New member

Rick1138 · Feb 10, 2015

Hi folks, my name is Rick and I am 32, I live in Aberdeen in Scotland (UK) and am an avid gamer, wargammer, motorcyclist and guinea pig owner

I am new to full on costumes for cosplay, but I have dressed as a questionable Boba Fett when I was 15, and a more passable Darth Maul when I was 17 for the Phantom Menace Premier.....

However as we are having our first ever local comic con in Aberdeen on the 30th of May, my mates and I are looking to do some cosplay, and as usual I am the first to make a go of it, and as ususal, I cant do it by halves.

So I am now in the process of learning Pepakura and resin casting, (this wont end well I feel).

The plan is to create a Destiny Warlock character using some stuff I already have (movie replica trench coat, motorcycle boots and gloves, and go from there, I may have to make my own waistcoat\inner jacket but well see.

This is inspiration:

Having never done this before, there is nothing like diving in at the deep end, ill either swim gracefully or sink in a blob of resin.

Hope to learn some tips from everyone here.

All the best

Rick

Termhn · Feb 10, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

You will probably want to use pepakura and fiberglass for the helmet but definitely look into using foam for the rest of the armor pieces. Especially since you don't have a set of pep files that matches your design exactly. It's much easier to freehand foam (pretty much impossible with pep)

Rick1138 · Feb 10, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

Ill have a look into foam. Is this the type of stuff you get in homeware stores, you put it together like a jigsaw, for flooring etc?

As I can get that, or is a diff type of stuff I can get online etc.

UK names for stuff can be different, especially the resins etc

Termhn · Feb 10, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

Rick1138 said:
Ill have a look into foam. Is this the type of stuff you get in homeware stores, you put it together like a jigsaw, for flooring etc?

As I can get that, or is a diff type of stuff I can get online etc.

UK names for stuff can be different, especially the resins etc

Yep it is the jigsaw flooring type stuff! The ones we get here in the US are usually the ones from Harbor Freight, not sure if that exists across the pond. Here's what they look like. They call them "anti-fatigue mats" http://www.harborfreight.com/4-piece-anti-fatigue-foam-mat-set-94635.html

Rick1138 · Feb 10, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

That's the stuff, I need to see how it can be painted next, as again, US and UK product names can be hugely different.

Other issue I need to check is making a gun for my costume as UK police may take a very dim view, even if its a fantasy weapon.

Termhn · Feb 10, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

You can search around on the forum, there's a few different ways to "seal" the foam so that you can paint on it, but the most popular is to spray it with plasti-dip. I think that plasti-dip exists in the UK but not 100% on that.

ISU DPS · Feb 10, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

I can't wait to see how this turns out man! Make sure to send us some progress pics when everything gets rolling!

Noble 10 · Feb 10, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

welcome to the forum

PongTong203040 · Feb 10, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

Welcome! I sure like the project idea! I hope it goes well.

Rick1138 · Feb 11, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

Thanks for kind words folks

Got a few ideas going round in my head, biggest issues being the helmet and the coat.

Helmet is going to be bespoke so I know that's going to take up lions share of work, however my long duster coat ( a replica of Neo's Trench coat from the Matrix made for me about 8 years ago wit a few changes like no buttons or pockets etc, it would work but its very heavy with material, i.e. a lot of it, and it may flood any detail I do under the coat.

The other idea is to make my own sort of trench coat affair, using sections of material for colour, however finding a pattern to work from to get the basics is a bit difficult.

Main ideas to fabricate are these (gun replica I am making is the Monte Carlo rifle (white one in top pic, as its easy to make it look like a toy and not get shouted at by local police

:

Lots to think about, though tbh I am most excited about going into local toy superstore and choosing a cool nerf gun to use as a base for my rifle build.....totally not just wanting to buy NERF guns!

Rick1138 · Feb 11, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

Only issue I am having so far after doing a fair bit of research into mould making and casting is the supply of stuff.

I can get Smooth-On products in the UK relatively easily, and for simplicity sake I would stick with them, (some confusion as to diff between Platinum RTV silicone, and brush on Rebound 40, i.e are they one and the same??

The main question is if I make another mould from Plasti-Paste or if I make one from fibreglass matt. This is mainly for cost considerations as plasti paste is very expensive for the one off I am doing.

The only other issue is quantity I may need to do the Warlock Helmet, basically the gist seems to be about half a gallon, but as a gallon of Rebound is £200, I am very hesitant, as 2 trial kits are £64 and contain about 2kilos of material.

Would 2 kilos be enough to cover a smallish normal head sized helmet in silicone for the glove mould?

If anyone can give me a pointer in that I think I am ready to start making a mess, watched way too many you tube vids, but it should prevent me from making too many beginner mistakes hopefully.

Thank folks.

Termhn · Feb 11, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

You need to make a cast/mould if you're doing a one-off most of the time. Unless you want to make more in the future.

Rick1138 · Feb 11, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

Sorry I may have worded that badly.

I am going to make a proper silicone Mold with mother mold around that.

What I am not sure about is if the smooth-on Rebound product is the same as normal RTV silicone I have dabbled in before, I,e, 100-10 ration type stuff, as if it is I can get that from a UK supplier in the same quantaties as smooth on but at £40 less for the same quantities.

Its just so I don't go and waste cash on normal platinum 2 part RTV silicone, when the Rebound stuff from smooth on has some special properties etc.

I realise I will need a thickening agent for the mold build, but I just wasn't sure if the stuff you can get from PolyCraft in the UK would work just the same.

EDIT: Right, after a fair bit of research, I found a UK supplier of RTV silicone and urethane products that is a little bit cheaper than smooth on.

The main bit I hadn't noticed was that the much cheaper option I had seen was for Condensation cast silicone, but the do sell Additive cast (Platinum) Silicone.

I have a 500mm tub of Condensation cast silicone that I am going to make a small mold from to test, as if it works for one cast well enough I can make the larger helmet in the cheaper silicone as I don't mind if the mold degrades faster, as I will only need it a few times.

Lots to do!

Rick1138 · Feb 14, 2015

Re: New member from Aberdeen Scotland.

About to make first go at pepakura:

Rick1138 · Feb 16, 2015

Got all of the parts cut out, my poor fingers, though it was the muscles in my left forearm that were the worst from holding the paper down again and again.

Acid test this week to see if my measurements were right and the hole for my head is big enough........

Big shopping trip on Saturday, things collected so far:

Material for coat and liner, metal decorative sheets to make foam armour embellishments, soldering hot knife, odd screws and metal fasteners to add gribbly detail to helmet, the LAST glue gun sticks in local hobbycraft, heaven knows why there was a sudden run on thin glue sticks!

My coat pattern turned up, so need to work out how to alter it to suit my design, now just waiting for far too many ebay auctions to be delivered for various bits and pieces.

Should be getting a large silicone delivery later today.

This may be getting out of hand

briger · Feb 16, 2015

that is going to be awesome.

Rick1138 · Feb 17, 2015

Started gluing first few parts together, scale looks not too bad, but if I get my head in it it will be amazing, though have plan for trapdoor affair if needs be..

Hot glue, gun nozzle and fiddly access points were fun, so many glue strings hehe. I am doing tiny tabs with brush on superglue as its more controllable but otherwise its coming along.

Some slight warping but I realise after only doing about 8 parts its going to be pulling in all weird directions.

No pics as phone died and was 1am. Ill sort out some tonight.

Rick1138 · Feb 18, 2015

Making progress, not too bad for first go, just taking my time.

From test fits it seems to be roughly the right size, so fingers crossed.

Though still lots to do:

Termhn · Feb 18, 2015

It looks like you have some pretty significant warping in general; are you just using printer paper? Or what weight of card stock? It looks maybe too thin. Good work though.

Rick1138 · Feb 18, 2015

its 200 GSM card. Part of the problem is its my first go and getting to grips with holding card, piece to glue and glue gun took a bit of getting used too, and having only a very short time to glue tabs to other piece due to glue hardening, its a bit skewed in 2\3 places so throws the rest out a bit.

Ill see what its like once its all built as its not complete so can move around etc which doesn't help.

If it needs heavier duty cardstock then I can try again. I have 290GSM but it wont go through the printer.

I may also reprint the pieces ive used and redo it from scratch using pritt stick to hold first tabs, then PVA for rest, would be smoother and give more work time.

These are the things you learn

Thanks for advice

New member - Destiny warlock Helmet and costume build.

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