In this post, I go over the materials I used for my first cosplays (mostly Eiger).  I loved each of these for different reasons and I hated them with a fiery passion when it came to others.  The biggest things to remember when using any material is to research what application it should be used for, learn its limitations, and take some time to practice with it before you start seriously working with it.  These three things will result in less frustration and better looking results.  So, anyway, the materials I used . . .




EVA foam seems to be everyone's go to if the tutorials I saw are any indication.  EVA foam is a type of closed cell foam.  It is the stuff used in those puzzle piece foam tiles you see in gyms and garages.  It is durable and cheap.  That said, I definitely used it for purposes I shouldn't.  And I definitely used wrong thicknesses and types of foam and EVA foam for wrong purposes. This stuff ended up being both a joy and frustration to use. I found it to be extremely versatile. This often proved to be a detriment to my progress as I would get in a groove with one thickness and end up using it for the wrong application. A perfect example being the boots. After using the EVA foam for a skeleton (which I did wrong anyway, but realized it too late to tear down and start again) I tried to use it to fill out the exterior. This ended up with a bulky (even more so than the finished boot) and awkward look. It looked pretty terrible to be perfectly honest. I had to tear the whole thing apart and build up from the skeleton with a skin of craft foam to fill it out, something which I should have used from the start along with another additional material. All that said, I was able to use it for curved purposes with just light heating and a bit of time, I was able to use it for rough detail, it finishes easily, glues well, takes paint well after painting a bit of modpodge or gesso or simply spraying it with a couple coats of Plasti-dip.  When heat formed, the resulting shape will hold well and even hardens to an extent, allowing it to be used for rigid applications..  On the whole I found it to be a great material with which to work.  On the whole, I discovered a great deal about using foam and now have a much better idea of how to apply different thicknesses and types of foam and will certainly use it in the future..

I used foam board a bit late in the game as I was rapidly running out of time and needed some more flat and solid looking material for some armor plating and found myself wishing I had bought some earlier for a variety of reasons. It works great for applications that require a flat appearance and glues together marvelously. It is easily cut, super cheap; works great for gluing more foam board together; is a good base for details using craft foam, instamorph, or as itself; it also works great for layering progressively cut pieces to create complex shapes. That said, the biggest reason I wish I had picked it up earlier was to use it for making 3d mockups of the pieces I was making and patterns to cut from. It is sturdy enough for both applications and due to its cheap price, it doesn't matter how many times you screw it up - you can just pop down to the dollar store and by two more large sheets for a buck. The edges took to hot glue crazy well. The foam melted just enough to make an even tighter bond than the glue itself would have managed. The board also takes to painting like a champ. One coat of primer and you're good to go. I will definitely be buying more of this for my next project.

Cardboard is much like foam board in its uses.  It is cheap, easily obtainable (just cut out the nice pieces on some shipping boxes), and easily painted.  The downsides are it can bend in the longitudinal bits of the corrugation and gluing edges together can be problematic due to the holes made by said corrugation.  Like foam board, this stuff works great to layer progressive shapes to create complex 3 dimensional shapes smoothed out with some Bondo.  I did this for some of the detail on Eiger's rifle and it worked well.  It also works well for sturdy pattern making.  Cutting this can be a bit of a problem as cutting across the corrugation can result in crushed edges - scissors seem to be huge culprits for this.

I used Polyethylene Foam for a couple of pieces, the neck piece being the largest.  I have very mixed feelings about this material.  It comes in big sheets and is pretty cheap for the amount you get.  It comes in a roll and has a pretty profound curve as a result.  This can be frustrating when trying to get it to be flat.  I tried a few things to accomplish this and the best result was a damp towel laid over the foam and ironed at medium heat with a reasonable amount of pressure.  After this I was able to place a large flat piece of cardboard over it and stack a few books on top, let it cool, and it was about as flat as I could get it.  Cutting it is very easy, but using the box cutter or an e-xacto knife didn't work well at all, it seemed to flex and stretch instead of going cleanly through resulting ragged cuts.  The heat knife melted the foam far too quickly.  Scissors and rotary cutter, however worked like a charm - quick and relatively clean, this is the way to go with this type of foam. I mostly used this for applications I wanted a tight curve and didn't feel EVA could accomplish it and craft foam wasn't robust enough to handle.  It works great for these applications due to its flexibility and relative durability.  I made the mistake of using the scrap foam left over from cutting the piece for Eiger's neck armor for details.  This foam really doesn't lend itself to that application.  The resulting pieces looked uneven, unfinished, and very Party City kind of quality.  This means Eiger's neck piece was kinda disappointing.

Craft foam is cheap, easy to use, but delicate.  The stuff I got would tear easily.  This is likely because I was using it in ways I shouldn't have.  That said, it works pretty well for detailing.  It is thin, which allows you to build up.  I glues well with a variety of adhesives, but can burn the shit out of you when using hot glue to attach two pieces.  My biggest frustration with this is the fact that many producers of this stuff love to stick fucking stickers on the corner of one side.  Darice is a huge culprit here.  This makes one corner completely unusable for anything other than a flat purpose.  Not to mention, you lose easily 2x3 inches of the 8.5x11 inch piece you spent money on.  They also love to staple shit on to these things and even together leaving holes and tears in the material.  Serioulsly, when you buy sheet metal you don't get the pieces welded together, when you buy dry wall you don't get the pieces nailed to each other, when you buy construction paper you don't get the sheets taped or glued to each other . . . Seriously craft foam manufactures, don't be dicks.  This frustration resulted in a massive rant on facebook and twitter.  I will likely spend the next few months trying to find a source that doesn't ruin a good portion of the material I purchase.  People use this for some crazy incredible stuff.  I'm not quite sure how other than the fact that they are VERY talented.  So, it can definitely be more versatile than I experienced.  That said, it can be painted well with a bit of primer.  On the whole, it is a great material to use on surface of things, and detail work.

Fabric is important for almost any cosplay.  It comes in a huge variety and I am not going to go into every type and its ideal application.  That said, it can be an amazing and easy material to use, so long as you are using the right material (ie, don't use leather for a piece that should be light and billowy).  The downside is merely acquiring the requisite skills to use these materials.  I did a great deal of sewing in college for constume construction.  However, I hadn't sewn since that time.  When I picked up some fabric and grabbed a new sewing machine, I thought I could jump right back in with minimal effort.  I was WRONG.  Sewing is not at all like riding a bike.  If you have the skill now, don't let dust settle.  If you don't know how or you haven't done anything with a needle and a sewing machine it is time to grab some cheap thread and fabric, fire up those youtube tuts, practice straight and curved lines on a bunch of paper, and get to (re)learning.

There it is.  The materials I used, what I like and what I didn't like about each.  I hope my experiences help someone and I hope I remember to review this when I tackle stuff next year so I do not make the same mistakes.  :)

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