brandonhern
New Member
My friend and I made these costumes--this is all a copy/paste from his imgur post. We got a lot of info from here so we wanted to share our build on here as well. If you have any questions then feel free to ask!
Intro
So my friend decided to invite me to go with him to the Dallas Comic Con (Fan Days) this year. Now, I had never been but knowing that I would be among my people, I decided to consider it. I recalled when my sister had worked on a Lulu costume (with many of my, now ruined belts) years ago and had a good time.
We had been playing a lot of Payday 2 since its release and the discussion of cosplaying as the crew ensued. Somewhere along the talks of how to make the masks, I decided to ask one key question that was skipped over. "When is the con?" “Just over three weeks from now.” "Crap." [frantic research begins]
Preparation
I have some art skill and I weighed out our options in terms of timing, difficulty, costing, and quality of the end result. I really wanted to take the clay molding route as seen here [Harry Potter Death Eater Mask : DIY - YouTube.]. This route seems like the creative professional choice and allows you to really shape the mask as well as recover from any mistakes by adding clay and reshaping. The hard part of this would be working from reference pictures and being able to see the features. The day I was going to pick up the clay, my friend sends me a link from the 405th that a kind soul known as dung0beetle had uploaded, found here [Payday the Heist masks.], for something I had never heard of before; Pepakura files. I draft 3D parts and assemblies for a paycheck, so this program took me 0.2 seconds to understand.
Unfortunately the files were not unfolded and I did not have the Pep read/write software. I bit the bullet, paid the registration and told myself that I would use it more than just this project. I had gone through a few tutorials on how to unfold the masks, found here [Pepakura Unfolding Tutorial Part 1 - YouTube.] and [TUTORIAL HOW TO Unfold projects in Pepakura Designer by Spartansonny.], which turned out to be from the 405th.
If you want some really solid advice for the entire process, please pay a visit to Cereal Kill3r’s YouTube page found here []Cereal Kill3r Studios - YouTube. His videos are not short, but they are not lacking. I needed to watch the scaling tutorial once I had printed a page with a few pieces and noticed how small the mask would have been. I had glued maybe four pieces before saying “this mask might fit a baby.” I’m still considering that one.
Okay. I knew how to unfold and scale the pep files. Unfolding does take a certain visualization to have a controlled unfold. Having a piece too large will result in conflicts ridge folds. Below you can find the finished unfolding (cut) lines for both masks. Some pieces were too large to fit on the card stock so additional cuts where created (mostly the mid line cuts).
For those that have experience in pep builds, please note that this was my first and after getting knee deep I realized that I had no idea how time consuming this would be. Spartan armor looks like cake to me after this. Once the mask was really unfolded, I realized I would need to nest the pieces somewhat efficiently. I have experience nesting parts on sheet metal for laser cutting, so I don’t have a tutorial. My advice is to try different pieces and rotate and bump things around. Put your big pieces and start filling in the spaces. Sometimes the tabs from the same piece will overlap so adjusts can be made switching which side of the edge the tab is on as well as the size and shape. Outside of ensuring no major overlap, I did not adjust much. The before and after nesting images are below. Note that the pep file had ‘trash’ pieces that would not benefit the mask.
Pepakura Construction
So this was the beginning of a two week ordeal that involved a raw spot on my finger from the utility knife and super glued fingers. Please refer to the tutorials to find your own preferred method of pep construction. Since we did not adjust the tabs, there were lots of cuts needed to keep the tabs from overlapping the folds on the opposite side.
First piece cut
How the first 12 some odd hours were spent
Those drinks were tasty. +1 for those who catch the time difference
Remember those cut tabs I mentioned. EVERYWHERE. I’m still finding them in random rooms
Due to the time frame, I was spending an average of four hours a day working on this after work and full days on the weekend.
Most of these photos were taken at the end of the night after working for several hours
This was slightly terrifying to look at with the shark teeth tabs.
This was a glorious moment. My mask finished
Finished my friend’s mask early one morning. Before work. Two hours sleep. Schedule. Needed finish.
Pepakura is ****ing awesome for testing your patience and gluing your fingers together under the guise of building parts. I’d say I’m keeping an eye on pep, but I’m tired of looking at triangles for a while. Seriously, two masks took two weeks for just the pep. Do not expect to rush this process. Make sure you align every line and numbered edge. Pro tip: Dry fit each edge before applying glue. Pro Tip Addendum: Cut all the tabs during the dry fit.
Reinforcement
Reinforcement
The next step in the process involves strengthening the card stock and glue. This was a multistage process and after searching through multiple forums and tutorials, I picked the repeating pattern.
Straight application of resin (Polyester/Fiberglass Resin; see Epoxy Resin as alternative) to the inside and outside. Apply fiberglass the outside. Finish with body filler (Bondo) on the outside.
There are plenty of methods and theories on how to take the pep build to the next levels. Research and pick for your application. Another noteworthy method is Rondo which is a Resin and Bondo mix.
Prepping for Resin Coat
If you notice the breathing mask, good. Use one. Organic filters. Fiberglass resin is funky stuff and you shouldn’t breathe it. Safety is not something that should ever be sacrificed. Gloves are smart. Safety glasses are for the one-off splash.
My first issue was the flimsy nature of the foreheads. There were not many edges to hold the shape. One mask in particular was manhandled a bit much and was slightly deflated looking. Knowing that the resin would cast the hardened shape, I needed to make a spacer that braced the forehead into the correct shape with some degree of accuracy.
It’s my understanding that most released pep files come with some reinforcement pieces to prevent MacGyvering your own supports. Give me office supplies and I’m unstoppable.
Time to apply the resin. I worked with one ounce of resin at a time using 9 of the 10 recommended drops of the hardening solute. This did make the resin slightly tacky when cured, but there are ways to address that. My excuse is that I needed the extra time.
I did not waste any resin (minus the resin on the board). I picked each cup clean with the brush. Better to need more and not have it than have it get wasted. I don’t recommend using these cups. Even a little bit left in the cup will lead to the curing resin heating up the plastic to the point of melting.
Intro
So my friend decided to invite me to go with him to the Dallas Comic Con (Fan Days) this year. Now, I had never been but knowing that I would be among my people, I decided to consider it. I recalled when my sister had worked on a Lulu costume (with many of my, now ruined belts) years ago and had a good time.
We had been playing a lot of Payday 2 since its release and the discussion of cosplaying as the crew ensued. Somewhere along the talks of how to make the masks, I decided to ask one key question that was skipped over. "When is the con?" “Just over three weeks from now.” "Crap." [frantic research begins]
Preparation
I have some art skill and I weighed out our options in terms of timing, difficulty, costing, and quality of the end result. I really wanted to take the clay molding route as seen here [Harry Potter Death Eater Mask : DIY - YouTube.]. This route seems like the creative professional choice and allows you to really shape the mask as well as recover from any mistakes by adding clay and reshaping. The hard part of this would be working from reference pictures and being able to see the features. The day I was going to pick up the clay, my friend sends me a link from the 405th that a kind soul known as dung0beetle had uploaded, found here [Payday the Heist masks.], for something I had never heard of before; Pepakura files. I draft 3D parts and assemblies for a paycheck, so this program took me 0.2 seconds to understand.
Unfortunately the files were not unfolded and I did not have the Pep read/write software. I bit the bullet, paid the registration and told myself that I would use it more than just this project. I had gone through a few tutorials on how to unfold the masks, found here [Pepakura Unfolding Tutorial Part 1 - YouTube.] and [TUTORIAL HOW TO Unfold projects in Pepakura Designer by Spartansonny.], which turned out to be from the 405th.
If you want some really solid advice for the entire process, please pay a visit to Cereal Kill3r’s YouTube page found here []Cereal Kill3r Studios - YouTube. His videos are not short, but they are not lacking. I needed to watch the scaling tutorial once I had printed a page with a few pieces and noticed how small the mask would have been. I had glued maybe four pieces before saying “this mask might fit a baby.” I’m still considering that one.
Okay. I knew how to unfold and scale the pep files. Unfolding does take a certain visualization to have a controlled unfold. Having a piece too large will result in conflicts ridge folds. Below you can find the finished unfolding (cut) lines for both masks. Some pieces were too large to fit on the card stock so additional cuts where created (mostly the mid line cuts).
For those that have experience in pep builds, please note that this was my first and after getting knee deep I realized that I had no idea how time consuming this would be. Spartan armor looks like cake to me after this. Once the mask was really unfolded, I realized I would need to nest the pieces somewhat efficiently. I have experience nesting parts on sheet metal for laser cutting, so I don’t have a tutorial. My advice is to try different pieces and rotate and bump things around. Put your big pieces and start filling in the spaces. Sometimes the tabs from the same piece will overlap so adjusts can be made switching which side of the edge the tab is on as well as the size and shape. Outside of ensuring no major overlap, I did not adjust much. The before and after nesting images are below. Note that the pep file had ‘trash’ pieces that would not benefit the mask.
Pepakura Construction
So this was the beginning of a two week ordeal that involved a raw spot on my finger from the utility knife and super glued fingers. Please refer to the tutorials to find your own preferred method of pep construction. Since we did not adjust the tabs, there were lots of cuts needed to keep the tabs from overlapping the folds on the opposite side.
First piece cut
How the first 12 some odd hours were spent
Those drinks were tasty. +1 for those who catch the time difference
Remember those cut tabs I mentioned. EVERYWHERE. I’m still finding them in random rooms
Due to the time frame, I was spending an average of four hours a day working on this after work and full days on the weekend.
Most of these photos were taken at the end of the night after working for several hours
This was slightly terrifying to look at with the shark teeth tabs.
This was a glorious moment. My mask finished
Finished my friend’s mask early one morning. Before work. Two hours sleep. Schedule. Needed finish.
Pepakura is ****ing awesome for testing your patience and gluing your fingers together under the guise of building parts. I’d say I’m keeping an eye on pep, but I’m tired of looking at triangles for a while. Seriously, two masks took two weeks for just the pep. Do not expect to rush this process. Make sure you align every line and numbered edge. Pro tip: Dry fit each edge before applying glue. Pro Tip Addendum: Cut all the tabs during the dry fit.
Reinforcement
Reinforcement
The next step in the process involves strengthening the card stock and glue. This was a multistage process and after searching through multiple forums and tutorials, I picked the repeating pattern.
Straight application of resin (Polyester/Fiberglass Resin; see Epoxy Resin as alternative) to the inside and outside. Apply fiberglass the outside. Finish with body filler (Bondo) on the outside.
There are plenty of methods and theories on how to take the pep build to the next levels. Research and pick for your application. Another noteworthy method is Rondo which is a Resin and Bondo mix.
Prepping for Resin Coat
If you notice the breathing mask, good. Use one. Organic filters. Fiberglass resin is funky stuff and you shouldn’t breathe it. Safety is not something that should ever be sacrificed. Gloves are smart. Safety glasses are for the one-off splash.
My first issue was the flimsy nature of the foreheads. There were not many edges to hold the shape. One mask in particular was manhandled a bit much and was slightly deflated looking. Knowing that the resin would cast the hardened shape, I needed to make a spacer that braced the forehead into the correct shape with some degree of accuracy.
It’s my understanding that most released pep files come with some reinforcement pieces to prevent MacGyvering your own supports. Give me office supplies and I’m unstoppable.
Time to apply the resin. I worked with one ounce of resin at a time using 9 of the 10 recommended drops of the hardening solute. This did make the resin slightly tacky when cured, but there are ways to address that. My excuse is that I needed the extra time.
I did not waste any resin (minus the resin on the board). I picked each cup clean with the brush. Better to need more and not have it than have it get wasted. I don’t recommend using these cups. Even a little bit left in the cup will lead to the curing resin heating up the plastic to the point of melting.
