Hi cosplayers! I'm Lyah and today I'm going
to show you how I paint my metallic cosplay armor and props!
This part is a simple shoulder armor piece I made out of EVA foam from Cosplay&Craft.
This way it is super lightweight and still flexible,
which makes it easier to store, transport and comfy to wear.
As I said this video will be about painting, so I'll not
show you how I made this piece from start to finish.
To paint it, I've mainly used some paint brushes,
and my airbrush a bit. But it's totally not necessary.
Concerning the products, I've used some FlexiPaint and metallic pigments,
and for the weathering I picked some black acrylic airbrush paint from Createx.
(You can use some basic acrylics)
Now, let's start the tutorial!
Before starting the paintjob,
I'll use some acrylic caulk to fill the
ugly gaps of my foam piece
Once it's dried, I sand it down using some 135 grit sandpaper.
This makes the caulk less bulky on the foam after it's painted.
Next, I'm ready to apply FlexiPaint mixed with some metallic powder pigments.
I'll not go in depth of this technique
since I've already done a complete video about it,
linked in the description below.
I don't forget to paint the underside of my part since
they may be visible when I wear it.
So this is the first coat still wet,
and once it's dried you can see
it's pretty thin (you can still see the foam under it)
Now I'm going to brush on a second coat.
Usually, two coats are enough but
I've done 4 coats in total for this piece to make it more durable
and so the metallic effect is more pronounced.
Of course you can also use metallic acrylic paint but
your result may not be the same.
Then I'll take some pigment again
and rub it onto the surface with a tissue (or cloth)
This will increase the metallic shine.
It's a long and boring process, but at the end
you'll see that it's worth it.
As you can see here the surface is almost like a mirror !
After that I'll use some black acrylic paint
and do some dry brushing !
This technique consist in brushing a very tiny amount
of paint on a chip brush or a very old brush like mine,
and use it to create scratches and different kinds of
textures on your piece using a small amount of paint.
This will add more depth and realism to our piece.
Here I'm using a small brush for shadows in the corners of the piece,
and the bigger brush to add scratches and texture on
the bigger surfaces.
I used my reference pictures to place these shadows and dust on my shoulder armor.
I advice you to follow your references as well, because
every armor looks different.
So this is the before/after weathering.
That step will really bring your piece to life, making it worn and used through years.
The goal here is really to use a tiny small amount of
paint with light strokes, so it doesn't look like paint.
It is very easy to do it to much, so be careful,
work coat by coat and go back to the places where
you've already painted so you're not weathering too much.
So here is the complete piece after the dry brushing step.
But it's not finished yet!
I'm going to use my airbrush to add the last shadows.
Basically, an airbrush blows air if you push the trigger down,
and if you drag the trigger it will blow paint.
I'll do a more detailed video about airbrushing in the future,
but for now I'll just use it to make simple shadows on the edges and inside of the piece,
and enhance the shadows around rivets and trims.
Here you can see the difference between the FlexiPaint only and
the weathered piece!
I'll just quickly clean my airbrush with some water
and then it's time to protect my paintjob with
some silicone oil.
I just have to rub it on the surface and remove the excess with the dry side of my cloth.
And now my piece is finally done!
This video was pretty quick because that technique is fairly easy!
If you've appreciated that tutorial please leave a thumbs up below!
And don't hesitate to share it with your friends if
you think they could like it as well!
If this tutorial has helped you through your project, please show me the result on
social medias such as Instagram, Twitter or Facebook; all the links are in the description!
And I would be very happy  to see that my tutorial helped some people :)
If you're interested in my own projects, like this one from Monster Hunter World,
don't hesitate to follow me on the same social medias to see progress pictures and shots of my previous projects!
I'm preparing other cosplay painting tutorials so if you don't want to miss them,
make sure to subscribe. See you later!
