Worbla???

[Swany]

I return, and I bet I was....well honestly not missed at all. I learned how to use my sewing machine and fell head first into sewing and textile cosplays.

But here in dear Scotland the weather's turned. And when it's not raining it's still cold and damp, so I can't get sealing any foam without it looking really pebbled. I live with my family still, so I've no space to work with like, fibreglass and junk.

START HERE FOR THE REAL POINT OF THE POST

Really what I'm asking is, has anyone got any experience with Worbla, especially since Spartans have a "Boxier" look about them. How does it shape, hold and take paint?

Is it sturdy. Cause I've used foam before and even though it can take a bashing (Thank goodness), it's either picked up some paint from someone else's costume, or it's wearing away. Also once it got hot it started to irritate my skin.

 

[EVAkura]

Interesting stuff! A bit expensive and apparently hard to find, but it seems as if it may fit your needs. I found some good info at

. If you decide to go this route, let us know how it worked for you please!

 

[Swany]

Yeah, it is a wee bit dear, but the way I figure is I'd rather pay better cash for lasting props/armour, yeah?

Though as I said, Foam just didn't suit my needs as I'd have liked it to.

Either way, I've ordered a wee A4 sheet to play with. And I dunno about in the states, but I've found it on a wig site, Coscraft.

Watch this space, I suppose, for the post a week from now when I said I made a pigs ear of it.

 

[VSMShockWave]

Im not too familiar with Worbla myself but what i can tell you is i've seen cosplayers use it and do some pretty incredible stuff with it. I'm still looking into it myself in hopes of finding another good option for armor details.

 

[Swany]

Hur durp.

Idea. Since Worbla is hella expensive. I might just use it for the helmet. Cause I've more commonly seen helmets made of plastics and such, also I figure if I encase my head in foam I might literally die. It's heavy enough wearing wigs.

I dunno. I'll play around with it. See what happens. Cause I'll admit I like the look of the foam armours cause it's got a thicker look. But plastics might not be as warm.

Is it so obvious I've never made armour before? (Also ShockWave I hope that username is a Transformers ref)

 

[Kirimae]

I haven't had hands on with Worbla yet, but I have seen it in action as of yesterday. The person I was speaking to was fixing this (which had been damaged by couriers bringing it back from a con'):

And I was watching as she was layering the worbla onto the blade and how merging two edges was as easy as cutting the warmed worbla. As it was explained to me, she said Worbla was a good middle ground between foam and the full on resining and bondo simply because it was easy to use and it didn't give off any fumes at all.
Then she gave me some scrap Worbla to play with ^_^
Something she made mention of (which I plan on experimenting with) is that as long as you harden the pepakura (I was thinking with paper mache, but she suggested starch) then you could easily just melt the worbla straight over the top of a pep and it would keep its details.


Also the guys doing the above is http://heavensforge.com/

 

[Apothacary]

what about building the base out of foam, and using worbla like some people use foamies? I know it's expensive, but I'm just tossing an idea out there. Also, worbla may be expensive, but I've read, and been told, that you can melt scraps together, resulting in next to no waste, which is pretty awesome. Anyways, good luck with this! maybe you'll be the one to discover a third method to forging spartans

 

[Swany]

maybe you'll be the one to discover a third method to forging spartans

I am this generations Catherine Halsey.


Also I figure I should also say to people that I am a very indecisive person, so this could involve a lot of me humming and hawing.

And that you are all being very helpful, cause sometimes I just like to bounce ideas back and forth.

 

[Nephtis]

Hey! I am pretty new here, but I have some experience working with Worbla. I started to use it for the very same reason you have: no room to mess around with resin/fiberglass safely.

That said, my first armor I constructed without a pep base, but I've just finished my first Pepakura armor set with Worbla, so let me share:

It does work, but you need to strengthen your pep model enough so you can press the Worbla against it. I did it with paper maché because it's cheap, easy and safe to do.
Here is a documentation for a shoulder part

With some practice you can use this method for fairly large pieces if they are more or less flat http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=147&u=16585497:

For my chestplate I had to do it in 2 or 3 parts and cover the seams with ornaments to make it look smooth, teh helmet actually required making a pattern.

As for painting.

You should be aware that Worbla has a structure.
I actually like it for organic armor, you can even create a leather-like surface with it. However, for more hightech armor, you'll need to smooth it.

You can use wood glue (takes several layers and patience but you don't need to sand, the more layers the smoother) or gesso (some people use a spray filler, but I've never tried that myself) and sand it down.

Then put on a primer as a base.
You can use acrylics to paint but you need to seal them carefully. Also, don't rush and let the layers dry really well! My first armor I wasn't too thorough and I have a lot of scratches in the paint to show for it on parts that tend to connect with things.