The fantastic Arlena Fae partnered with us for her Blood Moon Katarina build, using Worbla’s Black Art and EVA foam to create the detailed leg armor that Katerina sports! If you need to make armor for your next costume, check out her video below – these techniques can be applied to many different types of builds!
We partnered with squeakadeekn on their Hypnos build and they created 2 tutorials for us. The first we’re sharing is this fantastic breakdown on how to make neck armor, using Worbla as a base under EVA foam for a sturdy but lightweight, durable piece of armor!
A challenge of working with EVA foam is it can be too soft and too flexible; this makes it difficult to use for foundation pieces that have to support big costume parts and often leads to excessive wrinkling. A fantastic solution to this is using Worbla as an understructure beneath your foam. The Worbla increases its overall strength and limits how much it’s allowed to flex. This allows you to still use foam priming and assembly methods, but have more versatility in terms of using it to support heavy items and reduce the speed of foam aging.
When making Hypnos’s neck armor I planned it to also be the attachment mechanism for his big blanket cape, so it needs to support a lot of weight. Plain foam would wrinkle and tear, but the Worbla understructure makes it strong enough to do this, and even helps enforce its shape too!
Materials:
⦁ Saran Wrap
⦁ Duct tape
⦁ 4 and 2 mm EVA foam
⦁ Worbla’s Black Art
⦁ Kwick Seal
⦁ Contact Cement
⦁ Hot Glue
⦁ PVA glue / PlastiDip + Filler Primer / foam primers
⦁ Rustoleum gold spray paint + gold/brown acrylic paints
⦁ Velcro closures
⦁ Magnets
Patterning:
To get the pattern for Hypnos’s neck armor, I started by covering a dress form in the saran wrap and duct tape. On the duct tape cover, I used a pen to draw on the shape of the neck armor including seam lines and potential spots for velcro/magnets to attach the blanket cape. In general I try to add seam lines in the areas where there’s a nonlinear curve in the silhouette (in this case, the shoulders, neck line, and front of the armor). It’s worth including that the flat neck section shown here was just a placeholder, since I will be using a much more shaped and articulated neck pattern I had modified from Evil Ted Smith.
After this I cut out the duct tape pattern and tried it on for a quick sanity check to make sure that it fits and is shaped generally how I want it.
Once the pattern is made, I then transferred it onto 4 mm EVA foam. Here you can also see the more articulated neck pattern I had mentioned previously. The neck and shoulder sections are separate to allow for a more pronounced transition from neck to shoulder.
Assembly:
With the pieces cut out, I then assembled the base of the armor using contact cement. The neck and shoulders are still separate, but after a test fit I marked where the transition line is for reference (seen as the silver pen line in the first image below).
At this point I secured the neck and the shoulder pieces together using hot glue and trimmed the excess foam overlap underneath.
Now that it was one unified piece, I sketched out potential placements for the detailing using a silver pen. Once I knew the positions, I cut out small strips of 2 mm eva foam and began laying them down on the armor using contact cement.
Now for creating the Worbla’s Black Art understructure! Since this armor was also going to be used as a support for Hypnos’s very heavy blanket cape and wings, plain unsupported foam would have torn, wrinkled, and put a lot of stress on the front of my neck. This was a good solution to all of those problems, resulting in an armor piece that let me use the priming methods I like for foam and had the durability of Worbla!
To make the understructure, I took the same duct tape pattern pieces I had used for the foam armor and traced them onto Worbla’s Black Art, making sure to cut around 1/4th of an inch smaller along the outer edges so it won’t poke out from the corners. I also added around ½ of an inch of extra length on the sides to allow all of the pieces to overlap. You may notice that I only added Worbla to the shoulder section, this is because the neck section won’t be used to support the blanket or wings, so it was fine to leave it as plain foam.
The Worbla’s Black Art was then heated and pressed onto the underside of the foam armor on the adhesive side, section by section with occasional dabs of hot glue to secure the Worbla extra tight to the foam. I also overlapped the Worbla pieces to solidify the structure. The back edges overlap/wrap slightly around the foam for added security.
I had concerns about the comfort of the edges and seams against my skin, but for the test fits I’d worn it for, I didn’t experience any poking or pain. However If you are worried about this, you can always add in an additional layer of felt, fleece, or other soft fabric as a comfort lining.
Priming and Painting:
With the structure done, it was time for priming and painting! I followed my go-to procedure for priming EVA foam with is as follows:
The gold I used for the color was 2 coats of Rust-oleum Metallic gold; I also included additional details such as contouring with a metallic gold/darker brown acrylic paint mix and used rhinestones to match the fancy energy the rest of the costume has.
Now that the base was made and the painting was done, I added in the attachments and closures. I glued the ropes directly onto the armor since the logistics of making it separate/attached to the cape ended up getting pretty cumbersome. It’s secured tightly with lots of hot glue on the edges and the area directly underneath the velcro patch to avoid it lifting up. There’s two squares of velcro and two magnets at the corners of the blanket to keep it in place, as well as a patch of velcro all along the back. The wings use two squares of velcro each on the shoulders.
To close the armor itself, there’s an additional small velcro strip along the back edge to keep it nice and tight, but because the shape is so molded it’s able to stay on and look fitted even if the velcro in the back doesn’t hook.
And that’s mostly that, folks! In summary, Hypnos’s neck armor was created first by using a duct tape neck armor pattern, then a main base of 4 mm EVA foam which was reinforced with Worbla’s Black Art underneath, primed and painted with fun details and secured with velcro and magnets.
And here’s the final costume! The neck armor did its job well and supported everything like a champ without the usual damage that occurs with EVA foam. It was also comfortable (albeit a little tricky to get on, haha)
I hope this was informative and useful! :^)
We partnered with squeakadeekn on their Hypnos build and they created 2 tutorials for us. The first we’re sharing is this fantastic breakdown on how to make neck armor, using Worbla as a base under EVA foam for a sturdy but lightweight, durable piece of armor!
A challenge of working with EVA foam is it can be too soft and too flexible; this makes it difficult to use for foundation pieces that have to support big costume parts and often leads to excessive wrinkling. A fantastic solution to this is using Worbla as an understructure beneath your foam. The Worbla increases its overall strength and limits how much it’s allowed to flex. This allows you to still use foam priming and assembly methods, but have more versatility in terms of using it to support heavy items and reduce the speed of foam aging.
When making Hypnos’s neck armor I planned it to also be the attachment mechanism for his big blanket cape, so it needs to support a lot of weight. Plain foam would wrinkle and tear, but the Worbla understructure makes it strong enough to do this, and even helps enforce its shape too!
Materials:
⦁ Saran Wrap
⦁ Duct tape
⦁ 4 and 2 mm EVA foam
⦁ Worbla’s Black Art
⦁ Kwick Seal
⦁ Contact Cement
⦁ Hot Glue
⦁ PVA glue / PlastiDip + Filler Primer / foam primers
⦁ Rustoleum gold spray paint + gold/brown acrylic paints
⦁ Velcro closures
⦁ Magnets
Patterning:
To get the pattern for Hypnos’s neck armor, I started by covering a dress form in the saran wrap and duct tape. On the duct tape cover, I used a pen to draw on the shape of the neck armor including seam lines and potential spots for velcro/magnets to attach the blanket cape. In general I try to add seam lines in the areas where there’s a nonlinear curve in the silhouette (in this case, the shoulders, neck line, and front of the armor). It’s worth including that the flat neck section shown here was just a placeholder, since I will be using a much more shaped and articulated neck pattern I had modified from Evil Ted Smith.
After this I cut out the duct tape pattern and tried it on for a quick sanity check to make sure that it fits and is shaped generally how I want it.
Once the pattern is made, I then transferred it onto 4 mm EVA foam. Here you can also see the more articulated neck pattern I had mentioned previously. The neck and shoulder sections are separate to allow for a more pronounced transition from neck to shoulder.
Assembly:
With the pieces cut out, I then assembled the base of the armor using contact cement. The neck and shoulders are still separate, but after a test fit I marked where the transition line is for reference (seen as the silver pen line in the first image below).
At this point I secured the neck and the shoulder pieces together using hot glue and trimmed the excess foam overlap underneath.
Now that it was one unified piece, I sketched out potential placements for the detailing using a silver pen. Once I knew the positions, I cut out small strips of 2 mm eva foam and began laying them down on the armor using contact cement.
Now for creating the Worbla’s Black Art understructure! Since this armor was also going to be used as a support for Hypnos’s very heavy blanket cape and wings, plain unsupported foam would have torn, wrinkled, and put a lot of stress on the front of my neck. This was a good solution to all of those problems, resulting in an armor piece that let me use the priming methods I like for foam and had the durability of Worbla!
To make the understructure, I took the same duct tape pattern pieces I had used for the foam armor and traced them onto Worbla’s Black Art, making sure to cut around 1/4th of an inch smaller along the outer edges so it won’t poke out from the corners. I also added around ½ of an inch of extra length on the sides to allow all of the pieces to overlap. You may notice that I only added Worbla to the shoulder section, this is because the neck section won’t be used to support the blanket or wings, so it was fine to leave it as plain foam.
The Worbla’s Black Art was then heated and pressed onto the underside of the foam armor on the adhesive side, section by section with occasional dabs of hot glue to secure the Worbla extra tight to the foam. I also overlapped the Worbla pieces to solidify the structure. The back edges overlap/wrap slightly around the foam for added security.
I had concerns about the comfort of the edges and seams against my skin, but for the test fits I’d worn it for, I didn’t experience any poking or pain. However If you are worried about this, you can always add in an additional layer of felt, fleece, or other soft fabric as a comfort lining.
Priming and Painting:
With the structure done, it was time for priming and painting! I followed my go-to procedure for priming EVA foam with is as follows:
The gold I used for the color was 2 coats of Rust-oleum Metallic gold; I also included additional details such as contouring with a metallic gold/darker brown acrylic paint mix and used rhinestones to match the fancy energy the rest of the costume has.
Now that the base was made and the painting was done, I added in the attachments and closures. I glued the ropes directly onto the armor since the logistics of making it separate/attached to the cape ended up getting pretty cumbersome. It’s secured tightly with lots of hot glue on the edges and the area directly underneath the velcro patch to avoid it lifting up. There’s two squares of velcro and two magnets at the corners of the blanket to keep it in place, as well as a patch of velcro all along the back. The wings use two squares of velcro each on the shoulders.
To close the armor itself, there’s an additional small velcro strip along the back edge to keep it nice and tight, but because the shape is so molded it’s able to stay on and look fitted even if the velcro in the back doesn’t hook.
And that’s mostly that, folks! In summary, Hypnos’s neck armor was created first by using a duct tape neck armor pattern, then a main base of 4 mm EVA foam which was reinforced with Worbla’s Black Art underneath, primed and painted with fun details and secured with velcro and magnets.
And here’s the final costume! The neck armor did its job well and supported everything like a champ without the usual damage that occurs with EVA foam. It was also comfortable (albeit a little tricky to get on, haha)
I hope this was informative and useful! :^)
By Maker Fishmeal (also on YouTube and Facebook)
I like to use Worbla for my boots since it provides structure and stability on a piece of armor that has to withstand wear and tear. I also always make my boot armor removable so that I can wear my comfiest pair of boots! Here’s how I do it:
Pattern
Your first step is to pattern! For this project, I began with my basic boot armor pattern (which you can make yourself using the saran wrap and tape method). Building from there, I refined the shapes and did some additional saran wrap and taping to emulate the reference. Of course, all patterning is done on the actual shoes I’ll be wearing with the costume.
Foamsmith
Using your pattern, cut your pieces from 2mm foam and then contact cement them into shape. Using a rotary tool, round down the edges and sand the seams to get a cleaner Worbla application.
Worbla smith
Cut pieces of Worbla (I used Worbla’s Black Art for my project since it has a smooth texture) slightly larger than your foamsmithed pieces. Heat the Worbla and form it to your pieces. Fold the excess material to the underside of the foam to create clean edges.
Perfect the Worbla
You can reheat the Worbla to perfect your application (pop out dents, round edges etc.). You can also use a rotary tool to clean seams. Make sure that you shape your pieces to fit the contours of the shoes you’ll be wearing under the armor!
Seal
Use a foam brush to apply wood glue to the Worbla. The smoother your application the easier your smoothing and sanding will be later – you can tell from my drips that I didn’t do a great job…
Perfect your finish
Alternate sanding and filler primer until you’re happy with the surface of your armor. To correct my sloppy sealing I used sandpaper grits from 60 up to 400.
Paint and top coat
Paint to your taste! In this case I used rattle cans for color and Rust-Oleum Universal High-gloss Clear for the top coat, but acrylics, Mod Podge, airbrushing, etc. all work perfectly.
Strap
This step can be tricky – it’s time to strap your armor so that you can either put the armor on after you put on your shoes or put your shoes on your feet after the armor’s on the boots. I chose the latter, and used a combination of purse snaps, elastic, and Velcro to connect all of the pieces. I like to use elastic on my boots so that there’s flexibility to allow for comfortable walking.
And with that, you’re done! I use this strategy for almost every armor cosplay I make. I love that I can walk on them at a con or shoot and not worry about wearing through soft foam. Thank you for reading – I can’t wait to see what you make!
Danielle DeNicola used Worbla to create this amazing armor design based on Mushu from Disney’s Mulan. She shared her process with us in these videos, showing the steps to build your own custom armor with Worbla!
Bracers using Black Art and Pearly Scales
Shin Guards using Black Art and Pearly Scales
Breastplates can be a daunting task, but AllieCat Cosplay created this tutorial in partnership with Cosplaysupplies showing how she created her fantastic breastplate for her Camilla build, using Worbla and Foam. You can use this process to build your own Camilla armor, or a similar character’s design. Take a look at the steps below!
Make a Tape Pattern over your body and cut directly down the middle and back (getting assistance so as to not cut yourself upon removal).
Cut out breast cup making dart-notches so the pattern lays completely flat
Transfer to 1/4 inch L200 foam and glue together at seams. Start with notches first then merge middle seam.
Transfer stomach portion to 1/4 inch L200 foam and glue down the middle making sure they line up.
Connect back portions to the front panel and it will start to take shape on its own.
Wrapping corset around pillows, put torso of breastplate on top and heat with a heat gun, slightly pulling the foam towards the back and waiting for the foam to cool. It will hold a curved shape after cooling.
Attach Breast cups to torso portion. At the bottom where the armor lip is, score the line with an exacto knife making sure to not cut all the way through.
Pinch the L200 foam where you scored it and heat with a heat gun. Hold in place until it has cooled.
Add details using the original pattern as a stencil with sheets of 2mm craft foam and contact cement.
Wrap bodice around pillow for support and slowly but carefully heat a large sheet of Black Worbla from the middle to the outside making sure not to rip the sheet.
Prime with 4-5 layers of woodglue and prime with grey spray primer.
Paint with matte black and gold/white details with metallic paints so that they pop in photos.
The breastplate will be seamless and strong to wear in battle!
Worbla.com is working with Element Creations for her Princess Zelda build, and she shared her first tutorial with us on creating Zelda’s iconic shoulder pauldrons out of Worbla’s Black and Red Art.
The first piece I decided to make for Zelda from Hyrule Warriors is the shoulder armor set. It took around half a Large sheet of worbla, some craft foam, and red worbla for the pauldron detailing.
I started with making the pauldrons. Those have a pretty basic shape, but they do represent a challenge when it comes to adding details and merge them all together to get a seamless look.
The way I did it is rather simple. I used craft foam as a base, then cut the desired shape. You can do that with your own pauldron for any other costumes. It’s always the same patterns, but with a little bit of tweaking.
I did used the sandwich method on these pieces because I want the to be extra solid and I also added some extra support. The pauldron comes in two craft foam pieces in order to get the curved look at the shoulder seam. I merge those two sandwiched pieces together and there was my Pauldron base!
Then the fun but most tedious part! The detailing was very fun and I had the chance to play with red worbla. I did use a tri bead roller to make the square cut on the details, then I placed them together on the pauldron trying to be the most accurate possible.
Zelda’s shoulder armor also have a sculpted detail right on the inside edge. I used red worbla, heated a bunch of it, then sculpted by hand the shape. This took a very long time to get it smooth and perfect and also, to make it look seamless.
The process for Zelda’s shoulder armor is pretty easy, but it takes a lot of time. It’s just a matter of having the desired shape and adding your sculpted details on top.
For the centre chest piece, I used the same process. I drafted it in craft foam, I sandwiched it, then added the details. I did use black worbla on this one. I wanted to test the versatility of the two and how both of them looks primed and painted.
The painting process was quite easy. I primed the whole armor with Mod Podge (one of my fav primers for black and red worbla), then I painted it all black, and used my favorite gold acrylic paint. To achieve the gradient/used look on the armor, I used a fluffy brush, and I slowly dabbled into the armor to gradually add paint and make a gradient effect. Without touching the inner corners, adding the gold gradually makes it looks like the armor is old and used. It’s a really fun process!
I added the gems at the end with some sewing thread.
Adding white highlights is optional for these pieces or any golden armor pieces. I did add them myself because I think it gives a cool look. And since Zelda is cartooned in Hyrule Warriors, I wanted it to pop out.
We asked Piratica (Captain Pira on Instagram) to create a tutorial for us using Black Worbla and she shared this great writeup on making a gauntlet, using Flemmeth from Dragon Age as an example!
You will need:
Cheap gloves with minimal stretch (these will be ruined, don’t use the gloves for your costume)
A marker
Paper
Sharp Scissors (not your fabric scissors!)
Worbla (approx 11×17 or 6×20, twice your paper pattern)
Pencil
Heat Gun
Heat Protection Gloves
Glue of choice (hot glue, E6000 or crazy glue)
1. Gather your references. Front, back, sides. Trying to understand how it works before you start always makes things go smoother.
2. Put on your glove. If you’re only making one (like McCree or Asami’s glove) put on the wrong glove inside out. You’ll be ruining this glove so don’t use the one you’ll want in your finished piece.
3. Using your marker, draw circles around your knuckles and lines where your fingers bend onto your glove. Whatever design you’re making, you’ll want to be able to bend your fingers. Remember your thumbs.
4. Start to draw your design. This glove has pointed fingers and knuckles, so I continued segments into points over the knuckles. Also draw on any panels for the back of your hand, or indications where rivets or crests might go. Drawing a line around where your wrist bends can also help you build a more wearable glove.
5. When your glove has all the details you want in your gauntlet, take it off and cut out your finger segments. I recommend cutting across around the knuckles, and then snipping them open on the palm-side to create a flat piece. Trace this piece out onto paper.
If your design has overlap, like the knuckle spikes here, it’s usually easiest to cut it at the knuckle, then when you draw your piece on paper, to continue the circle you marked your knuckles with. This allows me to make sure the knuckle is covered at the hidden end, and shows me how big to draw my spikes on the pointed end.
For finger tips, if you want finger shaped ones (like Iron Man) use the glove tips, but cut more darts to get your flat pattern. Spiky fingers are done by adding to the flattened design. I added an extra cm at the tip, and tapered to it. If you want your fingertips to curve in like claws, you’ll want a Star Trek logo shape (as I switched to after this step), but if you want them to curve straight on the top, you’ll want to make a shield shape (as above).
6. Continue to cut pieces out from your glove and trace them onto paper until you have all your pieces. Label as you go! Finger pieces tend to look similar but fit very differently. A naming system like Pinky 1, Pinky 2, Pinky 3, Ring 1, etc can save you a lot of headache later.
7. TEST YOUR PATTERN. Cut out all your paper finger joints and try them on, over a new, whole glove. If your original glove stretched to fit your hand, you’ll probably need a few extra mm at each end to compensate, plus the added bulk of the glove itself.
The easiest way to test and expand a pattern is to put masking tape on one end, put the piece in place on your gloved hand, then connect the other end with the tape, where it closes comfortably. Then slide the segment off your finger, and snip apart the masking tape to have your new fitted size.
8. When you’re happy with the fit of your pattern, trace your paper pattern onto the matte side of your Worbla with pencil. Label these too! Finger joints are small, so instead of covering a layer of foam, use two layers of Worbla. Try to Tetris your pieces to save material, and have enough space to either fold your Worbla over or cut out another piece the same size.
9. Heat your sheet! Before cutting out every piece, cut out the whole area you’ve drawn pieces on, and a second piece the same size (if your shape isn’t a rectangle, make sure to cut the 2nd shape mirrored). Put on you heat gloves and use your heat gun to warm both pieces until they are approaching the activation temperature. Press them together with the shiny sides in. Place this on a flat surface and continue to heat it until it reaches the activation point. Press gently and make sure your pieces are joined evenly.
10. Allow to cool enough your pieces won’t warp, then cut out all your pattern pieces.
Keep your scraps for making rivets, details or other projects.
11. Now the fun part. Grab a finger joint and heat it up. Wrap it around a heat glove covered finger until it is cool enough to touch.
Then put on your costume glove, and wrap the piece around the appropriate joint, connecting the sides around your finger and smooshing them flat and securely. In this design I wanted a ridge leading to the points, you can add that by pinching along a line. Also curving the opposite end around your knuckle will help it tuck underneath the next segment.
Rows 2 and 3 should be made this way.
12. Fingertips are a bit different, but mostly consist of pinching the heated Worbla from the ends to the tip, then bending the amount of curve you want. Try your pieces on together as you go, and don’t be afraid to reheat parts to adjust the fit.
13. Hand panels are even easier. Just heat them then shape them on your hand where you need them. Do any pieces that connect in order, so they’ll still be warm when you join them. This design has an open palm, so all the hand pieces can be connected without hindering movement.
14. If you have any details, like the knuckle mounds here, add them now. For these knuckles, little balls of scrap Worbla were rolled and stuffed underneath the diamond shapes to give them dimension, then the diamonds were pinched to create ridges.
15. Try on all your pieces at once! You should be able to wear most of these like rings, and fit the tips on far enough to test the motion. Spread your fingers, make a fist. Make sure you’ll be able to do whatever cool pose you’ll want to make at con. If you’re satisfied with the fit, it’s time to prime. When you’re done painting and want to finish your gauntlet, put on your glove and put a drop of glue on your glove’s finger segment, slide on your Worbla, and press it down. Repeat for each piece.
We asked Rhoulette Cosplay to create a tutorial for us using Black Worbla, and she shared this great build of a decorated gorget that uses items to create detailed relief designs!
One of the biggest concerns cosplayers have with shaping thermoplastics to foam is the risk of creating air bubbles. This is especially likely to occur when covering large surface areas. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how you can circumvent this problem while also adding a little flair to your piece! I’ll be demonstrating this with a gorget I bedazzled with Black Worbla.
Materials:
• Black Worbla
• 2mm craft foam
• Scissors (preferably an old pair you don’t mind using on Worbla; I recommend not using
fabric scissors!)
• Sewing pins
• Heat gun
• Contact cement (or hot glue if you prefer to use that to adhere foam)
• A respirator (if you plan to use contact cement)
• A heat-resistant surface (like a workshop table—preferably nothing plastic to avoid warping from the heat gun)
• A foam-tip brush (if you plan to use contact cement)
• Oddly-shaped accessories or small knick knacks (such as an intricately-designed hair clip, detailed buttons, seasonal decorations, etc.)
• A pattern (see below)
• A sharp blade (such as an X-ACTO knife)
• A cutting mat (do not aim your heat gun at your mat or it will warp!)
• A marker for tracing (silver usually works best)
Step 1:
It’s important to have a baseline of what you want to create to avoid wasting precious materials on a foundation you’re unhappy with. I used a page out of Kamui Cosplay’s Female Armor Pattern Collection to pattern my gorget. Alternatively, you can quickly whip you your own (but may need a friend):
1) Cover your neck, upper torso, and shoulders with clear wrap.
2) Cut out small pieces of duct or masking tape.
3) Place these pieces all over the clear wrap section that you’d like to pattern.
4) Ask a friend to help you draw out the lines in Sharpie for your pattern. Alternatively, you can also use a mirror to accomplish this.
5) Carefully ask your friend cut it down the middle and remove from your body (if you feel unsafe at any point, consider patterning off of a mannequin and adjusting to your neck measurements),
6) Cut the pattern into pieces and lay it onto paper or card-stock.
7) Trace onto paper or card-stock and cut it out.
8) You have a gorget pattern! :D If you prefer to watch a demonstration of this, check out Kamui’s Cosplay video here.
Step 2:
Make any adjustments to your pattern by drawing on outer details. I opted to work with the base of Kamui’s pattern and build on top of it. Cut out your pattern with a pair of scissors. You can also use an X-ACTO blade on a cutting mat if you find this is easier.
Step 3:
Lay the pattern on your 2mm craft foam and pin down the edges with sewing pins. Since I keep my foam rolled up during storage, this ensures the pattern doesn’t shift around a lot while the foam curls. I also recommend marking your pattern pieces prior to cutting to ensure you don’t lose track of them. I find it very helpful to have arrows pointing with the corresponding numbers to where the other pieces attach.
Step 4:
Trace the pattern with a marker. A silver Sharpie shows up best on black foam while darker colors show up best on white. Remove the pins and pattern from your foam. Lay the pinned pattern and craft foam duo onto your cutting mat. Use a sharp blade to slowly cut out the foam. Alternatively, you can use scissors if they’re not too dull.
Step 5:
Flip your gorget pattern and repeat steps 3 and 4. Since foam doesn’t have a “grain” like fabric does, you can turn it in any direction to make the most out of your material and be economical. : ) Now that you have the necessary pieces, tape them together and see how it feels on yourself or a mannequin. Draw on any adjustments, and cut off the excess foam. Less is more—it’s best to make many small adjustments instead of accidentally hacking off too much. To ensure the adjustments are symmetrical, draw and cut out on one side, flip it onto the other piece of foam, trace, and cut!
Step 6:
Don your respirator with sass, because it’s gluing time! I find that contact cement creates the strongest and cleanest seams with foam, and you don’t need very much! However, if you’re worried about toxic fumes or are on a crunch, you can use hot glue. Please do not work with contact system without a respirator or a well-ventilated work area! Along the seam where you intend to join the pieces of foam, coat both sides in a light layer of contact cement with your foam-tip brush. You can speed up the curing process by turning your heat gun on low and evenly heating both sides until it looks tacky. This typically only takes a few seconds. Alternatively, you can use a glue gun with hot glue.
Step 7:
Line up the top or bottom edge of the seams and gently press them together. If you feel it’s uneven, you can quickly undo some parts of the seam and re-attach before the glue dries. Once you’re satisfied, press the seams together firmly and wipe off any excess glue. If the glue dries in lumps that you’re afraid will show through the Worbla, use a Dremel to smooth out the seam.
Step 8:
Lay your piece out on your Black Worbla and trace with a silver Sharpie, leaving an inch to an inch and a half around the perimeter of your foam. Cut it out with a pair of scissors.
Step 9:
Take your fun knick knacks and lay them flat in whatever way you please! I found these decorative keys on sale at my local craft store for less than a buck! Ideally, find something that can parallel nicely with the shape of your piece. You don’t want anything too bulgy or else you may have to recut your Worbla.
Step 10:
Use low heat to slowly warm up either side of your Worbla piece. In my case, once the Worbla was warm (not hot) and semi-soft (not floppy), I laid it over my gorget with my keys, sticky side (shiny side) facing the foam. I worked from top to bottom, using one hand to adjust the keys (in case they moved) while pressing the Worbla down with the other. Don’t worry if the Worbla catches the shape of the accessory when it’s out of place—you can simply reheat and reshape once it’s in the right spot!
Step 11:
Once you’re happy with the position, continue to heat the Worbla over the foam gorget and accessory. Press around the accessory until a bubble mold is made from it, avoiding to touch the Worbla immediately in case it is too hot. Reheat and continue pressing as desired until the optimum detail is achieved
Step 12:
Wait for the Worbla to fully cool until it has returned to its hardened state. Flip the piece and carefully begin to slide your hand between the foam and the Worbla. As you apply slow and even force, the foam should break free from the Worbla without tearing. Pop out the accessory with your nails, a sewing pin, or simply press gently from the other side.
Step 13:
You did it! You made a fancy bubble! Carefully reheat the Worbla on low heat around the edges, avoiding the area where you detailed with the accessory. Wrap the Worbla around the edges of the foam and press down. If seams are overlapping, you can snip away excess chunks with scissors, quickly reheat, and press down to get a clean finish on the other side. I prefer not to Worbla both sides of my piece, because it allows the pieces to be more flexible, and it saves on material.
Step 14:
If you find that your piece lost it’s shape, you can reheat around the bubble design and reshape it to yourself or the mannequin (ensure it is not too hot before putting it on your neck directly!). I use pins to hold up my piece on my mannequin while I shape it across the collar-bone region.
Step 15:
Time to decorate! You can now freely use your additional knick knacks to make fun indentations and shapes! In the following pictures, I shaped the Worbla over fine details on an old, metal hair clip. You can cut out these details with sharp scissors or a hot knife. Be careful to test the hot knife on a piece of scrap Worbla, so you can get used to how quickly it slices through it. This ensures you don’t ruin a detailed piece you’ve been working hard on!
To attach it to my main piece, I simply heated the area of my gorget I planned to decorate as well as the back of my detailed Worbla, and I pressed them gently together. I applied even pressure as it cooled to cement the fine detail from the Worbla “mold”. I found discount buttons at my local craft store as well as some mismatched ones in an old cookie tin to emboss fine details into my Worbla. I discovered that waiting until the Worbla cooled also made it easier to remove the accessories. I was able to use this method to cut out tiny roses and filigrees to add intricate detail to my piece.
Step 16:
For strapping, I decided to create loops on the ends from which I eventually plan to braid multi-colored ribbons! This is a great time to gather up all that scrap Worbla! Heat up your pile with even, low heat until it begins to stick together. Knead the pile without burning yourself until it becomes one. If you have one big chunk, I’ve found that cutting it into smaller segments makes it easier to heat and work with. Once the smaller chunk is pliable, press down wth your palms and roll it back and forth into a little Worbla string. Roll outwards with even pressure to make the string longer and thinner. If it becomes too thin, simply fold it back onto itself, reheat, and reshape! I made one long, thin string of Worbla, cut it into even pieces, heated up the ends, and looped them onto the back of the gorget. I held each one in place as it cooled to ensure it didn’t flop and cool in an undesirable angle.
I hope you found this tutorial helpful in overcoming air bubble issues when working with thermoplastics. So many fun shapes can be molded with Black Worbla as it is incredibly flexible, strong, and adhesive! : )
Erza Cosplay shows how she moulds with air dry clay and Worbla’s Pearly Art to create detailed armor pieces.
Tutorial by Cowbuttcrunchies Cosplay.
I love my worbla gauntlet! It looks cool as heck, is pretty dexterous, and can be easily made with just a few materials. To get started crafting your own, you’ll want to pick up the following supplies:
“Wait, why are there two different types of worbla included here? Can’t I just use one type? Does it matter which one I use?”
Each type of worbla has its strengths. Worbla’s finest (brown worbla) is an all-around hefty material, black worbla is smooth and requires very little finishing, while mesh worbla is strong and incredibly sticky, even against other materials. Combining black worbla for its finishing and mesh worbla for its stick means that we get the best of both worlds. While you might be able to get away with using only brown worbla, I do not recommend using only black as it will not stick to your satin glove without additional adhesive.
To begin, let’s pattern! Your gauntlet will require fifteen pieces total: three pieces each for each finger, two for the thumb, and one large piece to cover the back of the hand. If mimicking my design, each of those finger pieces will be flat above your joints and extend slightly backward to a point, which is a great way to slightly cover the next piece and disguise any edges.
You can use the above graphic as a starting point, but everyone’s hands are different, so be sure to cut several pieces out of posterboard and experiment with how they look and fit over the satin glove. When testing, your pattern piece should overlap slightly and should not be super tight around your finger, as your worbla will be a bit thicker than posterboard.
Once your pattern pieces are cut and fitted, transfer the entire pattern to your black worbla.
Next cut out fourteen rectangular strips of mesh worbla that are a little wider than the length of each finger piece. This rectangular strip is what will be attached to your glove , which is why we will be cutting it out of sticky mesh worbla instead of black. Each ring will eventually be attached to the glove on one side and the black worbla on the other, overlapping a little bit to form a ring on each of your fingers.
Take your heatgun and warm your first finger piece until you can bend it into shape. This should be the lowest fingerpiece that rests just above your knuckles. While wearing your glove, fit the piece around your finger and allow it to cool. Once cooled, remove it and set it aside. Eventually you will end up with the following formed black worbla pieces and mesh strips:
Put on your glove and slide on your finger pieces on to test the fit. They should sit snuggly but with a little room to spare – remember that you’ll be adding mesh worbla strips so you do not want the black worbla to be too tight already. Make any tweaks to the point size and fit before moving on to the next step.
Heat your mesh worbla strip to a high temperature but do not burn the worbla – you want to make sure that you have applied enough heat, otherwise it may not stick as well to your fabric. I highly suggest wearing your heat proof glove on your free hand when handling worbla this hot. Simultaneously apply your heatgun to the short, flat edge of your black worbla piece. Heat the flat edge to a mild to moderate temperature but do not heat it so much that the entire piece begins to lose its shape – we just want enough heat on the bottom so that it will bond to the mesh worbla, but not so much that we lose the shaping work we already put into it. Take your strip and wrap it completely around your finger, just above the knuckle on the satin glove, pressing firmly to the fabric. Very quickly slide your black worbla piece over your finger and press it into the still-hot mesh worbla. Hold in place until everything has completely cooled. If you see a little bit of mesh worbla poking out, don’t worry! That distinction will go away once you’ve primed and painted.
Repeat these steps for the second and third joint as you move down your finger, this time attaching the mesh worbla strip just above your second joints. Repeat again until all of your fingers are covered.
Finally, heat up a small piece of black and mesh worbla and fuse them together, placing the black worbla over the mesh grid pattern. Trace your hand back posterboard pattern onto this double-thick piece and cut it out. Generously heat it and then press the mesh worbla side onto the back of your gloved hand.
At this point you may also create a bracer to compliment your gauntlet! If a bracer is included in your design, tuck the edges of your satin glove up past the bracer opening, so that everything appears to be one piece.
The beauty of black worbla is that not a lot of priming is required for a smooth texture, which is nice because priming and painting a gauntlet is a tricky process. I found that it was easiest for me to put the gauntlet on and then brush on flexbond with my free hand. Two coats primed everything quite nicely. Allow to dry and then finish up with your favorite paint!
*Photography by パラパラ Productions
The always talented Fawnina recently shared the build log for her Warrior Rapidash costume, which was part of a Fire Pokemon Gajinka group at Katsucon. Take a look at her fantastic costume and video below!
Photo by Theorem Productions
Nefeni Cosplay, photographed above by Paincakes Photography, used Black Worbla to create her Sparrow Skin Genji, and detailed her build below!
Here’s the first of my progress photos for My Sparrow skin Genji from Overwatch and it’s the shin armor! I made a template in Illustrator and then printed “mockup” on paper! I measured it on my leg to check the fit and sizing. When I was ready to go, I traced and mirrored all the pieces into craft foam and then covered it in black worbla. There are a total of 4 pieces for the shin armor. The top, bottom and two sides (with holes for the green cord). Doing it this way saves you worbla since you don’t need an foundation layer that covers your entire shin! The results are much more light weight and still extremely durable!
Next up its bracers: These were done the same way as the shin armor. Here you can see the blueprint I created in Illustrator. I only draw up half of the armor and I print two copies on paper and tape them together to test fit it to my body! I do it this way so they are as accurate to the reference picture as possible as I’m bad at freehand drawing patterns.
I made the base of my Sparrow skin Genji belt with two layers of craft foam. I carefully cut curved details from the 2nd craft foam and glued it on using glue stick for temporary adhesion. After I was done, I sandwiched it between two pieces of worbla and carefully used sculpting tools for sculpey clay to push all the worbla down and create sharp, crisp lines! I really like the way it came out and it was super fun to make
The completed belt for Sparrow skin Genji right before priming and painting! I used two layers of worbla strips to line the edges and give it a finished look. The side bevel swirls were made out of worbla scraps and I used AMACO Tri-bead roller to shape them out perfectly (you can get it from Amazon). I love using black worbla for making the bevels as the results are extremely smooth and is very easy to work with! I rubbed hand creme in the bead roller before pressing in the worbla so that it doesn’t stick.
I started making the pauldron for my Sparrow skin Genji by printing out the blueprint I made in Illustrator. Then I sandwiched card stock in between two layers of worbla and puzzled each piece together slowly. It’s a bit of work and the results are thinner than using craft foam. There’s lots of prep work in doing it this way but it’s not the only way to do it – You can use EVA foam, pink insulation foam or worbla scraps! Don’t be afraid to experiment since you’ll never know what you might discover!
The beginning phases of my pauldron. I traced and cut the craft foam using the blueprint I made in Illustrator and then covered both sides of it with black worbla. I trimmed the excess worbla away with Gingher brand dressmaker shears to get a nice clean edge. Then I added the swirl design I made. I carefully and lightly heated the design and the pauldron base before I joined the two pieces together to make sure the bond is super strong. Definitely one of the harder pieces to construct but I love the challenge and seeing it come to life!
Here’s the completed pauldron build. The holes were made with a tool used to cut out clay jewelry and they make the perfect holes for the green cord that’s to go through them later.
Shoe armor! I used mini d-rings and secured them to the armor using worbla strips. I put one on top of the toe part and tied it to the shoe laces to prevent them from slipping down. I used pleather strings to secure it to the bottom of my shoe and walking all day in them doesn’t rip these either – They’re super tough! Shoe armor is one of the hardest to get to stay put. I tried out lots of ideas before I wear them to a con, always test your attachments!
The Breastplate: I started at the bottom of the breastplate and made my way upwards and slightly layered each tier over the other to save on worbla and weight.
I cut out the shapes of the boobie cups first and combined 2 layers of worbla for each side. I draped the heated worbla over a 6 inch acrylic globe used for lamps I found at my local hardware store. I used hand creme to make sure it doesn’t stick to the acrylic globe.
This works better for armor that doesn’t call for very large boobies since the black worbla doesn’t stretch as much as regular worbla. Black worbla has great structural integrity and I was able to get an awesome looking breastplate with less effort than regular worbla!
I was able to get really smooth boobie cups for my breastplate by using a polycarbonate globe I found at my local hardware store in the lighting section! This one is made of plastic, hollow and has an opening at the bottom so it doesn’t roll around when you drape hot worbla over it. I also use Burt Bees Hand Creme as a releasing agent so that the worbla doesn’t stick to the plastic surface. Plus it smells awesome and keeps my hands soft after working with worbla so long! You can roughly cut out the shape of the cups and then shape it with the polycarbonate globe, wait for it to cool of completely, then remove it from the globe and trim off the excess with sharp Ginger dressmaker scissors! I use two layers of worbla for each cup with Black Worbla and found them to be sturdy and easy to work with.
Priming! One of my least favorite stages of the armor making process, yet it is essential to achieving a flawless paint job. I really like black worbla for this step since it only takes 2 layers of wood glue to get a super smooth finish.
I use the Gorilla brand wood glue made for outdoor use and I don’t dilute it at all. I squeeze some into a small bowl and then dip my brush in and paint it on my armor. I allow the first layer to dry completely and you can tell when it turns completely clear (around 10 to 20 minutes depending on your location). Then I apply the second layer and I wait until it dries clear again. It doesn’t matter how neat the wood glue is applied at this point as long as the surface is fully covered and there are no crazy pooling or drips, you can have streaks! Then I take 400 fine grit sandpaper that I submerged in warm water and lightly wet sand the surface. This makes the top layer of glue turn pasty and you are able to get a smooth finish and at the same time add texture onto the surface for the paint to hold on to. It is best to wet sand up to an hour after the second layer has dried. After 24 hours it will completely harden so allocate some time before you begin. You can see in the pic the difference in the surface texture. The left is before and the right is after I sanded it.
I used a new product to prime my shoe armor called “Flexbond” and I got mine from CosplaySupplies! They come in the smaller 16oz bottles which is the perfect amount for a cosplay project! It’s my new favorite way to prime shoe armor and armors that will show more signs or wear and tear. It’s way more flexible than wood glue and adheres to black worbla better. Wood glue is easier to wet sand so you’ll have to be careful when applying Flexbond to the armor since it will be harder to fix streaks and pooling. But the results are amazing and definitely a keeper in my cosplay stash!
After I finish priming all the armor pieces, I paint it all a matte black. I use Winsor & Newton paints in Mars Black but any matte black paint will do! I like to brush on my paints as there is little space to do much spray painting when living in tiny apartments in NYC! And the next part is my most favorite part! Painting! I’ll show you how to bring black armor to life using silver paint and other techniques!
Painting black armor was super tricky! After I painted my whole armor set a matte black, I dry painted a really thin layer of silver paint using dabbing motions with my paint brush. I found that the silver was too pronounced and so I diluted black paint in some water and gave it a wash to dull the metallic look. I just brushed on the diluted black paint all over and wiped off the excess with a paper towel. The results were great! The armor had dimension from the silver yet appeared to be black armor from the wash!
And here is the completed paint job after the green paint details! I added black details lines with a small brush and regular acrylic paint in the crevices of the armor to make the lines pop! I used a bunch of dark greens and layered on lighter greens in the center to make the green bold! I even added some green interference paint to give it a glow when the armor hits the light.
This is how I made the shurikans for my Sparrow skin Genji! I stared out by tracing the outline of the ninja stars. I just opened Overwatch, zoomed onto it from the hero gallery and put the paper right on to my computer screen and traced it. Then I made the base out of craft foam and wrapped it in worbla. Then I applied triangular details with one layer of worbla. I used left over worbla scraps and rolled them into circles and cut them into 3 pieces and applied it carefully with a crafting knife and ruler making sure to slightly heat up the base and circle for a strong bond. After that, I primed the worbla with 2 layers of wood glue and painted them with black acrylic paint. I layered silver paint on the blade edges and the raised details and done!
Photos by Paincakes Photography
Want to be the high-energy robot from FLCL? Kahht shared how they created their Canti costume with Worbla, and you can see the process below!
I love robots, so I instantly fell in love with Canti from the Japanese anime series Fooly Cooly (aka FLCL). It was a huge learning process, and a ton of work. I’m super happy with the final look, and am looking forward to my next Worbla costume.
Let me start by saying: read everything first. This is a long process and I tried to outline it in as linear a way as possible, but if you know the entire process, you’re less likely to do something that will mess you up in the future.
Here’s what you’ll need:
24 sq ft of worbla
Various plastic shapes (i.e. water bottle)
Saran wrap
Painter’s tape or duct tape
Permanent marker
Heavy-duty scissors (I used an inexpensive pair of sewing scissors and they worked great)
12 sq. ft. of craft foam
Heat gun
Corrugated plastic or cardboard (or any reasonably thick, cut-able material)
10 x 1” Metal D-rings or other loops
Black fabric elastic (2.5 meters)
Sewing needle and black thread
A tight black cap
Pencil
Tracing paper
Xacto knife
1/8” plexiglass and solar mirror film or clouded plexiglass
Various grits of sand-paper
White acrylic gesso
Foam brushes
Various paint brushes (big and really tiny)
Acrylic paint in red, black, yellow, white and gold
1 sq. ft. 1” thick fabric foam
A long sleeved black shirt
Black ski gloves (with white palms if you can find them)
A helper
Tip: grab a helper for this step.
With the plastics you’ve rounded up, cut them out to add the appropriate curves to the forearm piece. I used a stubby water bottle cut in half lengthwise. Then taped it to my arm. (I couldn’t find anything appropriate to make the chest, so I decided to wing it).
Once you feel good about the shape you’ve created, wrap a layer of saran around your torso, upper arm and forearm, then put tape over top (I used duct tape, but painters tape is better). Don’t pull too tight so that you get an accurate representation of your body.
Now, using a permanent marker, draw your pattern onto the tape. This is the outline of the amour’s shape. Carefully cut the tape off of your body, then cut the pattern that you traced out.
For the head piece, you can follow the guides I’ve provided… heads are usually more similar in size and I’ll cover how to get it to sit on your specific head shape later.
Quick tip before getting into the nitty gritty: save all your scraps! They’ll come in handy later.
There are two techniques I used. The first method, the sandwich technique, requires more Worbla, but provides a sturdier piece in the end. I used this method for everything except the upper arm and would highly recommend it (as tempting as it is to save worbla). The other method, the hug technique, saves you a bit of Worbla and is easier when dealing with concave angles and curves, but it leaves some craft foam exposed on the inside (so, not ideal if both sides are going to be exposed, leaves the piece feeling a bit less sturdy and sometimes the edges come out a bit more jagged (which can probably be averted if you’re careful).
Sandwich Technique:
For this method, trace the pieces of craft foam with an extra centimeter of room around onto the Worbla. Flip the pieces over and trace in the same way again. Cut these out of the Worbla. You’ll have two mirrored pieces of Worbla now for each piece of craft foam.
Sandwich the craft foam between the two corresponding pieces of Worbla. The shinier side of the Worbla faces in. Heat the Worbla with your heat gun in broad and even strokes, focusing on the edges, but making sure the entire surface is warm and slightly tacky. Don’t let it get soft! Keep checking it as you’re heating it so you can remove the heat as soon as it gets soft and a bit tacky.
Squish the Worbla together. Start in the centre of the piece, pushing down and out then quickly move to the edges of the craft foam. Make sure the two pieces of Worbla stick tightly together. You can use the blunt side of the scissors to make sure the Worbla is tight against the edge.
It’s easiest to cut the Worbla while it’s still a bit warm, so use your scissors to cut the excess Worbla from around the craft foam. If the Worbla separates to reveal the craft foam, just heat it up again and push it together (we’ll do some sanding later to deal with any rough edges).
Hug Technique:
The second method is the hug technique. For this method, trace the craft foam onto the Worbla, then draw an extra inch (2.5 centimeters) of room around it. Cut the wider shape out of the Worbla and carefully cut slits into the sides without cutting into the original traced shape.
Heat the Worbla on the shinier side with the heat gun. Use broad and even strokes to ensure even heating of the piece. Keep checking it as you’re heating it so you can remove the heat as soon as it gets just soft and a bit tacky (but don’t let it get bubbly or flimsy soft).
Place the craft foam onto the Worbla and fold over the tabs you cut earlier. Gently curl the edges over to create a clean edge (we’ll do some sanding later to deal with any rough edges).
While the Worbla is still warm (but not hot), place the piece over the correct piece of your body to get the right shape. You’ll need to hold it there for a little bit until you feel it will be able to hold the shape pretty well. This is another great point to call your helper over for.
The wonderful thing about Worbla is you can heat it over and over and over again and keep playing with the shape. There seems to be no limit! So that’s really cool. If you screw up or need to fix something, just apply enough heat to make it malleable and reshape it.
First, you’ll need to make the piece that sits nice and firmly on your head. First, put on a tight cap, like a swim cap or something else reasonably thin. Take two long strips of prepared craft-foam sandwiched Worbla, heat them up, and drape them over your head so they criss-cross at the top. The longer piece will go from your forehead to your nape and the shorter one will go from ear to ear (without covering your ears). Hold them on until they’re nice and solid. A good, tight fit is essential.
We’ll talk more about the headpiece later, as it’s a bit of a beast on its own.
The half-oval for over the hand
The triangle for the shoulder
The air holes for the bottom of the body piece
Once the pieces are made, heat both the embellishment and the location on the body piece and stick them together.
To make the circle around the triangle, heat a few pieces of scrap Worbla. Get them really nice and hot so they’re malleable and quite soft. Wear work gloves to help you squish them all together, then roll them out into a rope (like you might have done with play-dough when you were a kid). You can then connect the two ends of your rope to make a circle and place it around the triangle on the shoulder (remember to heat the upper arm part so that it sticks).
First, you’ll need to attach d-rings to either side of each piece. To do this, use an x-acto knife to cut a ¾-inch slit in the Worbla/craft foam where you want to put the d-ring. The slit should be about a ¾-inch from the edge and parallel to it. Heat a 2-inch strip of Worbla that’ll fit through the d-ring. Put this “tab” through the d-ring, and fold it over onto itself so it holds the ring. Heat the area around the slit in the costume and place the tab into the slit. Lightly press it onto the Worbla so it holds.
Repeat this for all 10 d-rings:
One on the upper part of each side of the forearm pieces
One on the middle part of each side of the upper arm pieces
One on the end of each section that goes over the shoulder (at a 45˚ angle inwards)
One on the top of each side that goes around the torso (at a 45˚ angle inwards)
One on the bottom of each side that goes around the torso
Sew the fabric elastic around each d-ring. Cut enough elastic so that it will hold firmly onto you without cutting off circulation and give yourself about an inch extra on each side to sew.
If you’re using solar mirror film, dampen the plexi and apply it by remove the protective plastic from the sticky side and gently laying it on top. Use a wet sponge to work out any bubbles.
Heat up the pieces of Worbla that frame the plexi and place the the plexi between them so it’s centered in the frame. I set it up so the solar film would be on the inside of the head piece.
You should have already made all your headpiece parts, so let’s put them together.
Align the correct sides of each piece to each other. When you heat the edges, they’ll stick to each other quite nicely. Press them firmly together and smooth them out.
Refer to the photographs to get the right angles and placements of all the pieces.
Once you have it all fit together, you need to place it on the cross-pieces you fit to your head. Grab your helper; this part of the process absolutely killed me. Heat up the top of the cross-pieces and put them on your protected head (i.e. wear a cap). Heat up the inside top of your headpiece and very carefully place it over your head as you want it to fit.
Connect a piece of craft-foam sandwiched Worbla from the front of the crosspiece to the inside front of the headpiece to add stability. For additional support and stability, I also used Velcro on the top of my cap and along the inside of the cross-piece to ensure it wouldn’t fall off.
Now that everything is put together, sand the edges and another part that looks uneven. I wasn’t too concerned about getting mine smooth and shiny… I just wanted to get rid of any really weird looking parts.
I used a few layers of gesso on everything for primer. Apply the gesso with a foam brush. Wait for it to dry. Paint, dry, repeat and dry.
Start giving it colour!
I started by free handing the shapes on the chest with a pencil and painting that a greyish white. See the picture for the rest of the colours. Start with the lightest colours and move darker. Keep a steady hand (I am so bad at painting, by the way).
Apply more coats as needed.
To finish it off, I used a very light brushing of gold paint around the edges and on the embellishments to give it a “worn” look.
Admittedly, I could have done a lot better with the cape. I took a sheet of black fabric and then a sheet of olive-brown fabric and layered them. Pretty easy, and it worked. The black was important because it would bring out some of the structure in the costume, so the black of my shirt would be a bit more hidden.
The one last thing to do is to cut a couple pieces of craft foam (about 4” x 9”). After putting on all the body pieces over my long-sleeved black shirt, I stuff the craft foam into the bottom of the sleeve. I pulled the cape tight around my neck. I fit the helmet over my hid. I then put on the ski gloves on and voila!
Lyz Brickley shared with us the process of making her Mercy breastplate, which is a large, one piece shape.
Photo by Bear.
Axceleration shared this video with us on how they built their Honey Lemon armor with Worbla and foam.
You can see Axceleration
We’re often asked about classes and in-depth tutorials that guide from the conception to the completion. While we happily support panels and workshops, those are limited: if you aren’t in an area where workshops take place, you don’t have a lot of other options.
That’s why we’re happy to share that Instructables new paid premium content, called Classes, features a fantastic series of lessons on building your own Superhero costume from concept to finished product – including fantastic lessons on Foam, Worbla and Paint along the way! And for the next month several classes are being offered for free!
The Superhero Class, by Mikaela Holmes, covers the entire Superhero process.
Lessons 1-3 cover creating your own superhero, as well as patterning and building a spandex bodysuit.
Lesson 4 introduces you to EVA foam and gives a full breakdown on how to work with it
Lesson 5 is a complete introduction to Worbla, including different patterning and shaping methods and the creation of a Worbla helmet.
Lesson 6 is a through guide to priming both EVA foam and Worbla, and a fantastic primer on paints and finishes.
Lesson 7 brings everything together as one full piece.
Lessons 5 is one of the most complete I have seen for working with Worbla, with clear photos, video, and step-by-step instructions the whole way. Lesson 6 is likewise a fantastic breakdown on both priming but also paints and pigments – and lesson 4 is especially handy if you will be working with foam as well! If you’ve been searching for a complete guide in one place, I highly suggest you check the class out.
Below are excerpts from the Superheroes Class. If you want to see for yourself, check it out here!
Worbla is simply incredible material for costumes and prop making because it combines ease of sculpting with quick hardening and unbelievable durability. If you have much experience making things, you’ll understand the significance of this for the creative process. While making things out of Worbla certainly requires some planning, it also allows for a kind of creative spontaneity that you usually only get from materials like clay, but you don’t have to fire it or wait a lot time for it to dry! In short, I’m in love with Worbla, and by the end of this lesson I’m willing to bet you will be too :)
In this lesson we’ll talk about the different kinds of Worbla, then I show you how to use it to build costume pieces by combining it with foam, heating, and sculpting.
So we’ve constructed the form of our costume accessories, now we have to define their identities with color! Before we get to the painting part we have to make sure the surfaces of our pieces are prepared, which can be a fairly time consuming process. The process of finishing Worbla is a crucial step that will define the look of your pieces. If you want to create something that looks like a very realistic piece of armor, or some other specific material, finishing can really make or break the look of your costume. I am a bit impatient, and more interested in creating interesting original designs than trying to emulate something that already exists, so I usually don’t spend an immense amount of time on finishing techniques. In this lesson I’ll introduce you to some of the most common ways to finish Worbla, then show you some of my favorite materials and techniques for painting.
Gladzy Kei as Wonder Woman, photo by Pompey Cosplay
Gladzy Kei Art and Cosplay created an amazing Wonder Woman build, based on the new movie, and shared a video on the build process of the breastplate.
The incredibly talented 9Flame Creations created this League of Legends Orianna Costume with Worbla, foam, resin, and lots of time!
Here are two videos she shared with us, on the process of making the hovering skirt, as well as Orianna’s Ball, below:
The incredibly talented 9Flame Creations created this League of Legends Orianna Costume with Worbla, foam, resin, and lots of time!
In this video below, she explains how she creates a gapless system to attach her armor, in areas where D-rings and straps would not be the best option.
Dirili had a great way of skipping the tape-pattern method and heat-worry for armor making for your BJD’s, and explains how to make a plaster double as a first step to your armor process!
This tutorial example is done using a bjd. If you are doing this on a plastic or vinyl doll, you don’t necessarily have to make a casting of the body part that you’re working on. You can form it directly on the doll since plastic and vinyl are not as sensitive to heat as resin is. Resin can discolor or weaken if exposed to too much heat. If you do not need to create a form, you can skip steps 1-3, although you may still want to do steps 1 and 2 to make sure the thermoplastic does not stick to the doll and/or to create some padding under your armor piece so that the armor will fit over clothing.
A few months ago I discovered Worbla, a thermoplastic with some amazing crafting capabilities! Comes in sheets, you can heat it and shape it and when it cools it hardens back up again. It also adheres to itself when in it’s heated state. There’s already some tutorials about the basics of using the material that are worth looking at, but since we’re working on a smaller scale for dolls we generally don’t have to worry about foam layers or doubling up so much.
Wonderflex is similar, but not quite as easy to work with. It has a mesh backing so it doesn’t stretch well and it doesn’t adhere to itself as well as worbla does. But it does have it’s uses.
What I’m going to write in this thread are some tips about things specific to working with worbla on dolls since dolls don’t have squishy flesh that can fit into rigid shapes.
If you want to try this process my way, you’ll need:
paper
pencil
paper masking tape
worbla
Wonderflex
plastic wrap
small scissors
pourable plaster
white elmer’s glue
heat gun
hot knife
paint primer
paints and/or spray paints
spray lacquer or varnish
felt
paint brushes
small cardboard box
some packing materials
My first fairly successful attempt (2nd attempt overall) a few more pics of it further down in the thread:
Here was my first semi-successful attempt which taught me a lot about what not to do:
I learned from that first attempt that you can’t use a cotton stuffed duct tape dress form because it doesn’t hold the doll’s shape EXACTLY. Since worbla is solid, any bumps inside it will keep it from fitting on your doll properly so you need an exact shape of your doll’s body to for your pieces on. You don’t want to form thermoplastic directly on your doll since it involves heat and a bit of adhesive. It’s not super hot since you’re handling it with your hands, but still, I hesitate to form thermoplastic directly on resin just in case.
The 2nd thing I had tried was filling the duct tape form with resin, but even though the taped form was tight, it still deformed when filled with the liquid resin
3d try took a few steps and succeeded! So here’s what I did:
Step 1:
Wrap your doll in plastic wrap. Just a single layer because you don’t want to bulk things up. You’re actually sort of making a cast of the torso.
Step 2:
Use small pieces of paper masking tape to make as smooth a cover all over the torso as you can. You use small pieces so that there aren’t wrinkles, particularly around curves and small details and crevices.
Step 3:
Veeery carefully cut the wrap up both sides of the torso and the tops of the shoulders so that it can be removed as a front and back piece. But DON’T remove it yet.
Step 4:
Measure and cut pieces of Wonderflex to form over the tape, doesn’t matter if you do the front or back first, but remember to maintain the seams at the sides. Use more masking tape on the edges of the Wonderflex at the sides to make sure that your front and back templates do not stick to each other. You want to make sure that you form it as close and tight as possible.
Wonderflex is good for this step because it’s just strong enough to hold it’s shape while still fitting in the details.
Step 5
You should now be able to remove the front and back torso templates and have something like this:
If the tape and plastic wrap came apart from the Wonderflex, that’s ok, because it should still be in the same shape and be able to be pressed back into the Wonderflex “mold”.
Step 6
Smooth out the insides of your mold pieces a bit. If there are some pieces of plastic that are a bit too puffy or wrinkled and sticking out, you can use some light heat to shrivel and remove it. don’t use too much heat because you don’t want the mold to soften and deform. If needed, use more paper tape inside.
Step 7
Put the 2 sides of the mold together, tape the sides up on the outsides, no need to worry about the inside. Cover the neck hole and the arm holes, leaving the bottom open. To make sure that the mold halves stay together tight, you can either use rubber bands, or wrap more tape all the way around the mold at the shoulders, waist and at the hem.
Step 8
Set the mold upside down with the open bottom up in the air, inside a small box and set packing material around it to ensure that it will stay in place and not fall over.
Step 9
Mix the plaster. Since plaster can be pretty crumbly, I add elmer’s glue to the mix, about 1 part glue for 3 parts plaster should make it a bit more solid. Pour into the mold and wait for it to harden. The Elmer’s glue will likely make the plaster take longer to harden than the directions of the plaster will say. If it’s a plaster that hardens quickly, it is likely a heat curing plaster, so you want to make sure that you let it cool completely before demolding if you want to preserve your mold pieces in case you want to or might need them in the future.
Step 10
Remove the extra tape and demold. Now you should have a nice facsimile of your doll’s torso! Just use an exacto blade to trim the seams off the sides and the shoulders and you’re ready to form some perfectly fitting pieces on it! I used some putty to round out around the nipples a bit because I didn’t want the armor to have pointy nipples built into it -_-
Now for the fun stuff.
Step 11
create your base pattern pieces on paper to make sure that they will fit right on your form before you cut your worbla. The worbla has some elasticity, but it’s fairly thin, so you don’t want to stretch it TOO much. You can press some wrinkles down too, but that’s not always easy either if it’s bunched up too much, so cutting proper patterns is key to making good fitting pieces.
Step 12
tape your pattern to the worbla and cut the pieces.
Step 13
Use your heat gun, to heat one piece at a time and form them on the plaster torso. Careful not to heat it too much and burn yourself. Worbla sticks to itself VERY easily, so you have to be careful not to let it touch itself accidentally if you don’t want it to stick. You can use various tools to press any edges together. I have some sculpting tools with flat edges that I use to press things.
Step 14
Now that you have your base shape, you can cut the shapes for your 2nd layer details and press them on top of that. Both surfaces have to be heated to stick properly. I like to use a hot knife and hoover it over the place where the piece is being added, and then heat the piece and press it down. You CANNOT put the details on BEFORE the initial forming because the edges where the thicker details join the thinner layer become weak points and when you try to stretch, it will stretch at those weak points and tear. If it needs to be pressed, it will wrinkle and be difficult if not impossible to smooth back out again. A hot knife is really great for smoothing out things and working on small details.
Step 15
Prime the pieces to make them smooth for painting. I like Rustoleum’s Painter’s Touch 2x coverage primer: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BWORRW/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. You will need several layers of this. Follow the directions and add as many layers as you feel you need. You can sand between priming sprays if you like.
Unfortunately on the piece that I’m working on, I tried out a different Rustoleum primer that I thought was similar enough to the one I had been using, but apparently it’s not! Because it cracked like crazy! T_T I had to try to sand it out some which is crazy difficult in such crevices. I just hope it’s salvagable and the new primer will cover it well:
Step 16
After this point, it really all depends on how you want to go about it. I like to use automobile spray paints because I want a finish kind of like Iron Man’s armor. I think it’s easiest to first spray the whole thing the color that your raised details will be. I would wait at least a day to make sure that it was completely dry and then use masking tape to cover those raised details so that you can paint or spray paint the recesses whatever color you choose. I feel that masking the raised details is easier than masking the recesses and I think that it comes off easier that way as well. But that could be subjective.
Step 17
Sealing, you could use various materials, laquer, laquer spray, matte finishes, whatever is compatible with the painting materials you used. Again, wait at least a day to try to make sure the finish is hard enough for you to handle it in the next step without finger prints getting pressed into it.
Step 18
Line the inside with felt. You can use various types of adhesives to stick the felt to the inside of your piece. I used hot glue on my first piece, but I was a litttle worried about any little deformations happening so I think I may try a spray adhesive with the piece I’m working on if I can get it to focus in the right area properly.
And you’re done! Here’s a few bad pics of my piece:
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Thanks again to Dirili for sharing this with us!
Archangeli shared how she created the fantastic armor for her Dollfe Dream Sasara Kusugawa that took 2nd place at Anime North’s Doll North Masquerade
When Volks announced last December that they were re-releasing Dollfe Dream Sasara Kusugawa from ToHeart2 I was hoping that they would release her Valkyrie version. Since they didn’t, I did it myself ;)
I patterned & created the armor from scratch over the past few weeks. Everything was made to fit the DDdy3 body perfectly but still have flexibility to move & pose the doll. There are a few things I want to edit (the way the skirt hangs bugs me and the white sleeves aren’t puffy enough >_<“) and I do plan on making her shield & halberd later this summer.
The armor is made using Worbla. Worbla looks like this before priming. It’s a thermoplastic that’s infused with glue so it bonds to itself. I didn’t need to use any kind of special adhesives.
I used aluminium foil to protect the doll parts from my heat gun – and also to prevent glue residue from sticking to the doll while the Worbla was heated. It looks like I’m baking weird cookies :P
Worbla has a bit of texture to it, which is why you should prime it and then sand it to get a nice smooth finish. Thank goodness for my rotary tool and my dust eater fan (LOL – I use these for my nails usually! Good to have another purpose for these tools!) It took between 5-12 layers of gesso to get a workable surface for sanding. I was literally waiting for paint to dry @_@”
Everything was then painted with Vallejo acrylic model paints. (The same stuff Volks recommends for their model kits and Chara-gumin kits now). I like that it’s water-based & non-toxic, and extemely pigmented. Sometimes one coat was all I needed for complete coverage, which is amazing. With craft store paints I always need 2-3 coats! I was working on a deadline so not waiting for paint to dry was really helpful. Vallejo doesn’t make the exact blue I needed for most of the armor so I had to mix small batches at a time as I went. Since the paint dispenses in drops it was quite easy to measure out what I needed.
I used their Liquid Gold paint to get the beautiful metallic finish. It’s a non-toxic alcohol based paint that required constant stirring to keep the pigment particles in suspension but I’ve never found a more beautiful gold paint!
Here are all the armor pieces – everything is separate because I wanted the doll to still be able to move and pose.
Special thank yous to Puppy52 (chun) for helping me find the perfect fabric to use for the bodysuit & to xoHimitsuox for reference pics of the back of the armor and the late night motivation!
I’m so pleased to have won 2nd place in the 1:3 category at the Doll North doll masquerade yesterday! (1st place went to a beautiful recreation of Sesshoumarou from Inuyasha.) I wasn’t expecting to win anything – I just wanted to show her off and spread the Dollfie Dream love!
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Congrats to Archangeli on the win and many thanks for sharing her work with us!
OwlDepot shared with us this breakdown of how she made her Muron(Myron) Alexis armor. Click the images for larger sizes.
Chrix Design shared this detailed writeup covering the Chest Plate, Leg Armor, Pauldrons, Helmet, Shield and Bracer, and Crossbow of her Demon Hunter from Diablo.
The Bracer
Since I did take some in progress photos I might just add a write up of this piece also. For the smooth surfaces I used cardboard as a base, with foam details in layers. The end piece is only foam.
I wanted arrows to stick out of my shield, but to be able to pack and transport the costume I need to be able to take them off. For this I embedded M5 nuts into the cardboard and secured with worbla, while the corresponding bolt where attached to the arrows (You’ll see later)
Then I gradually covered the top with worbla (only the top) and wrapped it around the edges.
Since I was going to cover up the underside with fabric anyways I thought I would save a little by only using worbla on one side. The ornamented back piece would not be covered with fabric, so I tried to blend the surface using paper mache again, and it worked beautifully.
I also made a bracer and a claw for the other arm.
Chrix Design shared this detailed writeup covering the Chest Plate, Leg Armor, Pauldrons, Helmet, Shield and Bracer, and Crossbow of her Demon Hunter from Diablo.
The Helmet
I altered the the design a little, since the resolution of the concept art of this feature was a bit undefined. I wanted to add a bit more edges to the horns and detailing in the back.
I had no idea how to begin this build process, so I did what I know best – cardboard.
And then wrapped the cardboard mock up with worbla. Sine the look of the helmet is forged it works great with this slightly uneven surface. Still a way to go, but we are getting there.
The horns were expanding foam base (see horn for the pauldrons).
Then the horns were carved out and covered in masking tape.
To get a different texture on the helmet than on the pauldron horns I added Glue gun glue around and round the horns (took forever). Then They were spray painted gold and heavily weathered with brown acrylic paint.
Back to the base of the helmet, testing horns, not happy yet.
Details added.
The base was painted the same way as the horns.
To attach the horns I have embedded 5 mm nuts in the horns and secure them with 5 mm bolts. I have even made a youtube video explaining and showing how to take them on and off.
Looking good.
Chrix Design shared this detailed writeup covering the Chest Plate, Leg Armor, Pauldrons, Helmet, Shield and Bracer, and Crossbow of her Demon Hunter from Diablo.
This have to be the most iconic piece of this armor and I wanted to make sure the looked badass – The pauldrons.
Again I would use worbla, but I wanted to see if I could make the base out of cardboard and then cover it up with worbla and details afterwards. Also on the larger pauldron I needed to make horns and a mean skull face. All this without making the shoulders too heavy (as mentioned before, I’m weak and don’t want to carry more than I need).
Small pauldron
I covered a balloon with paper mache and added details with cardboard.
When it had dried I added details in foam.
Tha pauldron has several indents, created by just cutting away some of the cardboard.
When done I covered it up with worbla, bringing out the foam details as I go along. I used a small wooden stick to press down the worbla (e.g. a pencil or chopstick. I started on the top and worked my way to the sides.
All wrapped up
Thin strips of worbla was added along all edges to create dimensinon.
Under the pauldron there are a couple of smaller armor pieces which were made much like the leg armors, by covering foam with worbla and shaping ot over a ball.
This a part of the leg armor
Large pauldron with horns
With the larger pauldron I had a little more touble to the the basic shape. But same method by using paper mache over a balloon and adding foam details in layers was essentially used.
To get more depth to the mouth.
Starting to cover it with worbla.
Here I just used a blunt pencil to press in the worbla and bring out the details
For the skull piece I first made the form out of clay, then used that as a mold to shape the worbla, so I would end up with a light weight shell.
A hollow skull shape
I filled the space with tin foil to help keet the shape up while I added the rest of the worbla.
Before we move on with the skull details we need some horns. I build a basic grid out of cardboard.
Filled that with expanding foam
And carved out the shapes.
To be able to get the horns off the pauldron when needed, I added bolts to the horn base. Then I could screw them in place when needed.
Testing
I used all my small left over pieces of worbla for teeth. The pieces were heated and shaped.
Priming with gesso and glue, since I needed to get this peice pretty smooth.
More testing with the chest piece I made earlier.
I needed a small piece under this shoulder also.
Painting will be covered in a seperate tutorial eventually.
Until then, enjoy the full effect of these enormous shoulders, I have to go sideways though the doors in our apartment.
Chrix Design shared this detailed writeup covering the Chest Plate, Leg Armor, Pauldrons, Helmet, Shield and Bracer, and Crossbow of her Demon Hunter from Diablo.
So many armor parts and so many techniques to use. Love this project, I have learned buckets. Here I will show how the thigh, leg and shoe armor was made.
And I tried a few thing I have never tried before too, like curved shapes with cardboard base covered in worbla. In this tutorial I don’t explain how worbla works, only how I have used it.
Thigh armor.
Since these pieces are single curved I thought I could use cardboard as a supporting core for the worbla, which worked great. I also alsmost always only use one layer of worbla.
Some detail pieces were more curved, here I used foam (2 mm) as a core
Detailig done with thin strips of worbla
Leg bracer
This piece was way more curvy, so foam core all the way.
I tried two methods here, the first where I used two seperate pieces attached with a seamline goind down the middle, and this (see picture below) where I used one piece and streched it over an acrylic sphere.
All the pieces attached together and detailed with worbla strips.
The knees are made from separate foam pieces covered in worbla.
D-rings are added along the sides to attach the armor to my legs. More about the painting in a later tutorial.
Shoe armor
Shoe covers need to be flexible, and form fitting to the shoes :)
Many armor makers forget to address the back of the shoes. Even though I have no idea what the look like from behind, I will make something interesting.
Part 3 – Pauldrons
Chrix Design shared this detailed writeup covering the Chest Plate, Leg Armor, Pauldrons, Helmet, Shield and Bracer, and Crossbow of her Demon Hunter from Diablo.
This is one fierce lady with full cover armor, so of course I had to make this costume. Demon Hunter from Diablo 3. This will be my first big armor costume and I will most probably use mostly worbla for the construction since the shapes of the armor is very organic.
Worbla is a thermoplastic sheet which can be heated with heat gun or warm water. The material then gets flexible and can be shaped, bent or molded in any way, and even better remolded if you need the materials for something else later. You only need scissors to cut it, and all leftovers can be molded together so you don’t waste any material.
First up is her chest armor
I figured that I could build the chest in layers and not use foam in between to save a little money. So I started of by making a one layers base shape.
The Worbla is heated up and shaped over acrylic hemispheres. Careful not to stretch it too thin.
With by basic shape done I added masking tape to draw up the patterns for the next layer. With focus on using as little worbla as possible I will only add details in visible areas. Other worbla makers such as Kamui often make whole pieces that the almost completely cover up with the next layer, therefor spanding way more material than necessary.
My pattern
When adding new layers be more careful not to get any dents in your armor, so you won’t have to smoothen them out later.
The collar will be visible from behind, so I’m adding a double layers of worbla with a cardboard core (holding it stiff and smooth)
Collar on.
Repeat masking process to get the rest of the detail-layers.
Transferred to a sheet of worbla.
And back on the chest.
The cross ornaments in the making.
And all the stripes and “bolts” are just more worbla added with care.
The piece will be attached to my body together with a back piece being hold together with straps. These will be added when the back piece is done.
Part 2: leg armor
Cyehra Cosplay shared this tutorial for using foam, fabric and Worbla for her bracers. We are particularly impressed at the way she uses Worbla for the details over a fabric base!
Tyson Vick of Steampunkmonsters.com used Worbla for his breastplate and shared the process with us.
A while back I used Worbla for the first time while working on my Genie, and now, with a better understanding, I use it again to create a light-weight, metallic looking piece of armor!
This is the Worbla Breastplate I made for Percy.
I had quite a few scraps left over from the Genie, as well as one piece of warped Worbla that was stored too close to the oven. Using a rolling pin, I ironed out the warped piece by heating it up and flattening it while warm on a hard surface.
Worbla works best when heated to a consistency that reminds me of a fruit roll-up. Too hot and it starts to look gravely of frothy, and too cool and it won’t stick. Interestingly, this is not a difficult product to use, and finding that correct temperature comes very quickly, and since the change is apparent visually, it’s easy to reproduce once you find it.
I had some warped worbla which sat too close to the oven. I used a rolling pin to flatten it.
I also took all my scraps, heated them, and using the rolling pin, fused and flattened them together into a workable sheet.
I fused all my scrap pieces together and rolled them flat.
With this project, I decided to use a craft foam base. I altered a shirt pattern to be just the front and side panels, and cut it out of foam.
I glued the front opening shut, by overlapping the two sides of foam. A curved point formed at the top. The curved point just below the neck was actually in the pattern, and I believe the original shirt is not meant to button all the way up.
I also made an equally proportioned shield shape for an overlay. I traced it onto butcher paper/waxed paper. I also mapped out where I wanted my swirl details to go.
I altered a shirt pattern and made a shield pattern for the overlay. I made a craft foam base.
I cut out the shield using another layer of craft foam (red), and glued it to the other piece. Notice how the shield sticks up at the point below the collar. It hides the bump, and gives a 3D effect.
I cut out and attached the overlay using craft foam sheets.
I also cut the details out of craft foam and glued them into place.
I cut out craft foam details.
Next I took a large solid sheet of Worbla to cover the shield portion of the armor. I have been following Cosplay artist Ameno Kitarou on Facebook, and he gives many tutorial using Worbla, and I tried one of his techniques. The raised detailing was something I did not consider on the genie, though I think it would have worked better than what I chose to do. I tried the technique he mentioned of covering the details and using a pointed edge (like scissors) to press the worbla around the edges of the curved foam details. When finished, the effect looks much more realistic and metallic.
I heated a sheet of worbla over the craft foam and using the scissor edge, formed the warm worbla over the craft foam details.
Once the shield and it’s details were covered, I took my fused worbla scrap sheets and covered the side of the armor using it. You may not be able to tell, but I am heating the worbla over the craft foam while it is on my male mannequin torso. This is how I got it to curve correctly to manly proportions.
I used the fused scraps on the sides and shoulders of the breastplate.
I also heated the worbla to place my metal fleur-de-lis findings. This put a permanent etched mark into the worbla. I used this mark to find and glue the piece in the correct place easily after painting.
I also pressed my findings into the worbla while hot, so there would be a ridge for attaching later.
Once the breastplate was heated and curved to my liking, I primed it with Gesso, then painted it silver, and added metal leafing as per usual.
I wanted the armor to have more of a forged-on-the-fly aesthetic which will become clear when you read the book, which is why I wanted it to look like it was made from scrap metal.
I primed the whole thing with gesso then painted and metal leafed it.
To finish, I used the same shirt pattern that I altered at the beginning, and using its back panel, I cut out some white vinyl. This Vinyl velcros to the underside of the upper shoulder part of the worbla, and then laces up the side using eyelets.
This is the Worbla Breastplate I made for Percy.
My pictures seemed to drop off towards the end of working on this project, which is why everything from priming to finished project is missing, but I only had two days to make this, and felt my time was better spent working. But I hope the worbla portion is well covered in case somebody else wants to try these techniques!
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Thanks again to Tyson Vick of Steampunkmonsters.com!
Kamui Cosplay’s progress video of her Dark Valkyrie Diana from League of Legends, sponsored by Riot.
Chrisx Design recently shared with us her Adjunct costume from StarCraft 2. Not only is the costume itself stunning, but she also shared with us tutorials on how she made it!
Not the biggest piece, but here it is. The shoulder armor for my Adjutant.
Shoulders: again this is worbla wrapped around a cardboard base, and I shaped the top over an easter egg I had laying around.
For the circular shape I used a hair product box and shaped the worbla over it.
Added a few LED
More Gesso.
Silver base paint and black wash. Details with acrylic paint and silver marker. Four 3mm orange LED for each shoulder. Finished off with a clear coat.
The shoulders are attached to the chest armor with this Velcro solution and D-rings, keeping both the chest, back and arms together.
This piece actually holds the chest and back armor together over the shoulders as well, so the shoulder armor won’t slide down because it is then attached to the upper body armor.
Chrisx Design recently shared with us her Adjunct costume from StarCraft 2. Not only is the costume itself stunning, but she also shared with us tutorials on how she made it! Take a look at her amazing work, with links to the steps involved.
Tutorials:
Additional images:
The awesome folks at 519geeks made this tutorial for us on how to make a pattern. They show it for a chest/torso piece, but the basic principal can be applied to all body parts.
![WORB1[0]](http://www.worbla.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/WORB10.jpg)
Worbla is also awesome in the way that it is easy to both bond to itself and that it can be remolded back into the pile you have left over. It’s also very easy to attach other things to whatever piece you’re trying to add to it. We did use some extra glue for the shoulder straps of the armor but that was just because Elicia is a Nervous Nelly.
Finally The hard part of this process. Getting the pattern off your model without cutting their clothing XD. Remember earlier when I said to make sure they had a shirt they didn’t like…there is a reason for this. Simply slide your hand along where you are going to cut it off them. If you are doing a full black plate it’s still ok to cut it off them at the back You really only need half a piece. This is somewhat akin to cutting out a sewing pattern where you put the back part on the fold.
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Thanks again to Elicia and the awesome folks at 519geeks for sharing this with us!
The Glamorous Gamer Girls’ own Coco Rocha gave us a breakdown of her breastplate for her League of Legends Tryndamere costume.
Hello Everyone,
I’m still getting the feel for working with Worbla. It was an amazing experience as I mentioned in my other post and I’d like to share how I made my breastplate. When I was looking for tutorials I couldn’t find clear ones so here is my own version of how I made mine. I’m just going to go through a few steps/ tips when making your Worbla breastplate, it’s not extremely detailed since this was a rushed project but hope it helps anyways.
Worbla can stretch, mold within itself and be reshaped when reheated. I used a cut sphere as a reference to mold on top of. Just cover it in aluminum foil to prevent it from melting, and then put a plastic wrap on top so that when you mold on top of the half sphere it won’t stick on it. I used 2 layers of worbla for the cup so that its stronger and doesn’t melt easily and lose shape when I’m adding details.
Once you have the boob shape you can cut it down to a shape that’s more natural. I also used this method to make my helmet as you can see in the image. All you need is something to support it while shaping it and you can make any shape or size you want. I attached the boob molds on the band with a strip of Worbla on the front and back side. I made the bustier band part by wrapping it around my body and using a mannequin to see where I should cut the cups. Sorry I don’t have an image of this, but I just cut a straight band.
After securing the boob molds I just added the details I wanted. This is why I used two layers of the Worbla. When trying to add details on the base of a worbla project it can melt because you need to heat up both pieces to stick them together. The two layers prevent the Worbla from warping your base shape. The back I attached by using parachute clips. I wish I finished it another way because I find it ugly, but it was easy to put on and an easy solution to putting it on your body. An alternative I’ve seen other people use is metal loops and then string to tie it up with an overlap. The worbla is very strong, you can make straps and attach anything to it like the buckles shown below. Just make sure that you heat up both sides and ensure its stuck on so it doesn’t rip off. In my experience I had no problem with the buckles at the back and it withstands a lot of pressure.
Here is the final result of the Worbla breastplate armor. The inside you can see how I put the pieces of Worbla together. I didn’t double side it to save money, but if you can try to add the Worbla on the back as well.
Hope you enjoyed that and helped with your future projects!
Thanks again to Coco Rocha!
Making a Pattern by Aurore Cosplay
A great video explaining the basic process of making a pattern for a body part, such as an arm.
We have the rest of her tutorial series on the Making a Bracer page.
Valkyrie Studios shared this video process of patterning and building a breastplate from a dressform.
Making a Pattern by 519geeks
519geeks shared this video on making a pattern for your armor, explaining the process for a chest piece on a model.
There is a full writeup of the process here.
Kamui Cosplay shows how to make a bracer with lots of detail.
Axceleration created this great video series documenting her work with Worbla for a Justice League Hawkgirl costume.
Part 1: Armor
Part 2: Painting
Part 3: Distressing
You can find more of Kellax Production’s videos on her Axceleration
The awesome Jak Cosplay shared this fantastic tutorial on making a breastplate out of Worbla’s Finest Art.
More details including the creation of the staff, formed by carefully molding pieces of Worbla over carved Styrofoam. Be warned you can’t use a heat gun on Styrofoam directly! It will melt! Instead heat your pieces separately and then add them to your form. Then everything was primed, then painted.
With thanks to Electric Olivia for creating this.