Serpent Unleashed- Dragon+Mosasaur Costumes

[Echidna]

I have been planning the following projects for a long time.
Finally, I can get around to it!

Both costumes will be full-body suits:
a big seaserpent/waterdragon, and a Mosasaur.
In addition to having strategically placed fins, a long head with horns/antlers, and a movable second jaw (as only the Mosasaur and nowadays moray eels have), the tails will be extended and make the costume over 4 metres (13 feet) long.

The design for both costumes is roughly the same.
That is because I'm 99% certain the Asian waterdragon legends (and Triton/Nereid legends too, btw) stem from Mosasaur bones




The "Unleashed" costume, as I call it, will be a glowing red waterserpent with the typically asian dragon paddle-shaped tailend and finlimbs, as well as sport the telltale horns/antlers on its head.
The Mosasaur will have a pale underbelly, a darker (in my case blue) back with black or white stripes for camouflage, matching flippers and tailend, and the long double-jawed head with large eyes.


Both costumes, but especially the Mosasaur, are designed to be used with a special swimming style that looks genuine (an undulating, serpentine horizontal motion),
which I hope will look very realistic when done in a murky lake just under the surface.

For the sake of practicality, I will go with the "seaserpent" approach rather than the "shark fluke" which many Mosasaurs supposedly possessed.

I had a hard time deciding whether to make the costumes "classical seaserpent"-like, which is the famous "many-humps" caterpillar motion (which would be so easy to do, as it's basically dolphinkick, ha!), or the more difficult "giant serpent" undulating from side to side.

I chose the latter, because
1) Mosasaurs for sure moved from side to side and not vertically, and
2) it just looks more animalistic, so to speak.
I hope it will freak many people when done in murky water, hehehe. And
3) the Mosasaur costume can then possibly double as a seakrait/seasnake costume!


I'm half tempted to make a classic caterpillaring seaserpent costume too, but I would have to buy new materials to do that. (Unless I rework my green tail...hmmm.)

The other projects can be realized using up all the scraps l have left now from other tails, which is very satisfying!

[Mermaid Galene]

This is going to be amazing, Echidna! Can you really get enough propulsion to move a 13 foot costume through the water?

[MerAnthony]

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

[jvry8c]

How do you plan on making side to side movements on the tail? My thought would be to have some sort of "pedal" system for your feet. I have kind of wanted to design something like this for a mermaid tail with a more traditional fish tail (rather than the porpoises like tails 99.9% of all mermaid tails) and 3D print bits to make it work. Any who hope this works and sounds really cool. Mosasaur's are bad ass reptiles for sure and were the whales of their day.

[Echidna]

Can you really get enough propulsion to move a 13 foot costume through the water?

I certainly hope so!

Admittedly, I've no idea how hard it will be, but since I plan on using my SBPS (Secret Boogaloo Propulsion System™) in the costume, I figure it's not too bad compared to, say, a shorter snake tail with no fins (which I've used before).

The bigger problem will probably be to find a pool to test it.
Otherwise I'll have to wait half a year for the lakes to warm up.


Edit: I began sewing this evening. It's going to take a long while as I do everything by hand (it wouldn't be possible to do with a machine the way I envision it).
Somehow I'm very excited. As if I'm a caterpillar preparing for metamorphosis.

[Mermaid Galene]

Post progress pics, please! This is such an intriguing project!

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Ooo! Can't wait to see it finished!

[Echidna]

It'd probably be more intriguing to just show it when it's finished and in action, but here are some teasers.

First design sketch of the lower dragon part (showing my mad MS Paint skills)




Measuring and cutting of the corresponding costume segments, piecing them together from scraps




Right now, I'm making a body dummy for the top.

[Mermaid Galene]

Looks very cool so far!

[Echidna]

Thanks!
My parents were holding up the ends of the lower segment while I measured, and my mother pointedly looked from one end to the other and then said,
"sooo...where exactly do you plan to swim with that?"

[Atlantisblue]

Definitely an intriguing project. I wonder how one would go about doing a side to side motion

[Echidna]

You'll see once it's finished.

[MerMel]

Definitely an intriguing project. I wonder how one would go about doing a side to side motion

easiest way to get side to side motion is to have the operator inside the suit do the dolphin kick sideways... but then you'd lose the ability to control the side fins with your hands and feet...

totally want to see this in action at a Con!

[Echidna]

Picture time! Wheee.

I finished piecing together and most of the sewing of the red dragon costume.
Before I can proceed to add detailed fins, teeth and scales (still debating whether to add a dorsal crest/spine), I need to do a swim test.



I found the entire bodylength a bit underwhelming, and the head looks thus a bit big.
Hopefully, that will be remedied once I'm in it



Meanwhile, I started working on the Mosasaur. Could barely finish sketching the first half though, as cat no.2 decided I should rather attend to her than spend so much time with a piece of red fabric

[Echidna]

So, today I did a first test swim.



This was checking the fin- and head placement.
Next, I'm going to add details (jaws, teeth, scales, etc).
I have a sinking (haha) feeling though most details won't be seen underwater

Here's a short vid of the test swim.
It was harder than it looks, as a guard was yelling at me to get out, and I had to put in some real strength not to drown

[Mermaid Wesley]

Nice!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Galene]

The motion is very believable, and I love the look of the red in the water. The eye shows up really well, too! It does look like you're working really hard. I wonder if a long, narrow, lexan monofin would help?

[MerMel]

interesting design. although all that fabric must be a real drag. I was thinking if you maybe tried some pool noodles that are cut down the middle and then flattened and glued together, you could make a sort of paddle tail for it. and get some buoyancy from it too... I was also thinking that there could be something inside to make it bigger than just fabric, like the chinese foo dog and dragon dancers have...

[Echidna]

The only way to reduce drag would be to make the costume smaller. If it's too small, there is no way to disguise my outline.
I have been experimenting with poolnoodle-tails when I made my first snaketail.
Found it adds more drag than fabric, also it doesn't move as nicely.

I was also thinking that there could be something inside to make it bigger than just fabric, like the chinese foo dog and dragon dancers have...

Was planning something like that, but after the test swim I decided adding anything more would be too dangerous.
There was a video floating around of a red, elaborate dragon costume, very dragondancer-like as you said.
It did not look as if it was in any way safe in water though.

[AptaMer]

Well, even if it's going to require some debugging, I think it's a reeeely cool suit Echidna!