Materials Monday: Worbla

All of you cosplayers out there have certainly heard of this stuff by now, and it makes sense because its pretty awesome! 

Worbla can be used to make just about anything from weapons to armor and all kinds of accessories and details.
Pros:
- Versatility (you can use it for just about anything
-  Durability
-It's waterproof! (that doesn't mean your stuff won't be damages by water, mind you. Not all finishing products like getting wet, but at least there shouldn't be any major structural damage)
- You can use your scraps, so there's potentially no wasted material

Cons:
- It's pretty expensive
-You need a heat gun
-It can be a bit heavy if you're making something big/using a lot of it
-You usually need to use it in conjunction with other materials

Generally speaking, when you're using worbla you want to use it as an outside layer over some other base. Craft foam (foamies) are common for things like armor pieces and small accessories.

For the armor I made for Young Genji (Overwatch), I used craft foam (and EVA for some parts) as a base, and heated worbla over it.

When you heat up worbla, it becomes very flexible which is great because you can achieve a lot of different shapes. It also sticks to itself when it's hot, so you can create 3D geometric shapes by mushing the edges of two flat pieces together. If you heat it and smooth it over enough it becomes a very strong joint and becomes virtually seamless. On the photo above you can see the knee protrusions, which I achieved that way.

While craft foam is my base of choice because it's lightweight, very flexible, and comes in large sheets, I often use cardstock as a base for smaller pieces or pieces that have angular geometric shapes (like those knee pieces).

The other great thing about worbla is you can heat up all of your scraps and mold them into things! You can see I molded the end of the Myrnaster with worbla.

You can achieve a lot more interesting things than that too! The hilt of Masrur's sword is all worbla too!

Since I've been using worbla for a while, so I have lots of scraps. I've been trying to use them as much as possible for this sort of thing, since it's more durable than making the same thing out of polymer clay, which would be my other go-to for these types of details.

If you're wondering where to get worbla, I always order mine online here. You can get sheets in different sizes and you get discounts for ordering in bulk. That may or may not be helpful for you guys, depending on how often you plan on using it but it's still good.

As always, if you're ever thinking about using any of the materials I've highlighted in my Materials Mondays posts and you're not sure, feel free to get in contact with me, I'd be happy to give you my thoughts on what materials I think would work best for your projects!

The Pure-Hearted One

Hey guys, it's time for another Throwbacck Thursday and I wanted to show off one of the few costumes I've made for the most important man in my life. Gosh I'm no that vain, come on; I'm talking about my husband!

Jordan is just as big a nerd as I am, he's just not much of a cosplayer. He doesn't like making stuff the way I do but he does enjoy wearing the things I make for him! We've only done a couple of pairs together, but we're planning more for the future. The very first set of cosplays we did together were from one of our shared loves, Ni No Kuni (it seemed particularly relevant given that Ni No Kuni 2 is coming out in a couple of months). I am of course referring to Oliver and Shadar. It's funny that we cosplayed Soul Mates... although that has a very different meaning in the context of this game.

TBH, I had way more fun making Oliver for Jordan than I did making Shadar for myself. I'm guessing most of that is because of all the fun details I got to make. The costume itself is pretty simple. White shorts, blue tunic, red cape, and some belts doesn't exactly make for a particularly impressive costume.

So that's where all of the props came in. The two most important, in my opinion, are the wand and the Wizard's Companion (Oliver's spellbook). I decided to go with Mornstar for his wand, because it is the most story-relevant wand in the game, and it's design is a lot more interesting than Oliver's first few wands.
The gems at the top are actually translucent so they look really cool when the light catches them the right way. And the handle is actually half of a karate staff because I wanted it to taper the way it's supposed to!

Looks like Oliver got a gold glim!

One of the coolest aspects of the game was your ability to leaf through the wizard's companion in-game. The illustrations are beautifully designed and the book is full of awesome mythology, info about the different regions and familiars, and other helpful things to use throughout the game. For those who pre-ordered the game, it actually came with a copy of the Wizard's Companion. Sadly we didn't get that edition and after looking for a copy online (which would have cost around $300 at the time, you can't even find them now!) I decided to try making one myself! Fortunately for me, I'm not the first person to do it, PrimeJunt on Reddit apparently didn't get the copy with the game and made one for themselves! You can see the methodology here, which I followed to create my own. 

With the two major endeavors done, my thirst for as much detail as possible was not yet quenched, so I decided Jordan needed a creature cage and a locket to complete the costume. Of course the cage needed a familiar in it so I made a little Mite out of sculpey. Sadly his sword broke but otherwise he's intact.... and adorable!

The coolest part about the locket is that it's more than just the locket. I actually made tiny sculpey versions of all the different Pieces of Heart and attached them with a chain to the cork so when you pull the top off of the locket you can see all of them.

Like I said, I had a ton of fun making all of the props for this costume and it remains one of my favorites, even though I didn't even make it for myself! I mean, that doesn't stop me from wearing it every once in a while since it fits me just fine and Jordan usually only goes to one con a year.

To Wing, Brothers!

Ok, I apologize for using part of his dumbest quote, but pirate birb is pirate birb. This throwback thursday is all about the rough-and-tumble hawk king of Phoenecis, Tibarn!

Tibarn is one of my first legitimate cosplays. I wore him to my first ever convention back in 2009. Considering I hardly knew what I was doing in those days, and I had only learned to sew a year or so prior, it's amazing how well this turned out, and how well it's held up over the years.

Obviously there are lots of things I'd do differently if i were to make it over again (not that I will ever make it over again), like using different fabric for almost all of it, and stitching the designs into the coat rather than painting them.

I also have much better methods for achieving the wrappings on my arms than actually wrapping strips of fabric around my arms...

One thing I definitely wouldn't change would be my wings. I like how lightweight and unobtrusive they are. They're also very easy to repair if anything happens to them, and I still have a bunch of leftover feathers from the project nearly a decade later (I may have bought just a bit more than I needed). The first time i wore him I actually had a bunch of people compliment me on them, and ask if they could touch them, since they're rather fuzzy and are just as soft as they look. It was great to get that reaction at my first even convention!

I WILL RIP YOUR WINGS OFF AND FEED THEM TO YOU, RAVEN KING

My dream came true at Youma 2016 when we got a full bird council together. We got some awesome photos by Justin Pineda and Robert Tate.

Leanne and Reyson (right) are Trimeriad Cosplay

The most miraculous part is that we had a second Reyson just appear out of nowhere! And now we're friends and have gotten to cosplay together more, which has been awesome. We also had another 1/5 Laguz present for the shoot. We only had half a beorc, so there was minimal representation on the human side of things.

I really do love everything about this cosplay and want to wear him all the time ^_^