Beginning a Daedric armor foam build

[HappySalesman]

Hey all,

So this thread is going to chronicle my Daedric armor build, which I'll hopefully be able to kick off the ground here soon. Was hoping I could get a little bit of advice before I start however.

I know the most common method for foam armor is to buy the anti-fatigue foam mats and cut and glue all of that together. I was however looking at a potentially different method and wanted some opinions.

Instead of making it purely out of foam, has anyone ever tried pepping the files like normal, then hitting the paper with resin for some rigidity, and using the smaller 3mm craft foam laid over the paper, then sealing and such?

 

[DJdrummer]

The real advantage the floor mats have is their thickness. That can also be a disadvantage but if the mats are an inch thick, then you can get a lot of the detail that daedric armor is known for through rotary tool sculpting. However that aside, I don't see why the method you outlined wouldn't work. I'd recommend sealing everything with Plastidip when its all done to reduce the risk of paint cracking and also I think it would give it a pretty suitable finish.

 

[TonySingh]

Having used both 3mm covering over cardboard and Making armor from 1" thick Foam. Both are great ways.
Paperkura and Fiberglass is also a well established method.
Each simply has pros and cons.

With Thick foam The trick is heating it enough to bend it into shape from my own work. Dremeling the details involves some commitment and a steady hand and TONS of dust.
But you get alot of dept control that brings it out. IF the armor needs a course finish.

With a cardboard ,covered foam. Its great for smoother finishes. Flat armor, swords, knives. You wont need fiberglass. but some basic application of papermache layers will give you a really strong finish. and its durable to my own accounts.

Paper and fiberglass Ive done before. but its just too much of a hassle for me. Im on of the few that has a serious reaction to it ;/ so i cant offer any help there. But regardless of the choice. All you need to do is get started , experiment a few times if need be. And dont be afraid to make mistakes.

 

[HappySalesman]

Having used both 3mm covering over cardboard and Making armor from 1" thick Foam. Both are great ways.
Paperkura and Fiberglass is also a well established method.
Each simply has pros and cons.

With Thick foam The trick is heating it enough to bend it into shape from my own work. Dremeling the details involves some commitment and a steady hand and TONS of dust.
But you get alot of dept control that brings it out. IF the armor needs a course finish.

With a cardboard ,covered foam. Its great for smoother finishes. Flat armor, swords, knives. You wont need fiberglass. but some basic application of papermache layers will give you a really strong finish. and its durable to my own accounts.

Paper and fiberglass Ive done before. but its just too much of a hassle for me. Im on of the few that has a serious reaction to it ;/ so i cant offer any help there. But regardless of the choice. All you need to do is get started , experiment a few times if need be. And dont be afraid to make mistakes.

With the thick foam, how does everyone go about getting the proper edge when mating two pieces together? i.e. if I were to make the helmet out of pure foam, how do you measure the angle that each piece needs to be joined at?

 

[HappySalesman]

Well, since most threads are useless without pics, here's a handful!

Been quite a long time since I've pepped anything haha.

 

[TonySingh]

Well, since most threads are useless without pics, here's a handful!

Been quite a long time since I've pepped anything haha.

View attachment 463758View attachment 463757View attachment 463759View attachment 463760

Nice work ! Paperkura is for the patience.. lol.
As for Joining thick foam. This might sound strange But i actually I sew them together. Not over sew them in though. but just enough that im comfortable that they will hold together heres an example . Note though that under the foam itself I line it with Linen cloth via Contact spray glue so the foam wont be subjected to tearing.

 

[collinE83]

90% of what you need to know for foam building is in this thread-

http://www.therpf.com/f24/jfcustoms-foam-files-148889/

The first post has tutorial stuff after the foam files and the cutting a gluing is about 2/3 the way down the page. Hot glue is all you need, but the previous post about sewing has a pretty good solution to the main downside of hot gluing, which is keep your costume in a hot car on a hot day and the joints potentially coming apart.

 

[RedbirdXlll]

What program do you use to make the models to import into Paperkura?

I know some people use ZBrush but it's so expensive.... I'm wondering if there's a cheaper alternative. I have Sculptris but that's not very helpful for anything that's not organic.

 

[Bogleo]

What program do you use to make the models to import into Paperkura?

I know some people use ZBrush but it's so expensive.... I'm wondering if there's a cheaper alternative. I have Sculptris but that's not very helpful for anything that's not organic.

Sculpting programs won't work well for Pepakura. You need high poly models for 3D sculpting, and Pepakura works best with low poly models. Blender is free, and very powerful. There's also Maya, and 3DS max, but those are expensive, but if you're a student you can get them for free.

 

[RedbirdXlll]

Sculpting programs won't work well for Pepakura. You need high poly models for 3D sculpting, and Pepakura works best with low poly models. Blender is free, and very powerful. There's also Maya, and 3DS max, but those are expensive, but if you're a student you can get them for free.

Okay, that's really awesome to know, thank you.

Would a program like Google Sketch-Up work as well?

 

[Bogleo]

Okay, that's really awesome to know, thank you.

Would a program like Google Sketch-Up work as well?

You could use Sketch-Up, but it would depend on what you want to make. In my experience, Blender would be better than Sketch-Up to make something like this: Or an Iron man or Halo helmet.



I have only used the regular free version of Sketchup, but I've heard about plug-ins that make modeling other things easier.

 

[RedbirdXlll]

You could use Sketch-Up, but it would depend on what you want to make. In my experience, Blender would be better than Sketch-Up to make something like this: Or an Iron man or Halo helmet.

View attachment 463985

I have only used the regular free version of Sketchup, but I've heard about plug-ins that make modeling other things easier.

Alright awesome, I'll look into it. I'm pretty familiar with SketchUp so I think I could make something pretty easily, but that is also really valuable information, I really appreciate it. I'll definitely give Blender a look!

 

[HappySalesman]

90% of what you need to know for foam building is in this thread-

http://www.therpf.com/f24/jfcustoms-foam-files-148889/

The first post has tutorial stuff after the foam files and the cutting a gluing is about 2/3 the way down the page. Hot glue is all you need, but the previous post about sewing has a pretty good solution to the main downside of hot gluing, which is keep your costume in a hot car on a hot day and the joints potentially coming apart.

Yeah I did read through that thread. Only thing that left me wondering was after you have everything assembled, you're still left with sharp angles and blocky parts, so how do you get rid of those? Or does the sealing with modge podge sort of smooth it out?

Thanks!

 

[Flamuul]

What size did u used for the helmet?

 

[HappySalesman]

Okay, I know it's been a few months, but that just means I suck at updating! lol.

Have the whole armor pepped (waiting to finish glassing the chest piece before I cut it and do a full-body test fit)

I tried doing foam over the pepakura for the helmet and... it didn't turn out well...



In other news, Sprite just picked me up in a sponsorship! lol I figured I would try doing bondo over the foam, but with how flexible the foam is I'm not sure how well that'll work out. Worst case scenario is I have to peel the foam off and re-do the bondo.

But I also got the arm bracers glassed, and they look friggen awesome!



I feel like shredder everytime I put any part of this armor on lol.

That's it for now unfortunately. But I'll hopefully remember to update more often lol.

See you soon!

 

[HappySalesman]

Jeeze it's been a while since I updated. Sorry, I completely forgot about this thread!

So I started bondoing the helmet and one of the gauntlets (foam just wasn't working out over the pepakura)





After I finished with that, I ordered some instamorph and set about creating the texture for the helmet, as well as putting worbla over the raised, smooth pars.





Since instamorph is kind of expensive, I think that's going to be the part that takes the longest. While I waited for my next paycheck to come in, I made the finger pieces for the gloves.



Hopefully I'll have another update come tuesday (which is the start of my weekend)

I update my facebook page more often, so if you're looking for less sporadic updates, my page is: facebook.com/happysalesmansprops