rainingcrow on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/rainingcrow/art/Plastic-Man-needed-a-new-COSTUME-668187097rainingcrow

Deviation Actions

rainingcrow's avatar

Plastic Man needed a new COSTUME!

By
Published:
2.7K Views

Description

I can not express how much I despise Plastic Man's normal costume. I actually hated his costume so much that I NEVER understood how cool his character actually is. He looked so damn goofy that I never gave him a shot. I just could not take him seriously as either a character or hero... Wow was I wrong... This dude is like ten times more versatile than Mr. Fantastic and apparently has the heroes heart down to a T despite being a bit of a scoundrel.

The interesting thing that I learned pretty quickly though was that the reasons for his costume aren't really set... It seems that the continuity has changed so many times that no one can really decide whether it even is a costume or if it's just his skin... since he is essentially a shape shifter by extension of his abilities... He can even change color if he concentrates enough?

So... if it were his body then what? How much concentration does it take for him to make parts of himself look like that all the time? If he were to ever get knocked out... would the lack of conscious effort just leave him naked and in his primary form like Mystique or the Martian?? I didn't want to worry about that... So for my version, it IS most definitely a costume.

Which brought with it an entirely new set of challenges on it's own.

See He doesn't have any convenient maguffin to use like Mr Fantastic. I don't get to chock it up to "unstable molecules"... I had to design a feasible and yet visually appealing piece of costuming based around the parameters of elastic limitation... 


In order for any average fabric to stretch in such a way, then it's resting slack would leave it looking droopy and out of sorts. And I did not want that. I didn't want his costume to look like a deflated condom. There is NO way to apply limitless elasticity to any existing fabric or material... and since Plastic man is not a scientist, and his suit was not designed by some superbrain like Reed Richards... then I had to tackle the issue from a practical standpoint. 

Therefore it had to have a resting compression state that allows for maximum stretch and versatility but within the levels of feasibility as allowed by sensible real world physics... and somehow this had to appear nearly form fitting... The solution was to find a way to use Hookes Law to my advantage...

I considered a series of segmented elastic materials that would allow for portions of the costume to stay in place while their connecting substructure stretched accordingly, but then I wind up with something like a scale pattern applied to the whole of its coverage, still knowledgeable in the limitation of the stress factors inherent in the base material...  Even rubber band chain mail is going to snap at some point, and beyond that, lose its ability to return to form in its compressed state after excessive use... if you stretch it over and over then just like a bungee chord, it will eventually just stay stretched out without snapping back.  Then the idea struck of something a little more streamlined...  what non elastic form stretches really far, but returns to a common state? The answer was coils...

Think of a non elastic or semi malleable material like paper or metal... it can bend but not necessarily stretch... However if you then cut that material into the shape of a coil... (think of a slinky.) When in the resting state it retains a common form. It even appears as a solid... So by allowing for the expansion of space between the coils along a spiral pathway, the same static material can be brought to shape in extreme lengths as well as versatility of forms... but even that has some rather extreme limits... stretch a slinky too far and its ruined forever.


But what if I suppose that the makeup of said coil structure also possesses it's own independent elasticity rather than a static disposition... What if I made a rubber slinky? then I could design around the premise of a material which can stretch and move along multiple axis in more elaborate and extreme  degrees yet collapses into a common and form fitting costume while in it's compressed state.

This was my solution

The lines of his costume needed to be cut into a multiple coil pattern along the likely and most frequently utilized axis of elongation. (Arms, legs, torso, each comprised of a spiral cut set of fabrics which can be summarized as independently elastic in nature) Now I could design a costume that fulfilled the extremities of need and yet could also appear as a full coverage fabric while compressed into a resting state over his body.

With this solution, I included some of my earlier concepts of individual segmentation along particularly broad areas of the body where coils would not be as practical, and I applied an understructure to breakup the coiled segments themselves. This acts in a supporting role as it provides an extra bit of snap toward any return to his primary state... so basically he has an extremely elastic and rubber composite suit with polymer coils sewn into it.

This is what I love about conceptual design... taking a pre-set list of parameters and finding a way to solve that problem within the context of design while maintaining physical aesthetics. 

As for the aesthetics.... His colors have always been roughly the same... and there is an iconic look to be maintained between the glasses, the belt and the red... I included several areas of black to break up the overwhelming eyesore of it all. I think it makes him look a bit more heroic. 

I also tried to apply the idea of utilizing extra accents of the gold along the trim or his suit and even the rims of his glasses, which are a little more run of the mill than the usual white rimmed variety. He seemed like the type of guy that would totally wear aviator classes.

The last thing to consider was that I really wanted to sell the whole "Plastic" or "Rubber" aspect. Aside from just creating the weird hammer shape from one hand, I attempted to sell this concept by adding an extra sheen to his skin and hair... they needed to look artificial to me... So I made them extra shiny and semi blockish like a Ken doll... I mean this dude literally changes the shape of his face at will and holds it that way. He doesn't even give himself toes while he runs around barefoot... So I tried to take advantage of that in a visual way. His colors are just a tad bit off from regular. His shadows are just a little bit flat while his highlights are a tiny bit exaggerated. 

Anyway... that is my version of Plastic Man...
Image size
3264x1836px 1.72 MB
Make
SAMSUNG
Model
SAMSUNG-SGH-I537
Shutter Speed
1 second
Aperture
F/2.6
Focal Length
4 mm
ISO Speed
50
Date Taken
Mar 10, 2017, 11:38:17 AM
© 2017 - 2024 rainingcrow
Comments4
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In