Guyver 1

PROTOTYPE ARMOR

NOTE: THE ARMOR SHOWN ON THIS PAGE IS NOT THE ARMOR I AM SHOWING THE HOW TO STEPS FOR. THE CURRENT SUITS WILL BE MUCH MORE ACCURATE AND A MUCH HIGHER QUALITY COSTUME THAN THE PROTOTYPE UNIT.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this character let me clue you in, the Guyver is about the equivalent of the Japanese version of Superman. He is a practically indestructible, ass-kicking dude, originally created as a comic series by Yoshiki Takaya, then turned into an Anime series and animated movie, and finally adapted to a live action movie called "The Guyver". A some what "slapstick" romp (but intentionally so) with actors Mark Hamill (Star Wars), David Gale (Re-animator), Jeffery Combs (Re-animator), J.J. Walker (Good Times), Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes) just to name a few. Direction and Special Makeup Effects by two excellent artists, Steve Wang and Screaming Mad George. Later to be followed by a sequel called, "Guyver 2: Dark Hero". A much more serious attempt at doing justice to the original Guyver storyline.

When I was in California (91) attending school at Joe Blasco, a few of my classmates and I made it a point to visit as many of the SPFX Studios as we could. (so we could see all the cool stuff everyone was making for upcoming movies) While at one of the studios everyone was checking out some kind of promotional portfolio from another studio. It was for a new movie called "The Guyver" and showcased all the Creature Effects from the movie. At the time I had no clue what I was looking at, just that there were some very nice looking suit designs.

In 94 I attended a local Science fiction convention which had a 24hr movie room. As luck, (or fate) would have it I happened to pop my head in through the door to see what was on, ..............and that is where this obsession officially began.

Not long after I had begun Sculpting, (following the movie's Guyver design) I discovered the animated version at the local video store . I rented them all and watched them back to back on the first setting. (I couldn't stop, I just had to see what came next) Discovering the original appearance of the Guyver (as designed by Yoshiki Takaya) I decided to change the design to more closely resemble the animated version.

Here are some of the first sketches I drew to help me
get a better idea of the form of the suit.
.

The Helmet has lights installed in the Control Medal, the Breathers, and in the Horn Jewels. I used an old set of Christmas lights powered by a nine volt battery.(don't laugh, Christmas lights are very durable, bright, don't get very hot, and are real cheap) I ran the contact points to the fingertips, so with a simple touch of the fingers I could control the lights. (individually, in combinations, and in unison) Excuse the chips in the paint job. (this helmet was made back in 95 and has seen a lot of action since then)

Click for Enlargements.

Made with multiple layers of beveled and painted Plexiglas, to give more depth. (1 red light mounted behind each)

The Jewels located on the rear of the Horn are a couple of red (transparent) plastic buttons I picked up at a local craft store. (1 Clear light mounted in the center of the horn, feeding the two)

The Control Medal. Hand-Blown, Cobalt Glass Sphere. (1 clear light)
For the Eyes I bough a cheap pair of sunglasses and cut the lenses to fit. I can actually see very well out of the helmet. On the next suit I plan to greatly improve this area.

Here is a Front and Side view with all lights engaged.

Download a 360 Degree .GIF of The Prototype Helmet?

OLD VIDEO CLIP OF THE FIRST FITTING TEST
TAKEN OF THIS SUIT!

"AVI" FORMAT- (775KB)

"MPEG" FORMAT - (Approx. 2 MEG)
(Best Quality of the 3)

"REAL VIDEO" FORMAT - (500KB)
(note: I do not yet have a streaming server so this file
must finish downloading before it will play,
and you will also need to have Real Player installed)

Here are a few pictures of the prototype suit. When creating it I though it would be the main suit, but to be honest I'm just not satisfied with the overall look and quality of the finished product. Thus I am now in the process of creating a much, much better Guyver Suit.