Also, if you are a complete cosplay beginner make sure to check my article on Cosplay for beginners and familiarise yourself with some techniques and terms before you commit and buy lots of meters of foam for your cosplay. Remember that as well as armour, your cosplay will need fabric pieces, make up, probably a wig and many other bits.

This material is easy to work with but you will still need to practice with it to get the best results. If you are pretty new to foam you may want to check first my Introduction to craft foam for cosplay. The article itself is a bit outdated and I will be remaking it soon. However, it still makes a good start if you are new to the hobby, and it is both in English and Spanish (for a limited time).

The pattern

I always start all my cosplays with a pattern on paper. I usually begin drafting with a pencil to get my proportions right. Also, I keep testing it with the part of my body I want to cover to make sure it is right. Here I am making armour for my arms . Remember that if your pattern is symmetrical you only need to do half of it and fold a piece of paper in half to get the other side perfectly even.

Making the pattern takes some trial and error and several prototypes. Not all your patterns will be flat and straight forwards, some of them will need extra volume. Start by adding a few centimeters to the pieces that need the volume and adjust. Once you are happy with it go ahead, trace your pieces on your foam, including markings, and use a sharp craft knife or a box cutter to cut it. Don’t forget to name or number your pieces to make them easier to assemble. My favourite width is 5mm foam as it is both thin and sturdy but there are many thicknesses that you can choose depending on you project.

Glueing pieces and fixing gaps

Very often, you will need to glue pieces together to create a specific shape. This is where your markings come in handy, specially for bigger pieces. My preferred method to glue foam is with contact adhesive. It is fast and clean and has the best bonding results. Remember to cut your pieces at an angle if your joints are very sharp. Also, test how your pieces fit before you glue them so you can modify them accordingly.

Once your piece is glued cut any excess and get ready to smooth any sharp edges on the next step. Also, if there is any gaps or holes you need to fix, you can use a flexible filler to make them perfect. Here I am using Flexi Filler but there are many other options to do this.

Sanding and bevelling

Many people think that using the pieces as they are is enough. Don’t get me wrong, it is enough, but for a better finish you may want to sand the edges of your foam. I use a rotary tool to do this. I first start with a harsher sanding paper and then move to a finer one. You could even go ahead and finish with wet sanding for a perfectly smooth surface, but very often this won’t be necessary.

Adding details

There are many ways of adding details, they deserve a full article just to talk about them. A typical trick is to glue extra pieces on top of your base layer. Here, I added round indents with the rotary tool to simulate screws. I also used my pirographer to create creases on the back which help you get a crisp pointy finish at the front. You can also use it for decorations if you prefer.

Shaping foam

Foam is very flexible and will easily adapt to your body or any shape you need. However, if you want it to keep the shape you chose for it, you are going to need heat. A heatgun is probably the best solution. You can use plastic domes or jars to give them a curved look, if you don’t have one handy feel free to use your knees, legs or anything else you have around. Foam gets cold very quickly and you can handle it without getting burnt after just a few seconds.

Furthermore, when you use the heatgun on top of your foam you are slightly melting its surface. This makes the surface smooth and much easier to paint later on. Do not skip this step if you want good results. If your piece didn’t go according to plan feel free to reheat as many times as you need, but remember that you may also flatten any previous shape you created beforehand.

Final results

Of course, how well your armour pieces look will depend on several factors like how much time you spent working on your piece, how much experience you have, how crafty you are or how good your foam is. Do not despair if your first armour doesn’t look right, it takes time to improve. Once you are happy with all your pieces you can go to the next stages of priming, painting and weathering, but that is a story for another tutorial!

If you are really into cosplay why don’t you check my Cosplay Planner. It has lots of useful pages to plan your cosplays, conventions and photoshoots, as well as several agendas. Furthermore, visit my pattern downloadables if you need some help with your cosplay patterns and full instructions on how to sew your patterns.

Also, if you really liked this article on how to make armour pieces with foam you can say thanks visiting my Ko-Fi page. There are no subscriptions and it helps me work on more tutorials and articles for you. You can also write a comment here and show your support, that is fine with me too. Let me know what you think and don’t forget to share. Happy crafting!

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This project gave me a good excuse to improve my skills. After a long time, I have finally started using Adobe Illustrator for my projects. To be honest, it took me a while to get used to it but I think I am finally getting better at it.

I am still practicing and sketching but hopefully I will be sharing some patterns and blueprints with you in the future.

How I made it

The material I used was 5mm and 10mm foam to build the main weapon and also added some 2mm foam to make the details. I cut all the pieces with a box knife and shaped them with a rotary tool. The claw was reinforced with foam and attached to a skewer.

The whole tool was first sealed with several layers of vinyl latex. After this, I applied dark silver paint. In my opinion this colour highlights the details much better than black. I used black to emphasize the shadows of the Batclaw. Finally, I gave the whole thing a layer of varnish to protect the paint.

Below you have one of the official images from the game Arkham city. It give you an idea of how it should look. You can choose to make the weapon completely black as well.

This blueprint is not only a good start for you Batclaw, it can also be used as a start to make Grapnel Gun or other tools from the videogame Arkham City, as they all share the same handle.

Click the link below to download the Batclaw Blueprint.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Now you have no excuses to fight crime properly.

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Painting technique

When you paint a big prop you need paints that have good coverage. Above you have a picture of the colours I used.

First, I started with a mix of silver and black for the blade. Later I applied pure silver. The handle simulates bone, therefore I used a paint called bleach bone. Finally, I used copper and red for the last details.

Cuando pintas un prop de gran tamaño necesitas pinturas con alta pigmentación. Arriba tenéis una foto con los colores que usé.

Primero empecé con una mezcla de plateado y negro para pintar la hoja. Después apliqué solo color plata. El mango simulaba hueso, así que usé una pintura llamada blanco hueso. Finalmente, usé cobre y rojo para el resto de detalles.

As a final step, I used a toothpick and my fingers to simulate blood splatters. The paint I used is called Blood for the blood god by Citadel. However, any glossy paint should work.

Como paso final, usé un palillo y mis dedos para simular las salpicaduras de sangre. La pintura que usé se llama Sangre para el dios de la Sangre de Citadel. Sin embargo, cualquier pintura brillante debería funcionar.

Time-lapse video

In the video you can see the process to paint a sword made of foam. Also, don’t forget to seal your foam with glue or PlastiDip before you start painting otherwise you won’t get a good finish.

En el video podéis ver el proceso de como pinta la espada hecha de foam. Además, no os olvidéis de sellar vuestro foam con pegamento o PlastiDip antes de empezar a pintar, de otra manera no conseguiréis un buen acabado.

In the end, this sword was part of my Dark Eldar Wych costume. In general, I used several weathering techniques in order to make my costume look postapocalyptic. Did I succeed?

Al final, esta espada fué parte de mi Bruja eldar oscura. En general, usé diferentes técnicas de desgaste para crear su apariencia postapocalíptica. ¿Creeis que lo conseguí?

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There are several varieties of naginatas. Maybe the most common is the one with a very long pole resembling a hallberd. There exists another option with a much shorter pole which is easier to handle but still great in size. Naginata for fighting men and warrior monks were called ō-naginata. The kind used by women was called ko-naginata and was less heavy.

Starting with a draft

Naginatas are big. Mine was about 1.3 meters long. This is a comparison side by side with a katana. For my project I needed something very sturdy so I opted to make my naginata from a single piece. Looking back, I maybe could have tried to make it into two pieces as it is actually difficult to transport. Use paper to get an idea of how big you want your weapon. Make sure you get all the proportions right before you cut your foam.

Using foam as the core

Similar to my katana tutorial, I used 5mm plastazote foam to make the core of my weapon. The handle was cut in two parts and glued to the blade with contact cement. Remember to leave a long enough tail to get some grip for your glue. Foam is a very easy material to use and you can sand it with ease. After I sanded the edge and the handle, I added extra details with 2mm foam and glued them with contact cement as well.

Worbla to make it sturdy

On itself, foam is a very flimsy material. That is why you need some kind of coverage to make it sturdy. I chose to use Black Worbla, which is a thermoplastic. If you don’t know this material check my worbla guide. It is easy to heat with a heatgun. Cover your naginata with the heated material. Press the sides together and cut the excess. You can fix the joints with some more heat and a flat tool. Be careful as this materials gets hot very quickly and you could burn yourself. Adding a wooden pole to the core is also a good idea but you will need to cut a space on your foam to make it fit without bulking up.

Add details

When you are satisfied with the base of your naginata you can add fancy details. As I said, Worbla is very maleable, if you heat it you can create ridges with a flat surface and all kind of carvings. Also, you can press it together to create a kind of clay that will get hard once it cools down. That is how I created the embellishments of my tsuba or guard of my naginata.

Final weapon

Finally, after you seal your worbla, you can use acrylic paints to paint your weapon and add any other detail like beads, tassels, a piece of fabric or jingle bells. Don’t forget to add highlights and shadows for a more realistic finish and don’t skip the varnish either as it will protect your weapon later on.

If you want a larger pole for your naginata you can use a PVC pipe as a handle instead. You may not need to cover your blade with worbla if your blade is shorter but remember that it will make your blade flimsier an wobbly. You still need to prime it and paint it tho. Using pipe joints is also a good idea if you want your weapon to be collapsible.

I hope you found this tutorial for a naginata for cosplay useful. If you feel like it, remember you can support me on Ko-fi, there are no subscriptions and you will help me create more cosplays and more tutorials to share with you! Also, if you are looking for patterns and cosplay related downloadables make sure to check my collection!

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Drafting the pattern

For the first part you will need: 10mm semirigid foam, a cutter, a rotatory tool, a marker and sandpaper

I happen to have a bokken so it was pretty easy just to copy the form for my pattern. As this is not something you find at home I wrote down its measures for you. My katana was 101cm long, with a maximum width of 4cm at the base and 3cm at the tip and slightly curved at the end. The original tsuba (or guard) was 8cm but it wasn’t good enough for my design so I modified it.

I grided my paper and started drafting my pattern. I liked it, but it wasn’t long enough so I had a little trick, you see the red dots? that’s where I cut my pattern and added an extra centimeter so it was now 18cm long.

First steps for the foam katana

Now cut the pieces in your 10mm foam. A good trick is to pin your pattern down and draw the shape with a marker. Use a cutter and a ruler to cut it out. I also used a soldering iron to do the holes in the guard but it is not necessary for this project.

As I happened to have 5mm foam at home I decided to glue it to the handle with contact glue on both sides of the sword. This will make your handle thicker. You can also glue two parts of 10mm foam to make your handle and then attach them to the blade. Make sure it is a strong hold or it may break.

Carving your foam katana

Now the fun part, draw how deep you want to sharpen your weapon, a good trick is to hold your finger against the foam to make straight lines with even width (my daddy told me this trick)

And now is the time to use the power tool! You have to sand your edges until you are happy, take your time to make it right. Also, remember to take breaks if the surface is too big, the tool doesn’t work as well if it is overheated. If you want to make it even, use sandpaper to finish it, it will make any bump disappear.

Covering your foam with worbla

Unfortunately, using just foam is not enough to keep your katana straight. In order to solve this you need to use a thermoplastic cover like foam. This will keep your weapon straight.

Using a heatgun, cover your katana with black worbla or a similar thermoplastic. Use a flat stick or other tools to flatten the sides and cut the excess. Remember that worbla becomes really hot. Make sure all the foam is covered and reheat again if necessary. You can add extra details using several layers of foam and covering them with worbla and also rolling the foam to create ridges.

Final result

Finally, this is how the katana looked when I finished. I will show you how to seal your worbla with glue and how to paint it in another tutorial.

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Making a foam knife for cosplay

Like any other project, you should start by making a pattern on paper. This way, you can modify everything you need before you start cutting and shaping your prop. It will also become your reference during the construction. My knife is the demon killing knife from Supernatural.

Once you have your pattern, you need to make it into smaller pieces. I used foam with two different thiknesses. As I only had a limited amount I couldn’t make my blade longer. If you can only find your foam in 5 mm you can cut two parts for your handle and glue them together. Use a box cutter to cut the pieces and make sure you hold it straight while you do so.

Of course, our knife is supposed to be 3-dimensional. In order to do so you need to use a rotatory tool in order to sand those corners until you are satisfied. Once you are happy with them, assemble your knife using contact glue. Don’t forget to put skewers in between the parts to make sure the knife has a secure core.

It is time now to add all the details, remember you can use a simple pen to carve those details into your foam. A pirographer is a good option for deeper details.

Once you are satisfied it is time to seal your foam and prime it before you start painting it. Remember to add lights an shadows to your weapon in order to give it a more prominent 3D shape.

As you see, making a foam knife for cosplay is rather easy. Now you have no excuses to go to a convention without a prop for your favourite character. What is your favourite prop to wear to a convention? Let me know in the comments.

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As this is Astrid’s shoulder pads tutorial. I am working on her right now and I thought I may as well do a tutorial. If you thought this pauldrons had an easy shape think twice! In fact, it is easy, just the pattern is a bit funny

Este es el tutorial para hacer las hombreras de Astrid. Esto es en lo que estoy trabajando ahora y pensé que a lo mejor podía hacer un tutorial. Si pensasteis que las hombreras tenían una forma sencilla pensadlo otra vez! La verdad es que es  fácil, lo que pasa que el patrón es un poco raro

The process / El proceso

First I started figuring out the shape using paper and (if possible) a mannequin or dress form to try the shape. I had to readjust it several times, in the end I left the endings a bit bigger than needed as I would cut them later. The idea is to get a bigger curve each time

Primero empecé intentando averiguar la forma de la hombrera con papel y (si lo tenéis) con un maniquí para probar la forma. Tuve que reajustarlo varias veces, al final dejé las piezas más largas de lo necesario para poder cortarlas más tarde. La idea principal es hacer la curva más grande cada vez

Later on I copied those shapes in EVA foam y las corté

Después pasé las plantillas a goma EVA and I cut them

Now comes the fun, I used hot glue to stick it all together.There is no picture but I strongly recommend to reinforce the inner part of the pauldron with fabric or more foam

Ahora viene la parte divertida, usé silicona caliente para pegarlo todo junto. No hay foto pero yo os aconsejaría reforzar la parte interior de la hombrera con tela o más foam

And now for the round studs, I cut polyestirene balls in half and alternated them on the pauldron. Maybe you could use pins instead. Also you can notice I added a couple of scratches, battle damage!

Y nos quedan las tachas redondas, corté bolitas de poliestireno por la mitad y las fui alternando en la hombrera. También podríais usar  chinchetas. Además podéis ver que he añadido un par de arañazos, daños en la batalla!

Maybe next time I show you the painting process? 😉 The next step is Astrid’s axe

Quizá para el próximo tutorial os enseño el proceso de pintado? 😉 El siguiente paso es el hacha de Astrid

The post Astrid’s shoulder pads tutorial appeared first on Alice in Cosplayland.

Pieces I used for the cross of my Vampire Kindred cosplay Piezas que usé para la cruz de mi cosplay de Vampire Kindred

Cutting
Corte

Congratulations, this material is very easy to cut. Usually I will make a pattern with paper and draw it directly on the foam. You can cut it with scissors or with a cutting knife (I strongly recommend this for small details and inner parts)

Felicidades, este material es muy fácil de cortar. Normalmente hago los patrones en papel y los dibujo diréctamente en foam. Puedes cortarlo con tijeras o con un cutter (yo recomiendo esto para los detalles y zonas que estén por dentro)

Seen here

Seen here

Glueing
Pegado

The best glue you can use for foam silicon, you have cold silicon, which works great with foam but it needs time to dry. The other good option is hot glue, it dries very quickly but it has a problem, as it uses heat you need to be careful when you apply it as you can slightly bend the material or get uneven shapes if the glue dries too quickly. E6000 is always a good solution as it is very very strong and flexible but again dries slowly. Superglue is about the worst option, it isn’t elastic and it will probably crack, specially in edges, also, if you don’t get it right first time it creates a layer of glue that will be very difficult to reglue.

El mejor pegamento que podéis usar es la silicona líquida, funciona genial con el foam pero necesita tiempo para secar. La otra buena opción es la silicona caliente, se seca muy rápido pero tiene un problema, como usa calor podríais deformar la goma EVA si no tenéis cuidado o incluso se puede quedar una forma rara si se enfría muy rápido. El superglue es quizá la peor opción, no es elástico y probablemente se romperá, especialmente en las esquinas. Si no se pega la pieza bien a la primera os será casi imposible volver a pegarla porque crea una película de pegamento por encima del material que no se adhiere a nada más.

Detailing
Detalles

When you make armour you may need to do an edge to the foam, this can be done with 3D glue or fabric paint or also with hot glue. Obviously you can do drawings as well.

Cuando hacéis armaduras es posible que necesiteis hacerles un filo, esto se puede hacer con pintura o pegamento 3D o también con silicona caliente. Obviamente también podéis hacer dibujitos

Seen here

In the next tutorials I’ll try to cover finishing touches, painting, patterning, attaching and transport 🙂

En los próximos tutoriales intentaré cubrir el acabado, pintado, la creación de patrones, los enganches y el transporte 🙂

The post Introduction to craft foam for cosplay appeared first on Alice in Cosplayland.

Have you ever wanted to be a policeman? what about a New York Police Department (NYPD) detective? It is actually something really easy to do, just with a scrap of foam and some paints.

Alguna vez has querido ser policia? Que tal un Detective de policia del Departamento de Nueva York? En realidad es algo muy fácil de hacer, sólo necesitas unos pedazos de foam y algunas pinturas.

First you need to draw your badge real size. To make it less flat you are going to cut it in several layers and to get the 3D effect you only need to mark all the lines with a pencil, they stay!

Lo primero que necesitas es dibujar la placa a tamaño real. Para que sea menos plana vamos a cortarla en varias capas y para conseguir el efecto 3D sólo necesitas marcar las lineas con un lápiz, se quedan!

Paint your badge with a gold and blue base colour.

Pinta tu placa con los colores básicos en azul y dorado.

The details like the numbers, letters and the inner design are painted in gold as well. To make them stand out more use a darker gold (or mix yours with black) to shadow the hollow areas.

Los detalles como los números, letras y el diseño del centro estan pintados en dorado. Para que destaquen más usa un dorado más oscuro (o mezcla el que tengas con negro) para hacer las sombras de las partes más hundidas.

If you add a toy gun and handcuffs you are ready to get the bad guys!

Si le añades unas esposas y una pistola de juguete estás preparado para pillar a los malos!

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