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RoxyRoo — Shoulder Armor Tutorial
Published: 2009-05-05 01:00:48 +0000 UTC; Views: 137576; 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
This seems fairly cheap and doable for someone like me, who is crap at prop and armor making.
Are there any tips or bits of advice for making these pauldrons? [link]
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You got extremely lucky. XDDD I was bored + tired and that = CREATIVE RANTING. Soak up the info, yo. It only happens when I stay up til 2am...
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I've been up all night working on her capes.
Thank you!
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I hope all goes well for you.
you're welcome. ^^
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>w< oh she's so pretty. I really want to play that game..
Tips. Gotcha. okay. >.> hmm... Since these have horns on them, I'd first carve your paldrons out of styrofoam first. There's two ways you can go about this. You can use Sculpy (which is brittle, and probably wouldn't be the wises thing with those horns...) or Paperclay.
Sculpey: smoother, easier to work with, but more expensive and twice as likely to break.
1) Use tinfoil as a base, make sure to make hard-packed foil to make the base of the horns. Make sure both base forms are equal in size and shape before moving on! 2) nead sculpey until soft and then follow same process as the tutorial above. Make a hole for the horn to go through when draping it over the form. 3) Wrap more sculpey around the horn later. 4) Create rims (follow process above). 5)Then add texturous detail for the gold areas you'll paint later. 6) Check both pauldrons for equal detail/size/shape/etc. 7) Bake and then paint!. Make sure NOT to remove the tin foil from the horn! Add padding and attachments. ^^
Paper Clay: cheaper, more sturdy when it has a base, but requires faster hands (because it dries quickly) and will need sanding before painting.
1) take 1 styrofoam ball, cut it in half. (a "styrofoam" cutter would be highly reccommended. You can buy them for less than 25 bucks at Joanns' and Michaels.) 2) Carve the desired bends and curves into them as needed. 3) if need be, add craft foam on the edges for those extended pieces. 4) glue a small styrofoam cone onto the top, shape as desired with the cutter. 5) Use "Paper Clay" and plaster it all over, smooth it out as quickly as you can before it dries (keep finger wet with water). Don't worry, after paper clay dries, you can 6) sand it down to how you want it. More sanding with finer sand paper will make it smooth enough to paint. 7) take smaller carving tools and etch smaller details in (or, you can try putting texture on before it fully dries by stamping it with something). 8) Add rims, smooth, and then paint.
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Got the supplies needed today to make this. Going to start working on it tomorrow. Let you know how it works out. Will post a picture of the semi-finished and finished product here on DA with a link here.
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Oh yay! I can't wait to see it! 8D Goodluck!!
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Yep. Thank you! ^^
I also got the materials for the red bag that's strapped to her leg. I plan to go find my camera and make a tutorial on how to make that (cause there isn't any! D
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O.o yeah, no kidding. her bag is very specific. I think I know what to do, but I'd appreciate your ideas on it.
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I'm going cheap and using vinyl fabric for it cause it's almost similar to leather (and WAY cheaper). Might just take some cardboard and "mold it" and then sew it up.
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I bought a red bag from walmart that was perfect for it. XD I de-stiched it and now it's all ready for me to use.
ooo... Sounds interesting.
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If you haven't done the painting yet. I found out by watching the trailers that the yellow on her pauldron glows. So would you try out mixing glow in the dark paint with yellow so that it'll glow a bit in dark or dim room?
Might wanna test it on some cardboard or something before it hits the final project. Just thought I'd throw that tidbit up.
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I got that covered. I got the El Wire already to go. 
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Ah. I'll keep an eye for that then. Thank you. ^^
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I might be using this to make my Dissidia Sephiroth armor, and it seems VERY helpful. One question though--I can't see very well in the photo, but what did you mean by making a wire base? Where you said "form wire around your shoulder". Sorry, the monitor I'm on isn't that great, or else I could probably see. :3
The way you did the raised designs is ingenuis and will be perfect for what I'm doing~
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Dissidia Sephy??? Omg, I wish you much luck! You'll look awesome.
Oh. You can just take some hanger wire, or any kind of wire you can easily bend, and wrap it/bend it around your shoulder.. sorta making like a "mock-up" pauldron. Then you cover that in tin foil to smooth it out. It's just so you have something to put your pauldron on in the oven, otherwise it will lose it's shape while cooking.
muahaha... hours of wracking your brain can result in epic ideas.
again, goodluck!
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Alright, that clear it up a lot. Thanks so much! And I'm excited to do Dissidia Sephiroth as well. Like I said, the raised relief techniques you had is absolute genius. ^^ I'll make sure to credit your tutorial to give you all the thanks you deserve!
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Your tutorial is awesome
This might seem really dumb, but you know when you said press the stencil into the sculpey? Well i'm a bit lost on how that would make raised detail, I thought it would make an impression? Or do you literally stick the stencil on and keep it on the armor? Sorry if thats confusing XD
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Thanks!
No, not at all. You have to use the silhouette pieces. There's the design you want, and then there's the left over "outline". You use the outline pieces. See the pieces I numbered on the stencil? You press those into the clay, making the real design pop out around the silhouette. This is what we call "reliefing".
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Ahh okay, I see what you mean now, thank you for explaining it again, its really appreciated 8D
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Not sure if I've commented before, but ah well, if you have a goldfish memory, you'll just have to deal with it I guess. xD
Great tutorial! Will be to lots of help when I get started on Lightning.
Got to compliment you on the emblem as well, finding good shots of those small parts is one big task. Especially when there's limited shots and videos as it is. Even worse if you are trying to avoid spoilers. Oh no Cosmos, I'm totally -not- looking at you and your... flimsy dress and accessories.
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thankyou. <3
Awesome. Let me know when you do get started on it.
Cosmos? Her hair looks the hardest to me. XD From Dissidia, right?
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You're welcome.
Hehe, will do, will do. ^^
And yeah, from Dissidia. Will be a very interesting project. xD
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awesome!
I'm doing a Dissidia hero too! There's going to be a gathering for Dissidia cosplayers at Anime Expo'10. Spread the word!
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Oooh, nice.
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D: Oh noes!
... Start your own gathering! XD
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To be honest, we don't really have gatherings here, not in the same sense as you do. xD Oh, sure, it happens that someone do spreads the word of something at the con, like "Oh FF cosplayers can meet up at the pond and we'll take some photos," but not so much else. xD
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WOW...It's coming out so wonderful >.<
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believe it or not, I just remade the big piece. XD
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damn my relentless perfectionism...
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This is a fantastic tutorial.
Lol, I would never of thought to use Sculpey. How much of the clay does this use exactly? I've pretty much got a full box of Super Sculpey I bought last week for no good reason, LOL.
I'm guessing around 250 grams, half the standard box.. Hmm..
The silhouette impression idea is genius. o.o And it must have taken a very long time to get such an accurate relief of the status symbol. xD I've tried to get it right but have failed so far. O.o
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Yeah, about half the box for all of it. :3
It took me quite a while to think about the relief technique. o.o;; But it ended up working beautifully, so i'm happy. I actually have to remake the main pauldron cuz it came out lop-sided, but now I know what to do this time. :3
I still don't have a good image of the symbol. =.= *sigh* But whatever, I'm done with it for now.
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Ahhh. It looks great how it is, it'll be spectacular finished~ When you paint it, I suggest attempting to mottle it with tones of green that are very slightly different. It seems to have that look in-game~
Nevertheless, the symbol looks pretty damn accurate XD
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Yeah, and it's slightly shiney too, so I'll put a glossy finish on it too.
thanks. ^^
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question...
instead of using white sculpey, what if i use craft form?
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craft foam I find very, very difficult to curve in a spherical shape. It's great for angular things, but for things that curve smoothly in multiple directions, it's I wanna say impossible. If you can achieve that, then I tip my hat to you.
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lol well I guess I'll go with the sculpey stuff
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you can try paper clay too. Depending onthe level of detail you need in it, paper clay is just as good, but can't hold as much "sculpting", but it's great for shape.
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