Grey Warden (Dragon Age:I) WIP

[swanson]

Hey! So I just finished a con where i went with some friends as Sniper from TF2 (repping the dinosaur games haha) and i got super inspired by all the amazing cosplays there and on here so i want to make something a bit more substantial. I LOVE Dragon Age so i've decided on a rougey Grey Warden based on the Inquisition designs:



Armor making is 100% new to me (i'm much more comfortable at a sewing machine). I've made 1 prop with EVA foam but had a heap of fun, so i'm going to start with the limited pieces in this design and then if i feel confident i might make it more warrior-ish by adding some extra armor pieces - but we will see how it goes haha Timeline is for a local con in November, so fingers crossed! (I also need to think about a weapon - eek!)

I've started by drafting the hooded bolero thing, then make a mockup from some scrap fabric with a similar thickness to the final result:



I'm pretty happy with it, the final pattern has some minor shape alterations at the back, and is let out a just a touch to make sure the armor will fit at the front (I'll probably strap down my chest anyway hahaha) I also need to lay out the quilting pattern, order studs, get my final fabric etccccc. Here are my rough patterns, which i'll redraw with seam allowance before the final build:

 

[swanson]

So i severely underestimated how many studs id need haha so the arms still needs studding to the elbow but apart from that im pretty happy. I ended up dying a textured cotton in 'denim blue' to get the shade i wanted. Then i quilted each pattern piece with two layers of wadding (or scape fleece when i ran out of wadding haha) The arms had two layers on the upper arm and one on the forearm (again because i ran out of wadding/fleece - but if you ask me i'll tell you its totally a design choice...). I hand sewed a lining and the detail stitches etc there's still a few little stitches to do but i'll wait till i get more studs before i finish it off completely.

I also made a start on the breastplate with EVA. I'm pretty happy with the overall shape but im going to have to experiment on the best way to carve the griffin. At the moment it's 3 layers of 2mm foam each cut to a different level with detail carved with a woodcarving kit and smoothed over with Selley's Ezipress. But i don't know what the finish will be like as it's hard to get a smooth finish the way im doing it so this will probably being a test piece so i can also test my painting skills etc before i do a final version. I'm thinking i might try a test with thicker EVA to see if it's easier to just carve the whole thing from one piece rather than the layering. But any advice would be great!

 

[Murdoch]

Great start, looking forward to seeing more.

 

[swanson]

Great start, looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks!

So still chipping away at this, mostly lots of planning but i managed to finish the quilting for the tabbard! Used a metallic dance fabric with interfacing to stop it from stretching + some very girl fleece for wadding. Very excited to get the blue detail on I debated for a while about how to do the tabbard as most people seem to do scales but i felt quilting would be consistent with the hood and it turned out very close i think.

 

[swanson]

Started getting the blue on and im pretty happy with how it's tuning out! My el'cheapo sewing machine in in struggle town with the vinyl, so curently hoping it doesn't self combust hahaha

 

[swanson]

Took a break from the tabbard to workshop the arm guards, fairly happy with the result. The under bit is one layer of vinyl backed with fake suede, simple eyelets (which i might redo because i cut the holes a bit too big but you never see it so it would just be one of those 'well I know it's there things haha) and piping. The upper bit is two layers of vinyl with 1mm thick craft foam to give it more thickness, and recycled buckles and bands from an old pair of shoes. I dithered about whether to make then as two separate parts but in the end it makes them a lot easier to wear as you can take off the thicker top part quite easily

 

[Ajdzis]

The "leather" looks fantastic! Working on a faux leather vest now, for a project of my own. I thought I got it looking halfway decent thanks to paint (paper towels+blotting+darkened edges). This blows my efforts out of the water!

 

[swanson]

The "leather" looks fantastic! Working on a faux leather vest now, for a project of my own. I thought I got it looking halfway decent thanks to paint (paper towels+blotting+darkened edges). This blows my efforts out of the water!

Thankyou! That's really nice to say. Have you got any threads on here?

Soo after a month of sickness (and a cheeky car crash ) I've finally made some more progress! I've been dithering a lot about the armor, probably because i cant just sew it haha

I ended up unhappy with the breastplate shape i had before so I modeled a dodgy version of my torso in Maya as a base for prototyping the breastplate to fit my body type and get a nice shape. Then I used this Pepakura I've heard so much about to get a paper pattern (it was pretty awesome). I'm actually really happy with the result, i think the shape fits way better. The next step is to put together the under-plate and then i can start detailing. I have a cunning plan to use clay to sculpt the griffin and then make a mold of it so i can use it both for the breastplate and the arm thing. But time will tell if that works...

 

[Ajdzis]

Thankyou! That's really nice to say. Have you got any threads on here?

Heh, not quite yet... That leather vest project I mentioned is on hiatus, for a bit. Gearing up for a fairly ambitious foam build now, but that's still a couple of months out (I'll be in dire need of help/advice on it, so I'll definitely start a thread).

Excited to follow updates on this, though!

 

[swanson]

Heh, not quite yet... That leather vest project I mentioned is on hiatus, for a bit. Gearing up for a fairly ambitious foam build now, but that's still a couple of months out (I'll be in dire need of help/advice on it, so I'll definitely start a thread).

Excited to follow updates on this, though!

Whoop, keen to see when you do

So i went full steam on my cunning mold plan with mixed success. Sculpting the griffin out of clay was easy to do and fun, but when it dried it didn't dry flat because i used a flexible drawing board as a base (well done to me). Because of this it cracked when i put together the foam box for the PoP, but i glued it together as best i could and decided to press on. The PoP process worked well and i got a decent mold I used PoP because it was cheap and easy for me to get from the store but i'd love to try better casting methods one day To cast i used 'foam clay' which is basically sculptable foam which dries but is flexible so i could heat it after and shape it to the breastplate and the shoulder piece. However, it took much longer to cure than i thought so i messed it up a lot taking it out of the mold too early haha I've got another cast drying and am determined to leave it as long as possible, ive also used a mold release spray to make it easier to get out so fingers crossed for a cleaner cast!! I went ahead and did some painting on the first cast just to practice my painting and suss out the paints i'm thinking of using.



I also went ahead and drafted up the boots. I'm using some old boots of mine as a base and just made a boot cover pattern. I'm tempted to glue them together but i use the boots for another cosplay so might just leave it or use velcro. Once again had a blast doing the weathering. Now just need to do the other leg...

 

[swanson]

Waiting around for the foam to cure so finally got around to finishing off the tabbard with a bit of weathering (yeah, im obsessed haha) and put together the closure for the jacket.

 

[Finbarr]

Wow, this is really cool. Really good job. I will definitely be following this thread. Your tailoring skills are excellent.

 

[swanson]

Wow, this is really cool. Really good job. I will definitely be following this thread. Your tailoring skills are excellent.

Thankyou! I really appreciate it

Finally making progress on the armor D: I had a lot of trouble with 'casting' the griffin, letting it dry in the mold even with the release spray was not working at all. But after some workshopping i figured out that if you remove it very quickly (like a bandaid haha) immediately after shaping it it works a LOT better! I ended up letting it dry for 24 hours out of the mold then cut out the shape, removed the excess clay and smoothed things a bit. Attaching it to the breast plate base was really straightforward, just used more clay to even out the join and make it integrate a bit more. Currently doing the priming, i'm super excited to see how it turns out with paint



Also made the loops for the belt, i'm picking up some buckles today so hopefully will have some functioning belts soon! It was also good to try out some painting processes. I was originally going to use plastidip to prime but it's hella expensive where i live so going the cheaper (and sandable) route of many coats of modge podge which seemed to work well!

 

[swanson]

So i finally finished some armor, which is very exciting There are definitely things i would do different but theres always got to be a first try haha It's a little too bulky but not that bad, i also had some trouble getting a smooth finish with the paint, i think maybe my application might be to blame. I was really happy with the attachments though, turned out a lot simpler than i imagined

 

[Ajdzis]

The jacket/gambeson and the breastplate look awesome together, well done! Looking forward to the next finished pieces/seeing it all together soon!

 

[swanson]

So the beast is finally done! Got a bit crazy toward the end but i managed to make my November con deadline, whoop! It was a lot of fun wearing it with my friend (The amazing tf2 medic above - like seriously her medigun is incredible). Im kind of not great with photos so i didnt get a lot at the con (great attribute for a cosplayer haha) but here are some more pics of the final thing on my mannequin:



Final process bits! After finishing the breastplate I did the leg pieces and the shoulder griffin. The griffin was 'cast' in the same way as the one for the breastplate and was really easy since id finally worked out how to do it. I don't know if i'd do casting foam like this again but it was definitely fun to experiment and the end result had the advantage of being really light and user friendly. Like the other metal, I used about 4-5 layers of modge podge, sanded it back a little and then applied a glossy black base-coat, then a light coat of silver metal, then sponged on green/brown shades of acrylic and then a final thin coat of silver metal. It's kind of a long process but i think it makes it look like better metal (See the comparison below) Next came my fave, the weathering



I decided long ago that i wanted the leg pieces to be detachable in case i wanted to re-purpose the costume into the mage version (for more comfort and also maybe some light up magic staff shenanigans down the line hehehe), so the belt loops have velcro behind them that attach to the leg pieces, meaning the belt can be worn without them. This also helps keep them in place thank god haha I had great difficulty with the attachments at the bottom. I thought glue would be enough to keep them secure but alas sweet summer child i was wrong. Lessons for next time



Because i don't like to sleep apparently i also made a quick daggery-sword thing as a prop. I mocked up a design that i liked and worked out some construction after seeing the genius idea from Kinpastu cosplay to heat up the pvc pipe for the handle and flatten it so it could sit inside the blade for stability. Made a very quick and dirty sheath that really could have benefited from a second belt loop haha but at least it gave my hand something to occupy



And thats it! Wowzas so satisfying to finish a project like this, i'm looking forward to the next one, thanks so much to everyone who commented, it actually motivated me a lot

 

[SMP Designs]

Absolutely stunning - well done you! Every detail is just spot on, you should be very proud! Cheers!