It's been a hot topic at my house since the latest Mandalorian episode dropped: how does the Mandalorian helmet even work?? You guys know that I am a big fan of "The Mandalorian," and I have been a long-time Star Wars fan since the 80's. In my work, foam Mandalorian helmets are kind of my thing. I've had to have made at least 20 of 'em in my time as an Etsy shop owner, ranging from the OG Boba Fett helmet to Bo Katan.
I feel like I've looked at a lot of frickin' Mandalorian helmets. But in the last two episodes of Mandalorian Season 3, we've learned something new: Mandalorian helmets can be sealed. And I hate to say it...but this makes ZERO sense. The Structure of a Mandalorian Helmet, according to Star Wars
The Structure of a Mandalorian Helmet, according to a Cosplayer
Costumes are Supposed to be Fun
And before you say it, I know. Star Wars is not really the golden standard on realism. But as a professional cosplayer, these are the types of things that you consider when you build a costume.
For example, when I build Pharah's EVA foam armor with the extending wings, I spent hours upon hours figuring out how to build in a linear actuator to get those wings up! This new information just makes me rethink my Mandalorian helmet EVA foam patterns. I wonder what it would be like if I build a helmet that did have some sort of seal to help Din Djarin? How would the helmet's look and pattern change? Your Thoughts?
What do you guys think of this update to Mandalorian lore? Yea or Nay?
And thank you, again, to all of you who are purchasing my Mandalorian EVA foam armor pieces on my Etsy shop. You guys have really humbled me with your wonderful feedback. I am glad I can be a part of your beginning cosplay adventure! Keep reviewing, keep adding your photos, and keep me in the loop when it comes to your builds. I love to see what you make!
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With "The Mandalorian" Season 3 popping, I'm seeing a lot of increase in interest for my Mandalorian and Bo Katan EVA Foam cosplay patterns! I made my first Mandalorian helmet pattern years ago, and since then, I've revised my patterns, added free tutorials, and added more advanced versions. I truly believe that cosplay is for everyone, and I don't settle for less-than-amazing patterns. Each pattern is designed with beginning cosplayers in mind. If you follow me, you know that I don't often show off "final products" for my own patterns. I enjoy making the blueprints for diverse projects much more than working one costume from beginning to end. So I thought it would be fun to show you complete Star Wars cosplays (taken from my own Etsy reviews) using my original foam patterns. Check it out! Sophia's Full Body Bo Katan-style Cosplay
Tomasz's Original Boba Fett Helmet
Anthony's Customized Bo Katan Helmet
Victoria's Sabine Helmet
Mandalorian Leg Armor Pattern
Mock Ups and Mandalorian Reviews
So many of my followers have loved my DIY Bo-Katan helmet foam pattern from Star Wars that it has become one of my top-selling patterns.
Choosing a Version Bo-Katan is a powerful female character presented in Disney's "The Mandalorian" and the animated series "The Clone Wars" and "Rebels." Now, say what you will about her character and her morality, but the fact is Bo-Katan's armor is totally badass. My YouTube commenters often ask me if I have the rest of the suit, and I had to say no. But things have changed! So, to open the doors to your cosplay dreams, I've decided to create EVA foam patterns for the rest of Bo-Katan's look. I'm starting with the chest piece, and there is a lot of drama surrounding the changes from "Clone Wars" to "Mandalorian." In "Clone Wars," Bo-Katan's chest piece is very similar to the other Mandalorians, but in the new "Mandalorian" costume, her chest piece has been adapted. Why? Because real life women have the inconvenience of possessing actual boobs. I don't mean to stir the pot on this issue, but because my patterns are made for real humans with real bodies, I'll create the "Mandalorian" style chest piece. Getting Started To get started with creating an EVA foam pattern, I have to do an initial construction, which means I either have to 3D print the piece or start blueprinting my own build. In this case, I've decided to do a cardboard mockup. To create the mockup, I have to do my research. I look through as many photos as possible from as many angles as possible. I do some sketches to see if I can visualize the piece, and when I'm ready, I build a preliminary prototype out of cardboard. I put it together very fancily with masking tape. Then, and match it against reference photos from a different angle, correct, and revise/rebuild the prototype. Planning Ahead On the backburner to this whole show, I am thinking about a few other things to help with long-term costume construction. I've got to plan what thickness of foam is appropriate for the project. In this case, floormat EVA foam is going to be too thick. 6mm craft foam from the craft store will probably serve this piece well. Another note: how is this piece going to strap to a person? It will need to strap, velcro, or connect to an undersuit... I'm thinking ahead so your cosplay is beautiful, sturdy, and (somewhat) comfortable. Are you looking to build Bo-Katan or another Mandalorian suit? Let me know what you're looking for and I'll add it to my list of patterns. Or, check out the patterns that are already tried and true on my Etsy shop. Good luck out there, cosplayers! 12/20/2022 0 Comments How to Make Cosplay Foam Weapons
We finally launched Galadriel Rings of Power EVA Foam Pattern on Etsy! The response has been amazing! Thank you to everyone who has followed me through this project so far. I am excited to see how the pattern works for you; I always love to see your comments, pictures, and reviews on my page. It really proves that anyone can cosplay. This has been a six week long project, and I hope that you will enjoy cosplaying this iconic character as much as I have enjoyed creating it. In celebration of this new pattern, and because Halloween is coming up, you'll find that many foam patterns (especially armor!) in my shop are on sale. Hop over there and see what you can grab. Remember that you can view, for FREE, each step of the process for this build on YouTube (I'll embed one at the end of this post). I released the instructions as three separate videos, which are added in a playlist on my channel. The videos aren't too long, and if this is your first time trying cosplay foam, or even if it is your first time buying a pattern, my videos will help you work through the process step by step. I also give some great tips for working with EVA foam to help you build your skills. Or, if you're like my daughter, you can watch them just because you find crafting videos entertaining. Next up, I want to paint this and finish up some other arm pieces so that RuthlessNightsister can finally get to wear it. That will happen eventually, but I've been taking a bit of a break from creation so that I could cosplay for my local cosplay charity group, Heroic. Thanks again for all your support, and drop me a comment if you end up buying Galadriel so I can hear your feedback. I keep watching "Rings of Power" and checking for shots of the armor. In the most recent episode--don't worry, no spoilers--we saw the back of the armor for the first time. I am very pleased to find that my armor looks nearly identical to the series'. There's always a nervousness when you start a new costume based on previews and promotional photos that maybe the character will only wear that costume for, like, five minutes, and then they'll take it off. But lucky for us! Galadriel has been in this armor for two full episodes and I think she'll probably sport it for the series finale. By the way, can you believe these comments by the costume developer for Morfydd Clark's Galadriel? I'm sorry, Kate Hawley, but you'll have to do more than that to challenge EVA Foam. This breastplate has been a mental challenge, but it's nothing compared to Bumblebee, haha! So in our adventures this week, I headed to my daughter's house to fit the Galadriel breastplate...and what do you know? It fits great with hardly any alterations!! She looks beautiful in it, which is no surprise, but the lines in the costume are meant to be both powerful and feminine. I have just a few more things that I am going to put together to finalize the costume, and then she will be ready to showcase her cosplay on her Twitch and Instagram. This week's work on Galadriel was also my first foray into moldable foam clay. This is a new medium for me, and I've heard it hailed like this panacea of problem-solving. I did a lot of different sampling this week, trying to see how it reacted to sanding, etc. In my experience this week, it seems like it is very useful in a specific realm and sphere, but it's definitely not going to replace conventional EVA foam. I first tried the Crayola brand, and found that it was much less workable than the official cosplayer's foam clay. Could you get away with the cheap one? Yeah probably, but I would recommend investing in the nicer stuff. I think I'll get use out of the single tub I bought for the next year. I want to do more with the foam clay in future stuff. For this costume, I only ended up using a tiny bit, so it would be cool to try a bigger project with it someday. I can definitely see the potential. Have you used foam clay? Let me know in the comments. Alright! Here's an update. This week I have been troubleshooting my digitized Galadriel "Rings of Power" elven armor so I can post it to Etsy. I am very particular about this process; I really want to make sure that my costumes have construction processes that make sense to beginner cosplayers, and I am trying to make sure all the costumes can be altered to fit every body type. Let me share with you how I do this. So as I've mentioned, after the plastic-wrap-and-duct-tape method (see earlier post) to get a true-to-size idea of each piece, I transferred the pattern to paper. I built a master prototype out of EVA foam (and redid it a few times) to get the right shape. Now, I've digitized the pattern and I'm rebuilding another couple of prototype pieces. As I build, I'm writing comments to myself on how the pattern and instructions need to be adjusted; much the way an editor might edit their written work, I have to "edit" my own cosplay. This would be a lot easier with a dress form, which could be adjusted for different sizes, so my work would be simpler. But right now, I'm making due with scale adjustments--and good ol' eyeballing it--for different size measurements. (Check out my page on resizing EVA patterns to fit you!) Once I finish the troubleshooting process, I will redo the digital pattern, and it will be ready to sell, barely in time for Halloween. I've already filmed an instructional video for YouTube so that you can watch the process and get help if you decide to try your own Galadriel!! The link to the foam work process is also included with purchase on my Etsy shop, so you can feel confident that you can make this too. Look for some more photos, videos, and blogs this week. We are this close to finishing the project!! This weekend was full of fun cosplaying at FanX! I pulled out some of my older costumes; Professor Trelawney from Harry Potter and the original Batgirl! I also tried out an Inquisitor from Star Wars. (Star Wars is kind of a running gig for us, if you hadn't noticed from the Mandalorian helmets and the baby Yodas.) I had a great time volunteering and hanging out with my daughter. My sister also came with me for her first convention! She had a good time, and it was fun to see her enjoy our family tradition. Around the same time, I finished my prototype for my Galadriel "Rings of Power" armor. I'm in the process of digitizing it; in its raw form, it ended up being like 22 pages! Now I'll be working on condensing it down to be more manageable for my clients. I think the foam work has turned out nicely. I'll be heading to my daughter's place sometime in the next few weeks to do another trying and fitting for her costume. It's been an interesting challenge. I had to adjust some of the seams at the shoulders. I ended up with more of a faux hinge that mimics the show and the Elvish style. I am not super familiar with "The Lord of the Rings," but I have really enjoyed the series. We finally saw a good shot of this Numenorian breastplate in the last episode! Looking forward to tomorrow's episode, where hopefully we will get to see it a lot more. Look for a Galadriel video here within the next few weeks. You are really going to love this EVA Foam pattern! It is gorgeous, and I can't wait to share it with you. I finally got a chance to watch the third episode of "Rings of Power" this week. I was hoping that we'd get a glance of The Armor in action, but, sadly, that did not happen this week. We still got a great shot of some other beautiful costumes from The Lord of the Rings world. I have enjoyed some of Galadriel's gowns. But, until then, I've about finished the pattern.
I've had a good long think about fastening this week. I think Velcro is probably the best way to attach the breastplate at the shoulder, front to back. My pattern has a thicker strap over the shoulder to hold the Velcro--it's more practical and will keep the foam armor on, since it doesn't have any weight. I still have no idea how I'm going to fasten the breastplate under the armpits, and it is purely because we have no released shot of the side of this armor. I'm really hoping that tomorrow's episode will show a 360 view so that I can figure that part out. When the fastening is finished, the mockup is totally done. I'm pretty satisfied; when you superimpose the image of the costume with my own pattern, they look identical! And the scoop at the bottom of the armor that I fixed last week is looking beautiful. If we don't get another shot this week, I'll manage something nice with the sides and then I will digitize the pattern for my Etsy! As usual, thanks to everyone who's been following my journey on TikTok or Instagram! And if you haven't found me there yet, go ahead and throw me a follow to see how this all turns out. |
AuthorHi! I'm Becky and I am an award winning master cosplayer, with 6 years of experience designing and building foam armor. You won't find any generic computer generated patterns here. Every pattern I post has been hand made by me, designed to minimize seams and maximize the amazing things these materials can do. You can build it too! Archives
March 2023
CategoriesAll Bo Katan Bo-Katan Collaborations Etsy EVA Tips And Tricks Final Products Galadriel "Rings Of Power" Armor Patterning Process TV Rants Your Cosplays |