Niloc LaasKion
New Member
Hello! This is my first thread on RPF and fair warning, it may be a bit rough.
I have been making costumes for a few years and a friend wanted help with his Mario cosplay. He decided he wanted to do a large hammer like in Smash Brothers Brawl or the Wii U version.
Unfortunately a lot of my photos turned out terribly but I will try to explain all that I cannot show. The techniques I used could be used for a Harley Quinn Mallet (and I might do that myself one day).
I started with two 5-gallon buckets from Menards that looked like they had the right angles. The image below shows the filled in version of the bucket (unfortunately no original images).
I used Great Stuff Expanding foam to fill in the edges and the large gaps. I shaped it using a snap-off blade knife and some rough sandpaper.
Within the PVC pipe I inserted a sanded down broom handle (it took me ages to sand). I used a 2 part epoxy to glue them together. This made the pipe extremely sturdy.
I attached the buckets together by drilling holes between them and fastening bolts and washers to them. I drilled the hole for the PVC pipe using a hole saw and a hand saw after I reached the end of the hole saw. The PVC pipe wedged in between the buckets nicely, and only a little extra glue (2 part epoxy) was added to strengthen the bond.
To seal the buckets off I used EVA foam and paper towel rods for support. I used a dremel tool on the edge of the foam so it sat nicely in the buckets.
I used masking tape to coat the foam. I also made a foam cap for the PVC pipe.
I used paper mache to seal the entire hammer and sanded it as smooth as I could afterwards.
I used about 4 cans of plastidip to paint the hammer. I wish I would have gone slower and prevented drips, however, from a distance it looks nice and smooth.
I sanded the PVC for better adhesion of paint. I used a fan brush on top of multiple woody looking layers. The more layers you add the better it seems to look. The fan brush added the detail seen in the second image below.
The original hammer was 7 feet tall, but was cut down to be about 5 after a test convention.
Here is the final image with the costume, and the pre-cut hammer.
Things I would change if I could redo it:
~Less corn starch in paper mache
~Do smaller, more even coats of plastidip
~Find a way to attach or seal acrylic paint to PVC pipe (it easily chipped off and had to be partially re-painted multiple times)
I have been making costumes for a few years and a friend wanted help with his Mario cosplay. He decided he wanted to do a large hammer like in Smash Brothers Brawl or the Wii U version.
Unfortunately a lot of my photos turned out terribly but I will try to explain all that I cannot show. The techniques I used could be used for a Harley Quinn Mallet (and I might do that myself one day).
I started with two 5-gallon buckets from Menards that looked like they had the right angles. The image below shows the filled in version of the bucket (unfortunately no original images).
I used Great Stuff Expanding foam to fill in the edges and the large gaps. I shaped it using a snap-off blade knife and some rough sandpaper.
Within the PVC pipe I inserted a sanded down broom handle (it took me ages to sand). I used a 2 part epoxy to glue them together. This made the pipe extremely sturdy.
I attached the buckets together by drilling holes between them and fastening bolts and washers to them. I drilled the hole for the PVC pipe using a hole saw and a hand saw after I reached the end of the hole saw. The PVC pipe wedged in between the buckets nicely, and only a little extra glue (2 part epoxy) was added to strengthen the bond.
To seal the buckets off I used EVA foam and paper towel rods for support. I used a dremel tool on the edge of the foam so it sat nicely in the buckets.
I used masking tape to coat the foam. I also made a foam cap for the PVC pipe.
I used paper mache to seal the entire hammer and sanded it as smooth as I could afterwards.
I used about 4 cans of plastidip to paint the hammer. I wish I would have gone slower and prevented drips, however, from a distance it looks nice and smooth.
I sanded the PVC for better adhesion of paint. I used a fan brush on top of multiple woody looking layers. The more layers you add the better it seems to look. The fan brush added the detail seen in the second image below.
The original hammer was 7 feet tall, but was cut down to be about 5 after a test convention.
Here is the final image with the costume, and the pre-cut hammer.
Things I would change if I could redo it:
~Less corn starch in paper mache
~Do smaller, more even coats of plastidip
~Find a way to attach or seal acrylic paint to PVC pipe (it easily chipped off and had to be partially re-painted multiple times)
