The Loonatic: An invented superhero costume build
Admittedly, I am not half the comic-book scholar Starbat is. I have a working knowledge of Marvel and DC, but most of what I know is from watching the blockbuster movies and then asking Starbat to fill in the gaps. Sometimes that backfires: I now have the order of Batman's Robins indelibly imprinted upon my brain.
Anyway, there are two main draws of the superhero genre. One, practically anyone can become a superhero or a supervillain. Maybe you need the billions to be Batman or an alien to be Superman, but basically in comic world if you really wanted to, anybody could fight crime. And two, that means there's thousands of different shades of superhero and supervillain, a lot of them with incredibly wacky backgrounds and themes.
In creating my own custom superhero, I wanted to put together something awesome but also ridiculous.
Inspirations
1. Chest armor
Always on the lookout for anti-zombie gear, I lucked into this motocross chest armor at a thrift store for $20. Originally it had some very obvious Fox Racing logos stitched on (you can still see the shadows of it on the shoulders), but I was able to carefully cut the stitches with a hobby knife and pull them off.
2. Pants
To keep with the loon's predominantly black feathers, I found some tight but flexible pants at a thrift store for $4. It has a subtle geometric pattern to it, adding some texture in the details.
3. Goggles
I found these ski goggles in a thrift store for $4. I thought the red window of the mask was perfect for evoking a common loon's red eyes.
4. Cape
I'm always on the prowl for cheap, interesting fabrics. Normally brocades like this are out of my price range, but I saw this material as an end of bolt remnant in the liquidation sale area and got it for very little. Although loons don't have any gold elements, I liked the overall silky black with the outlines of what could be feathers, which kind of evokes the outlines of feathers. The brocade frays in a heartbeat, but that was fixed by serging the edges.
5. Utility belt
I made this all-around utility belt with an LED light strip and gel bead cannisters. This is an easy and low-budget project, for which the tutorial can be found here.
6. Boots
I found these boots in a thrift store for about $10, pretty simple and are not too far off from a "combat boot" look. They don't distract and look practical and functional for crimefighting.
7. Fingerless gloves
I modified these exercise gloves for a Star Wars build, but they work well as all around fingerless gloves. If you're interested in making a similar pair there's a tutorial I wrote here.
And some extra shots...
Anyway, there are two main draws of the superhero genre. One, practically anyone can become a superhero or a supervillain. Maybe you need the billions to be Batman or an alien to be Superman, but basically in comic world if you really wanted to, anybody could fight crime. And two, that means there's thousands of different shades of superhero and supervillain, a lot of them with incredibly wacky backgrounds and themes.
In creating my own custom superhero, I wanted to put together something awesome but also ridiculous.
Inspirations
 |
| Common loon |
 |
| Doctor Strange |
 |
| Mysterio |
 |
| Overkill |
 |
| The Tick |
 |
| Squirrel Girl |
Always on the lookout for anti-zombie gear, I lucked into this motocross chest armor at a thrift store for $20. Originally it had some very obvious Fox Racing logos stitched on (you can still see the shadows of it on the shoulders), but I was able to carefully cut the stitches with a hobby knife and pull them off.
2. Pants
To keep with the loon's predominantly black feathers, I found some tight but flexible pants at a thrift store for $4. It has a subtle geometric pattern to it, adding some texture in the details.
3. Goggles
I found these ski goggles in a thrift store for $4. I thought the red window of the mask was perfect for evoking a common loon's red eyes.
4. Cape
I'm always on the prowl for cheap, interesting fabrics. Normally brocades like this are out of my price range, but I saw this material as an end of bolt remnant in the liquidation sale area and got it for very little. Although loons don't have any gold elements, I liked the overall silky black with the outlines of what could be feathers, which kind of evokes the outlines of feathers. The brocade frays in a heartbeat, but that was fixed by serging the edges.
5. Utility belt
I made this all-around utility belt with an LED light strip and gel bead cannisters. This is an easy and low-budget project, for which the tutorial can be found here.
6. Boots
I found these boots in a thrift store for about $10, pretty simple and are not too far off from a "combat boot" look. They don't distract and look practical and functional for crimefighting.
7. Fingerless gloves
I modified these exercise gloves for a Star Wars build, but they work well as all around fingerless gloves. If you're interested in making a similar pair there's a tutorial I wrote here.
And some extra shots...
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