# Scorpion exoskeleton?



## CJDeeds (Nov 1, 2014)

Hello, I am in the process of designing my giant scorpion for next year's display. I have pretty much figured out the internal support structure, the body will be carved from foam (still deciding between pink foam vs. upholstery). The hang-up that I am having is making the scorpion appear as if it had an exoskeleton. Would a plastic corpsing technique work for this?


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

If you are going for the armor plate look which most scorpions have, you may want to do separate plates using chicken wire as a base, covered with mache, or do a multi layered plastic covering with trash bags and a heat gun over the chicken wire. The soft body parts carved from upholstery foam would look realistic and easier to work with then hard foam.
How big is this guy going to be?


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## CJDeeds (Nov 1, 2014)

I like thithe spider that he is based off of had a body width of roughly 12", he will be slightly wider. legs will probably be close to 5 foot long. he will be roughly 3.5 to 4 feet long from tip of head to base of tail.


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## CJDeeds (Nov 1, 2014)

sorry posted before I finished. I like the idea of the chicken wire for a structure, would help to keep the weight down while providing rigidity.


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

Your paint and sheen are key to make a convincing exoskeleton. Eggshell or satin sheen. Material could be chicken wire and paper clay to sculpt plates. Once you've got the rough shape, lightly sand the paper clay down to profile. Prime, paint then seal.


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## Bascombe (May 18, 2010)

I used a product the other day to make Mandalorian armor. It's called expanded PVC and comes in a 4'X8' sheet for about 55 bucks. cut out the shapes, hit it with the heat gun and bend and shape until it works.

Pretty cool stuff. Was introduced to it by a buddy of mine. He wanted the mandalorian armor and I had a heat gun.


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## CJDeeds (Nov 1, 2014)

thanks for the ideas. i think i'm just going to have to do a couple of different samples and figure out what will work the best.


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## Oaklawn Crematory (Oct 25, 2014)

Great ideas...Looking forward to seeing the final product!


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## Abunai (Oct 28, 2007)

Have you thought of using L200 foam?
You wouldn't be carving the foam so much as you'd be cutting out and shaping plates of foam. 
We buy the L200 floor pads from Harbor Freight for making armor and other such items. Here is a picture of a Steam Punk Spider we made from L200 this last Halloween:


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## CJDeeds (Nov 1, 2014)

Abunai, I just saw your post. I might have to look into that. I want something relatively light weight, that I can also store easily.


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## Georgeb68 (Mar 26, 2013)

I could send you some EVA strips, you could try some and then maybe trade for some?


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