It’s safe to say that making armor is one of the most intimidating aspects of cosplay, especially if you’re just starting out.
It’s really easy to look at these armor projects that other cosplayers make and think to yourself ‘there’s no way I could ever do that!’ But I’m here to tell you – you can!
If you’re intimidated by armor the first thing you can do is learn about all the different materials you’ll be working with during your upholder making adventures.
Remember: knowledge is power and it’s going to be your greatest ally while you figure out how to cosplay latest Fire Emblem waifu or whatever it is you kids are obsessed with these days.
I say that like I haven’t cosplayed from Fire Emblem.
Obviously, there’s a lot more that goes into making armor than just choosing what materials you’re going to be working with but you kinda have to do that before anything else.
So what we’re going to do in this video is go through the most common materials that cosplayers use when making armor.
Things like your budget; the tools you have available; and your timeframe will be major factors that determine which material you choose along with what you’ll be making of course.
For the purpose of not making this a twenty minute video, we’re just going to cover the bare-bone basics of each of these materials.
Then if you want actual tutorials and project examples then please check the links in the description.
So let’s dive into this crash course on cosplay armor materials. 
First up: cardboard!
That’s right, there’s no need to be fancy if you don’t want to, you can make awesome armor with cardboard.
Benefits of cardboard include: it’s lightweight, cheap and easy to find. I’m sure we have plenty of these [postage boxes] lying around because we like to buy stuff.
However cardboard is very weak and is susceptible to water damage. Also, it can look really bad unless you put in any extra effort to make it look great.
Next up, still on the budget-friendly spectrum is: craft foam. This can be called things like Fun Foam or Foamies at your local craft store. You will usually find it in the kids' project section.
Like cardboard, craft foam is cheap, lightweight and it comes in a variety of thicknesses.
It’s also really easy to prime for painting
Depending on how you finish it, craft foam can look really, really amazing.
Keep in mind, it can’t easily form complex curves and you have to prime it before you paint it, otherwise the paint will just soak right into the porous surface.
While we’re talking about foam, let’s talk about EVA foam.
Craft foam is technically EVA foam but when cosplayers refer to EVA foam, they’re usually talking about this stuff
If someone in your family has a workshop, chances are they’ve got this on the floor.
Like craft foam, EVA foam is lightweight, inexpensive but its added thickness makes it more durable.
It’s also great for pieces that need to show battle damage.
A few warnings: sometimes hot glue won’t be enough to hold it together so you’ll need to use contact cement instead and contact cement can be pretty nasty stuff.
It can also be difficult to fill in and hide seams.
If you’re curious about learning more EVA foam techniques, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Foamsmith by PunishedProps.
It’s an EVA foam bible that will teach you everything you need to know about working with this material.
Lastly, on the note of foam, you will also see people using things like insulation foam and expanding foam when it comes to adding things like armatures  and other details to their armor.
But neither of these materials are really used that often to create a base armor structure and if they are used, they’re typically covered with thermoplastics.
So speaking of thermoplastics,
you like that Segway there
the number one thermoplastic on the market, at the time of making this video, is Worbla!
The main reasons we all love Worbla so much is that it can stretch, it can handle complex curves, it’s self-adhesive and you can reuse all of your scraps. 
But regular Worbla does have it’s downsides.
Most people have to order online, it’s very expensive, it’s very thin so it has to be double layered or combined with craft foam and it has a very rough, bumpy texture that requires extensive priming with wood glue or gesso.
Fortunately, a lot of those issues have been solved with the introduction of black Worbla. So fancy.
In addition to many of the same benefits as regular Worbla, black Worbla is smoother, thicker and more durable, more stretchable and it can handle finer detail work
Of course, like regular Worbla, you do have to most of the time order it online and it’s very expensive.
And the self-adhesive on black Worbla also isn’t as strong so you may need to use superglue to reinforce the bonds at stress points.
If you want to start working with Worbla, please do yourself a favor and purchase Kabui’s armor-making books;
these are really vital sources when it comes to learning how to use Worbla so I can’t stress enough, it’s worth every penny.
Finally, to other thermoplastics, Wonderflex and Sintra seemed to be more commonly used back in the day but Worbla is the current standard.
As far as more advanced armor-making techniques go, I do want to mention fiberglass.
First up, the benefits of fiberglass is that you can easily find it in home improvement stores, it’s extremely durable, pretty inexpensive and very versatile.
But, here’s the catch, the fumes are toxic, it’s time consuming to use,
sanding it takes an extremely long time if you want your paint job to look remotely good and it can quickly make your project very heavy.
So it’s really a material you want to strongly think about before you plan to use it.
Last and not least is casting and molding.
This is an advanced technique that is not really beginner-friendly.
It’s time-consuming because you have to sculpt the thing you want to make,
then you have to make a mold for the thing you want to make, then you have to cast the thing you want to make usually multiple times.
It’s expensive
and it requires a relatively large workspace and extra safety equipment
but the end result is a professional finished product that’s usually very easy to paint.
If you’re curious about casting and molding, please check out what Volpin and Bill are doing on their channels,
they do incredible work and they’re both very willing to share their knowledge with others.
There’s really no limit to what you can use to make armor.
I’ve seen people use cereal boxes and oatmeal cans!
Don’t be afraid to think outside the box, man!
Also, we live in a day and age where there are being new materials developed for cosplay all the time!
Stay tuned to this channel to see demonstrations and also tutorials of new products that are coming soon to a cosplay world near you.
There’s a lot of cool stuff coming our way and I am super excited to share it with you.
Real quick! before you go, let me know in the comments what your favorite material for making armor is!
If you have any advice for others when it comes to making amorr feel free to share it down below
Thank you for watching this video
For more episodes of "Cosplay 101" and more videos in general
Please check out my channel and subscribe
I'm Mango Sirene and as always
Happy Cosplay!
There's fiberglass resin on my planner now
Because I put the resin can down on the planner
Now it's going to smell for the rest of my life
I regret some things
