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ARMOR BUILDS!!! Halp.

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felcandy
felcandy Posts: 228 Member
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Hiya, im working on two armor sets (femshep and legend of dragoon - rose dragoon form) and im also working on a very complicated mask (dishonored - corvo attano)...

I am struggling with choosing the best materials to build armor with. I already have my mass effect helmet covered in resin (pepakura) but i didnt want to go through the pepakura process for the entire set of armor.

I have four different options on how to make the armor and I am okay with doing it different ways for the different armor sets.

1. Pepakura - time consuming and tedious, but easy to follow.

2. Paperclay - not the sturdiest material and ive never worked with it before

3. Foam - ugly. I hate it.

4. Worbla - seems most professional, but its pricey and im kind of on a budget. not familiar working with this material.


If there are other ways of making good armor builds, please... enlighten me! I am super new to cosplay!


You can add me as a friend if you want :)

Replies

  • mruntidy
    mruntidy Posts: 1,015 Member
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    theres a good tutorial on the net under xrobots that gives some great techniques.

    A hot knife is better than blades.

    High density foam is better than low density as it is a lot smoother especially for a shep costume
  • felcandy
    felcandy Posts: 228 Member
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    Thanks man hehe should have just sent you a pm. I appreciate it
  • JeepersMister
    JeepersMister Posts: 33 Member
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    Foam isn't always ugly! I've seen some amazing costumes done in EVA foam. I think you just need to seal and paint it right.

    Have you been to therpf? http://www.therpf.com/replica-movie-costumes/

    There are a bunch of people who make some amazing costumes. They often show how they make it so you might get some ideas from them.
  • patchworkpuppet
    patchworkpuppet Posts: 6 Member
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    ahh hello I am here several month late! How is your armor going? I also have made shepard armor but (like most people in the N7 Elite) I made it out of foam. What exactly do you dislike about foam? I'm totally in love with it, myself ^_^
  • mruntidy
    mruntidy Posts: 1,015 Member
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    ahh hello I am here several month late! How is your armor going? I also have made shepard armor but (like most people in the N7 Elite) I made it out of foam. What exactly do you dislike about foam? I'm totally in love with it, myself ^_^

    Likewise, I have nearly finished my main weapon for this years costume out of foam, hoping to get the painting started this weekend :D
  • busywaterbending
    busywaterbending Posts: 844 Member
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    hdpe2 plastics and heat guns are my best pals. I create shapes from this thin plastic, then glue on craft foam ontop of the shapes to create depth. Then a few coats of acrylic paint. done.
  • kandell
    kandell Posts: 473 Member
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    I've seen some really excellent foam armor, so I wouldn't knock it quite yet. It all depends on how ready you are to spend the time and effort to get things just right.

    As for paperclay, I have a perpetually in-progress set of armor that I've been making in paperclay. There are a few benefits and drawbacks.
    1. Very lightweight
    2. Takes a long time to dry
    3. Is obnoxious to sand down unless you have a power sander
    4. Is not as sturdy as other armor options. My chest piece, essentially an armored bra, snapped in half when I attempted to try it on

    I just ordered worbla for a few costumes I'll be doing this year. I've never worked with it before, but there are some really good tutorials out there. I'm excited!

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