r/CosplayHelp • u/Phoenix9947 • 6d ago

Armor First cosplay

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So im making my forst cosplay for Halloween and this is my first time cutting what could I do to make this better?

3 Upvotes

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u/Lightmanticore 6d ago

Practice a shit ton, and get one of those chef knife sharpeners or simple sharpening blocks to use just before you cut every single time. A sharp blade is your best and most necessary tool

Outside of that for complicated shapes you can lightly trace out an initial groove of the shape you want and then go over it a second time

Also, sand your stuff after heating it to make it smoother and any fuck ups less fucky, but be gentle and throughout the whole process be CAREFUL

I got one of those lights that’s screwy and like a hollow circle with light on the interior that I lay on its side to avoid having shadows when I’m cutting and see what the hell im doing

For gluing and stuff you’re doing fine, just set up guide markers to make it easier to bind the two things, but tbh the super little details matter a lot less after heating priming then painting because stuff piles up. You can always use mod poge and fillers to help

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u/Phoenix9947 6d ago

Im having problems making sure number 1 the paper template stays still when im tracing and number 2 that both sides of the breast plate are even with eachother

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u/Lightmanticore 6d ago

For the paper template, get pins and physically pin all corners to the foam. The itty little hole won’t be a problem

For the evenness, make one template for only one side of the breastplate and then just make two, flipping the template for one or the other cause foam doesn’t have an inherent side

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u/Phoenix9947 6d ago

This was my paper template for each side

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u/Lightmanticore 6d ago

Yeah, get some thumbtacks or even sewing pins. Also a self healing mat so you can be sure you’re not cutting stuff you don’t wanna cut.

Also, and I think you did this but just in case, you can only cut out 2d shapes so don’t keep em 3d when you’re tracing.

Also, use a marker with a kinda wide tip to make it easier to trace

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u/Phoenix9947 6d ago

Do my templates look pretty even and yea I unfold them when i cut

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u/Lightmanticore 6d ago

They look solid! Unfortunately for you, only you will see any issues with it. If you put any care at all into the cosplay it’ll be fine for absolutely everyone else.

Your stuff looks good! And it looks very even!

By the way since I’m a nosy freak, I tried making a red hood cosplay for my first finished cosplay and I did a similar thing with the chest plate. You’ll need to glue it to a shirt or smth or have an actual base to attach it to or else it’ll hover on your clothing a bit

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u/Phoenix9947 6d ago

Yea I plan to mold a rectangle of foam to my body and attach the armor to that so it will sit nicely

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u/Lightmanticore 6d ago

Entirely reasonable, however keep in mind that you’re gonna be the hottest mf in the tri state area

Foam is notoriously not breathable, if reasonable do it out of 2 or 3 mm foam (both for flexibility and heat loss), and as well depending on which character you’re doing see if you can incorporate basic straps and buckles to keep it tight on you but adjustable

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u/Phoenix9947 6d ago

Yea i plan to use 3mm foam and use a like suspendor type straping to keep it tight and it should work for the 2022 batman im going for

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u/Phoenix9947 6d ago

Like thumbtacks?

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u/Lightmanticore 6d ago

Just took a glance and after ~5 minutes of looking I can notice only two things:

The lowest possible connector between the two is shorter on the right side

The right most inner corner of the right wing needs some slight sanding to curve it the same as the left

But I’m a nit picky bastard. Just eyeballing it the difference is ~2-3 millimeters on the length difference and the sanding will be done in like a minute.

If you really wanna “fix” it, flip and lay the left piece on top of the right piece and trace out the differences with a marker for cutting

But I would also soon get done with this part of it. Assuming you want it in time for Halloween you’re gonna need to hustle for the painting and structural setup

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u/Phoenix9947 6d ago

Yeaaaa ill probably just sand all the sides smooth and move on since I still have 2 sholders 2 gauntlets a collar all the abs and the mask to do

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u/Lightmanticore 6d ago

That sounds perfect! See about spending only a day or two on the shoulders and gauntlets, and if you don’t have a template ‘member that you can use blender + peoakura to make one, draw one out on paper and cut it out as an example, or even just start with a basic shape you add more to!

(Also I saw this awesome instagram post about how to make segmented armor by taking one flat piece of armor, cutting parts of it out on 3 sides, and then just slightly extruding the cut edge outward! Can’t find the post itself though, appolocheese)

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u/Phoenix9947 5d ago

One more thing I was wondering was is there anyway to fix the seems and make them not have that gap i tried cutting them at an angle to make it have no seem but clearly i didnt do the right angles?