Introduction: Life Size Raptor Head From Jurassic Park (part of Full Costume)

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About: Stay safe

This is a costume I made for Halloween 2016, this is for only the head, the full costume will be up in the future... Maybe.

Materials:

  • EVA Foam, it's what gym floor mats are made of
  • 1" Foam batting, the stuff used for upholstery
  • 100%Silicone Caulking
  • Steel rods, various diameters and lengths
  • Steel washers
  • Oil paint, the stuff I used had a 100% linseed oil "vehicle"
  • Acrylic paints, buy a pack with various small tubes
  • Crayola Model Magic "clay" (white)
  • Gloss media clear finish
  • Hotglue Sticks
  • Vehicle back-up camera and LCD screen
  • 12v+ power source
  • Automotive Bondo
  • Clear Spray Polyurethane/ Enamel

Tools:

  • Soldering Iron
  • Glue gun
  • Dremel
  • Welder
  • Razor and X-Acto Knife
  • Scissors
  • 3D Printer
  • Sandpaper
  • Blowtorch

Step 1: Head Structure

The head base consists of a EVA foam frame. It's arranged in a upside down "T" structure with supports at a 45* angle. Then I put a piece to reinforce the lip. Then the whole thing was covered in foam batting and trimmed to shape.

Step 2: Eyes

For the eyes I 3D printed shallow domes measuring ~2.75in in diameter. I then used Bondo and sanded them smooth. As for paint I decided to go with the 1993 version eyes, these started with a black base coat. Next white was added to all the areas I intended to paint with color. Then yellow was added on top of the white, making sure that I leave a small border of white on each blotch and making sure I didn't paint yellow it too far towards the pupil. Fair green was added with varying intensity, more so toward the outside and less so toward the inside. Final details include adding light tan and brown around the pupil and yellow Ochre on the outer Iris. A couple coats of clear Enamel or polyurethane over the top and they're done.

Step 3: Lower/Inner Jaw and Teeth

I lower jaw is made with a similar "T" structure as the base of the head and then covered in foam batting. The inside of the mouth is lined with batting as well, though it is shaped to act as a base for the gums. The jaw is then attached using a pin made of a steel rod. To do this I used a blow torch to burn a clean level hole through the jaw's struts and the bases sides. You can see the struts I'm talking about in both pictures, it's the yellow portion. Now cover the lower jaw in batting. Additionally the gum flap between the jaws can made with scrap batting and a thin, bent piece of EVA to ensure it folds inward correctly.

For the teeth I used Crayola Model Magic. The teeth are simply sculpted, let to dry and they "glazed" with very light yellow paint. (sorry that I don't have pictures of the process). The gums now need a incision where the teeth get nestled in. Now just glue the teeth in their respective positions.

Step 4: Head Controls

The head controls are a rather simple arrangement of 2 hinged steel rods and a rod with a balljoint (refer to my test videos above). The rods have washers welded to them to aid in setting a pivot path for the joint. One rod controls the mouth, one controls the head, and the balljointed rod functions as the neck and attaches to a head rig I made from the EVA foam (also note the rig has the LCD screen which is wired to a camera in the nose). That means that the head can move independently from the neck and vise versa. It's that simple.

Step 5: Neck and Gullet

Probably the single hardest areas to make, the neck consists of many equally tapering pieces of batting to form a ~94° angle. The gullet is two triangular pieces that can later be trimmed. Trimming, as you can see, is surprisingly effective in "truing up" dimensions. At this point the head is more or less done, at least until the painting stage.

Step 6: Texturing and "Painting"

Texturing was achieved through burning in the batting with a solder iron/ wood burner. Wear a mask, you'll live longer. I used images from Google to get a idea of the pattern, which consists of abstract polygons that vary in size and spacing. As for "painting" I mixed a slurry of Gasoline, Oil paint, and silicone until I got the proper thickness, color, and opacity. I should be as thick as pudding. I wanted to go with a greener looking one that had the same texture as the '93 ones. I is applied with different sized bondo scrapers. I started with a deep black, then did layer of a yellowish tan in some places, and then did a light layer of OD green and browns. It's important that the last layer is both the lightest color and that it's thin, because this will allow the colors from underneath to show up.

That's pretty much it for the head, hope this was informative and entertaining. Please leave any questions or comments and I'll try to get back to you.