Armour That Grows On Trees –
The Quick And Dirty Version
By Kusanivy
This is meant to be just a quick guide to papier mache – specifically as it applies to making armour for cosplaying purposes (although most of these instructions pertain to building other props and costume pieces as well). As I get more time I intend to add some more ‘in progress’ shots and perhaps write some more in-depth instructions. But this should give you the basic gist of how to do it.
There are many advantages to using papier mache to make body armour – papier mache is lightweight but very strong, it’s very cheap (in fact you’re recycling!) and the materials are very easy to find. The only big disadvantage to papier mache is that, in order for it to look good, you have to be careful and take your time, especially during the finishing/sanding stage. But really, the same advice goes for fibreglass. If you’re not careful you end up with a big mess. And unlike fibreglass, papier mache is non-toxic.
Because it requires so much effort to get a smooth, even finish, papier mache tends to lend itself best to ‘organic’ armours like those in The Guyver or Generator Gawl (see my Gawl cosplay below as an example). Any small irregularities in the surface can be explained away by the fact that the armour is supposed to look grown rather than manufactured. That is not to say you can’t use papier mache for ‘metal’ armours (in fact, my next project is Alphonse Elric from Full Metal Alchemist) it just means you have to spend lots of time and care with your sanding.
Making papier mache armour is a four step process. I usually build a base form, cover it with a layer of cheesecloth soaked in glue, spackle on a layer of paper pulp, then sand and finish the whole thing. The shot below, of the plastron from my Ninja Turtle costume, gives you a pretty good look at three of the major stages of armour construction. On the right side you can see the fun foam base of the shell showing through the cheesecloth layer. The cheesecloth layer gives extra strength to the entire piece. Then, on the left, we see how the base and cheesecloth are then covered with a layer of papier mache pulp. Once the entire shell was covered and completely dried it was sanded and painted (actually I’m lying – the shell got a special treatment involving latex because it had to appear hard, yet be flexible, but that is beyond the current scope of this tutorial).
But enough of an introduction already (and this is supposed to be the short version), let’s move onto Step 1 – Building Your Base
Or you can jump immediately to a specific step:
Tutorial by Kusanivy, August 2004, Feel free to use this tutorial as you see
fit, all I ask is that you do not try and pass it off as your own.
