Vambraces

The first project I tackled were my vambraces, or forearm guards. If you've never heard of vambraces, you aren't alone! Constructing a cosplay of an armored character will make you an armor expert in no time.

Thor's vambraces in Avengers. Notice the Loki horn motiff. Awww.

After looking up about a million cosplay armor tutorials on YouTube (check out this girl's great guide to using craft foam for armor here!) I figured I was ready to dive in.

First, I sketched out my pattern on lined school paper. If you're making any sort of body armor, make sure you measure yourself so that it fits perfectly!

Nothing says "villain" like snakes. Hissss

Next, I cut the shapes out of black craft foam. A big sheet of craft foam is only 99 cents at Michael's, so making your armor won't break the bank. Plus, it doesn't really matter what color you use since you'll be painting it later!

After you cut the foam, you have to shape it. I shaped my pieces by heating them over the stove and curving them over a rolling pin. I didn't take any photos of this step, but if you Google it, there are a lot of guides for this.

I then started painting the vambraces with Mod Podge, which helps the foam keep its new shape and preps it for painting. After one coat, I hot-glued the foam snakes onto the front of the vambraces.

You can put this stuff on anything!

I decided to be extra safe and paint four or five coats of Mod Podge onto my vambraces over two or three days. The Mod Podge also helped secure the snakes, creating a more solid surface by filling in the gap where the pieces of foam met.

Next came the puff paint!

The eyes freak me out, too.

I picked up a bottle of Gesso at the craft store to make sure the acrylic paint wouldn't damage the foam. After getting a coat on and letting it dry, I noticed that the Gesso gave the surface a much rougher texture.

I was able to put a few coats of the metallic gold paint onto the vambraces today. At last!

Oooh, shiny.

I still need to put a couple more coats on to get the paint even, but I'm loving how they're coming out so far! Pretty good for my first shot at making foam armor, I think!

I had originally planned to use Velcro strips to attach the vambraces to my forearms, but I think that I'm going to adhere the foam to fingerless gloves instead. That way, I won't have to worry about them falling off or looking tacky on the back sides of my arms.

I couldn't be happier with my progress on my armor! I started on my pauldron, strap piece, and arm cuff yesterday. A few more days of Mod Podge, Gesso, and Martha Stewart acrylic paint and I'll be battle ready!

Watch out, Avengers. 

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