Platforming Feet Tutorial

[Mr Fett]

Here's a Huntorial I did back in 2007 when working on my second pair of Predator feet. It seemed to help a bunch of guys back then, so bringing it back here.

In the early days of Predator costumers, the artists would sculpt feet you could wear like shoes, but in an effort to gain more height in our costumes, guys would have big Frankenstein sandal soles under those feet. Never looked movie accurate in the long run. So in talking to fellow member Ruffkintoy when he was to begin sculpting his own generic style feet, he sculpted them large enough INSIDE to hide platforming material. Leaving the traditional sized Predator sandal sole viewable from the outside, and not the giant Frankenstein size. He continued this same concept when he sculpted his P2 and AVPR feet. Hide the extra height inside the foot. 

My original suits smaller feet had some dense foam matting in a wedge shape inside and a sandal sole outside, connected through with screws. It added about 3" of height. For my next suit, I wanted even more height. I got some larger sized feet from Ruffkintoy and here is what I did to add about 5-1/4" of height......

What Ruffkintoy did with his own feet is cut up a bunch of cheap flip-flops and layer the inside to gain inches, then put a normal flip-flop at the top, which is the part he wears through the toes like flip-flops are normally worn. I wanted something similar but instead found some chunky heeled platformed women's shoes at the thrift store for $3. This will supply the same kind of wedge effect that my original layers of hard cell foam did with my first feet. The heel itself is 3-1/2" of height to my costume.

These were a womens size 10, and I wear 10.5-11 in mens shoes, but they fit quite well actually. Just the big toe area of my feet was pushing against the front of the shoe, so I took an exacto knife and cut the front off, so it wears like a sandal.

.....and afterwards....

I did have to make a slit up the back of the Predator foot to insert the shoes, but that's an easy fix with superglue and some more latex.

I, instead of cutting up flip flops to add more height, got some workout floor matting from Wal-Mart in the exercise section. This type of foam is much lighter weight than the type you'd find at real health clubs, and it cuts with either scissors or exacto knives. It was about $15 for a pack, but you can do multiple pairs of Predator feet with one pack.

You just lay your Predator feet on there, use a Sharpie marker to trace around the outside, then cut to shape. You'll have to trim a bit to fit inside the foot properly, but no big deal.

I put two layers of the foam mat inside the foot, then the shoe on top of those. That's all the space I had. With different shoes inside, you'd have to experiment with different amounts of layers. I also added one more layer outside the bottom of the Predator foot to protect the bottom and add yet more height. Total height where my heel rests to the floor is about 5-1/4" or so. Add another 2-3" for the top of the head and I got some nice height in costume. I'm 5'11" barefoot, and suited up am in the 6'7" range.

Finished look:

Because I used shoes that have a platformed sole to them, I can run screws up through the bottom of the sandal sole, though the bottom of the Predator foot and more layers of matting and into the bottom of the shoes themselves. I added contact cement between the bottom matting layer and the latex bottom of the foot to make an even firmer connection.

The cool thing about this matting, besides it's fairly light weight, is since it's made for dumbbells to sit on, it comes with a "grid" looking side, which is what you'd normally be standing on while lifting weights, and a smoother bottom side, which is made for gripping concrete floors. I put this side down on the outside matting to create a firmer grip to stand on cement floors with while costuming. 

Here's a shot of the finished feet at the time:

 

 

 

 

 

[MeanGene]

This is a great tutorial. Such simple ideas with the cheap flip flops and the gym flooring.
It made me think of some old 1" thick yoga matts I have.

I can see the flip flops and hot glue working out really nicely.

The textured matts facing down towards the ground adds a good grip surface. Really important when you are walking in a blinded costume. If you fell it would could be bad for you and the suit.

[Lwoff0677]

this is a good tutorial i might try it. but I'm 6.4 so not sure if ill need it

[Lowdmekon]

7 hours ago, Lwoff0677 said:

this is a good tutorial i might try it. but I'm 6.4 so not sure if ill need it

Do it do it do it !!

 

I did a slight variation on it !! You don’t have to !! Bit when your towering over your prey !! FUCK YEAH !! Every inch counts 😂😂😂😂

7 hours ago, Lwoff0677 said:

this is a good tutorial i might try it. but I'm 6.4 so not sure if ill need it

 

[Kithunter]

I remember using this tutorial..I do have the big frankenstein feet...

But this gave me the height I needed to pull off a stance...

Thanks drew

[Mr Fett]

6 hours ago, Kithunter said:

I remember using this tutorial..I do have the big frankenstein feet...

But this gave me the height I needed to pull off a stance...

Thanks drew

A lot of Preds end up with the visible Frankenstein feet. Some just end up worse than others. Hence later artists trying to sculpt feet with space inside to hide the plaforming we all need. None of us are 7 feet tall barefoot like KPH or Ian Whyte. lol

[Usurper]

Thanks Andy, this is something to take the headache out of part of a build 🙂

[MeanGene]

 

Thought I would dump in this pic of some feet I made. Used the gym puzzle mats where you can get from anywhere.
Made a template, used Barge glue and layered them desired height. Very comfy. Did not absorb sweat or water. Durable.

[Lwoff0677]

thought id give it a go been adding some gym puzzle mates to the inside of my big wolf feet two layers

[MeanGene]

Nice! How's it working out? I remember mine being super comfy.

[Lwoff0677]

its not bad. i just need to get used to walking around in them. and they make me a bit taller .so i have to be careful not to bang my head on my door frames😁

[Lwoff0677]

just a little work in progress. i got a pair of magnum desert boots managed to put them inside. and they feel really good now. and they Make me  6.6 without the head on...

[MeanGene]

That looks great.

 

Big boots, extra height with no visible "franken boot" look. 

Make sure you put proper padding behind your head when the put the mask on. That makes a huge difference to keep the crown up high and I the air = even more height.

Makr sure to do some test fittings and check your overall look. Dimensions and proportions across the body. 

This is great. Keep us updated.

[PR_props]

I bought a bicicle tire tube, cut it up and traced the bottom of the feet on it, and cut it and comtact glued them on the bottom cause eva foam by itself its very slippery on polished floors, like most convention lobbies floor

got a good grip 

[Mr Fett]

18 minutes ago, PR_props said:

I bought a bicicle tire tube, cut it up and traced the bottom of the feet on it, and cut it and comtact glued them on the bottom cause eva foam by itself its very slippery on polished floors, like most convention lobbies floor

got a good grip 

Nice. Post a pic of your modification!

[PR_props]

Sadly theyre on puerto rico somewhere, and ive been living on texas for 5 years now, i can share whenever i decide to do a new suit

[MeanGene]

That's a smart movie with the bicycle tire rubber. Cheap and effective. What glue did you use?

[PR_props]

14 hours ago, MeanGene said:

That's a smart movie with the bicycle tire rubber. Cheap and effective. What glue did you use?

That contact cement they sell at walmart, dap weldwood, barge should work too