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Squarely Circle posted:If you hadn't posted the WIP shots I'd never believe that all started as plain craft foam. The resin allows it to flex a LIIITLE bit, it's not rock-hard or brittle. Since the helmet is so many small pieces and nooks and crannies for the resin to set into, the resin made it much, much stronger. I mean, I wouldn't try sitting on it or anything, but it's probably the most robust piece of the entire suit. Actually I'm slightly concerned with some of the larger piece, namely the chest - the resin and foam have different levels of flexibility, and the resin has a tendency to crack if placed under too much stress. I laid it on thickly enough that it shouldn't be a concern, but I fully expect some wear and tear after an excursion.
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May 27, 2014 01:48
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hhhat posted:Thanks! After about a pound of celluclay I was able to get the bony ridges built up to make it look more like a skull and cover over the spots that the paper just didn't quite do right... but the celluclay seemed to get rougher as it got drier overnight. I'm sure that's on me, maybe I needed to put it on wetter or something. Learning experience. Here's hoping the sand-ability of the stuff isn't oversold, It's going to take me some time to wear it back down to a smooth surface. Won't be able to find out until maybe next weekend, anywho. It's sandable, but it can take an eternity to get where you might want it. Fortunately, it doesn't look like you're going for totally smooth.
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May 27, 2014 04:40
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Celluclay's never going to be 100% smooth but if it feels really hard and bumpy when it's dry, mix up a small batch with the consistency of, like, applesauce (runny but not soup) and fill in the rougher areas. It makes a much nicer finish for sanding.
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May 27, 2014 05:01
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I'll often do the celluclay for a big area and cover it with a very thin skin of apoxiesclupt, which sands smooth way easier but is hideously expensive.
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May 27, 2014 13:17
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McPantserton posted:I'll often do the celluclay for a big area and cover it with a very thin skin of apoxiesclupt, which sands smooth way easier but is hideously expensive. Ooh, I might try that since I'm having a bitch of a time getting my mask as smooth as I'd like it to be.
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May 27, 2014 15:13
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my cat is norris posted:Ooh, I might try that since I'm having a bitch of a time getting my mask as smooth as I'd like it to be. I did some big skulls that way for my last Warhammer outfit. Of course I don't have progress photos of any one piece, but knee roughed in with paper clay:  And then the shoulder all done, which started off the same way:  I sincerely despise sanding paper clay even with an orbital sander, and I like the control the top layer of apoxie sculpt gives you as well.
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May 27, 2014 15:28
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Awesome, thank you! I've ordered the 1/4 pound to give it a shot, I'll let you know my results.
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May 27, 2014 15:38
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McPantserton posted:Soooo, so super sore but you guyssss Hey, I know this is way late, but I just stumbled upon this thread. I had no idea the people doing those things were goons, that's awesome!. Hopefully I see you guys around this year, I'll have to say hi. My favorite part of the costumes was when you guys were just standing around, as it amused me to think of some (real) space marine in crazy battle armor standing around bored. My lovely phone picture (I didn't have my real camera when I saw you guys unfortunately): 
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May 27, 2014 15:56
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We did it! First tour had some technical difficulties but overall the suits are doing really well. So loving psyched right now.
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subx posted:Hey, I know this is way late, but I just stumbled upon this thread. I had no idea the people doing those things were goons, that's awesome!. Hopefully I see you guys around this year, I'll have to say hi. Hey there!  That must have been at GenCon, right? Guy on the left there is my husband and I think that's the only time he's actually worn his, I'm excited to see another rare photo of him. We'll be doing a 40k group this year on Friday and Saturday, come say hey if you spot a Sororitas canoness, Sister Hospitaller, armored inquisitor, and tech priest. And speaking of which, I'm back to it, hoping to get my breastplate base sculpt mounted on a baseboard this week so I can vacuum form the under layer over the weekend and move on into the top sculpting.  Sawing the torso in half was a bit exciting between the fact that steel dremel cutting wheels are super horrifying and also that I spent a good amount of time getting it to be so clean, but I'm glad it's done. 
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May 27, 2014 16:07
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McKilligan posted:drat - that brass looks great! I've got a bunch of acrylics lying around that I was planning on using just that for. The palette for Artorias is a little weird - it shifts depending on the picture, sometimes it's mostly blues, grays and blacks, but sometimes there's also a few rusty browns snuck in there. I'll be experimenting with it for the next couple days. This is looking awesome! I tend to pick one weathering colour that's material-dependent: green for bronze, blue for silver, one colour that reflects the environment: duns/reds for sand, brown for forest, and then black. I'll also vary where I use different colours. I won't use brown in even amounts along an edge or have globs of blue in there. There should be some randomness. I use dish sponges and crappy brushes for putting pigment down [in a smash/splotch technique with no brush dragging at all], then dabbing with a makeup sponge or finger to smooth out the edges. There are times I'll WANT brushstrokes though, to indicate the directions of scraped/milled metal, but that's only ever on highlights. Started my next project: Velvet from Odin Sphere. Right now I'm just drafting patterns so there's not much to see, but I'll post pictures once I get into the actual pieces.
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May 27, 2014 19:02
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McPantserton posted:Hey there! Yep at Gencon. I have a couple other photos, that's the only one that isn't totally awful (I hate phone cameras, but it is all I had!). I will definitely be on the lookout Friday and Saturday. You guys doing such high quality costumes every year is super impressive. My wife is trying to get a steampunk dress together, but she's in school full time and just started a job (hard to pass up a job in your field to get a leg up on the experience thing later).
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May 27, 2014 21:22
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Squarely Circle posted:If you hadn't posted the WIP shots I'd never believe that all started as plain craft foam. As a late joining poster, let me say this. That's seriously loving foam? Jesus Christ 
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May 28, 2014 09:59
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My Raistlin costume is coming along nicely, I've got a quote from a custom contact lens company, should be able to get the ball rolling on that one soon. I have a lovely cell-phone pic of the completed robes, along with a wig which is going to a hairdresser next week to be un-hosed. Also, I've been experimenting with make-up. As someone here said, painting yourself gold looks lovely, so I've had a bash at NMM (non-metallic metal)  Ta-dah! I think I can probably go a bit lighter with the browns, and the blending needs to be a bit smoother. Thoughts? Edit; different lighting.  SusiePhone fucked around with this message at 19:34 on May 29, 2014 |
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May 28, 2014 21:12
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The make-up's looking great so far! Love it! Love the whole costume.
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May 29, 2014 02:38
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SusiePhone posted:My Raistlin costume is coming along nicely, I've got a quote from a custom contact lens company, should be able to get the ball rolling on that one soon. I have a lovely cell-phone pic of the completed robes, along with a wig which is going to a hairdresser next week to be un-hosed. I don't know if that's the effect that you're going for, but that's properly creepy! Just looked up Raistlin - maybe use a little eyeliner to delineate the eyes a but more, as it is the yellow of the contacts blends with the colors of the face and it's difficult to see where the eye begins or ends, so all I notice is these piercing black pupils...But drat, the NMM technique looks stellar!
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May 29, 2014 05:10
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McKilligan posted:I don't know if that's the effect that you're going for, but that's properly creepy! Just looked up Raistlin - maybe use a little eyeliner to delineate the eyes a but more, as it is the yellow of the contacts blends with the colors of the face and it's difficult to see where the eye begins or ends, so all I notice is these piercing black pupils...But drat, the NMM technique looks stellar! Yeah, I agree, the contacts are like pissholes in the snow! These ones are just stand-ins until I get the custom ones made. Not sure about eyeliner, I'm trying to avoid looking too feminine, what with the long hair and all.
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May 29, 2014 19:36
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Don't worry about the demineralization part it looks great and raistlin was always described as being pretty whispy. Really dig the makeup. Edit: really? Demineralization is the auto correct for femenine (sic).
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May 29, 2014 20:40
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SusiePhone posted:Yeah, I agree, the contacts are like pissholes in the snow! These ones are just stand-ins until I get the custom ones made. Not sure about eyeliner, I'm trying to avoid looking too feminine, what with the long hair and all. You could try white eyeliner or a brown that's similar to the darker shading used by your make-up color scheme. It might look less feminine.
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May 29, 2014 20:43
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LingcodKilla posted:Don't worry about the demineralization part it looks great and raistlin was always described as being pretty whispy. Best auto-correct fuckup I've seen for a while.
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May 29, 2014 21:49
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SusiePhone posted:Best auto-correct fuckup I've seen for a while. I'm glad you got a kick out of it as much as I did. Just had to share. Once again the makeup looks great.
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May 30, 2014 02:41
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So, I found some hair! Hair is loving expensive by the way. For just this much, I paid $26. Goddamn this costume is a money pit. I made a little 'plug' out of EVA foam to fit into the slot that I built into the helmet.  Then, I wrapped the base of the hair with a strand, superglued it all into place, THEN soaked the first few inches with a bit of wood glue, THEN with some black paint. End result is that the base of the ponytail has enough strength to protrude for a few inches before curving downwards - quite pleased with the effect!   I also added a little detailing on the left shoulder - not too happy with it. I'll knock it back so that it doesn't stand out as much, maybe smear a little black around the edges.  To do this weekend: Goop the poo poo out of the armour with black paint, do a little weathering, fix the feet portions so that they stay attached better than they currently do, build a display rack so I can get the drat thing off the couch, and learn how to play the harmonica. These ought to be the last steps, so I'll compile and post a comprehensive build log at some point as well. McKilligan fucked around with this message at 08:08 on May 30, 2014 |
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May 30, 2014 05:46
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That whole thing is so ridiculously badass.
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May 30, 2014 07:38
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Yeah I don't know what the con scene is like where you are, but if you were in the US you could probably win a few competitions with that. Make back some of the money you spent on it 
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May 30, 2014 17:17
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SubponticatePoster posted:Yeah I don't know what the con scene is like where you are, but if you were in the US you could probably win a few competitions with that. Make back some of the money you spent on it  I competed at C2E2 this year, which had actual cash prizes ranging from $1.5k-$5k but the result was that the competition was utterly insane and I didn't place. v v
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May 30, 2014 17:33
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They're doing a con in my town in July and it's cash prizes for winners, so maybe y'all should come here! e: Best in Show gets 5k  e2: we're a much smaller venue than C2E2, I bet the competition pool would be much smaller since nobody thinks "Salt Lake" when they think of large cons SubponticatePoster fucked around with this message at 17:45 on May 30, 2014 |
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May 30, 2014 17:37
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The Lexington Comic Con is pretty small and the winner this year took home 1500. Bigger cons need to get their poo poo together.
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May 30, 2014 18:07
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Any advice on tape for painting foam? Regular masking tape tears the poo poo out of the open-cell EVA I use. I'm going to try some blue painter's tape on a piece of scrap foam and see if that's a little more gentle, but if anyone has a tried and true tape that won't rip up the foam I'd love to hear about it.
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May 30, 2014 21:28
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RazorBunny posted:Any advice on tape for painting foam? Regular masking tape tears the poo poo out of the open-cell EVA I use. I'm going to try some blue painter's tape on a piece of scrap foam and see if that's a little more gentle, but if anyone has a tried and true tape that won't rip up the foam I'd love to hear about it. Definitely try Low-tack painters tape, they come in different levels of stickiness so just get the last sticky. Failing that, if you just have masking tape then stick it to your pants or shirt first, the fuzz will take away most of the tack. SubponticatePoster posted:Yeah I don't know what the con scene is like where you are, but if you were in the US you could probably win a few competitions with that. Make back some of the money you spent on it There's a monthly convention here in Seoul, but i've no idea what the prizes are, everything trends to be in Korean! Btw- what are the rules about entering costumes in contests- do they have to be made uniquely or can someone bust out an old costume time after time? McKilligan fucked around with this message at 23:01 on May 30, 2014 |
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May 30, 2014 22:58
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McKilligan posted:Definitely try Low-tack painters tape, they come in different levels of stickiness so just get the last sticky. Failing that, if you just have masking tape then stick it to your pants or shirt first, the fuzz will take away most of the tack. I was in 3 contests with my space marine, and I won prizes (sweet anime prizes!!) in 2 of them. I think other cosplayers might start to give the side-eye if you compete in the same thing like 20 times, but poo poo, I don't have time to make something new for every con I go to.
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May 30, 2014 23:46
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McKilligan posted:Definitely try Low-tack painters tape, they come in different levels of stickiness so just get the last sticky. Failing that, if you just have masking tape then stick it to your pants or shirt first, the fuzz will take away most of the tack. Cool, I'll pick some up. If nothing else, I have a shitload of Post-It notes that I can use. Edit: also, I had forgotten what a pain in the rear end it is to try and keep paint from cracking and crazing on foam. Metallic automotive paint has exactly the look I want, but no flexibility at all. Blargh. RazorBunny fucked around with this message at 01:58 on May 31, 2014 |
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May 31, 2014 01:30
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My gigantic shipment of foam tiles showed up. I ordered 10 2'x2' tiles. I figure I'll be loving up a lot since I've never done this before and that way I won't have to order more. Going to go out today and buy supplies like a heat gun and whatnot. Should I be using scissors to cut it or a hot knife? Going to be making some Mass Effect foam armor using one of the patterns from ME3 since I hate boobplate.
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May 31, 2014 17:21
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RazorBunny posted:Cool, I'll pick some up. If nothing else, I have a shitload of Post-It notes that I can use. You should try priming the foam with something else - Maybe spray-on polyurethane?
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May 31, 2014 17:59
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McKilligan posted:You should try priming the foam with something else - Maybe spray-on polyurethane? Yeah, that's on my list of possibilities. I need to pick some up and test it out - I've been doing coats of diluted glue on some scraps in the meantime.
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May 31, 2014 18:21
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SubponticatePoster posted:My gigantic shipment of foam tiles showed up. I ordered 10 2'x2' tiles. I figure I'll be loving up a lot since I've never done this before and that way I won't have to order more. Going to go out today and buy supplies like a heat gun and whatnot. Should I be using scissors to cut it or a hot knife? Going to be making some Mass Effect foam armor using one of the patterns from ME3 since I hate boobplate. With EVA you don't need a hot knife. I use scissors for thin and an xacto or utility knife with a metal straight-edge for thick. Make sure your blades are nice and sharp to keep your edges clean! You can use a dremel on the edges, too, if you need to clean them up or bevel them. Anybody just starting with EVA might want to consider grabbing this book by Bill Doran at Punished Props, he's a fantastic costume builder who works almost entirely in foam and I imagine he has a lot of great tips and tricks. Plus it's only $5. http://props.punishedpixels.com/shop/foam-armorsmithing-vol-1-design-templating-fabrication/
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May 31, 2014 19:41
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Thanks. Glad I passed on the hot knife at the hardware store and grabbed an xacto instead. I just spent 45 minutes building a craft table since I'll be damned if I'm doing any of this on my art deco dinner table. Well, except for one of the legs. I bought lumber and had it cut and somehow one of the legs is like 4 inches longer than the others.  Don't have a table or power saw so I'll end up taking a hand saw to it.
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May 31, 2014 23:41
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Aaaah, life has been insane, and now it's crunch time! First off, to everyone who has posted recently, you guys are rad and great craftspeople. It makes me wish I was better and had actual advice to contribute rather than leeching advice from the thread.  Now, A-Kon is next Friday and I need to make a hat--specifically, this hat: I've looked up some patterns and premades, but I can't decide what solution fits best. I don't have a sewing machine, but I can hand stitch if I need to. Does anyone have an idea/have a degree in hat-making? I'd really appreciate it
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Jun 1, 2014 05:03
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broken pixel posted:Aaaah, life has been insane, and now it's crunch time! First off, to everyone who has posted recently, you guys are rad and great craftspeople. It makes me wish I was better and had actual advice to contribute rather than leeching advice from the thread. This pattern is really easy. I don't know how easy it would be to hand sew though. http://craftygemini.blogspot.com/2012/12/fleece-hat-with-ear-flaps-diy-tutorial.html Here are some other options. http://www.fleecefun.com/1/post/tag/free-hat-pattern
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Jun 1, 2014 05:11
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Armgoop! Not too much left to do. I added a little goop to the legs, but not really noticeably different. Will add a tiny bit of weathering to the chest, then everything is just about done! I went a little overboard when compared to the screenshots I'm referencing, but I think it sells the effect quite nicely. Sorry for the lighting, it's a bit hard to make out the black.  
McKilligan fucked around with this message at 13:14 on Jun 1, 2014 |
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Jun 1, 2014 07:09
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I don't think it looks excessive. You'd probably want a little exaggeration to make sure the effect stands out in photos, anyway.
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Jun 1, 2014 16:38
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 It came out too tight round the back but I'm getting in a replacement back-section and I've found a tailor to rebuild it for me, so ~yaaay~. I still look drat good in it.
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