Cosplay creation: Like Halloween all year

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Cosplay creation: Like Halloween all year

vivisecting: Dec 13, 2012; it's been 15 years but im still upset that yamato became an astronaut and yet absolutely no one joined the federation since thats actually more plausible than that ending

How would a beginner go about making this sword:

The cosplayer is a child, so it would ideally look as large and ridiculous as it does in the picture. I looked at some tutorials, and it looks like foam board is the best bet... I'm just wondering how I could strengthen the handle without increasing the weight of the sword too terribly much. Also, I am unsure how I could make the knuckle bow... Michaels has this black craft foam pirate hat which is perfect for the dome shape, but I'm worried about how many layers of acrylic paint it might need to get the proper colour. I'm also worried about the paint cracking.

ALSO I ONLY HAVE A WEEK TO MAKE THIS HAHAHA.... :negative:

# ¿ Sep 19, 2015 05:14

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# ¿ May 20, 2024 06:47

vivisecting: Dec 13, 2012; it's been 15 years but im still upset that yamato became an astronaut and yet absolutely no one joined the federation since thats actually more plausible than that ending

Unibrow posted:

Not sure if you have any more reference pics, but for the knuckle bow, it looks like I would probably grab some 1/2" EVA floor mat (anti fatigue mats at Harbor Freight or other hardware store) and cut it into this general shape:

For the handle, I'd use 1/2" or 3/4" PVC pipe (less than $4 for a 8' section at Home Depot or Lowes). Cut the PVC to how long you want the sword to be overall, and then cut the holes in the above shape to be exactly the same size as the pipe diameter. Fold/Mount the foam board around the PVC for the blade (or follow any of the thousands of Cloud Strife Buster Sword DIY tutorials out there), add a pommel, and bob's your uncle. PVC is cheap and lightweight, and the sword should be pretty strong overall from the pommel to the tip.

Since you'd have a lot of EVA leftover after making the knuckle bow, maybe you could just make the whole sword out of it? Then you could search for sealing/painting EVA foam to get an idea of how other folks have gotten around the cracking/chipping issues.

Hey, thanks for the detailed reply. Unfortunately, the EVA foam in my country is a bit out of my price range. Plus I already have foam board, though it's like half a centimetre thick. I've been looking online, and I think I might make the knuckle bow out of chicken wire and paper mache...? I'm not sure yet.

Is it possible to paint the sword with acrylic and THEN put the resin finish on it? Could I even just skip the resin part altogether...? I don't think I have time to wait 3 days for it to dry, and more importantly, I don't really have a space to safely use the resin. Do you think I could use mod podge before painting instead of resin?

# ¿ Sep 20, 2015 20:54

vivisecting: Dec 13, 2012; it's been 15 years but im still upset that yamato became an astronaut and yet absolutely no one joined the federation since thats actually more plausible than that ending

legendof posted:

Resin is not clear, so putting it on after the paint would change the color and isn't what you want. Mod podge will not be as hard or chip resistant as resin.

Chicken wire and paper mache will probably not end up with a very smooth surface. If you're fine with that, go for it. You can fix that by coating/filling in with something, but if you don't have time for resin I'm not sure there's anything you will have time for that would help.

If you already have foam board, you can probably use that in place of EVA foam by gluing several sheets together in a stack to get the height you need, although I'd definitely coat it in something before painting to make those seams less obvious.

Alright, then resin coat first! Is this something like what I'm looking for? The description sounds okay, but it might be too strong for foam board. http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/bondo-fibreglass-resin-0475807p.html#.Vf8Yst9VhBc

# ¿ Sep 20, 2015 21:38

vivisecting: Dec 13, 2012; it's been 15 years but im still upset that yamato became an astronaut and yet absolutely no one joined the federation since thats actually more plausible than that ending

TwystNeko posted:

Assuming you're in Canada, having linked Canadian Tire, there's a lot of resources for cheap EVA foam.

1) Dollarama. Has random packs of various sizes - currently, they have a 20-pack of 8.5x11 sheets, 2mm thick for $3.

2) Canadian Tire - Camping mats, anti-fatigue mats.

3) Michaels - they sell 6mm thick pieces, as well as 2mm thick, and have big rolls of 2mm in white.

Oh, then I think this is just an issue of me not using the correct key-terms. Also, I wasn't aware that EVA foam has a smooth side as well as a bumpy side -- all the products I saw only showed the bumpy side and I decided I didn't want that. I've already made the blade and I'm pretty happy with it. I cut a rectangle for the dowel/pvc pipe/whatever then I gorilla-glued two pieces together (since the foam board was only a quarter of an inch thick). The knuckle bow is really what worries me... if possible, I'd really like a dome-shape near the blade like so:

# ¿ Sep 21, 2015 05:54

vivisecting: Dec 13, 2012; it's been 15 years but im still upset that yamato became an astronaut and yet absolutely no one joined the federation since thats actually more plausible than that ending

tomapot posted:

Anyone at NYC ComicCon? My daughter wanted to cosplay for the first time so she picked Jane Crocker from Homestuck. Since I was going with her I asked if she wanted me to cosplay also. She got so excited since Jane has a dad. Pretty easy for me to play a dad and making my daughter happy so win-win.

I don't know much about Homestuck, but family cosplay is always super, super cute. You two look great.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2015 19:52

vivisecting: Dec 13, 2012; it's been 15 years but im still upset that yamato became an astronaut and yet absolutely no one joined the federation since thats actually more plausible than that ending

I'd like to thank everyone who gave me advice a few weeks/pages ago. I was not entirely happy with my niece's costume, but she was recognizable and, more importantly, she loving loved it and that's all that matters or whatever. Her mother is a seamstress but was busy with other costumes for the convention (you know, the kind that pay the bills), so I bought a flower girl dress from Value Village and we altered it.

For the sword, I really wanted that dome shape for the knuckle bow, but everything I tried looked like poo poo so I just went with the shape someone suggested to me. The pommel I made out of model magic and like 50 layers of modge podge followed by 20 layers of paint (for some reason I bought in brown. why.) and then a dozen more layers of modge podge. If I were to make this again, I would pay more attention to the colours and dimensions and also I would make the blade out of foam and not foam board. I used foam board in an effort to save money, because I already had foam board, but then I had to go buy a bunch of poo poo to make the foam board look half decent. STUPID. It's poo poo and there are a lot of mistakes, but goddamnit, I made it myself and I'm actually really proud of that.

vivisecting fucked around with this message at 10:29 on Oct 18, 2015

# ¿ Oct 18, 2015 10:27

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# ¿ May 20, 2024 06:47

vivisecting: Dec 13, 2012; it's been 15 years but im still upset that yamato became an astronaut and yet absolutely no one joined the federation since thats actually more plausible than that ending

The costume designers on set made their fork part out of rubber. Maybe you could do something similar with EVA foam or craft foam?

# ¿ Oct 23, 2015 19:43

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