Prop Construction Series (3 Panels Scheduled)

[Dagger-6]

Status: Approved!  See you at Fanime.

Current Panelists:
Zander Brandt
Z-Props

Danielle Yuan
Dagger-6

Cosplay Armor: EVA Foam
Facebook Event Page
Saturday, 11am-12Noon in Panels 2

Panel Description: Craft foam, EVA foam, L-200 foam. A versatile, lightweight, cheap medium that is friendly for beginners yet able to create amazingly complex items. Learn the steps to create your very own cosplay-friendly armor, from patterning to sealing, in this introductory-level panel.

Panel Overview:   In this panel I will be going over the process of how to create armor using EVA-foam mats and craft foam. It will be an informal lecture, utilizing slideshows and live demonstrations/examples. The technical level will be geared toward beginning cosplayers who have never played with armor making before.

=====

Cosplay Armor: Pepakura
Facebook Event Page
Sunday, 10am-11am in Panels 2

Panel Description: Pepakura is a method of using papercraft to create physical objects from 3d models. It's an excellent way for cosplayers to rapidly craft complex, detailed props. Learn about the exciting possibilities of this program as well as tip and tricks to help you get started.

Panel Overview: This is an introductory level cosplay tutorial panel. We will be going over the use of the Pepakura 3d-papercraft program and how to create props with it. We will cover the software, printing/assembly, use of resin/hardening the prop, and finishing/detailing. It will be an informal lecture using slideshows accompanied by hands on examples/demonstrations

=====

Cosplay: Prop Construction
Facebook Event Page
Monday, 10am-11am in Panels 2

Panel Description: Want to make that sword or gun from your favorite show or game? Learn several beginner-friendly approaches to get you started, including foam and wood work, as well as an introduction to sculpting and casting.

Panel Overview: This cosplay tutorial panel will be focusing more on techniques geared toward non-worn prop items such as guns, swords, and jewelry. Techniques introduced will include layering MDF wood and basic woodworking, sculpting styrofoam, bondo/pink insulation foam, epoxy sculpt, and molding/casting small items.

[Dagger-6]

We are officially approved.  Be sure to follow us on our facebook event pages to stay updated!

I'll also be posting weekly tips and videos talking about the subjects we'll be discussing.

[luluko]

Definitely gonna try and make at least one of these, hopefully all three! Looking forward to it!

[Dagger-6]

I'm happy to announce we'll have two more members on the panels!

Joe Knoll of CosProps (no website)


and

Eric Newgard of Impact Props

[Dagger-6]

A huge thank you for people who came out to the panels! Some great questions and info from the audience and it was wonderful meeting everyone. I'm going to clean up the slides a bit (They were all done rather last second) but for the time being here are our personal sites as well as links to other people that we recommended/mentioned:

Dani: http://www.dagger-6.com/
Zander: http://www.zprops.net/
Eric: http://www.impactcustoms.com/index.html

Andrew Cook: http://www.youtube.com/user/DaFrontlineTrooper
Mike Iverson: http://blindsquirrelprops.com/
Harrison Krix: http://www.volpinprops.com/
Bill Doran: http://props.punishedpixels.com/
David Carpenter: http://bioweapons.wordpress.com/

[Firefury Amahira]

I was able to make it to the Pepakura and Prop Construction panels- it was great seeing some other ways people build props and materials I don't think I would have considered before. Very informative, though like you said, the slides were pretty clearly last second. Hoping you guys do some more panels in 2014, maybe with a slightly more polished presentation since you'll have a year to build on this year's set of panels! :)

[Dagger-6]

Thank you for coming out!  There are definitely a dozen ways to build a prop and seeing how other people tackle projects can be very helpful in inspiring ideas.  I know I'm still learning new things every day. =)

I do apologize about the slides.  I ended up biting off more than I could chew between staffing, personal costumes, commissions, and then panels on top of that.  I'm glad that things still ended up being informative.

I'll be redoing the slides this week with more detail in them and uploading them for people to reference.  This will also hopefully mean 2014 will have a more polished set and we'll also be able to put up some more advanced panels as well!

[Inai]

I attended the two armor making panels and this is just a suggestion for next year, but could there be a small segment included about wonderflex and/or worbla? Someone in one of the panels asked a question regarding the fumes and living in an apartment. The answer given was try to go out to some open space in the community, but from my experience that's not always possible. Since I live in a small community, and the HOA likes fining people for practically anything, I followed a tutorial Kamui posted on youtube on how to work with wonderflex and made some armor pieces that way. Wonderflex and worbla are costly, but it's a solution to avoiding fumes. The downside is the materials make the items less flexible.

[Dagger-6]

We had talked about discussing wonderflex/worbla but, ironically, these are actually items that we don't have much experience with!  Joe Knolls has had some experience with worbla but he was out sick.

It's definitely on the "to-do" list of panels for next year as it is definitely a very beginner-friendly material.  We'll likely just create a blanket panel focusing on low-heat thermoplastics such as worbla, wonderflex, and that magic plastic stuff. =)  I'll be doing a lot of research on it over the next year and hopefully have something together!

If you create a lot of cool stuff I may have to bug you to be on the panel as well. ~_0

Another thing I'd like to do for next year is have more opportunities to touch/play with objects.  The Cosplay hangout expressed interest in having us do some panels there that would be smaller in size but allow more opportunities for interaction so that's something I'll be looking into.

Thank you for the feedback!

[Firefury Amahira]

Fosshape is another nifty one, made by the same company that does wonderflex, but it's a thermoplastic fabric. Started to dabble with that a little bit this year, and it's a really snazzy little material to work with. (Also, cheaper than the wonderflex!)

[Inai]

I haven't created a lot of cool stuff yet. Last year I went as Alicia Melchiott from Valkyria Chronicles and made her armor out of craft foam and wonderflex. Actually I first made the armor out of foam, then it got badly beaten up and some pieces torn. I used those same pieces and sandwiched them in wonderflex to give it depth and reformed, gesso'd forever, sanded forever, and painted. This year I only used fosshape to make my hat for Elizabeth from P3. I have a few plans coming up this summer which involves worbla, and next year I'm hoping to make a breastplate and more with it. I'm just a total newbie working with the stuff and having fun experimenting. :)

[Dagger-6]

I'll add Fossshape to the list of items to look up and research. =)  Definitely keep the input coming in. ^_^  Already excited for next year.

[Janan326]

I am sad I never got to attend these panels though entirely my fault since I am passed out during the time slot. I think it would be a great resource if you started a thread on the cosplay construction section of the forum specifically geared towards, pepakura/eva foam, prop/armor building info because I constructed the Iron Man and Master Chief (really a spartan 3 but gave up correcting people) and when people ask How i build the suits I tell them pepakura templates and foam and plastic, and although they are impressed I can tell they have no idea what I just said. You can post downloadable version of your power point if possible. or least it can be a thread where people with armor/hard prop related questions can go to.

[Dagger-6]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fzlylpxwrses7ki/PepakuraWeb.pptx

Here is the powerpoint presentation for the Pepakura panel held at Fanime 2013.  I have updated the slides so that they will be more useful to people who did not attend the panel.  If you download the file there are presenter's notes as well.

I may try and get together with Zander/Eric and record a version of the panel for those who could not attend.

EVA foam and props panels will be coming soon.

[Janan326]

power point was a great intro! Also I just wrote a help me thread for armor and prop making and refrenced your power point and forum thread, would be great to have your advice on stuff if people post there =)!
http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,18681.0.html

[hefferson]

Any pics of the 2013 event?