Helena Wayne as Robin

[SpiritV]

Hi there!

So Halloween and a comic convention is right around the corner and me and some of my friends are getting dressed up. One of my friends wants to go as Helena Wayne aka. Robin of Earth 2. The thing is, we're kind of on a budget and we've never done this before. I mean, yeah, I'm putting together a Winter Soldier but that's really, really easy.

Her:


There's been a costume by the amazing Ricketandoo of Flickr.


We've got the following parts:

• Shoes: black boots (she's got some) and yellow laces.
• Mask: https://www.etsy.com/listing/109122561/arkham-city-robin-inspired-superhero
• Armour plating: Shin guards for soccer and spray paint.
• Cape: self-made
• Trousers: we may or may not go with green cargos for a bit of a more tactical look.

But we've got questions, of course:

• How do we do the R-Symbol at the neck?
• That belt. We have no idea. Seriously.
• The Rs on the kneepads are also seemingly beyond us.
• The shirt. Can that be bought somewhere? How would we go about making it?
• How does one make the shoulderpads?
• Assuming we have to spraypaint some parts, how do we do that best?

Thanks for the help! If you need it, I can provide more imagery from comic books where Helena actually appears as Robin.

 

[Jamie Ridder]

I would try the foam sheets for the R emblems. cheap and really light. You might find some cheap pads at a thrift store you can convert. hope this helps, good luck

 

[SpiritV]

I would try the foam sheets for the R emblems. cheap and really light. You might find some cheap pads at a thrift store you can convert. hope this helps, good luck

Oh! That actually does help! I didn't think of the whole foam sheet thing. Brilliant!

We could even get the belt to work that way and all we need would be a flat, round belt buckle (which just might be finable. The yellow things on the belt could be done that way as well. I'll forward the idea to my friend who's building it. She's much better at this stuff than I am.

 

[Vox]

The other thing you can try for the knee pads is contact paper stencils. This is the stuff you can get at hardware stores and the like, generally used to line shelves, but it given that the bottom of the entire sheet is low-tack adhesive, it doubles very well as stencils for spray painting, so long as you keep the coats light. Here's an example of how I used it for my Captain America Shield:
(You'll be dealing with a smaller, less domed surface, so if you use this method you probably won't have to worry about pinching shut all of those folds that I had to deal with.)

Since this is not an oft-seen nor in-demand Robin iteration, I doubt you'll find the shirt anywhere. Thankfully though, the details are not too extreme. Depending on your sewing ability:
Suggestion 1: Get a red ladies tee shirt. Cut off the sleeves, leaving a little extra fabric. Fold that in and sew and outer edge for a nice clean look. Use puff paint for the 2 yellow lines, and self-made iron-on decals for the chest details.
Suggestion 2: buy the red fabric and sew the shirt yourself. Look up some tutorials on how to sew "tubing"or "piping" for the 2 yellow lines, which will leave you with 4 shirt panels total (3 in front, one in back). Then I would still use the iron-on decals for the center.

The shoulder pads are probably best done out of EVA foam (LOADS of tutorials on Youtube).

For the belt strap: brown vinyl fabric or pleather, with a black strap sewn on top of it. You can find the brown stuff at any fabric store, and for the strap, I suggest Strapworks.com. You can by loads of different fabric strapping at different widths, and they sell it by the foot so you won't have to buy more than you need.

For the belt "capsules:" I would actually get a wooden dowel rod from a hardware store, cut three segments each the width the belt, then cut those lengthwise down the middle, so you have 6 half-segments to attach to the belt. From there, you just sand, prime, and paint.

I'm sorry I have no good suggestions for the belt buckle itself. Having a brain-lapse for that.


For any spray painting, you will need:
-An outside space (or well-ventilated space, like a garage with the door open).
-A drop "cloth" (you can find cheap plastic ones for 1-3 dollars)
-Primer spray paint
-Actual spray paint (these will come in different finishes, so be sure to research what those look like i.e. gloss will be shiny and reflective, flat or matte will not, metallic will look metallic, etc.)
-Respirator (this will probably be expensive, around $35-40, but it is a worthwhile investment in your health and therefore pays for itself. Plus, with gentle care and storing the filter cartridges in a clean and sealed plastic bag/container, you will get a long life out of them before you need to replace them).

Once you have all that, I suggest again turning to online tutorials. Plenty of people to show you how to prime, wet-sand (if needed), and paint.

Hope all of that helps!

 

[SpiritV]

The other thing you can try for the knee pads is contact paper stencils. This is the stuff you can get at hardware stores and the like, generally used to line shelves, but it given that the bottom of the entire sheet is low-tack adhesive, it doubles very well as stencils for spray painting, so long as you keep the coats light. Here's an example of how I used it for my Captain America Shield:
View attachment 356514 (You'll be dealing with a smaller, less domed surface, so if you use this method you probably won't have to worry about pinching shut all of those folds that I had to deal with.)

Since this is not an oft-seen nor in-demand Robin iteration, I doubt you'll find the shirt anywhere. Thankfully though, the details are not too extreme. Depending on your sewing ability:
Suggestion 1: Get a red ladies tee shirt. Cut off the sleeves, leaving a little extra fabric. Fold that in and sew and outer edge for a nice clean look. Use puff paint for the 2 yellow lines, and self-made iron-on decals for the chest details.
Suggestion 2: buy the red fabric and sew the shirt yourself. Look up some tutorials on how to sew "tubing"or "piping" for the 2 yellow lines, which will leave you with 4 shirt panels total (3 in front, one in back). Then I would still use the iron-on decals for the center.

The shoulder pads are probably best done out of EVA foam (LOADS of tutorials on Youtube).

For the belt strap: brown vinyl fabric or pleather, with a black strap sewn on top of it. You can find the brown stuff at any fabric store, and for the strap, I suggest Strapworks.com. You can by loads of different fabric strapping at different widths, and they sell it by the foot so you won't have to buy more than you need.

For the belt "capsules:" I would actually get a wooden dowel rod from a hardware store, cut three segments each the width the belt, then cut those lengthwise down the middle, so you have 6 half-segments to attach to the belt. From there, you just sand, prime, and paint.

I'm sorry I have no good suggestions for the belt buckle itself. Having a brain-lapse for that.


For any spray painting, you will need:
-An outside space (or well-ventilated space, like a garage with the door open).
-A drop "cloth" (you can find cheap plastic ones for 1-3 dollars)
-Primer spray paint
-Actual spray paint (these will come in different finishes, so be sure to research what those look like i.e. gloss will be shiny and reflective, flat or matte will not, metallic will look metallic, etc.)
-Respirator (this will probably be expensive, around $35-40, but it is a worthwhile investment in your health and therefore pays for itself. Plus, with gentle care and storing the filter cartridges in a clean and sealed plastic bag/container, you will get a long life out of them before you need to replace them).

Once you have all that, I suggest again turning to online tutorials. Plenty of people to show you how to prime, wet-sand (if needed), and paint.

Hope all of that helps!

I think we'll try our hand at EVA Foam. The question is: Where do you get that stuff? I mean, is there a good resource for it? I've looked at eBay and they have some of the stuff, but some charge quite hefty prices.

Local home depot like store (we don't have Home Depot, mind you) has yet to be checked out so I'm pursuing that too, but I figured it prudent to have two lines of inquiry.

Also, is working with EVA Foam really as easy as I've seen in the Youtube videos I watched?

 

[Vox]

I think we'll try our hand at EVA Foam. The question is: Where do you get that stuff? I mean, is there a good resource for it? I've looked at eBay and they have some of the stuff, but some charge quite hefty prices.

Local home depot like store (we don't have Home Depot, mind you) has yet to be checked out so I'm pursuing that too, but I figured it prudent to have two lines of inquiry.

Also, is working with EVA Foam really as easy as I've seen in the Youtube videos I watched?

I've seen it at hardware stores, building material stores (Menards, Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) Walmart, Target, and overstock stores. Just ask if they carry foam floor mats. However, they usually only come in thicker varieties when bought in-store (3/8 to 1/4 of an inch). If that works for you, great! If you want something thinner, I suggest checking out Ebay user Wandyfoam. That store carries a nice variety of packages varying in thickness and amount, so you don't end up buying more than you need.

And yes, working with it is as easy as you see in the Youtube videos. Granted, if it is your first time using it, you might want to buy a little bit more than you need precisely so that you can experiment with it and see how it works before actually crafting your pieces, but that won't take you long. There is a very low learning curve with it, and as you follow any video instructions, you'll see how user-friendly it is.

 

[SpiritV]

I've seen it at hardware stores, building material stores (Menards, Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) Walmart, Target, and overstock stores. Just ask if they carry foam floor mats. However, they usually only come in thicker varieties when bought in-store (3/8 to 1/4 of an inch). If that works for you, great! If you want something thinner, I suggest checking out Ebay user Wandyfoam. That store carries a nice variety of packages varying in thickness and amount, so you don't end up buying more than you need.

And yes, working with it is as easy as you see in the Youtube videos. Granted, if it is your first time using it, you might want to buy a little bit more than you need precisely so that you can experiment with it and see how it works before actually crafting your pieces, but that won't take you long. There is a very low learning curve with it, and as you follow any video instructions, you'll see how user-friendly it is.

Wow! You're an amazing help! Thanks!

I think half an inch thick would work well for armoured shoulderpads, no?

On an architectural level, I would guess something like this?

 

[Vox]

Yes, if you are going to do layers, I definitely recommend the thicker stuff. You can sand it down to whatever thickness you want, which will make it very easy for you to do the layered shoulder pads.

 

[Yrien]

You can also find thinner foam (in Canada I mostly find 2mm) at craft stores. It works well for adding details.

 

[Jamie Ridder]

They work great if you heat them up in the oven and form them.pre-heat to 250 then put a sheet in center rack, wait a few until the sheet droops a bit, then take it out and you can form it