How do you plan your builds?

[blafftat]

I start off with a sketch on how I want it to look like, then I pick out files and foam to buy. Then I finance how much money I need. I usually just use a google doc for all of it and then put other stuff like goals or specifications. I don't plan too much.

 

[rickrtickr]

my planning process:

want to make armor.

What parts?

Parts not done? Make those.

Parts done? don't make more till other parts done.

 

[CXBoss]

I've seen quite a few different ways people plan out and/or track their build progress, so let me just ask

How do you plan or track your builds?

I like to use a Kanban board on a site like Trello with images, checklists, and labels so that I can have a single source of truth for everything I need. Want to look up that ref photo while in the workshop but there's no computer? No problem the Trello app is on my phone and usually has pics on the card for each story.

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Example of a board at the beginning of a build

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Section of same board with example photo shown

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Example of a card without checklist(s)

I know some others create calendars when there's a specific timeframe to complete things or others use a hand written series of checklists.

WOW! I have never heard of trello, and this is an absolute game changer for me. I'm usually so scattered in how I plan and my reference photos. I am so excited to plan and execute my next build using this! Thank you so much for recommending and excited to mess around on the site to make a plan.

 

[JadePhoenix]

Before I ever started cosplaying I'd made a list of characters that I really wanted to make if I ever got into it. I've added a few more to the list since then. But in December or January I sit down and look at my list and see what I have on my list. I kinda split them into 2 groups... Big builds (full armour, lots of complicated pieces, lots of techniques needed for them, and of course more money spent on it... usually 1.5k or so) and medium builds (few if any armour parts, not as complicated or in depth things I need to do or at least not as many of them, and a budget of like $500 or so) And then I pick 1 of each.

Last year for example I picked Samus Aran Dread suit (my big build) and Zero suit (my medium).

From there I figure out how I want to go about making the cosplay. For Samus I decided on doing EVA foam (since at the time no working 3D printer). I opened an app called Cosgear Planner (currently offline, may return eventually) and then created lists of everything I'd need to buy, steps I'd need to take under categories of like prep work (sizing the files in armorsmith, printing everything off, cutting the paper templates out), EVA foam (cutting out and gluing together each part), painting (heat sealing, plastidiping, painting). With that done I set about to get started.

I'd start with buying some of whatever I thought I'd need up front, and at least the most critical aspects. so like plans/templates first. This way I could get started with them. I then would use the guide to track what I had done, roughly how long I'd spent on it, to remind myself to take pictures. I'd complete everything in one category before moving onto the next. So no painting anything until all parts were ready for it.

So when I got to January of this year? Same thing. Look at the list, see what characters are there. I picked Spartan first as my big build and a second (that I haven't talked about since I'm still working hard on it and not sure if I'll even be able to finish it in time. Worst case I abandon it to make sure my Spartan is done.) And I've been following the same process for the most part (just this time with the closing of that app, I've switched to using an excel sheet for the time/task tracking). I have all the 3D printing done now so just making sure everything that needs to be attached is. Though I did kind of jump things a bit here and start sanding the helmet visor so I can get a local vaccuform tech to make the visor for me.

 

[Chief118]

I think writing everything down beforehand is actually a waste of time, the only thing I plan is how much foam I need and scaling the armor correctly in advance with Armorsmith Designer and that's it but everyone works differently! but a good work list.

 

[mrc0369]

Adding onto this with a spreadsheet I've been using for print and material usage specific tracking. It's been built up over a few years to track various metrics that I cared about and automatically calculate things like actual material usage, cost of my usage of materials bought in bulk such as buckles and clips, and total time spent printing

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Figured it was worth putting out for anyone else who wants to use it for their own stuff. You're welcome to make a copy of this template for your own use and make any changes that are more useful to your specific needs.

Cosplay Tracking Template

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Print tracker was heavily inspired by one shared originally by Rock Lobbster found here and adjusted over the years to better fit my needs and automate some calculations for me.

Hopefully it'll help some people organize, plan, and track.

That is awesome!! I created a very basic spreadsheet to help me track costs of each project. This is much more in depth and I will definitely incorporate it into what I already have going.