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RoxyRoo — Shoulder Armor Tutorial
Published: 2009-05-05 01:00:48 +0000 UTC; Views: 137575; Favourites: 2291; Downloads: 0
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Description
EDIT: This tutorial will be featured in 2 Cosplay magazines! 
4th Issue of the Indonesian cosplay magazine called CozMagz www.cozmagz.webs.com/about.htm… Portuguese cosplay e-zine, Cosplayer issuu.com/cosplayer/docs/cospl… MiscCostume Blog: www.miccostumes.com/blog/how-t… Isn't that awesome??? zomg, I'm so excited!!!
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**EDIT: a constant question I get is, "How well does this stuff hold up? Won't it crack or break?" I think this is a rather silly question. Of course clay can crack or break. It's not metal.
Has mine broken yet? No. I made sure to take care of it by securing it to my jacket and packing it well when traveling. Treat it as you would any prop: With care.
As said above, this tutorial can be used for other armor and characters too, not just for Lightning. I'm sure other materials can be used as well, like real clay (if you have access to a real furnace) or paper clay, which air-dries. I chose Scupley cuz I knew how well it held detail, which was important for this prop.
I'll be adding fiber glass on the inside (if I can get ahold of it) to strengthen it so it doesn't break.
Materials:
...1/2 box of white sculpey = $6
...Tin foil = free
...Wire = free
...scotch tape = free
Time: 14hrs (so far)
Finished Pauldron
:thumb251246655: :thumb261611292:
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People who've used my tutorial. 
's armor: catnip23.deviantart.com/art/Li…
's armor: themiddlechild.deviantart.com/…
's armor: fav.me/d2u7rm7
's armor: barista89.deviantart.com/art/L…
's Amano amor: img.photobucket.com/albums/v31…
's armor: fav.me/d3elyo8
's armor: tae-kia.deviantart.com/art/Lin…
's armor: beyondfantasycosplay.deviantar…
Related content
Comments: 420
yeah, but it could be used as a layer to go under the armor and make you look bigger or just act as a second layer of flesh
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hm... There was something they used in Silent Hill like that. I can't remember what it was called though.
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i dont know, all ive ever seen is buster from mythbusters whos made out of that stuff or something else pink...
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Well, goodluck on whatever you choose to work with.
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I might just have to use this! Hahah, a couple alterations will have to be made to fit my light-up tubing stuff, but otherwise that's really well done!
+fav
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^^ Yeah. I ended up remaking it to do the light fixtures. Are you using El Wire too? :3
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This tutorial is so helpful! Thank you!
I want to use El wire too. Where did you get yours? Is there a common store I could get it at or do I need to buy it online?
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you're very welcome. ^^
Online. I think it was Vibewire.com or something like that. or was it Vibelights.com? I dunno. Just google "Electroluminescent wire" and you should get a lot of results.
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El Wire? It might just be that it's 1:30 in the morning, but what do you mean? |D
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For lighting stuff... never mind. XD
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I looked it up and no, I don't have the cash for that. xD
I'm just using some clear plastic piping that I painted on the inside with glass paint and then putting LEDs in either sides of the tubes.
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Thanks. xD It's gonna be wired up so the battery is under the little cape thing.
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my lights have a wire that i'm going to run under the straps, where the battery will be hiding in my jacket pocket. :3
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Dig it! I look forward to seeing yours! xD
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Question: How do you attach the piece to your shoulder? I'm thinking of adapting the tutorial to make Sephiroth's, Cadet Cloud, and Genesis' pauldrons, and am stuck about how can attach them to the costumes without 1) damaging our coats 2) having bulky straps that stick out of everything....
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laaaawl. XDD Your question reminded me of what this armor smith said at the Rennaissance Festival. He was once commissioned to do Sephiroth's armor and because of that, he hates Final Fantasy. "THEY DON'T KNOW ARMOR WORTH SHIT!!! THERE'S NO WAY TO ATTACH ANYTHING. NO RIVETS? NO GORGETS? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KEEP IT ON???"
D: It's true. After hearing his rant, I went and did research myself on armor anatomy and key pieces are missing in almost every single piece of armor I see in FF. Anyone with even a basic background in it would say that Nomura's designs are seriously flawed and that the CGI team cheats to make them stay on the characters.
The only exception is Lightning. Her pauldron actually does have rivets, which with leather straps connect to her jacket at 3 points. Sephiroth and Cloud's armor do not have rivets, so we just imagine that they magically are superglued to the leather straps they wear. I myself would suggest you either incorporate some sort of hook on the inside of your armor so you can attach it to your straps that way. Or you can glue it, or use magnets, or duct tape. Since it's on the inside, people won't care, but I think every cosplayer of FF armored characters will all agree that it's annoying as hell to figure out how to attach everything.
If this helped at all, that's good. If not, then I wish you the best of luck figuring it out on your own.
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the only bit i can see as being an issue is actually getting the shape right since i have to do it myself. any cheat ways to get a basic shape?
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Make a mold of your shoulder? I'm not not sure what you mean...
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I don't know how I can describe it better than in the tutorial. Follow the steps and it should fit you just fine.
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thanx. best tutorial around. cant believe with the amount of ppl into cosplay that tutorials are so rare.
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I know right? O.o I starte collecting tutorials, but there's less than two pages worth!
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ill have to post my finished products.
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i doubt it will look much like yours at all tho.
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All you can do is do your best. If you do your best you can be proud of any outcome. ^^
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did you put the sculpy in the oven on top of the tape?
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yup. I just removed the tape afterward. :3
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Wow, that's amazingly awesome! The stenciling on the hanging bit is really good!!
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For the armor I'm working on this is somewhat useful, but this doesn't help that much when is comes to a shoulder guard that is not actually attatched to the shoulder. Sorry this probable sounds confusing. >< But good job.
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try duct tape. XD
no, I'm serious. I've heard of things that have no attachment and people have used duct tape, at least for on the skin. If it attatches to clothing, I'd try some hard core magnets. That's how my friend got his buster sword to attach to his back and still be able to remove it. :3
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well that does helps partually. but what i mean is that there is a space between the shoulder guard and the armor that actually rests on the shoulder.
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Oh, wow! That's just... amazing. I'd really love to try this sometime. I'm hardly a cosplayer yet, but I'd love to once I get better at time management and sewing. xD
Thank you for making this tutorial! It's awesome! *w*
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I've been cosplaying for 4 years and I'm still having trouble with time management. lol
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Ah, thank you so much for putting this up!
My friend sent me the link; we're going to be a FFXIII group to Otakon in 2011, and this is definitely going to help with the costumes! ^-^
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Goodluck! I hope it turns out well. ^^
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Is there a final painted picture I can see?
It looks amazing....
.O.
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[link]
THis is only the progress shot. O.o; I found I didn't use dark enough colors so I'll be painting over this.
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Ah cool. I see what you mean about it being a bit light. But its still amazing.
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