"A man who has not his prepared his children for his own death has failed as a father. Have I ever failed you?" - King T’Chaka, Black Panther 2018

 

What can I say about this project to properly express how emotional it was? I dont think I can ever find the words but I can say this is one of my favorites. I started this project the day after Chadwick Boseman passed from his battles he had with cancer. To me this was the ultimate expression of love for what he did with the role and the amazing team that created the world of the 2018 Black Panther movie. Im also a fan of Ruth Carter as a costume designer so I was very excited for this.

Starting with the helmet. This was the first 3D helmet I completed beginning to end. The file was purchased from DO3D and printed on my Tevo Tornado in black PETG. PETG was chosen because it can withstand higher tempertures in the summer. The helmet went through a long sanding process, painted black, and reinforced with fiberglass. The closure was neodynium magnets, and the lenses are gold reflective film.

The suit construction was fabricated from a base shirt with cemented upholstery foam musculature. The muscles were skinned with scrap fabric for subtlety and the actual black costume fabric is a 4 way stretch bullet texture fabric. This was just a basic shirt sewing pattern stretch over and glued down with spray glue. The details on the suit shirt are urethane molded from EVA foam. They were cast in a Smooth On Vytaflex 50 tinted black. The detail lines were a combination of a shiny elastic and metallic puff paint. It was done to achieve a woven look without cutting a sewing each individual panel as this was a Halloween project short on time. The necklace was was also cast in Vytaflex with cold casted gold pigment. The neck area need extra support so it was backed with sew-in upholstery foam.

The gloves were just a simple two part glove pattern drawn from my hand. The claws themselves were hand sculpted and molded with silicone. Everything was then glued in place with superglue. The bracers utilize more sculpted elements that were then cast. They have zipper enclosures and sew-in foam interfacing.

Lastly the pants were just bought from a martial arts supply store. The boots were some Tabi boots with the same puff paint lines and urethane claws that were 3D printed and cast. The boot covers are the same sew in foam.

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The last big sewing portion of the costume was the sash. When I originally started this, for reference I was using a 6” Marvel Legends figure but then moved on to the Hot Toys online images for more detail. The sash was designed in Publisher and went through several sizings to get something workable for my proportions. The design was sent to a dye sub printing service, Spoonflower, and the resulting cotton twill was sewn in to the appropriate size. The shoulder is pleated, the rope piping was dyed royal purple, and waist beads were created from necklaces found in the craft store. The pouch was also part of the design printed. The pouch comes in handy as it is were I store my phone, and the other accessories I bought for the costume (crown headband, kimoyo beads).

Upon completing this I was able to add a few items to my shop to complete this look. There is a template for a EVA Foam version of my helmet, urethane castings of the necklace, and the dye sub pattern for the sash.

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