when planetside 2 first came out i was pretty into it and after searching through some game files i was able to find the models for the vehicles. you can also do this and find the files for your guns and armor, with a little cleaning up you can use those .obj files with pepakura to make your...
If you want to learn how to pep then honestly start with something small, if you ever enjoyed Pokémon try finding your favorite and pep that. Use cardstock as well. When you go to make your prop make sure you have pepakura designer instead of viewer because you will need to scale you props more...
Bill Doran also sells a book in his store called foam smith, I think that is probably exactly what you are looking for, as for youtube channels besides Bill Doran i suggest Evil Ted Smith.
I love both the manga and the anime so seeing this cosplay is awesome and inspirational. I really with that you had more time and budget to work with because I would love to see what you could do with this cosplay, I personally am never pleased with the sword blades people make, they are too...
may i ask what "xrobot's painting plastic onto the foam method" is? link to a video or a post that explains it. i'm new here, so if there are tutorials that i missed please tell me.