Knowone251
Well-Known Member
Hello! So last year the charity group I'm in (Project Hero) decided to do a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project. The costumes of choice were, of course, GI Joe. Jackie and I decided to do The Baroness and Cobra Commander. As she tackled the sewing, I started in on the hard (as in firm, not more difficult 
) parts of the costumes. First up was a good looking Cobra emblem. One of our local sign shops has a laser cutter, and was willing to do some small work, so we had them cut us an emblem:
And Jackie cut bracers out of foamies. I made a mold of both of these.
The next big part was her chest armor. She wanted it light weight but durable, so we decided on vac-forming it. I started off with a blank female chest piece pulled from .060 black styeren:
Then I cut it down to a shape that fit Jackie comfortably, and gave the entire surface a light sanding.
To make the ridges on the abs, I bought some half round channel from Hobby Bench, capped the ends with clay to make a quick mold. I would let the resin set up so it was solid but still soft, pulled the pieces, and tape them into place on the master. After they hardened completely I glued them to the vac-formed piece:
After gluing the ridges, it was time to start strapping. I made paper templates to insure my spacing was symmetrical for the rivets.
We started to run out of time, so progress photos dwindled. We pulled a back piece, painted both, and Jackie did the weathering on them. I then did the same casting trick I used on the ridges to make the cobra emblem fit the bust of the armor, and make the bracers fit Jackie's arms. I used nylon webbing, rivets, 2 buckles and Velcro to assemble the armor:
Jackie did some amazing work on the bodysuit as well, but she'll have to post a build on that. Over all I think it came out great:
The event went great, we raised quite a bit of cash for a good cause. Hopefully in Feb we will be getting some professional shots of her costume. I'll post those if they happen.
) parts of the costumes. First up was a good looking Cobra emblem. One of our local sign shops has a laser cutter, and was willing to do some small work, so we had them cut us an emblem:And Jackie cut bracers out of foamies. I made a mold of both of these.
The next big part was her chest armor. She wanted it light weight but durable, so we decided on vac-forming it. I started off with a blank female chest piece pulled from .060 black styeren:
Then I cut it down to a shape that fit Jackie comfortably, and gave the entire surface a light sanding.
To make the ridges on the abs, I bought some half round channel from Hobby Bench, capped the ends with clay to make a quick mold. I would let the resin set up so it was solid but still soft, pulled the pieces, and tape them into place on the master. After they hardened completely I glued them to the vac-formed piece:
After gluing the ridges, it was time to start strapping. I made paper templates to insure my spacing was symmetrical for the rivets.
We started to run out of time, so progress photos dwindled. We pulled a back piece, painted both, and Jackie did the weathering on them. I then did the same casting trick I used on the ridges to make the cobra emblem fit the bust of the armor, and make the bracers fit Jackie's arms. I used nylon webbing, rivets, 2 buckles and Velcro to assemble the armor:
Jackie did some amazing work on the bodysuit as well, but she'll have to post a build on that. Over all I think it came out great:
The event went great, we raised quite a bit of cash for a good cause. Hopefully in Feb we will be getting some professional shots of her costume. I'll post those if they happen.
