Sesshomaru's armor--help, pleeease?

[ChibiNeko]

How would I make Sesshomaru's (Inu Yasha) spiky armor that goes over his shoulder? I don't want to use metal because a) it's heavy and 2)my only friend who welds won't do it for me . I've got a vague idea on how to make his fluffy, and that leaves his armor...
Sorry I don't have a picture that I can use if you need one......

[inusarekawaii]

How would I make Sesshomaru's (Inu Yasha) spiky armor that goes over his shoulder? I don't want to use metal because a) it's heavy and 2)my only friend who welds won't do it for me . I've got a vague idea on how to make his fluffy, and that leaves his armor...
Sorry I don't have a picture that I can use if you need one......

I've been wondering how cosplayers are supposed to make that thing...I'm sorry that I do not know how to help you!

[Laura92]

wow, I really don't know...sorry!

[Dark_Tiger]

*notes that a google search on Sesshomaru garners too much hentai.*

Hmmmm. This requires some fun. It also requires a lot of time, a moderate budget, and a couple of shopping trips. It also requires some woodworking tools and building a few jigs and molds to actually make the piece. If you've ever wondered how to thread a jigsaw, you might want to commission this. <pimp> From me! Muahahahaha*cough*haha! Okay, I'm done.</pimp>

I'm assuming you have/can borrow:

a jigsaw
A Dremel
A drill and drill bits
A Screwdriver (not the drink, friends don't let friends drink and cosplay)
pliers
wire cutters
Hot glue gun

Here's what you'll need:

Home Depot/Lowe’s/Scotty's:

a large can of Bondo
A sheet of what I always refer to as jigboard, although I know that's not the proper term. It's the same kind of board that clipboards are made of or peg board, only without the holes. This stuff self-destructs when wet. We'll be using this property.
A tube of Liquid Nails
~ 50 1 1/2" screws (these are for building molds and jigs, so getting the big box of drywall screws would probably be easiest)
8 small nuts & bolts (about 7/32”)
Spray paint (get some primer as well as some good gray/silver enamel and a can of clear coat varnish, you'll thank me later)
Sandpaper (both a rough grit ~100 and some extra fine ~220 or finer)
a lot of 1X2"s (This is for building some things you'll need in order to build the armor. I can't really give you an amount of 1X2 you'll need, except to say you didn't buy enough.)
Washers

Joann's/Michael’s:

Foam cones (they'll be over by the silk flowers)
1 yard heavy clear plastic sheeting
red fabric or ribbon for the tie between the chest and left shoulder guard
craft wire

Are your eyes glazed over yet? If so, take a break, get a soda, and watch tonight's Lupin the Third. It's a good one.

Okay, the first step is to cut the two "flat" parts of the armor out. Make one piece the chest/back strap and the second the shoulder guard. Now, it's time to give them a bath. Toss them in the tub, fill with cold water and wait. You want them to bend easily without breaking, but not so soaked that they fall apart in your hands. This is a very thin line to tread, so check on the pieces often.

While soaking your boards, it's time to start on your drying rack for them. You'll need to have the rack hold the piece drying firmly without crushing it (this stuff is one short step up from soggy porridge right now.) I've found that the best way to do this is to take 2 1X2 boards, about 4 inches longer then the piece is wide, smooth out the corners heavily, and screw the two boards together on either side of the piece using the washers as spacers. Then screw these to the frame. Remember, more braces like this will get you a better curve, but will add to the drying time.

Drying time varies for the boards, but is roughly forever and a day. Let the boards sit at least one full day in the frame after they are dry to the touch. Then take them off and let them dry some more, but be careful; they aren't as sturdy as they used to be.

Next, you want to bolt the two pieces together. Make sure that where you drill for your bolts is either behind where the red tie will go or where a spike is going. Also, make a pair of thin shoulder straps from the clear plastic and bolt them on as well on both sides. For extra credit, put a snap on the left strap (the one on the "hey look, my shoulder guard can defy gravity" side), cut a hole in his kimono, and slip it through. You don't have to worry about his right side; it's covered by his fluffy. Make sure that the bolts are head side out, nut side in. Cut off and grind down the excess bolt on the inside.

Now it's time to work on the spikes. Take one of the foam cones and add to it (and trim it) with hot glue and wire to make it more tooth shaped. You don't have to worry about small holes in the added on bits, everything's going to be covered in Bondo by the time we're done. Liquid Nail the cones to the armor. Don't use hot glue, it won't hold up well. Let dry.

At this point, you might want to try it on. This is your last chance to move bits around.


Now, it's time for Bondo. Slather the stuff on, let dry, sand and grind down bits to get it perfect, patch that place where you sanded all the way down the foam, let dry, and sand again. After that, all you have to do is prime and paint, wear and enjoy.

A couple of issues that you might run into:

This won’t be the strongest armor in the world. It’ll be fine for wearing, but don’t shoulder check anyone.

Any series that runs as long as InuYasha has changes the character design as it runs. You’re going to want to take a single episode and take screen captures from that for your design rather then pulling images off the web, the armor has changed too much over the 5(?) seasons and 3(?) movies.

I'm really not sure how heavy this'll end up. It'd be fine for me for all day, but I don't know how much you're willing to lug around.

[Laura92]

yea, use that! *points up*

[Rin-sama]

Here's a different approach, that I used when I made my Sesshoumaru costume. It worked quite well for me, and I didn't have to use metal or wood...An excerpt from my Live Journal -- if you want to read the whole thing, it's here.

Now, all I needed to do was make the spiky armor plates...and I found a great armour tutorial site. Craft Foam Armor Tutorial. I highly recommend this technique. It looks great, and it's soft, light and safe. Even so, I had to figure out the spikes on my own...what I did was cut half circles out of left over pants fabric, sew them into points, stuff them with fluffy stuff...batting...the kind used to stuff dolls, pillows, etc., and sew them to a circular piece of fabric. I cut holes in the craft foam armor and pushed the points through, sealing them together with lots of glue and a fabric backing...then spray painted the whole thing silver! The front piece was adorned with tassels made with red embroidery floss. On the back of the armor, I used glue on velcro to connect to the sew on velcro on the dress. Later, I used a safety pin to keep the back of the shoulder armour on the dress. I can still remove it to wash the dress part, but the pin gave it more stability when wearing it.

Hope this helps too!

[Laura92]

i love that tutorial! *smuggles link into her bag*

[ChibiNeko]

Thank you so much! I'm doing this costume for a friend so I'll ask her preference thanks again!

[god_of_yaoi]

Oh this is brilliant! Sesshoumaru cosplayers can do so much with all of this! Thanks for this stuff! I have to make my own Sesshoumaru costume.

[Captaincougar]

http://entropyhouse.com/penwiper/costum ... sdeep.html

That might help some ^^ Lightweight, flexible, but it might not be for a Shessy costume ^^;;

[WINGS]

A Screwdriver (not the drink, friends don't let friends drink and cosplay)

Heh heh heh Aint that the truth lol. We want to remeber the weekend instead of wondering how the heck did they get that half naky pic??