New to cosplay but want to try out EVA foam builds

[FuKt]

hello everyone. i am finally on my 4 days off. well i am at home after my 12hr shift and thought i would start work on the captain america helmet. i am about to cut out the templates and i am noticing that the template has "valley" fold guidelines. i know in papercrafting you would score those for a valley fold am i doing this with foam as well? it doesnt really make sense as foam is a thicker medium. am i supposed to just ignore those and just cut out around the grey area and ignore any dotted/dashed lines? man i'm just beginning and i am already confused...

 

[Snow Builder]

hello everyone. i am finally on my 4 days off. well i am at home after my 12hr shift and thought i would start work on the captain america helmet. i am about to cut out the templates and i am noticing that the template has "valley" fold guidelines. i know in papercrafting you would score those for a valley fold am i doing this with foam as well? it doesnt really make sense as foam is a thicker medium. am i supposed to just ignore those and just cut out around the grey area and ignore any dotted/dashed lines? man i'm just beginning and i am already confused...

Good luck on your build. I just finished my first Pepakura project. Lesson learned? The first project is going to be far from perfect -you have to get past the learning curve. Take it in stride and treat it as a practice run.

 

[collinE83]

If you have the settings so that you see every mountain and valley line, then you'll probably want to change it so most go away. It's too much for a beginner to worry about. Maybe have it set so you only see angles under 150 degrees or something.

Once you've done that, or if the file already loaded with most of the angles gone, then pull up a reference photo of a completed helmet. If it's a round curve, then don't worry about it. The files are already designed so the foam will do a mountain or valley curve on its own when everything is put together. If the reference picture of the helmet that you have pulled up shows a place where there's a hard angle, that's where you're going to do a single undercut to allow for the foam to do a hard valley fold. Or you'll take out a V chunk on the underside if it's a mountain fold, again only if it's a hard angle you want. Hope that helps.

---
Oh, and if you haven't already, go ahead to JFcustom's foam file thread and scroll down to the pictures where he's describing how to handle mountain and valley folds. It definitely helped me on my first go.

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=148889

 

[FuKt]

@Snowbuilder any chance on seeing this pepakura project. you have poked my interest (yes poked) as you said it is your first and i would just like to see what you have come up with. i do know what it is like beginning something total out of the norm. i myself am a traditional artist. i like the pencil and paper. well tbh i just love any paper altogether. my norm is art but i like to try something new once in awhile. try a different skill set per se.

as for everyone that has helped me get to this point i went out and bought some very sharp scissors (thanks for the tip @cdkealey ) and several types of contact cement (props to @Lifeburn for that tip). still sticking with the blade i have atm that i bought when i was first trying to get into this hobby. i do have a normal xacto handle and 9 new blades. will be using this for the thinner stuff i suppose and the bigger one for thicker pieces 10mm+ i am thinking?

anyways here is a pic of my tools for a better understanding

http://imgur.com/f4mDDdM

 

[FuKt]

@collinE83 so what you are saying is i shouldn't see mountain/valley fold lines in a foam template but foam still has these properties? i'm thinking JFcustom left them there as a guideline for the more complex pieces and as he said the CA helmet was a speed foam build? i think i just need to get my hands dirty and see how it pans out. i am so used to seeing flat and cutting flat and then building a 3d whatever out of paper..foam is a new possibility to me. something i want to invest time in as i am afraid of fiberglass/bondo and don't have an area to continuously work in. foam is clean and from what i have researched seems to be a better alternative for someone who wants to build something quickly. but it seems it has it's own difficulties much like FB/B. trial and error i suppose.... i just know i am a one-time get it done kind of guy and i think i need to change that factor about me if i want to get into this hobby.

if it wasnt for you guys or gals? i wouldn't be at this point right now. and i will continuously thank you for the advice and support!

qatlho (yes i googled that)