My Cyberstory

[Red Eye]

Just thought to open a new thread regarding to my relatively newly discovered liking of the 80's-style Cybermen.

So, after giving up hope to find a Cybersuit that'll fit me (unfortunately, the second one on eBay was to small for me as well), the seller of the first suit which I'd liked to buy forwarded my eMail-address together with my requests to a very talented prop- and costume-builder.

After we've mailed a while, he agreed to make a suit for me, including the helmet and chest unit. He also wants to try to find a pair of screen-accurate gloves for me.

In one of his earlier mails, he sent me a few pictures of a Cyber Leader costume he did in the past and I thought to myself: "If there's anybody who can make the Cybercostume for me it going to be him!"

But see for yourself:



He also promised to keep in touch with me to keep me informed about any updates etc.

And I promise to do the same... as soon as there are any news, I'll post them in this thread...

[Cylon-Knight]

TOO COOL! Very lucky indeed - I just hope and Hope and HOPE that you don't have to wait and Wait and WAIT like your Cylon Undersuit...

Keep us posted on how it goes.

Now, I don't know anything of Cybermen but what I've read on BYC.net, so, do they have any electronics? Any sound effects/voice changers? What else is involved besides the helmet, suit, gloves and boots?

[Red Eye]

He promised that it would take a month to complete the costume for me. The drying time for the latex covering of the suit will take the most of the time.

I don't know if I'd add a vioce changer into the helmet, but I doubt it. He also doesn't make any statements about what kind of electronics (if any) are included within the Cybergun he's planning to make later this year.

You're right about it. The Cybercostume is quite simple compared to the Centurion-costume. It consists of the helmet, the chest unit, the suit, the gloves, the boots and the Cybergun, of course.

[GoldCylon]

That is awesome looking set up you have going on there. I can't wait to see how it turns out, and man that under suit is a piece of cake compared to other suits we are used to. Man a few items glued on to some coveralls and silver spray paint.

[Red Eye]

Yes, it may look like easy to achieve, but finding a Royal Air Force ventilated suit which was used to make the applications for a reasonable might be tricky.

By the way, I've found a picture of how an original suit will look before the tubing sections being cutted to be attached to a boiler suit which then covered with latex to make it more flexible:



For making the Cybersuits, they simply turned the suit from the front to the back...

[Cylon-Knight]

Great find, Red Eye!
It is always fun to see where "props" come from - when found objects are used.

[Red Eye]

Yes, they didn't have the budget like Galactica during Dr. Who so they had to come up with everything that was around in that time.

[GoldCylon]

Looking at it in white latex it doesn't even look like the same suit. Plus if they used latex all those original suits are toast. No way latex can hold up that long.

[Red Eye]

They've removed the hosed sections of the original suit and glued them on boiler suits. Then, to make the silver paint more flexible, a coat of latex where applied.

You're right about that. All original Cybersuit which had survived are now totally stiff due to the dried up latex, leaving them impossible to wear.

[Red Eye]

Finally, the seller/builder of my Cyber Leader costume has sent a first photo of his work:



And what can I say about it? I'm REALLY pleased with how it came out and can't wait to get my hands on it! I'm also pleased to see that everything's coming to an end now since I'm waiting for it A FULL YEAR now! But it's nothing new to me to wait on certain things a bit longer than usual (hurry up Shadow Dale!!!).

Okay, ahem, back to the Cybercostume: I also like the black detailing of the suit which might not be very screen-accurate, but it gives the whole thing a more realistic look (or at least I think so)...

He stated that there's still some work to be done on the chest unit and when that's finished, he's positive to get it all shipped out at this very weekend! *Insert smiling Cyberman here*

He also wanted to send me a coulpe of pics showing the finished gloves and boots. I'll certainly upload them as soon as I got them!

I also asked him about some addtional photos of the helmet... hopefully he'll reply soon!

[GoldCylon]

My 1st look at the small photo (ImageShack is having problems, not link) I noticed the black, and asked myself was it like that in the show? No matter I liked the black, and added a bit of battle damage look to it. I like the over all suit on what I see so far except ImageShack OWN issues at this time. That was a wait, but seems like it was worth the wait. Congrats on the suit. Can't wait to see it on display.

[Cylon-Knight]

AWESOME Red Eye!!! Very very nice, thanks for the update.

[Red Eye]

Thank you!

I also can't wait to put on a mannequin for display but first of all, I have to wear it!

I really hope he can finish it at the weekend, so cross your fingers everyone!