TUTORIAL: Using PEPAKURA for FOAM Costume Building -Part 4 - Sealing and Painting

lordgilpin

Thank you for making those tutorials! Very well done =)

grayrhino

Amazing! Anyway to get the files if I am working on a MAC? I can't download the program needed to get the pep files and we don't have a pc in the house!

STEALTH

I've compiled all of the info from what I use and other's have used to connect their Foam parts together. Hope this visual Explanation will help make more sense to people on how to attach their armor parts together.

I've added this to the first page as well.

Bonus Tutorial
TUTORIAL - "SUIT UP!" How to Connect Foam Armor Costume Parts

KaiserUppercut

Dude that is excellent work. Pretty much answered all my questions in regards to connecting the pieces. Any chance the sealing/painting video is coming out? I'm working on a Vega claw but I have no clue on how to seal and paint it.

MychoPsantis

Unfortunately pepakura doesn't run on a Mac - at least as far as I know. Your best bet will be to have someone with a pc size it up for you and pdf it, so you can print it from there. If you know what scale or size you need, and for which files, I can produce the pdf. Just gotta figure out the whole upload thing.

MychoPsantis

I haven't tried this yet, but this is what I'm gonna try, based on indiefilmgeeks posts.

http://www.therpf.com/f24/wip-ironma...ml#post1713783

KaiserUppercut

Very informative stuff, thanks for your input man much appreciated. I'll definitely try this for my future projects

Wild Bill

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing.

GrimmpyDinky

Looking for the material finally found Foam-floorboard 5 mm. This material seems to have good results in bend construction. They use it under wooden floors. This product is new in the market. I hope also in your place to. It calls Easy-cut i also try to use fiberglass primer to harden some parts and find out >>it's not melting<< it's really strong and flexible. Thanks STEALTH to motivate my pleasure in working whit foam!!!

MychoPsantis

Not melting? I want to try some out on the mistakes (wrong size) parts I attempted to build. I really like doing them in foam, but mine came out looking sorta 8-bit, and maybe the resin might help smooth it out some. Only one way to find out... Although I didn't finish everything in time, I just want to say thanks to everyone here.

7sinzz

Stealth, your tutorials are absolutely fantastic, thank you so much for re inspiring me to pick up this project again.
I started a fiberglass build about a year and a half ago but the time and effort involved was so frustrating, and i simply dont have that much patience.
Im 100% newbie to using foam so I have a few questions.
Please dont flame me for asking questions that have been asked hundreds of times, hours searching and i cant find the answers im looking for.
Firstly can someone link me to a post that describes in detail how to scale the peps. Im 6 foot slim build and robos files just didnt look right at all when they were finished.
Also i read somewhere that stealth has posted his own edits of the foam files, much searching and i still havent come accross those. I know the video says were better off to learn the method ourselves, but again its a patience thing, however i learned the method
Finally, i have been searching for hours now and cant find this foam stuff in the UK. Ebay has thousands of foam listings, but all are over a cm thick.
Asking has been literally a last resort for me because im well aware people get flamed for asking questions that have been asked millions of times, but the answers are buried so deep i swear i saw some lava.
Thanks in advance for any answers you gracious people can supply me with.

STEALTH

hey sinnz.

I can try my best to link you what I can

Yes, I did mention that it is a better idea to learn the method. Reason being, people will always just wait around for someone to mod files, why wait when you can just mod on your own and start building right away.

People need some initiative with this sort of thing so they can really make what ever is out there from foam because some people just want a costume to cosplay in not so much a prop, so foam is a good route for them.

Yes, there are some premade files
I made 2 thread in regards to pre made files.
I made a video for each thread as well. explaining it on my channel.

I modded them so that people could get an idea of what they look like modded.
Plus, it's a popular build for people. It just made sense to hook people up with them as a duo.

Iron man Mark IV/VI files
http://www.therpf.com/f24/robo3687s-...ersion-128147/

War machine files
http://www.therpf.com/f24/juices-war...thread-128626/


for scaling, it's about measuring the length of your limbs and use that for the "height" perimeter.

You have to compare from the character and your actual limb. Where the part starts and where it ends on the character and measure that for your limb and that's your height.

for torso's, I think it goes by width and adding 2-4 inches. Not 100%

To be honest, it's trial and error. You just have to build it in paper form before you transfer to foam, height for one part wont mean it will work for every part.

poor mentality to have cause it won't always work.

This game is about doing it a couple of times if you have to

Good luck

7sinzz

Thank you for taking the time to reply stealth. Much appreciated. I think im gonna start building this again very soon. With pepping the full HD files that i used previously, at 8 hours per pep, trial and error wasnt really an option. If i finished a build and it turned out that it was to big or small, then it generally resulted in a whirlwind rage occuring. Cities got destroyed, and millions lost their lives.
I found a supplier in the UK anyway its: Here :-P.

Although i have to admit the prices seem a bit higher than they are in the US. Anyone have anywhere thats a bit cheaper?
How long do you average it takes to make a complete armour stealth?

EDIT: Stealth, ive just been to check out your files and my jaw dropped! You must have shaved uncountable hours of the entire build by creating these files. They are absolutely fantastic. I will be making the iron man and war machine armours then im off into the big wide world of foamy costumings thank you again for your unbelievable work. Looking forward to part 4 of your video tutorials.

Also i found camping matts on ebay for 3 pounds each. That's talking my language.

STEALTH

Hey everyone - Part 4 is done

first off. I'm really Sorry for the delay.

I'm sure a lot of you guys know how to do this already but I felt I really needed to finish this tutorial for those that have been asking.

shouts out to Indiefilmgeek for the great alternative to PVA glue for sealing using PLAST-IDIP

I tried to play around with a low cost method as I don't like spending too much to complete these foam costumes as some may already know.

The choice is up to you.
TUTORIAL - Using PEPAKURA for FOAM Costume Building - Part 4 - Painting Foam Costumes "

Have Fun building these and remember the points mentioned in the entire tutorial.
I created this with Cost in mind and not so much the highest quality possible from these.

Reason being is that younger members needed a solution to paint their foam costumes that they could afford as well.
I tried to keep them in mind with this tutorial.

Many builders have excelled with their foam costumes and have gone above and beyond.
It's all about how much you want to spend and how much time you put into it

Good luck!

MrBibou

I waited so long for this, i'm sure i'm not the only one
This is awesome, thanks for the great work you've done for all of us, you're the man.

Props to you mate.

STEALTH

You're welcome. sorry for the wait.

McAullay

Dude this stuff is great. Love the tutorials. Started to build a pep ironman the other day but after seeing the ease you have shown here with foam think I will switch over to a foam build. Obviously like you said it defeats the purpose when finishing with harder products, but for a first time build I am really just eager to see a good result straight away. Can you see any issues arisng if I were to epoxy and bondo the pieces for detail? Thanks again.

Wes R

I'm going to give this a try and i think these tutorials will answer nearly every question i'll have. Thanks for making them.

Grave

he guys. sadly STEALTH has fallen off of the earth. cant find him anywhere. i know he is taking a break from things. but he hasnt said when he is coming back