The Book Of Cosplay Armor Making Pdf Download
Mina Delahoussaye
If you have any questions regarding the tutorial, making of your own cosplay/costume or just want to say hi please send me a message on my facebook page ( ). Its much easier and faster to get back to you there. :)
Over the several steps listed here ill demonstrate a handful of good techniques when working with EVA foam for the new and experienced cosplayers or costume enthusiast. Ill be demonstrating cutting, forming, edging, gluing and a few other tricks. I learn better ways and new techniques every time I do a costume so check back often for improved or new tricks and examples.
What you'll need!
EVA foam
Poster card/ card stock
Xacto blade/Razor knife
Scissors
Hot Knife
Heat Gun
Soldering Iron
High temp Glue Gun
Rotary Tool
Nylon Straps
Buckles
Velcro/Hook and Loop
Metal ruler
Fine point marker
Latex Caulk
Plasti dip
Spray paint
So lets get started!
I do not claim ownership of all the reference material such as product images and the space marine images. these are used as examples to help display what is needed and can be done with the material. All credit goes to the respected owner.
- Wikipedia
Science and chemistry jargon aside, EVA is one of the most important materials out there to all levels of cosplayers. It is a strong, flexible, formable and cheap material. It can be used for nearly everything cosplay from armors to props. Its main use is for metal or composite replication, meaning armor and all kinds of it! If painted properly the foam can look just like metal or composite materials like Iron Man Armor, Mass Effect Armor or even Dragon Age Armor.
Picking the right foam for you:
There are three main types of EVA foam. There are tile packs, roll mats and craft foam sheets which can range in size, thickness and price. Both the roll and the tiles have two finishes with one side smooth and the other patterned. The two most popular patterns are the "diamond plate" and "Cross Pattern" finish. I much prefer to work with the cross pattern as it has less gaps when gluing together but it tends to be more scarce. Youll notice the differences with the links below. They can be acquired at a number of places such as Home-Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight, Walmart or similar stores. The price ranges from store to store but tile packs tend to run around the $17 range and the rolls around the $24 range. Great for the cosplayers budget! One key thing to remember is the color does not matter it will be painted and covered up, dont be afraid to buy the multi colored foam.
The main source of EVA foam will be tile packs, these packs usually consist of 2' x 2' tiles containing either 4 pieces or 6 pieces to a pack and is.375" thick. These can be found in flooring or automotive sections of stores or ordered online.
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Number one: Tiles! Tiles are used for the main pieces of armor. Armors that required a thick edge to it to resemble a heavy armor such as the Mass Effect Armor. Speaking of mass effect the cross pattern finish is nearly identical to the texture of the armor in the series here's a link to the foam tiles that match the armor if that is your next cosplay.
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Number two: Roll Mats! Roll mats come in a 2' x 6' solid piece roll which comes in a thinner .25" thickness. The rolls are slightly harder to find. These are great for thin edge costumes like Iron Man and is also a must if your making a helmet. Its much easier to work with as well as leaving enough space for you head... and yes I found that out the hard way.
Number three: Craft Foam! You can get this nearly anywhere and has varying thickness. This is great for detailing costumes, adding that extra layer to give it some flare or used to cover seams. This is how you would do the smooth/textured combination you get with the mass effect armor.
Templates & patterns are a must to get the shape of what your creating or recreating. Most of the time its a fairly painless process. Other times it can be a nightmare especially if there are no existing "Pep" files and have to figure out the shape and size by comparing pictures.
Pepakura or Paper Craft are the best way to set up your patterns. If you have an idea for a costume more then likely it already has a pep file. A pep file is a 3D model mapped in 2D. Think of it as a 3D model or puzzle, select the pep file you want but before you print remove the "tabs" and any small pieces that are deemed useless due to the thickness of the foam. after that you simply print it out on card stock, cut them out and trace them onto the "show side" of the foam, the side that will be painted and facing towards the camera.
QUICK TIPS: If your costume is symmetrical you only need to print and cut out one side of the pep files, by printing out just the left or just the right of the model you can just flip the pieces over and voila! You have the other side of the that piece. Also be sure to label left and right pieces accordingly.... otherwise your gonna have a bad time.
The other way which is mainly used for creating original costumes is by taking body measurements and making a template out of poster board. Play with the fitting by wrapping it around your body or tacking to other pieces to replicate the armor and then tracing it out on the foam. This is done way easier with a mannequin or if you have friends but who are we kidding we dress up to make friends... :'(
Xacto and Razor type blades:
These will be your main tool, they're sharp, easy to control, safe to use (as in not 300 degrees, please don't cut your finger off.) and cost effective. Razor knives or box cutters are good for cutting up to .375" thick EVA, anything more then that and the standard blade wont be able to cut all the way through the foam but you can get longer blades. They're also very good at creating angle cuts and curves in the foam. The main issue with razor knifes and Xacto blades is that the blades dull crazy fast and you'll either need to get yourself a blade sharpener or lots of extra blades. I personally prefer the sharpener because I don't like having to deal with the used blades. Its also a little easier on my wallet with a cheap sharpener costing $9 and a pack of 5 blades costings $6. Dull blades will require lots more pressure to cut the foam and will have a skipping effect that will tear the foam instead of cutting it. You don't want that as it creates more work down the line. When cutting straight lines keep a metal ruler handy as a straight edge, line up the ruler along the lines and glide the knife along the ruler, this wont damage the blades or the ruler and it will give you a perfectly straight line. You also want to make each cut once as doing 2 or more cuts will create pockets in the foam and you don't want that either.
QUICK TIPS: To counter the skipping effect, change blades every 2 tiles or every roll of foam, if you have a sharpener quickly sharpen the blades 2 or 3 times between every other cut. You should also Invest in a large rotary map or self healing mat, these can be found in the craft knife section of a store or online, these will save your blades and your cutting surface. It will also help make neater, cleaner cuts and wont have the "skipping effect" when cutting the foam but if your on a budget use a spare tile as a cutting surface.
Scissors:
Some people feel much more confident using scissors while cutting EVA foam. They are ideal for cutting the .125" thick foam from the roll mats. They are much easier to control and will make a clean edge. I recommend getting a decent pair of scissors around $8+ but again the foam will dull the edge just like the razor blades so you can expect to get through 2 or 3 projects with a pair of scissors you'll know when they're dull when your hand cramps up. You can either toss them or you can buy a scissor sharpener for another $7 to $9. this will keep your scissors nice and sharp and save your hand. They're also good for adding 45 degree angles on the foam to line up certain pieces to glue together.
Hot Knifes:
Hot knifes and soldering blade attachments are also popular a way of cutting foam. As you can imagine this is the easiest way to cut the foam and has less blade wear. Hot knifes are ideal for cutting .375" and above, there are obvious reasons people don't like to use these how ever. Reason one: Its hot. Things are flammable like your house. Reason two: Its hot. It will burn you. Reason Three: Its hot and requires maintenance. When I mean maintenance I mean you'll want to keep it clean, the foam is cut half by the blade and half by the heat. The heat will burn on the iron and it will smoke. If the foam isnt cleaned from the tool it will build up to a white dusting and will reducing the heat and cutting ability.
Quick Tips: To combat the build up on the iron keep some medium grit sand paper near by and sand off the build up. It will come right off if the blade and iron and wont damage it. DO NOT use a hot knife and a self healing mat, it will burn and ruin the mat. Its much better to put a spare foam tile down under it to protect your table or a piece of wood.
Cutting the material is easy after you have chosen your tool. Simply trace your cut out and using a metal ruler as a guide and you'll be able to make clean cuts. I personally use the scissors for thin foam and a xacto knife for the thicker foam. I like the thinner handled xacto knifes such as the Z series and a #11 blade due to them being super narrow.
Trimming the Foam can be done a number of ways. Trimming consists of removing foam from the edges to be able to glue the pieces together with no gaps, we call these seams and the smaller the gap the better. You can do this with scissors, a rotary tool or your razor knife.
The most popular is using your scissors. Holding the foam piece use your scissors to cut a 45 degree angle along the edge and then do the same to the piece your gluing it too. This will help tremendously when trying to get angles and better seams. You can also use your rotary tool to do the same although it creates a huge mess. You can get perfect angles by just sanding down the edge of the foam but its down side is its time consuming and very messy. if Your using sandpaper or the rotary tool for this do it outside or in your garage. For smaller pieces and finer cuts you can use the razor knife to quickly trim down the edge, sometimes if your scissors are dulling it will just bend the foam or tear it versus cutting it because the piece is so small.
The rotary tool does allow you to do some crazy shapes and angles like creating swords and detailing in armor.
Quick Tip: There is another way to get those angles in the foam with out having multiple pieces using a soldering iron, well get into that in the next step.