learning for make benefit glorious cosplay, Fall/Winter 2010-11
Mar 10, 2011 20:20
High heels with the heels cut off are easy to walk in, but almost impossible to stand still in. Get silicone pads for the balls of your feet, and don't expect to do any walking the day after. (Amaterasu)
The best cores for pink foam blades are ones that go from edge to edge. Cut silhouette of weapon from Sintra/sheet material of your choice (1/8" plywood probably works, but Sintra's easier to cut), then Gorilla Glue the pinkfoam on. Much easier to get a symmetrical cutting edge on your sword, and you can knock it against things without accidentally destroying it. (Amaterasu)
Gesso covers surface defects best if it's stippled on with a sponge brush. Wood filler works better than gesso for surfacing paper mache, though. Proper woodfiller, not that horrible gympsum cement water putty stuff that comes as a powder. (Amaterasu)
Awesome leather-looking texture can be achieved on craft foam by basecoating with dark brown and splotching black/light brown on with a dead paintbrush. Blot with a rag. I dunno, I wish I could explain this. I remember how to do it ;___; Maybe I'll try to get a video of the technique. (Tokugawa)
You can get pretty shading on cotton fabric by wetting it and then dabbing diluted acrylic paint onto it. It looks really good on flat lacing.(Tokugawa)
Acrylic gloss medium = HAIR GEL OF DOOOOOOM. Need a slicked-back style that cannot be moved? This stuff. A word of caution, I never really figured out how to remove it from the wig... (Jeanne)
RIT dye works fabulously on heat-resistant fiber, and fairly well on Kanekalon. Heat resistant fiber will be fully saturated with color after a few minutes, Kanekalon takes a few hours. Immerse wig in dye bath at a concentration of 1/4 tsp dye to 1c almost boiling water, don't heat the dyebath while the wig's in it. (wig experiments, Hannah)
The transulcent green plastic that Home Depot uses to package lumber makes awesome corset boning when it's trimmed down to a narrower width. And it's freeeee :D (Hannah)
Horsehair braid does magical things to petticoats. MAGICAL, I TELL YOU. No seriously go buy some if you ever need to make poofy ruffles. (Hannah)
Polyester is the devil. (Ash >___>)
Everything is better with sleeveheads.(Ash)
FW ink will not come off heat-resistant fiber completely. OxyClean does a bit, conditioner does a bit, paint stripper does a bit. None of them will get it completely back to the original color. (wig experiments, Endrance)
ModPodge works way better than glue or acrylic gloss medium for sealing craft foam. It dries faster, lays down thicker, it's sandable, and it's less inclined to peel off the foam. (Endrance)
Craft foam will make compound curves when heated, but you have to pull the wrinkles out rather than smoothing them. A wig head has a lot of different curves on it for forming purposes.(Endrance)
Steam is the best wig styling tool ever. Mostly it's useful for relaxing the frizz/kinks out of long wigs after they've been tangled or braided, but also for any application where you'd need a heat tool. Keep moving with it or it will melt the hair (sorry I forgot to mention that part, Garen D:) (wig experiments)