geekswoodshop
New Member
This was done for last years DCC, finally got around to a few pics. First time working with foam armor, first for many things, so plenty of mistakes, but thanks RPF members for all the wisdom in here, very helpful.
Things learned the hard way, that are likely common knowledge in here:
-Velcro doesn't stick to foam, with hot or super glue, my foam chaps barely made it through the day. Learned later to sew a simple cloth backing to your velcro pieces and then glue to your foam.
-Fabric paint fades, far more than I expected it to. Also, dyeing fabric is tricky, and depends very much on what type of fabric you are using.
-There are a number of tutorials out there on making your foam look like leather that are great. Mostly using an iron to press in some crinkled tin foil for texture, and using a mix of orange/brown paint to provide the right color. I also found that a bit of artists chalk scraped lightly then scrubbed in gave a bit more depth to the look and used shellac over the top of it all to seal it in and give it just a little bit of sheen.
-Cosplaying this character a year before the game is released means about 2 people will actually recognize you as anything other than a cowboy.
-The BAMF belt buckle is a fun way to find the people who are old-school nightcrawler fans and get confused by it's use in this context.
Things learned the hard way, that are likely common knowledge in here:
-Velcro doesn't stick to foam, with hot or super glue, my foam chaps barely made it through the day. Learned later to sew a simple cloth backing to your velcro pieces and then glue to your foam.
-Fabric paint fades, far more than I expected it to. Also, dyeing fabric is tricky, and depends very much on what type of fabric you are using.
-There are a number of tutorials out there on making your foam look like leather that are great. Mostly using an iron to press in some crinkled tin foil for texture, and using a mix of orange/brown paint to provide the right color. I also found that a bit of artists chalk scraped lightly then scrubbed in gave a bit more depth to the look and used shellac over the top of it all to seal it in and give it just a little bit of sheen.
-Cosplaying this character a year before the game is released means about 2 people will actually recognize you as anything other than a cowboy.
-The BAMF belt buckle is a fun way to find the people who are old-school nightcrawler fans and get confused by it's use in this context.