Finally the costume... Finding the right parts

When researching for the "skeleton" of the suit I found a multitude of possibilities. But I settled on using 3/4" PVC joints with 3/4" ENT (Electrical Nonmetalic Tubing). The ENT gave me me the ability to bend the parts into shape but still give me strength to keep its shape. Also both of these glue nicely together with standard PVC primer and cement.




Also all of this would be be joined to an ALICE Pack military surplus frame. Ordered on ebay it came with the shoulder and kidney straps to keep the suit snug and with the lightweight aluminum frame i was able to attach the PVC using metal clamps and zip ties.




The arms were done in a ladder formation with a joint in the middle. On the outside of the basic framework I attached Tee Joints and bent the to form the shape of the body that I wanted. It took some trial and error till I got the exact shape.


(with a mirrored effect to show a symetrical version)


(A side shot)

Originally I was going to do the waist in tubes too but found this to be too bulky and didn't sit right, in later stages I made midsection and waist all in foam

Here is a video of the first test run on stilts. The shoulders weren't glued together yet and one popped off but you can see the range of motion.