[Nymeria]

kinokashi, on 20 September 2011 - 08:00 PM, said:

Rathian Gunner left shoulder -

kino that looks great

May I ask what materials you're using to make it? I'm fairly new to making cosplay armor, and I was trying to puzzle out how to make the armor for Silver Sol gunner armor (MHP3 style)...

Since most of it looks to be made from Silver 'los scales and not actual metal I'm starting to think of shaping most of the armor like so:
~Use wire to get the initial shape of the 'los plate armor (for each separate group of armor plates)
~Wrap it in tinfoil to give a smooth base for the paper mache
~Paper mache in layers over the wire/tinfoil shapes until it hardens enough to retain the shape without being too flimsy.
~Possibly coat in paint or textured cloth, or maybe sculpt some scale texture over the harder pieces with 'Crayola Model Magic' or something similar (modeling foam or something maybe).

That's my plan so far anyway. I want to keep it fairly cheap in terms of materials used if possible, and still have some control over the shapes of the 'los plate armor. I was thinking of faking metal by using shiny yet stiff cloth of some sort, or maybe shaping some silvery gloss paper... haven't come to any final decision on that yet. I don't want it to be too stiff since some of the stuff that looks more like metal is on the chest/stomach area. I want to be able to move around in it.

I'd welcome suggestions if you have any! Excited to see more of your ian armor.
It'd be cool if we met at a con someday wearing these 'los/ian armors :3

[kinokashi]

Jask, on 21 September 2011 - 12:55 PM, said:

Have you been wearing a wig for all your pictures, or did you actually dye your hair that bright light blue?

it's a wig, i wear it if i'm doing some cosplay stuff to take a photo

[kinokashi]

Nymeria, on 21 September 2011 - 01:56 PM, said:

kino that looks great

May I ask what materials you're using to make it? I'm fairly new to making cosplay armor, and I was trying to puzzle out how to make the armor for Silver Sol gunner armor (MHP3 style)...

Since most of it looks to be made from Silver 'los scales and not actual metal I'm starting to think of shaping most of the armor like so:
~Use wire to get the initial shape of the 'los plate armor (for each separate group of armor plates)
~Wrap it in tinfoil to give a smooth base for the paper mache
~Paper mache in layers over the wire/tinfoil shapes until it hardens enough to retain the shape without being too flimsy.
~Possibly coat in paint or textured cloth, or maybe sculpt some scale texture over the harder pieces with 'Crayola Model Magic' or something similar (modeling foam or something maybe).

That's my plan so far anyway. I want to keep it fairly cheap in terms of materials used if possible, and still have some control over the shapes of the 'los plate armor. I was thinking of faking metal by using shiny yet stiff cloth of some sort, or maybe shaping some silvery gloss paper... haven't come to any final decision on that yet. I don't want it to be too stiff since some of the stuff that looks more like metal is on the chest/stomach area. I want to be able to move around in it.

I'd welcome suggestions if you have any! Excited to see more of your ian armor.
It'd be cool if we met at a con someday wearing these 'los/ian armors :3

I'm using craft foam making it look like armor, since craft foam can be made into armor like cosplay if you're on a budget like I am. I used normal spraypaints, and used layers of spray after each coat dries, to give a "weathered" effect, I did light coats of gray from a far distance. To get the tiny details, I used 3D glue. There's a process with crafting foam armor though, there's TUTs lying around in google. the inside, I coated with fabric, and normal glue to keep it sturdy, i also shaped the foam by a heat source. After the coats of spray paints, I used a gloss finish, and left it out to dry for a day

[kinokashi]

OH! also, Doing armor measurement is different from measuring for fabrics, keep that mind Always make patterns for armors, and cardboard... You may need lots of it.

[Nymeria]

That's pretty cool, thanks for explaining that! I had a look at a few tutorials and I might end up incorporating a few craft foam armor pieces into my costume. I think for the most part I'll try the wire+paper mache to get those strange 'los scale shapes. I should be able to get a very three dimensional sculptural feel to the shapes using this method and maybe even adding some paper clay over the paper mache and sanding it in places where I want it smooth...

This guy used wire+paper mache method to make his Dark Samus suit, it ended up looking like it had been through a battle or two which I find interesting. I want my Rathalos scales to have a bit of texture to them and I might even sculpt in a few battle scars in the armor as well. :3
http://www.cosplay.com/costume/304482/


I found a really cool silvery scale textured cloth in a fabric store, so I'll be looking for ways to incorporate that. Also thinking about making one of the pouches hanging off of the belt on the side large enough to hold my PSP so that I'll have Monster Hunter with me when I eventually wear this costume. The biggest problem in comfort is... how are we going to sit down to rest when wearing big clunky plate mail dresses, kino? O_o


What weapon are you thinking of making? I'm probably going to make the Wind Barioth bow.

[Nymeria]

Oooo... I found an awesome site for cosplay tutorials! I need to share this with you, maybe it will help you to construct parts of your Rathian armor!

http://translate.goo...G12jfyc0G4dywxA

Above link leads to pics showing her process to make full Athena armor (Click 'all pages' to see the end result as last pic right away). She uses spackling to smooth out her paper mache.
Below link leads to her tutorial index:

http://translate.goo...qjD_qyPpwC1Eqew

I hope that helps!

[kinokashi]

hehe, the way I'm gonna sit down? Most of the time when I'm in cosplay, I don't sit much since I'm also always standing and posing for the camera, but my plan is when I DO sit down, I'm gonna actually take off the tasset using velcro I have my whole cosplay planned, I hope I finish it early so I can starting making jinouga armor

[Nymeria]

kinokashi, on 22 September 2011 - 07:49 PM, said:

hehe, the way I'm gonna sit down? Most of the time when I'm in cosplay, I don't sit much since I'm also always standing and posing for the camera, but my plan is when I DO sit down, I'm gonna actually take off the tasset using velcro I have my whole cosplay planned, I hope I finish it early so I can starting making jinouga armor

Oh cool