So for about 2 years or so I've had an idea for a steampunk outfit kicking around in my head. Since I tend to be fascinated by gadgets and technology, the outfit reflects my personal interests.
The outfit I am thinking about is basically a Frankenstein like type of outfit. The basic premise behind the character is a priest or other social do-gooder that is brutely attacked and left for a dead. A doctor who is conducting medical experiments decides to revive and augment the subject. The doctor uses his creature to strong arm and eliminate his enemies. But after a time, the doctor himself is killed by a rival. The character slinks into the sewers to hide and after a period of time, comes into the care of a group of thieves who use his unique attributes to their advantage.
That's the basic bio. It may be silly but I think I can have fun with it.
Alright, onto the costume. Since I am a tall person, I would like to emphasize that to make the Sewer Ghost more intimidating. I plan on having a lot of special effects on this outfit which will make the project a rather lengthy one. From head to toe, hear are the basics of the outfit. Keep in mind these are basic ideas and I'm still working on details for every aspect.
Head:
**********************************************************
The head piece will start with a basic canvas hood.
For the right eye, I would like to create a false eyeball. This eyeball would be a mounted in a false brass piece. An MCU (micro control unit, basically a programmable microchip that is a very primitive computer) combined with 2 servos would cause the eye to randomly and fairly quickly look around. This should give anyone viewing it to feel a bit unsettled. There is a character in the Harry Potter movies that gave me this idea and I think I can simulate it pretty easily.
The left eye would be a basic short brass tube. I would like to illuminate the inside in such a way as to give an almost flashlight effect. This would be done in such a way that the light would not shine back in my own eye. A viewer would have trouble seeing my eye while I should have no trouble seeing out.
For the mouth and nose I am considering a rather elaborate setup. The mouth would be a basic circle or oval with either a copper or brass look. On the perimeter of this circle would be about 12 tiny brass arms or insect like mandibles. These would be hooked up to servos controlled by MCUs. Most of the time they would flex in and out randomly but I would have an override control that would let me flare them open or closed.
The mouth itself would be covered be a fine grill to make seeing my real mouth difficult. Inside this, I'm going to place a small microphone hooked up to a speaker that would allow me to do a distorted voice. This in turn would also possibly be hooked to a ring of LEDs to give a lighted fluctuation while speaking.
All of the head gear would use leather strapping to hold it in place. I may create a harness inside the hood to allow more precise positioning on the face. I would probably also have a some fan powered air ventilation to help keep me cool and provide me with fresh breathing air.
Chest:
*************************************************************
For the chest, I want to create a Steampunk artificial heart. Think of it almost like a Victorian Darth Vader chest piece. Aside from the usual decorative elements, a pulsing set of red LEDs would simulate an artificial heartbeat. This would be covered over (none of the LEDs in use would be directly visible) with a fake mechanism to simulate a pump. I'm thinking some motors to drive some pistons and perhaps artificial smoke to simulate a mini steam engine. Two small vials with fake blood would be used to fake pumping blood from one chamber to the next. These would actually be animated so you would see the blood transfer back and forth.
Back:
******************************************************
The back area would contain a support pack. Think of a Ghostbusters proton pack but with a Victorian flair. First of all, there would be two large clear cylinders. These would simulate mixing of two poisons to create a gas. Some simple pumps would create a stream of bubbles while small motors would drive fans stirring the mixture. I would probably gently light them to help color the fluids and make them stand out.
Also on the back I am considering adding a small Jacob's Ladder. I need to research this more. Because of the voltage involved, I'm not sure if I could carry the battery capacity to drive it as well as the safety factor. I want to have fun but I don't want to die.
Also on the back would some various animatronics such as fake pumping of the gas and other movings parts. I really want this outfit to be a moving piece of art.
On the practical side, the back would also house the batteries and circuitry that would drive the rest of the outfit.
Left arm
**********************************************
For the left arm, I am considering creating a Gatling gun setup. Basically my arm would go inside the gun area to simulate the lower arm being replaced with the gun. I'm found some plane bearings that I think would allow me to have the gun rotate around my arms. Using some careful optical illusions, I hope to really give the impression that my arm is missing below the elbow.
Inside the gun, my left had would have access to a control panel that would allow me to activate and control the rest of the outfit.
Right arm
*******************************************
The right arm would have two basic props. The first would be a large blade implement mounted on the outside of the arm. It will look rusty, nicked and have bits hanging off of it. The other element would be a nozzle for the "poison gas". I would probably set this up to be able to blow prop smoke.
Belt area
****************************************
Haven't thought about what to do hear too much. I would like to hang some prop rats but haven't thought about it beyond that.
Legs and feet
**************************************
Also haven't thought about this too much other than possibly weighted boots to give a distinct thump when I walk. Suggestions for the legs, feet and waist are welcome.
So, thats the basic outfit. So where am I now?
For starters, I'm playing around with servos and the MCUs since I've never worked with either. The MCUs are programmed using a Windows program. Since I'm already a computer programmer, that aspect is simple enough. I've never actually programmed an MCU so I will have to pick up the hardware to do that as well as the chips. The good news is that this is pretty cheap to do.
The other thing I am going to be teaching myself is how to create printed circuit boards (those green boards with copper running all over with resistors, capacitors and chips soldered in). It also looks to be pretty simple. I've got the software and for the most part its just knowing how to use an iron.
Anyway, I've got a lot to learn and a long way to go. In many ways, this project is satisfying a childhood fascination with special effects. Hope I have fun....
No comments:
Post a Comment