Multi-use Armor: Warrior Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman

springsteel · Aug 11, 2014

UPDATE: Completed Wonder Woman Costume

Took Best Female Hero at WW Nashville Comic Con. And while originally intended for this costume to double for Hawkgirl, I had such a fun time building it, a new Hawkgirl is on the way!

Original Post:
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Just entering the building stage of a multi-use costume. Because Worbla is so freaking expensive, I was hoping to get more mileage out of the armor by designing it meet the needs of multiple costumes: Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman. Materials are Worbla, Wonderflex, leather, wood, fabric, and whatever else I can get my paws on that happens to be free or next to it. Because of budget and time constraints, Wonder Woman comes first! I'll work those hawk wings out at a later date.

springsteel · Aug 12, 2014

Try as I might, one room can't contain the mess. What I'd do for a garage.

springsteel · Aug 12, 2014

Making progress:

Making the greaves and arm guard from Worbla and Wonderflex, with a foam core.

A look at the entire ensemble. I'm nearly out of thermoplastic materials, so I might be skimping on the planned helmet and sabatons. After completing the armor, I've skimmed the ugly areas and mistakes with a spot of wood filler.

After spending the money on a half-gallon of gesso for priming, it turns out gesso is a huge pain to work with. It's excessively raised and streaky, and takes a dozen coats before being thick enough to sand. So, after three coats, I'm switching to wood glue. Cheaper, easier, and looks great! Sword is made from two, extra-long/heavy-duty paint stirrers from Lowes, two normal stirrers, and some wood filler.

springsteel · Aug 17, 2014

Onto the painting! One layer of spray gold:

View attachment 364360

Adding some character with acrylics. I've since changed the white stripe to silver as it looks more cohesive:

More progress on the paint job. She's not looking like Wonder Woman just yet, so I've decided to paint the hip armor base blue, along with the bracers (all still trimmed in gold), and throw a few stars in there. As well, I've run out of material for the helmet I'd planned, so I've made just a face shield out of craft foam:

View attachment 364362

springsteel · Aug 17, 2014

Hip armor and bracers, now blue and patriotized. The stars are detachable with magnets inside, so I can use the same pieces for Hawkgirl:

DarthStevenus · Aug 17, 2014

I'm surprised no one is commenting on this. Looking great so far, keep up the good work!

Rickhemingway · Aug 17, 2014

Oh wow, your armor looks great!

Deklin · Aug 17, 2014

Your attachments are not working

springsteel · Aug 17, 2014

Thanks everyone! And yeah, I'm constantly having trouble with the attachments. Thanks for the heads up, Deklin!

springsteel · Aug 17, 2014

A little sword progress. The blade is made of is made from two, extra-long/heavy-duty paint stirrers from Lowes, two normal stirrers, and some wood filler. The hilt is composed of a small length of PVC with leftover Worbla for the cross-guard and Worbla + golf ball for the pommel. I have some faux leather to braid the grip with, diamond-plait style. Nearly there!

Vox · Aug 17, 2014

This is looking great! Nice paint work on the sword, it looks fantastic.

Also, that cat in the first post is just like, "You're working here, right? Good, just making sure I was picking the right spot to get in the way."

springsteel · Aug 17, 2014

Vox said:
Also, that cat in the first post is just like, "You're working here, right? Good, just making sure I was picking the right spot to get in the way."

The cat is an excellent craft partner. "You need your paintbrushes? I've organized them under the stove for you!"

And thank you, Vox! Speaking of, anyone have any ideas on preserving that paint work? I would love to seal it with a nice clear coat, but metallic spray paint and spray-on clear do not get along. I'm already getting some scratches from just playing around, and as it will likely come in and out of a scabbard, I'd like to have a little protection. It's silver spray paint with silver/black acrylic for detail. I've got some modge podge and elmers glue lying around somewhere, so my current plan is to test that out.

Vox · Aug 17, 2014

You could try Rustoleum's Acrylic Laquer. It is made to adhere to metal (so should bond well with metallic spray paint), dries in high gloss which will bring out the luster in that armor/sword, and will be durable.

Hazmat · Aug 17, 2014

Looks wicked. The idea of using magnets for the character specific details is genius. The design overall is stellar.

DarthStevenus · Aug 17, 2014

Wow, I'm floored by what you were able to make with the materials for that sword. As far as preserving the paint goes, if I were you I would just resign myself to my fate and stock up on paint to do touch ups once it gets scratched. I made a utility belt for my Batman costume out of some plastic containers that I spray painted with a metallic bronze color, and they're incredibly scratch prone. Whenever I wear the belt now I act like I'm walking around with a bomb strapped to my waist, making absolutely sure that I don't bump into anything. You could try the modge podge/elmers glue thing, but as far as clear laquer goes I'm not sure it will protect it too much. It will keep the paint from fading I guess, but if you bump into anything it's probably still going to scratch off.

springsteel · Aug 18, 2014

Vox said:
You could try Rustoleum's Acrylic Laquer. It is made to adhere to metal (so should bond well with metallic spray paint), dries in high gloss which will bring out the luster in that armor/sword, and will be durable.

I will have to try that! I've also heard of using floor wax. Hmm...

Hazmat said:
Looks wicked. The idea of using magnets for the character specific details is genius. The design overall is stellar.

Thank you! I'm spending more money on this costume than I ever have, so I really needed it to be multipurpose.

DarthStevenus said:
I made a utility belt for my Batman costume out of some plastic containers that I spray painted with a metallic bronze color, and they're incredibly scratch prone. Whenever I wear the belt now I act like I'm walking around with a bomb strapped to my waist, making absolutely sure that I don't bump into anything.

Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb.

springsteel · Aug 18, 2014

My mess of a hawk helmet. I was shooting for the Adam Hughes Hawkgirl statue, but failed, and now I'm too attached to the effort I made to throw it out.

I may add some bands like in the picture bellow, to flesh it out some:

Yay bathroom mirror photos :/

springsteel · Aug 19, 2014

Detail of the hilt grip. Apparently my braiding skills are terrible and vinyl is not the best choice of material, so I might revisit this task with some worbla "scales." I've also just realized just how much that looks like a goblin face...

Vox · Aug 19, 2014

Maybe I am in the minority, but I think that binding work looks great! If it is not what you want, then by all means go ahead and modify it, but I see no problem with it.

And yes, I definitely see the goblin face in the guard.

springsteel · Aug 19, 2014

Haha, I guess it actually looks pretty decent in the photo, but it's a mess in person. I spent all evening practicing, but the vinyl likes to slip and loosen. Round Two tonight.

Multi-use Armor: Warrior Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman

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