FAQ Friday: Armor

Today’s question is…
What’s the best way to make armor for my costume?

There are many ways to do armor, and I have tried a lot of them. I’ll talk about some ways I have done armor in the past, and then link you over to some other tutorials that will be better than anything I could write.
Please make sure you are safe when working with any kind of material you’re not familiar with! Make sure you protect your eyes always, and wear a facemask if necessary!

1. Cardboard
When I first started out, I made pretty much everything out of cardboard. My first few attempts were all arm armor (Beatrix and Cammy), and I had all of these heavy cardboard tubes that fit on my arms very well. I painted Beatrix’s and covered Cammy’s in vinyl. It was all pretty awful; but – I did use the same cardboard for my Yuffie costume a few years later, this one sealed and painted with added greeblies – and it looks MUCH better than the previous attempts. I used it for the arm armor, and a larger piece for the leg armor (which you can see in the picture of Yuffie below #3.)

2. Paper Mache
My first larger-scale armor attempt was paper mache. My dad and I built up my Lina Inverse shoulder armor around a pair of small basketballs. The pros were that it was super lightweight and comfortable. The cons were that it was hard to get on, and it was a bit fragile (albeit; they are still in fine form 12 years later, but I do have to take extra care when packing and storing them.)

My Lina Inverse costume from July 2002.As seen at A-Kon 2004Kelldar.com | My Facebook Page | Tumblr  | Instagram

3. Fiberglass
The next year, my dad and I decided to try Fiberglass for my Yuffie armor. It’s honestly one of my favourite pieces. Again, we used a small basketball as a base, but it’s extremely sturdy and actually feels like armor. Painted it with metallic paints with some weathering. Cons: it is a bit heavy, though not so much as to be uncomfortable to wear on a small scale.

My Yuffie costume from May 2003.Kelldar.com | My Facebook Page | Tumblr  | Instagram

4. Vinyl and/or metallic stretch material
There were several times I made pieces by using a heavy-weight vinyl, with metallic stretch fabric stitched or glued around it. It’s not the best option, but it can do in a pinch, especially if you just really don’t have the means to make something out of fiberglass or plastic, etc. My She-Ra belt and gauntlets were made like this.
It can look absolutely fantastic with some patience and some skill, though. I’ve seen some amazing costumes utilizing this or a similar method in recent years.

My She-Ra costume from March 2002.At SDCC 2004.Kelldar.com | My Facebook Page | Tumblr  | Instagram

5. Heat-formed plastic
This has long been a main-stay for me – from starting out using Friendly Plastic to make little pieces, to large vac-formed pieces.
Friendly Plastic can be found in small strips or cans of beads in any craft store – once heated up, it becomes moldable, and once cooled, it retains its shape. For my first Utena, I cut the epaulet shapes out of styrofoam, and coated them in Friendly Plastic, and my original Shadowcat mask was Friendly Plastic, covered in fabric.
Later on I moved into larger pieces thanks to having my husband’s vac table. The best example I have is my Magik costume – it is all heat-formed plastic, molded around casts of me.

My Magik/Darkchilde/Illyana Rasputin (New Mutants) costume from Dragoncon 2010.Kelldar.com | My Facebook Page | Tumblr  | Instagram

6. Craft metal
Craft metal is another option – our local craft stores sell fairly large sheets that can be cut with craft sizes and bent into various shapes. It’s best used for smaller things – but even then, this is something I generally no longer use. Even with buffered edges, it can still be sharp, and you cannot get complex shapes bent into it. My first Wonder Woman is all craft metal for the chestpiece, belt, gauntlets and tiara.

Chase working on the patterns for my chest armor!Kelldar.com | My Facebook Page | Tumblr | Instagram

My Wonder Woman costume from March 2007.Kelldar.com | My Facebook Page | Tumblr | Instagram

7. Wet-formed Leather
A nice alternative that doesn’t need a lot of extra tools – though it can get expensive. Leather for any kind of piece, especially something simple like gauntlets, always looks really nice and authentic, especially since you can easily tool the leather for extra details and it can generally be sewn through. It’s not something I typically use for armor unless it’s a small piece (like my Glimmer gauntlets from last year), but we used it a the last minute for my Ame-Comi Wonder Woman chestpiece and belt when the original commissioner fell through (the other accessories are plastic.)
Anyway; for the WW pieces, we cut each piece out of leather, then wet it, put it on my dressform, weighted and taped it down to my dressform, and let it dry.

Well, the guy who was supposed to be making my chest piece, side armor and belt just told us today - a week before Dragoncon, that's it not going to be finished.So, brainstorming session. We decided to make a last minute version of these items out of wet-formed leather. Here's the chestpiece being formed over my dressform.Kelldar.com | My Facebook Page | Tumblr | Instagram

My Ame-Comi Wonder Woman costume from September 2008.Kelldar.com | My Facebook Page | Tumblr | Instagram

8. Resin
I have had several pieces sculpted and cast in resin; mostly Wonder Woman chestpieces and accessories. Hippolyta is a good example, since the chestpiece, gauntlets and shoulder armor are both sculpted and cast.

My Queen Hippolyta (DC Comics' Wonder Woman) costume from March 2011.As seen at Dragoncon 2011!Kelldar.com | My Facebook Page | Tumblr  | Instagram

9. Wonderflex or worbla
And, of course, there’s now worbla, which everyone and their mother is now using, and with good reason – it’s fantastic to work with, easily shapable, lightweight and affordable. I haven’t used it a whole bunch, but just started playing with it last year for when we used it for my Glimmer armor.

My chestpiece! Finally happy with the shape, and the detailing. I'm trying to "rose vine" art nouveau detailing throughout the costume, in both the embroidery and the armor/worbla pieces.Kelldar.com | My Facebook Page | Tumblr | Instagram My Glimmer costume from She-Ra. Made in 2013.Kelldar.com | My Facebook Page | Tumblr | Instagram

Now, I’m going to point you to KamuiCosplay’s book which if you’re wanting to get into armor making especially with worbla is what I’d say you start with. Next up, I’m going to point you to Penwiper’s Foam Armor tutorial, which is amazing.
And beyond that, I suggest doing a quick search on pinterest or deviantart, because there’s a LOT of great tutorials and ideas out there šŸ™‚