was time for a double whammy of the barge. One to seal the fabric and another for gluing. Once applied there were stuck on. The soles of Morbius were ready for walking.
Attaching more tough burlap material to be the protective 'soles' of Morbius
Back to the Claw, the opposite sid eof the plastic to aluminum hinge was prepped for the smaller upper claw.
Prepping upper claw for the hinge
The bottom legs or boots were then coated to a 2nd layer of the thick black latex to really seal it in.
Bottom legs after 2nd layer of thick latex
Once the Claw was dried and together we gave it a test spin for functionality. It was moving great!
Moving the Claw hinge along with PVC help
The Hinge was reenforced in place with canvas straps also barged in place.
Re-enforcing
Also a PVC plastic handle was inserted into the claw and barged in place about mid way down. This is where I'll be holding the claw from the inside for solid control and to help hold it in place.
Where I'll be holding the claw inside
Claw Handle 'exterior'
It was coming together fantastically well.
Taking it for a spin
Then we turned to the simplicity of cotton balls. Why you ask? Hiding seams and more texture.
Fun with cotton balls
Not being sure which would look better we tried a test of pulled apart cotton fibers vs. a more haphazard globual/lumpy cotton ball then layered with latex. The result gave a nice monster texture and would act as the morter to our brick of a monster. We chose the blobbed look.
Cotton- fine fibers vs haphazard blobs - plus after latexing- we chose the 'blobbed' look
We prepped up several cotton pulls in pulled/blobbed fashion. Then carefully applied these all over the suit, especially at the seams and spandex areas to keep a consistent texture across the creature.
Applying pulled apart cotton blobs with spray glue - covering seams
Afterwards the Latez was applied over the cotton in appropriately goopy fashion. it really tied the suit together man!
Applying Thick latex over the cotton to help with texture and create the 'mortar'
Amusingly a lot of extra attention ad to be paid to the crotch were the largest smooth spandex piece was and had to be covered up.
The crotch needed the most to hide the smooth spandex surface in that area
All in all this was the most fun part of the texturing. Very arts and crafts.
After a round of Latex and cotton schlacking
While the cotton/latex treatment dried we set out the Claw and gave it a 1st round of sprayed on latex.
The spray glue texture treatment for the claw
Meanwhile in the shop, our new Brain was finished! It was a rubber pull from the newly created fiberglass mold seen in the last installment. This was then filled with expanding foam and voila- one Brain of Morbius ready for paint and mounting. Another box checked.
At last the Brain was ready for painting!
Backto the body, it was time to finally attach the legs. So we pulled the suit off the base and gave it a test fit in the boots. The ft wasn't quite right. Two adjustments were needed.
Morbius all grown up ready for his bottom 'booties' at last
First, we trimmed the back upper part of the boot. This allowed better knee movement in the back and connectivity.
Trimming the back boot/legs for bendable movement in the back leg
Then we applied sturdy foam 'bricks' to the bottoms of the body form to protect the boot and hep with the right height needed.
Applying foam brick bottoms to protect the bottoms of the boots
Once the boots were back on it was a simple matter of measuring the gap, cutting more 3/4" foam with the blades and barging the connecting 'knees' into place.
Adding the 3/4" foam joining knees at last
Legs attached!
Afterwards, we took more scraps of spandex and spray glued them to the back of the knees, again for durability at this high stress point.
Extra spandex scraps are spray glued to the back for extra movement protection
Then for aesthetics, extra 3/4" foam pieces were measured, drawn, cut and barged on top of the join to create the monster's kneecaps.
Adding Foam kneecaps for extra definition
Next, another layer of thick latex was brushed on over the knees to complete the effect.
Latexed kneecaps
To help hide the join a storm of cotton is applied with spray glue
Not to be left out of the fun, the knees got the deluxe cotton treatment too. Which was then shlacked with more latex.
Back of the legs- spandex still showing which will be covered with paint/fur
Knees after the latex/cotton mortar treatment
First layer of spray glue on the claw
Then the claw got the texturing Spray glue treatment to make it look more nasty.
Time for another round of painted latex spray
Now it was time for a full round of painted spray latexing on the entire connected body again.
The Real Deal
Finally yet another round of Latex in a lighter painted color
This was later followed by a 2nd layer of sprayed latex but in a lighter brown paint mixed color so we have a good layered range of base colors going on before the final paintjob.
Claw teeth- we looked at trying to make these out of pre-existing molds but this was abandoned.
We turned to making the Claw's interior teeth at the stage. At first we were going to make hard foam teeth out of some existing mold in the shop we wer eusing.... but after a test we didn't care for them and this plan was aborted.
Pronounced teeth on the idealized Action figure
Crappy teeth on the real thing
Plus we had an issue... in the show there was BARELY any teeth to be seen.. lumps more like. On the figure the Claw had been prettied up and idealized with loads of extra texture and very pronounced teeth. We opted to aim for a compromise, leaning more to the look of the TV Version.
Making Claw teeth with foam tubing and a saw
The solution was to take foam tubing and shave them into teeth on a saw. This required trial ad error but knocked out our teeth both small and large in no time! We then saved these teeth to be applied when we did the paint job.
Claw teeth for later application
Larger 'teeth' for the lower part of the claw
Next, the latex had dried, so we gave Morbius a pampering powder down using baby powder.. This was to make sure he wouldn't stick to anything going home.. or himself!
Morbius gets his pampered powder down
A Small chore lef tto do was undoing the zipper and cutting the foam inside to match to is would be an easy process taking the suit on and off later... it's the little things than count sometimes!
Undoing the back zipper and cutting it all the way down so it'll be ready to climb inside.
Looking inside I wasn't exactly thrilled with what I saw that awaited me... but I've toughed out VOCs and Cybermen, this was par for the course.
What I'll be seeing inside the suit
We also spent time measuring out the neck base and figuring out our dome dimensions. Theshop actually had a few hemisphered domes that we thought we could use but they all just a *little* too small or too big. Foiled again! We needed 14" diameter hemisphered clear dome no more, no less. But this would be a problem to solve on another day.
Checking the top 'plate' for size
Finally we packed up our gear and the creature after much wrangling to get him off the body form (and de-plastic wrapping the form n the process of course).
Ready to go home
Knees after the latex/cotton mortar treatment
Loaded up and ready to depart.
Once back in the garage, we spent a frustrating time hacksawing Paul's dummy/body form. The steel pegs below were too long for our new feet-attached Morbius. After some sweat and muscle grease we got there in the end. We finangled the creature onto the body form (the proper way to store such a suit when not worn) and it looked tremendous. Really smashing! We placed the brain on top symbolically and called it a day.
Applied Back on the Home Body Form for safe keeping. Ready for it's Brain and... Paintjob!
The Body was really looking quite the business now. After all that latex and texturing we were finally ready for the next level - the paint!
Part VII of the build continues with a little fur, a little brains and the PAINTING of Morbius!
-Honorarydoctor