Insane Black Rock Shooter cosplay part 5: the breast plate tutorial

Hi guys!  Now that I have caught a mild cold from Stuart, I finally have some time to sit down and make another IBRS progress report (kinda late lol).  I think this would be useful for whoever is trying to make light-weight armors.

First, let's recap.  I have already shown you the fun foam pieces I made out of a modified shirt pattern I had:

in order to make them with a little bit of depth to look like the armor IBRS is wearing, I had to add more layers of foam.

This gives you an idea of how thick the breast plate is

Comparatively speaking, the armor I made was not nearly as thick as the figure's.  Next time, I would probably use something like a thick yoga mat to make the armors.

The foam I found in Scrap Exchange that I used for the middle section to add thickness to the armor.  I cut it according to the pattern I already made.

Hot glue the thicker foam onto the already existing fun foam layer

add tape to get rid of bumpy areas and glue another layer of fun foam on top of the grey foam.

This is what the back looked like, I used some masking tape to hold the layers while the glue was drying.  I have not found anything better than hot glue yet to stick foam together.

Smoothing out the gaps by filling it with hot glue and scrape the surface with a piece of card

details on the filled gap

then mod podge the surface to prep it for contact paper

I also taped the edges with black electric tape to hide the grey foam.  I think model magic would work as well and make less creases, but I didn't have any at that moment.

with the contact paper glued on.  Contact paper sticks really well to craft foam once you mod podge it.  However, it becomes extremely unforgiving with mistakes.  Make sure you have a card ready to squeeze out those bubbles.

pieces of the back armor, I made this a little thinner because it would bend more easily for a better fit that way.

mod podge

with electric tape and contact paper.

The basic breast plate is finished.

The sides are held together with elastic and Velcro.  Do buy the industrial grade Velcro, because the regular ones just won't be sticky enough to hold the armors together.

After few adjustments, I added more details to the breast plate and voila!  Oh also, since craft foam can kind of hold a shape after it is been heated, I recommend heating it and bending it before you apply mod podge and contact paper.  They will become rather...burnt.

This displays all of the armor pieces I made for the cosplay.  I did acquire some thicker craft foam from Michael's later on that I used for some of the leg armors.  Other than that, the shoulder piece and some of the arm pieces are all thickened with the method described above.  I wanted to show you guys the details for my other armor pieces, however, I was too busy to take photos and this is the only one I have now.  Q_Q

Anyhow, let me know if you have any questions!!!

btw, I'm doing this Otaku House contest right now for this costume, please vote for me!!!  Thank you!

- Mimi -

Insane Black Rock Shooter Cosplay Progress:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

We're back! and MZMA Sword Recap

Hello everybody!  Phew, these past couple of weeks have been super super hectic, but SOOO much fun.  After attending Animazement (cosplaying all three days of the con), and after taking a week long trip to Disney World and Universal Studios, Cosplay-vania is finally back home! :)

During the time that we were preparing for Animazement, we kind of neglected our blog for a while Q_Q.  So I thought I'd go back and show the development of one of my favorite parts of my MZMA cosplay - his sword.

We started with a 5.5' by 2' rectangle of thick pink insulation foam board (found at Home Depot).  The foam was then carved down to make a rough outline of sword (except for the side piece near the hilt).  Once carved, we identified a location to place the hilt (in this case, a long, skinny cardboard tube filled with spray insulation foam), and cut a space long enough so that about 2 ft would stick out of the back of the sword.  The tube was then place inside the sword and surrounded with spray insulation foam for adherence and stability.

When the spray foam cured enough, we carved off the top layer so that it was smooth with the rest of the pink insulation board.  Thankfully, this worked really well to keep the tube steady inside the sword.  Using some extra pink insulation foam board, we cut out a piece that would work for that corner piece near the back of the sword.  It was then secured to the rest of the sword using spray foam.

The completed outline of the sword. 

 The remaining spray foam was carved so that the sword was smooth all over.  We then applied paper-mache to the foam components of the sword, and coated it with Mod Podge.

I wish I had more pictures for this next part, but we were in a time crunch and could not take many pics.  We spray painted the sword red and used black electrical tape to cover the hilt.  Red and black fun foam pieces were used to detail the tip of the sword, and pieces of industrial pipe foam were used to make those large black protrusions near the middle and backside of the sword.  Hot glue was our adhesive of choice :P  As a final detail, we used gold dimensional paint to outline parts of the tip and black dimensional paint to make the holes in the tip.

Because I had to cut many pieces of pipe foam to get the shapes right, the sword came out looking more rugged than polished, which actually worked out alright.  Also, because it was surrounded in pipe foam, the sword was nice and squishy, hehe.  Once we get some more pictures from our photographers, you will be able to see the full sword, and its size compared to my height.  Mimi helped out TREMENDOUSLY in the concept and creating of the sword.  I really couldn't have made this in time without her.

Thanks everyone, and we'll be sure post more often now that we have time and are not on vacation, hahaha. 

~Stuart~

UPDATES! - Potpourri of progress

WAH, finally more progress from my side of cosplay. I've been totally absent from the blog for WEEKS, so this update is badly needed.  Ok so here's what what's been worked on so far:

1) Deus Ex Machina - Mask and crown

Mimi graciously created the crown in about an hour's time (excluding the time it took to for things to dry). The general shape was cut out of fun foam, mod-podged, and then spray painted.  Afterwards, Mimi took some gold 3D paint and created the superficial designs on the crown. Then, the whole thing was glued together in a circle.  Finally, Mimi took a hair dryer and heat formed the crown to be droopy like Deus' is.  :D.

The mask has also been completed.  The basic frame and white coat of spray paint have been finished for a while, but with limited pictures taken of them.  So Deus' face now looks pretty cool and angular, just like it should, hehe.  Mimi added the eyes with a couple of brush strokes of black paint.  

The major problem I predict with this mask is the limited visibility....that is I foresee not seeing.  See those to little triangles under the eyes?  Yup, that's where my eyes go, lol. Granted, I've tested it out, and I can see most things, but my peripheral vision will be significantly hindered.  

2)  MZMA - Gloves

To create these gloves, I meticulously cut out many craft foam squares and hot glued them on to the hockey gloves I purchased.......it doesn't sound as exciting written out as I thought it would, but hey, it's the truth.  These gloves aren't exactly accurate with the design of MZMA's, but they are pretty darn close.  This discrepancy comes from the joint placement within the gloves.  Sometimes, you gotta sacrifice design for functionality though, hehe.  

3) MZMA - Headpiece

I've cut MZMA's spinal cord and pelvis head piece out of fun foam.  My next steps with this will be to make it more three-dimensional looking and attaching it to the wig (you know, the one Gachapin modeled ;P).

4) MZMA - Coat

Here's a wonderfully messy work-in-progress shot of the gluing of one side of MZMA's coat.  The patterns on the coat have been cut out of red vinyl fabric and have been glued to the coat.  More pictures will come along as I (with tons and tons of Mimi's help [thanks so much MIMI!!!]) glue the rest on.

Well, that's all for now.  Next time (which will be MUCH SOONER than my previous posts) will be Deus' fingers, more of MZMA's coat and head piece, and MZMA's sword progress.  Now I gotta sleep so I can wake up EARLY in the morning.  Thanks guys!  

~Stuart~

Cosplay Progress - Mask Construction

What is this?  It's been forever since I've posted anything!   Sigh...I need to keep you guys updated more often.

Basically, quite a bit more has been added on to my mask since the last you've seen it.  It now more resembles Deus Ex Machina, being a bit fuller and wider than it was before, though I will let you guys examine it for yourselves.   (and sorry in advance for the blurry pics DX)

More was added to the sides, eyebrows were created (sort of) and I glued a loved paper plate to his head!

Inside view (or where I get to place my face :P)

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Here's what I got to later on in that same day.  The head was too tall, so I glued it down using another piece of cardboard.  I added a little more to the eyebrows, and finished the cheeks part.

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And here's a super sexy secret sneak peek at Mimi's armor progress :P

Well, that's it for today.
Please keep entering our giveaway contest! We really want someone to get this $20 gift certificate to Arda Wigs! XD

Thanks everyone!

-Stuart-

[[[For reference, here's a link to the last update]]]

Cosplay Progress - Mask Construction and Gloves

Ahh progress, it is nice to finally post you again, hehe.  Since my last update, I've added plenty more craft foam and hot glue to continue the formation of Deus Ex Machina's mask.  At this point, the task is a little more strategic than just gluing foam everywhere I could.   I am still constantly looking back at the reference photos to make sure I am accurate with my shapes, but through this process I am getting a better sense of how to make the angles work for me.  Mimi has offered plenty of her help in creating this mask in the form of advice and some hot gluing (even acquiring some burns in the process Q_Q).  

Anyways, here's my updated progress gallery:

Created the upper eye framework.

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Built the cheek and chin frame work. Also replaced his "tooth" under the eye framework and bent the chin.

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Also in progress news, I received some hockey gloves that I will use as a base material for my MZMA gloves.  I got the idea for using hockey gloves from this Instructables tutorial on how to make Hell Boy's RHoD. These things are HUGE on my hands, so they will work perfectly for MZMA.  I plan to cover the tops in red fun foam and maybe spray paint an orange gradient on to it afterwards, but that's just me thinking.

We cut off the BAUER logo part to make room for the craft foam that  we will use.  

The most pressing issue for these used hockey gloves is to remove their intense smell of sweat.  If anyone has any good ideas on a deodorant for these, let me know (THEY REALLY STINK!!!! X___X)

Thanks, I will keep you guys updated! :D

-Stuart-

[[[Here's a link to the next update]]]

[[[For reference, here's a link to the last update]]]