TurboCharizard's Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Link Build Log

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Uugghhh all the thumbnails haha just kiddin. Looks awesome the 123 blocks display it nicely along with that super fancy backdrop. If it were me I would mark the index too. Look forward to seeing more
 
Uugghhh all the thumbnails haha just kiddin. Looks awesome the 123 blocks display it nicely along with that super fancy backdrop. If it were me I would mark the index too. Look forward to seeing more

I wish I had a behind the scenes photo of the backdrop. It was definitely not fancy. PVC pipe frame with an off white sheet underneath a white curtain draped over top and Christmas lights underneath all at the top of the stairs by the bathroom where the highest concentration of lights is in our house for some reason. The cell phone flashlight spot lights really make it though. Low tech solutions are kind of my jam and @Cpl Yapflip is a photographer who is just as crazy as I am.
 
I wish I had a behind the scenes photo of the backdrop. It was definitely not fancy. PVC pipe frame with an off white sheet underneath a white curtain draped over top and Christmas lights underneath all at the top of the stairs by the bathroom where the highest concentration of lights is in our house for some reason. The cell phone flashlight spot lights really make it though. Low tech solutions are kind of my jam and @Cpl Yapflip is a photographer who is just as crazy as I am.
Haha that’s awesome..... kind of figured as much, there may have been a hint of sarcasm in there because I usually use similar makeshift methods as well. But I don’t know haha yours does seem pretty extreme. Some behind the scene footage would have been quite comical!!
 
Haha that’s awesome..... kind of figured as much, there may have been a hint of sarcasm in there because I usually use similar makeshift methods as well. But I don’t know haha yours does seem pretty extreme. Some behind the scene footage would have been quite comical!!

Only known behind the scenes photos. Korok for scale.
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Mixed media projects are always a blast, and this one is an interesting one because I got to change my opinion on something that I had in my "no-no" list for ages. Here we go with the Soldier's Bow!

I'm really good at choosing objects that nobody else has wanted to make real world copies of so there was a very low number of references for the bow on Google images, so it was a lot of screenshot uploading from the WiiU and hating the resolution of the files. Luckily the design isn't too elaborate in comparison to some in the game, just fancy enough to keep it visually appealing and looking fresh out of a fantasy world. The bow is symmetric so the design was easy enough to mirror and make two arms and four sides of everything is just within the range of making you twitchy when things don't quite match.
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To help minimize my insanity for four-way symmetric perfection I made a quick model for the bow endcaps in Fusion 360 with the knowledge that I was playing a game of constraints. The game here was to fit everything within the √7.5² " of print bed diagonal that I have and keeping in scale of the 60" length bow. A slot was left open to slide onto a 1/2" ID Schedule 20 PVC pipe which was the main body of the bow. Got it, but only just. For this print I doubled down on the infill and shell with a lower layer resolution just so that I could get the print quicker and everything into the painting pipeline as quick as possible. As always I used my favourite filament eSun PLA+.
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For the arms of the bow I used two sections of PVC and joined them with a slip joint so that I have at least one prop that breaks down nicely for travel. A word of warning on this next step and I want to make it clear that I mean it. DOING THIS REQUIRES PROPER PROTECTIVE GEAR AND PROPER VENTILATION. Using a heatgun and a pattern I made I carefully heated and bent the two sections into shape for the curvature of the bow. I had all windows open and all shop fans running for this as well as my vapours respirator and heat resistant gloves on, even with all the protective gear on I hate bending PVC this way because of the insane toxic fumes that get kicked up, they're carcinogenic so if I explode with super cancer you can assume it's from that and the myriad of other chemicals I use for cosplay.
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Fun fact, contact cement peels right off of PVC even after it's roughed up. I learned the hard way so now you don't have to! I instead used my new go-to CA glue, and lots of it, to tack down 10mm foam around the piping. After much pressing and taping to keep everything in place, the arms were wrapped and ready for sanding. The arms were tapered down and sanded to give the look of a craved wood texture.
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Worbla is one of those things that I am able to do but I feel like I'm just ridiculously slow at it in comparison to the rest of the world. The majority of the build time for this one was coating a bunch of technicolor craft foam shapes in thermoplastic. Sure it's an odd shape and all but I just felt like I was taking forever to get anywhere with it. That "no-no" that I mentioned earlier though is here though. I've always said no power sanding Worbla, why? I'm guessing heat activation made sense and someone told me not to do it at one point and I just took it as the letter of the law. Some of the seams I had were unsightly and I wanted them gone so as anyone with a Dremel and a case of sanding bits does, I went at it carefully and slowly (with 80 grit sanding drums mind you) to knock down some ugly joins. Damn. I wish I had known the joy of sanding Worbla sooner. Sure it kicks up a lot of dust from the wood dust and polymer but it was much lower on the list of deadly toxins I've worked with this weekend so whatever. It looked good.
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Not everything is permanently affixed yet for the sake of painting but here's a cheeky preview of the bow lounging on my newest tool in the workshop. Also, here's a quick glimpse at everything that's being painted and prepped right now.
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Time Spent
3D Design Time - 1 hour
Print time - 22 hours
Patterning Time - 1.5 hours
Construction - 10 hours
Painting - 20 minutes
Materials Cost
eSun PLA+ Black 1.75mm - $25 / 1kg spool (60g used)
1/2" Schedule 20 PVC Pipe - $6 / 10ft
1/2" PVC All Slip cover - $0.70 / ea
10mm EVA Floor Mats - $12 / 16sq.ft (1sq.ft. used)
Worbla Finest Art - $110 / 4' x 8' roll (1.5' x 4' used)http://www.worbla.com/
Consumables Cost
BSI Insta-Cure+ CA Glue - $10 / bottle
 
Haha nice! Hey the end result shows off the piece nicely. so that’s all that matters right? Come to think of it I don’t think I’ve ever done a glamour shot (n) Maybe my next finished piece.
Glamour shots are my jam. I've started going back and retroactively putting props into the makeshift photobooth just to add photos to presentations and make it look like I know what I'm doing. I think it's working?

Oh and congrats on the new position!
Thanks man, I'm hoping that I can help make the forum a bit more of a colourful place with my new powers. Worst case scenario the Canadian Regiment implodes or something and I give BlazedStarbon an aneurysm somehow. Here's hoping for the better of the two options.
 
When one project being worked on ain't enough...

Link needs a melee weapon, I've previously been commissioned for a Guardian Sword build and I could have made two but that was way too fancy for my pleb-Link build. We have to go way worse, like single digit damage stat-line level. Breaks after like 10 hits worse. I give you, the Traveler's Spear.

Spears are really fun to use in Breath of the Wild and that's honestly why I chose this. They're lightning quick and can be tossed easily in a pinch which goes along with my usual play style in games of grab something that allows for plenty of movement, utility and fun. The only downside of this thing is the scale. When plugged into Nifegun the scale to my 5'9" came out as 97" from tip to butt or a little over eight foot tall.

Again, it's not a very popular item for people to build so I had to resort to screenshots and gauging certain details from what would probably work in the real world.
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I've changed up my workflow slightly in how I do 2D patterns, I'm still doing most of the work in SketchUp because I've grown accustomed to the interface and it's pretty idiotproof for drawing out designs but now I've found a new (to me) extension that outputs images as a scalable vector file intended for CNC milling which makes for nice, crisp lines when transferring everything from paper to foam. No more blocky bitmap exports that make me cry when put to a PDF printable format. Overall it's a minimal change that nobody else will notice, it just makes me less twitchy when working on things.
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For the spear I did a 3D printed butt with a hole for some leftover bolts that had the right sized heads to match the scale (11mm Robertson head) that I cut down to fit. Super not exciting but it fits like a glove over the 1.5" diameter Hemlock dowel that I picked up.
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The spearhead was made out of four laminated layers of 10mm EVA carved to shape using my belt sander and a slot cut out to slip over the dowel. I was concerned about the certain eventuality that I was going to forget about the length of the spear and bang it off a door frame or low ceiling at some point so to protect it from myself I gave it a coat of Worbla to make it a bit more durable. The seam lines were sanded down and made nice and buttery smooth. Did I mention this thing is stupid large? I need higher ceilings.
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In one of the pictures in the post about the Soldier's Bow you can see parts of the spear in with all the other parts drying after paint. Everything has been hit with filler primer and is awaiting sanding and final paint. Stay tuned for the finished products on these.

Time Spent
3D Design Time - 15 minutes
Print time - 3 hours
Patterning Time - 1 hour
Construction - 5 hours
Painting - 20 minutes
Materials Cost
eSun PLA+ Black 1.75mm - $25 / 1kg spool (15g used)
10mm EVA Floor Mats - $12 / 16sq.ft (1sq.ft. used)
Worbla Finest Art - $110 / 4' x 8' roll (0.5' x 3'used)
1.5" diameter Hemlock Dowel - $10
Mystery bolts - Probably leftover spares from furniture (2 used)
Consumables Cost
LePage High Strength Contact Cement
BSI Insta-Cure+ CA Glue - $10 / bottle
 
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Everything is looking fabulous! The arrows, the spear, all of it is looking great! I really like the paintjob on the arrow, can't wait for you to throw some paint on more props!

I'll have to jump on board with the glamor shots...never done any before, but I bet I would feel proud after taking them...hrm...;)
 
Everything is looking fabulous! The arrows, the spear, all of it is looking great! I really like the paintjob on the arrow, can't wait for you to throw some paint on more props!

Thanks man, it's hard skirting the line of making something look cartoon-y but work as a real world object, I probably have to just exaggerate the shading and highlights more than usual. I'm doing a bit of commission work and some other stuff but I should have these painted in the next two weeks if everything goes as planned.

I'll also have an update on the headdress and tunic in the next little bit. I have most of the headdress parts printed and waiting for paint and have all the fabric and chainmail purchased for the tunic so it's just a matter of bringing it all together. Wish me luck that I don't die in a tragic but totally expected sewing machine or wig styling accident.

I'll have to jump on board with the glamor shots...never done any before, but I bet I would feel proud after taking them...hrm...;)

JOIN TEAM FANCY PHOTOS WITH GHETTO EQUIPMENT.
 
I'm making sewing patterns today. In case the expected happens and somebody needs to identify my remains I am 5'9" 170 lb Caucasian male wearing denim jeans and a cotton shirt. The sewing machine may catch fire/explode/quantum leap which will make identification difficult but hopefully that description helps.
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I'm making sewing patterns today. In case the expected happens and somebody needs to identify my remains I am 5'9" 170 lb Caucasian male wearing denim jeans and a cotton shirt. The sewing machine may catch fire/explode/quantum leap which will make identification difficult but hopefully that description helps.View attachment 252671


Wait.....who are you again?
 
I prefer the term, "Living Impaired"...... We need to be very PC these days. :D

Habeus Corpus Challenged.

I managed to get a mock-up finished this weekend done using some left over canvas from the NCR Ranger jacket and bought the fabric for the final tunic. Fabric is one of those things that always seems super expensive no matter what and I don't know why. Maybe it's because it folds down so small and doesn't have much heft to it. Expect some more updates through the week and limited through the weekend because this week is Tsukino-Con!
 
Nothing crazy to update with on the BotW costume front, I got surprised with helping out doing a life cast and a few other things this weekend but I did manage to work on the quiver. Just a quick EVA build of various thicknesses, some contact cement and fun times.

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I'll be adding more later on as I add details and paint.
 
Update on a few things since I haven't done an organized post to this thread in a while and I've been one and twoing pictures to my Facebook page throughout the chaotic last two weeks.

Sewing. Is. Not. My. Forte.

For the tunic I'm making stuff up as I go along and following YouTube tutorials to make sure that nothing ends up as a smouldering wreck. I try to explain my processes in the build log for the most part but this one may be a bit less informative because I don't actually know the terminology for most of what I'm doing here and for a lot of it I'm playing the ask Mrs. TurboCharizard game to make sure I'm not doing something stupid and destroying a large amount of fabric and her sewing machine.

The last point that we left off I was making paper patterns and that was awesome. I can get behind transferring things to 2D space and making templates. I used one of my form fitting but comfortable sweaters as a basis for the pattern and transferred the shapes to brown paper painters drop sheet and added details such as the tunic flaps and lace up collar that aren't on the original sweater.

From there everything was transferred to a section of canvas that was left over from my NCR Ranger costume to make a mock up and check that the pattern was correct and everything fit well. Once hem lines were adjusted and pinning was done to adjust the fit I transferred paper pattern details for the triangles on the trim to the mock up to get proper tessellation and curvature for the real thing. This was also important because it let me get the exact lengths for sections to be covered in chainmaille.

For this tunic I'm not being a maniac and making a full maille shirt, I may for a future version of Link but due to time crunch on the costume I'm making detachable sections that Velcro on and give the appearance of a full chain shirt. The Ring Lord is awesome for this, I ordered ~2000 links of 14ga 3/8" ID galvanized steel and made 5 sections (front lower, back lower, two sleeves, neckline) of European 4-in-1 weave maille. It was fairly quick to learn how to do and was an almost zen experience of hanging out for 8-10 hours prepping links and then connecting them all. My hands are claws from working with pliers so much but the finished parts are super cool and I can see myself doing more chainmaille in the future.
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For the sewing parts I used a rayon for the dark blue, broadcloth for the white, green and navy and then added weight to the whole tunic with an internal quilted fabric lining to make it have the appearance of a gambeson underneath. For the order of operations it was broken down into two parts the lining and the external facing.

The internal parts were a layer of the rayon and the quilted fabric stitched together with a running stitch the full way around to keep the overall shape and add structure to the tunic. To support the chainmaille, 10lb strength (1lb/sq.inch) Velcro was sewn along the edges to the rayon and quilted fabric so that nothing will stretch and deform on the finished piece.
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The external facing was... fun. 84 triangles fun. 42 in each colour and I decided to sew them on to give the look of an embroidered pattern as opposed to doing a vinyl iron on. The vinyl would have been more accurate in shape but the slight variations due to seams and my sewing skills makes it look a bit more real world and lived in. I worked with the white outline first so that I could later add the green internal triangles which would most definitely need to be adjusted. The white was pinned and stitched into place. A zig-zag stich with a high width and low length was used on the visible seams to make it look like an embroidered applique and a straight stitch for the edge that is under bias tape.
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The green was then added by using a fusible interfacing underneath the triangle and then melting it with an iron so that they'd stay in place. because of the smaller size I used a short length medium width zig-zag stitch to attach everything. I apparently haven't taken any photos of the finished pieces but here's some cosplay A E S T H E T I C photos of what everything will look like. I'll go back and take some photos of internal bits to add to the progress photos. Final stitch up is today so I'll have the tunic and sash done and will start work on the leather jerkin/breastplate and gauntlets so more cool photos inbound. I'll do the full materials cost on the final post for this tunic. It's a lot in comparison to other stuff.
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EDIT WITH MORE PICS

The main body is assembled and it's now officially a part of cosplay since I bled on it. I have gouges and steel splinters from the maille but there was no proof of damage done. Thank you white quilted fabric for showing evidence of damage done.
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The tunic is together in one super comfy piece now after some pinning and trimming to adjust everything to fit better, all that's left is to do the bias tape around the trim before moving onto the leathers and sash. Enjoy a photo of a cosplay potato enjoying it's new jacket in the meantime.
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TurboCharizard, CHAIN MAIL SHIRT!!!!!!! I once started working on the trim of a Mid evil helmet and just doing that took hours. What you have there is SUPER IMPRESSIVE. Helmet off to you man.....I know that feeling in the claws......I mean hands....but that is what they feel like after so many hours of linking these tiny hoops of pain into each other.
 
Because sewing is probably even more boring for you than it is for me, here's a mini update on the status of other things going on. As of... three hours from now the last planned printed part will be coming off the bed.

BAM.

Ancient arrow parts. I did an update to the design to chunk it up and make it look closer to the game model in terms of width while adding wire routing, battery and switch recesses and slots for rare earth magnets so that the arrowhead can split in half to change batteries later on.
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I ordered about 200 rare earth magnets two weeks back and haven't received a shipping notice which sketches me out. Worst case scenario I go to a model making store or game store and pick up a bunch of 5mm diameter, 2mm thick magnets and eat the cost of it.

My Sheikah EyePad is also done and man did paying close attention to fit tolerances pay off. Friction fit is a beautiful thing. Current favourite beer for scale.
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As a bonus, here's a finished bomb arrow to show a hint of what's to come in the next day when I assemble the Flame, Ice and Shock Arrow.
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