I've been a part of this forum for a while and never did a full build of my own, tried out techniques on individual pieces that I thought looked cool but never anything of note. So this is my second cosplay and first thread, I have alot of respect for all the talent and ideas I see come out of RPF so please any advice along the way is appreciated. I've done one cosplay before but I feel like it didn't take much work. I have a good portion of this costume done and have worked with alot of materials and techniques I've never touched before.
So for NYCC I decided to do one of my favorite heroes of all time, Robin. The arkham city variation was unique enough so I decided to give it a shot.
First up was the mask, after looking at a ton of different options for the mask (fabric,leather,etc.) I decided to try worbla. I've never used the stuff before but I have to say as a novice this stuff is pretty easy to work with. It was pretty straight forward just used some reference pictures made up my own pattern onto cardstock and then transfered onto the worbla. Heated it, molded it to my face (i made sure it wasn't too hot first) and then painted it.
Next up was the hand and wrist armor, after the worbla worked so well with the mask I decided to use 5mm foam and then coat it in worbla. Again used reference pictures, made a cardstock pattern and then applied to the foam. This time I used 10mm floar matts and 5mm foam, elastic was used for the straps. Don't mind the LEGO in the pic my apartment doesn't afford me a ton of working space
My technique for the worbla here was a little bit different since you can see in the painted pictures the worbla finish is a bit rough. I lightly sanded it with 500 grit and then 1200 grit sand paper. I then used primer with filler, you can get this at any auto part store and it is sandable once it dries. Whatever the can says for drying time give it double before you sand it, trust me. Unfortunately I didn't take any reference pictures during this process, but I did one more round of sanding another coat of filler primer and then one coat of paint. At this point I decided to start over after reading a tutorial on weathering with paint over at the dented helmet and deciding the costume looked too clean. The end result was okay and I'll take it for my first attempt at it.
After searching around online for a belt that matched the costume I was having no luck until I remembered there's and army navy store in the mall nearby... idiot. Perfect find and decided to try to bleach and die it bad idea. I eventually wound up using velvet non 3d fabric paint, the color is very bright and I need to do some weathering on it because it clashes against everything else. Before and mid painting pics here, also for the belt I used the same technique I used for the armor. It's a little bit different then the actual character but when I had it exact something about it didn't seem right so I modified it just enough to where I'm okay with it. I will post more pics of it once the weathering is done.
I will update with pics of the shirt, pants, cowl and gloves later this week. Any feedback good or bad is appreciated!
So for NYCC I decided to do one of my favorite heroes of all time, Robin. The arkham city variation was unique enough so I decided to give it a shot.
First up was the mask, after looking at a ton of different options for the mask (fabric,leather,etc.) I decided to try worbla. I've never used the stuff before but I have to say as a novice this stuff is pretty easy to work with. It was pretty straight forward just used some reference pictures made up my own pattern onto cardstock and then transfered onto the worbla. Heated it, molded it to my face (i made sure it wasn't too hot first) and then painted it.
Next up was the hand and wrist armor, after the worbla worked so well with the mask I decided to use 5mm foam and then coat it in worbla. Again used reference pictures, made a cardstock pattern and then applied to the foam. This time I used 10mm floar matts and 5mm foam, elastic was used for the straps. Don't mind the LEGO in the pic my apartment doesn't afford me a ton of working space
My technique for the worbla here was a little bit different since you can see in the painted pictures the worbla finish is a bit rough. I lightly sanded it with 500 grit and then 1200 grit sand paper. I then used primer with filler, you can get this at any auto part store and it is sandable once it dries. Whatever the can says for drying time give it double before you sand it, trust me. Unfortunately I didn't take any reference pictures during this process, but I did one more round of sanding another coat of filler primer and then one coat of paint. At this point I decided to start over after reading a tutorial on weathering with paint over at the dented helmet and deciding the costume looked too clean. The end result was okay and I'll take it for my first attempt at it.
After searching around online for a belt that matched the costume I was having no luck until I remembered there's and army navy store in the mall nearby... idiot. Perfect find and decided to try to bleach and die it bad idea. I eventually wound up using velvet non 3d fabric paint, the color is very bright and I need to do some weathering on it because it clashes against everything else. Before and mid painting pics here, also for the belt I used the same technique I used for the armor. It's a little bit different then the actual character but when I had it exact something about it didn't seem right so I modified it just enough to where I'm okay with it. I will post more pics of it once the weathering is done.
I will update with pics of the shirt, pants, cowl and gloves later this week. Any feedback good or bad is appreciated!
