Cheap Xenomorph Alien Head EVA Foam

So a friend asked if I can help him with a costume, I had a free weekend so I said yes. What he wanted was an Alien Xenomorph suit. I always wanted to build one but never had the time to get materials for it. Although Ripley's bad ass power loader is still my favorite. :) In this instructable, we will try to build a somewhat xenomorph alien head. ;p Thanks to JFcustom's Foam files of www.therpf.com for the pep files. Link will be on the next step.

This will be a short list.
1. EVA foam 2mm thick
2. tape
3. Pepakura print outs (http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=148889&highlight=alien) < check this site out. they have tons of pep files.

4. instant glue
5. cutter & scissors
6. acrylic emulsion
7. black spray paint
8. pencil
9.paint brush (to apply acrylic emulsion)

This has to be one of the most time consuming part of the project. The Pepakura print out consist of 56 pages. unfortunately, the print out I got wasnt printed out completely. The print out had the bottom of the pages unprinted. so I was left to improvise. it's advisable to have the pep file opened on the your pc or laptop so you can use it as a reference from time to time. Once thats done you can now cut the pattern then trace them unto the foam. Cut the foam either by scissors or cutter. As I am lazy I used scissors.

Now this is the part I like best. have your instant glue ready and pep files on display. The foam is really porous and will absorb the glue as fast as it dries. so you have to work really quick. this is where the pep file will be of use. You can fit them out first before gluing them together. I started with the larger part then on the small ones.The Teeth were made free hand.

The 2mm foam proved to be too flimsy. It can't hold it's own weight so I had to put reinforcement on the inside. However, even with the braces on the inside it still sags and flops. So I decided to cut it's length to make it short enough to become rigid plus it would be a lot easier to carry around.

I removed about roughly 8" to 10" of material from the middle and joined the end pieces together.

Once satisfied with the new dimension, I coated the whole thing with acrylic emulsion. I did this 5 times with 15 minutes of drying per layer.

Let the acrylic emulsion dry thoroughly before applying your first coat of paint. 3 hrs is good enough. I messed up this portion as I was in a hurry to finish this with in a day. I spray painted the whole thing and waited 30 minutes for it to dry, did another coat after that. I let it dry overnight. The next day, I coated the thing with 10 more coats of acrylic emulsion just to make it glossy. Let it dry and then your done.

Afterthoughts:

The 2mm EVA foam is nice to work with but will become problematic with larger pieces. I could have done better if I had a heat gun and made the curves better. Still haven't found a solution to hide the gaps and seams when using EVA foam. I could try sanding this smooth but the material crumbles when you're impatient as I am.

If possible spray painting the acrylic emulsion would probably be better as brush strokes appear when doing multiple coats.

Thanks for viewing. :)