#voltron armor tutorial

1.) Basic Measurements: This piece requires four measurements, the length of shin/calf, the circumference of the ankle, and the circumference of knee, and the width of the back of the knee.

2.) Basic Shape: The shape as a whole is very basic, the top is straight until it gets to the bottom where it will cut inwards to narrow it. The top of this piece is more complicated. The front has a “V” shape design that should cover the front of the shin, the back has a square cut out so the knee can bend (which will be divided in half).

3.) Cut out the design with a sharp box knife or craft knife. Using the heat gun, heat seal the pieces.

4.) Cut out a small piece of Velcro. Glue it to the middle of the back of the piece using contact cement or hot glue (Warning: hot glue by itself can melt in hot weather).

5.) Prime the piece with 3-5 layers of Plasti-dip or your choice of foam primer. Once that is dried, paint the entire piece white.

6.) Colored details: the top part of the shin piece is lined with the paladin’s color. Using the 2mm foam, cut out strips about 1/2-1 inch wide in the shape of the “V.”

7.) Heat seal, prime and paint these pieces with the paladin’s color (My armor is for Keith, so they are red). Glue them to the calf pieces, being careful with lining them up. Paint the top of the foam, where the details meet the big piece.

8.) Seal the entire piece with 3-5 layers of Mod Podge or your choice of sealant.

9.) Carefully, warm up the back of the piece with the heat gun and bend it to the shape of your calf.

10.) Closing: Like most pieces of this armor, they have the ability to be slipped on. Yet, if you want to make the process easier, you can add a closing to the back (I did this because it is hard to bend to put shoes on when all of the armor is on. So, I need to be able to pull these pieces over my shoes). After trying many different types of closings, I finally decided to use zippers. Get zippers that are the length of your calves (measure your calf, don’t just hold it up like I did. Mine was not long enough so I had to add a flap). Using hot glue or contact cement (or both), glue one side of the zipper to the inside of the piece. Unzip the zipper and glue it to the other side.

11.) Ankle Circles: (You will need four of these, two for each leg) The easiest ways of creating the little circle pieces that are on the bottom is to do the line method. Cut out a line about 1/4-1/2 of an inch wide and long enough to make a circle. Heat seal it and bend it into a circle. Glue the ends together. Copy the circle shape onto the 2mm foam. Cut the middle of it out, leaving about 1/4 inch rim (***Don’t glue on yet!) 

12.) Light filters: Before gluing the top on, copy the circle shape onto the plastic sheet protectors and tissue paper. Sandwich the tissue paper in between the sheet protectors. Glue them to the circle piece and then glue on the top piece. Seal the sides with hot glue.

13.)  Carefully, heat seal the piece. Cover the light filter with tape. Prime and then paint the piece white. Seal them with Mod Podge Glue them to the leg piece, leaving a small part of them overhanging the piece. (This will allow you to insert the LED lights.) (Note: Make sure the circle pieces are glued down firmly or light will shine through the cracks.)

14.) Cut out a strip of 2mm foam that is about 1/2-1 inch wide and long enough to wrap around the ankle. Heat seal, prime, paint, and seal the strips. Glue them down, cutting them when they reach the ankle circles. 

15.) Threading LEDs: Wind half of the LED string into a circle. Insert it into one of the ankle circles.Thread the wire along the bottom to the other half, and insert the remaining lights. Thread the rest of the wire up to the top, where the battery pack will be located. Glue a small piece of Velcro to the battery pack and then to the foam. From here, you can leave the wire free hanging, or you can glue or tape it down (Make sure your switch is facing up, unlike mine).

AND you’re done!!

Sorry it took so long to get this one posted. “Hell” week and Finals week of college kicked my butt and then my internet connection quit working for a bit.

Other tutorials:

So, I wanted to be Lance. (He’s meh fave) I knew nothing about how clothing worked though, and even though I knew I’d be working with foam, it still needed to fit into the right shape and size. Now, I donno about you, but this was the hardest part for me. This was the part I wished someone could just give me and I could adjust, or something I could print out, idk. I didn’t have that, so I basically spent hours looking at different pictures of the armor and using trial and error to see what worked and what didn’t. I obviously ended up with templates, although I made them in a very particular way. This is a very effective way, in my opinion, to make particular shapes for YOUR body type. Looking into it, I found many templates changed size, but not necessarily SHAPE. Sometimes, someone needs that same length and width, but they may need more curve to the sides of the template. Or perhaps someone needs more width but not more height. See what I mean? Bodies are different, and need different templates. You can make them however you please, but I used this method:

1.) Wrap the part of your body the templates for in saran wrap (make sure to go a bit higher and lower than the actual piece needs to be!)

2.) Wrap that saran wrapped sweaty limb in thick tape (I found that blue tape is good because its easy to cut and light, but its also not that sticky)

3.) Eyeball the cuts the piece has to have. When it comes to Voltron armor, there’s lots of random cuts for design purposes, be careful not to accidentally put the shape in the wrong place. Once you understand what goes where, sharpie the lines of where you’d need to cut. (Do this WHILE ITS ON YOUR ARM. You need to know where cuts go in relation to other cuts!! If you move or twist the cast after already making a cut, you won’t know if you’re right about the next one. Generally, its good to have help with this part)

4.) GENTLY AND C A R E F U L L Y cut through the BACK of the cast, (the side not facing outward), and take it off. PLEASE ONLY MAKE ONE, CLEAN CUT ACROSS THE BACK. DO NOT CUT BOTH SIDES OR IN THE FRONT! After cutting and cleaning the edges, wrap it around that limb again to see if it fits nicely. (You’ll want some extra room) 5.) To complete your template, lay it FLAT against a sheet of cardboard. (I would not recommend paper, its too flimsy) It may look really weird, but remember, if you did it right, you already saw what shape it eventually becomes when put together. Make sure to pin it down to the cardboard so it doesn’t dance around, ruining your shape. Its very important to trace the EXACT SHAPE, so spend good time flattening your design best you can. This isn’t about cutting, you shouldn’t cut it more than you already did. After you’ve secured your cast, trace the shape carefully and cut out the cardboard shape.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU COMPLETED YOUR TEMPLATES!!!

I don’t have pictures of my templates as of now, but I could get some. If anyone actually wants the exact templates I used, I will give them to you. I could edit this post or just send them to you, if anyone wants them, that is. (I didn’t wanna go through the trouble if no one wanted them, remember: I’m lazy) Like I said, I’m no expert, but they made soMETHING. So if you do want them, shoot me a message!

After I went through that step, which took the longest despite just using cardboard, measurements, saran wrap, tape, and a sharpie, the next step was to hold down the cardboard onto the foam and trace and cut. It sounds simple, but its more time consuming than it sounds. Seriously. Be careful with your speed and where the knife is actually digging. I used an angular box cutter, which cuts a bit more off the trim than it may appear at first. Just in general, make sure you know what your tools do and make sure you cut ON THE LINES. If you for some reason can’t, always cut OUTSIDE the line. ALwaYs. You can always trim stuff down, but you can’t put it back. After you cut out the templates in foam, make sure to sand the edges. This step isn’t really necessary, though it improves the overall look of the completed project! Also, please REMEMBER TO MARK YOUR LEFTS, RIGHTS, FRONTS, BACKS, UPS, AND DOWNS!!! THIS IS SO IMPORTANT I CANT STRESS THAT ENOUGH!!!

I would like to give advice about the circles on the boots: CIRCLES ARE HARD. Too often, I think, people underestimate how hard it is to actually cut out a circle. I remember being so PiSsEd about the circles, I made a Special Guide™ to them. Because of the thickness they needed to be, I cut out 8 identical circles so that I could stack 4 as one, of course, you need 2. I used a cup for the measurements. I found a Starbucks cup works extremely well for this, because the top is nice and wide, and the bottom is smaller and oddly a perfect size ratio for the Voltron boot circle light thingys. Its also plastic, so damaging the cup, (you definitely will), isn’t that much of an issue. Basically, I placed the cup upside down, (top of cup on foam), and traced around the top with a sharpie. I then flipped the cup, (bottom of cup on foam), centered it best I could, and traced the bottom of the cup in the middle of the circle. Then I cut them out and tried to sand them to a smooth, even shape of equal size. Cutting out the middle was INFURIATING, though it got done. You will find your circle to be very rugged and uneven after being cut, which is why sanding the edges and inside is basically essential. A good system, I found, is to sand each circle individually, until its smooth and round, then to place all circles stacked upon each other, and sand those to about an even size and shape. This will probably never end up perfect, but its all the way on the bottom of the cosplay, so its not that noticeable.

After your final foam pieces are cut out and sanded to be smooth, make sure you test how they all fit together and how they fit on your body. Skipping this step is just plain stupid, and let me tell you why. Even though you may have tried on the cast and cut the shape out correctly on the cardboard, remember, this final size has gone through 3 different cuts, every material likely to have a different thickness. There’s actually a VERY HIGH CHANCE it won’t be as comfortable or fitting as it was before, and that’s normal. To fix that, you can try to add more saran wrap and tape to the cast you had and remake the shape. I had to do this a few times, mainly with the thigh guards and upper arm guards. So, a good idea I think, could be to leave reasonable room in the cast when you first make it. Don’t make it as snug as you want it to feel in the end. Remember, saran wrap and tape is gonna be a HeCk toN thinner than 1 inch thick EVA foam. So yea, please piece it together and see how it all fits.

Once you’re completely happy with your pieces, its time to glue them together! Now, an important part of this would be how you plan to actually put the outfit on. In my cosplay, I just kinda wiggle in through the bottom, kinda putting it on like a dress. The rest of the parts slip on their respective limbs in their respective order. I wanted something easy and simple, so I went with it, though feel free to change how you choose to put it on! Remember though, if you change how its worn, chances are it’ll also change how you should glue it. I recommend using Barge Glue, because its the strongest thing out there, this stuff is Solid. Careful though, its extremely toxic, so please remember to only use it in a ventilated area. Glueing is pretty self explanatory, though the amount of time I had to press sides in on each other before letting it cure on it’s own was a bit longer than expected.

Glueing will take a while, since you need to wait for the glue to cure, which for Barge is about a full day. But once its done, its done, and that stuffs not coming apart anytime soon! After glueing is shaping, which was fun for me simply because it was a break from all the hard stuff. Heat shaping is kinda a thing you eyeball, I don’t think you can do much else to prepare for it. You do need a heat gun, which is basically a hairdryer on acid. You can get one on amazon for 30 bucks. Basically, whattcha do is hook up the heat gun and use back and forth motions over your pieces. Make sure not to get too close, cuz you can burn and/or melt the foam! Also make sure to do it evenly, sometimes there’s a really soft, bendy side with hard spots all around it. That’d be because you weren’t using the gun evenly. Remember, even if you’re not gonna actually SHAPE a piece, you still have to HEAT THE WHOLE PIECE, INCLUDING THE INSIDE. This is because heat, once cooled back down, causes the pores within the foam to seal, making the piece much more solid in its shape.

After heat shaping comes the dreaded yet important job of pAInTinG. There’s a reason they call it that, kids. It definitely brings on the pain. Now, being new to all this, I had no idea what paints were better, how to seal proficiently, which shades of colors to use, any of that stuff. So, naturally, I turn to my good friend, the Internet. There’s a ton of stuff on painting, but I was on a budget, (I’ve already spent over said budget), and I had only a week to finish before the con. So, I look for a quicker alternative to the water and glue stuff, which I find in Plastidip. When I read about this stuff, I thought it was a gift from the automotive gods to my undeserving soul, like, everyone was raving about how great it worked and how it was not only a paint found in multiple colors, but also a sealant and weather proofer. Personally, I do not recommend it. I wish it worked as good as people claimed, but unfortunately, that was not the case. I found Plastidip reacted chemically to the EVA foam, despite the many times I read it didn’t, and it was also splattery and goopy, dripping from the pieces I worked so hard on as it dried. In the end though, it did color my pieces a nice, thick white, and it did seal the foam in an almost elasticy casing. However, it also had small, black holes from where it reacted with the EVA, and bumpy, uneven layers of the stuff across every piece. Though that may have something to do with not having a room temperature environment to use it in. It was cold outside. Idk. After that disaster, I painted all the blue parts with acrylic paint, which I loved, careful to use tape along the edges so as not to get paint where I didn’t want it.

After painting would be lighting, which I actually have yet to do. I couldn’t really finish that before the con, (I was actually still glueing stuff together the DAY OF), so I’m gonna get to figuring all that out for Halloween. Because of the amount of effort, time, and money I spent on this cosplay, its gonna be worked on and constantly improved as time goes on. I never really could finish the whole thing in 3 weeks, so its got a ways to go. And don’t worry, I’ll update it here!

So that’s about it! I had a blast at the con, although it did do an insane number on my cosplay… And I look forward to working on lights and Lance’s gun!! Thanks for sticking with me, feel free to share this information with anyone, as its here to help. I’m also totally up for questions or just long discussions about this if you want to know anything from my experience that wasn’t here, so hit me up!!

1: Take basic measurements. Depending on where you want you belt to sit, you will need to measure the circumference of your waist or hips. (Reminder: take in the fact that your foam has some depth to it. You may want to add 1/4 inch/ 5 mm to your circumference) You will also need to measure how big you want the side/hip pieces to be (Since mine is on my hips, I measure out the width and length of my hip bones so that it would sit on them comfortably). (Make note of at what measurements your sides are at. The octagon shape should cover most of your sides)

2: Mark out the measurements onto the foam and then use them as guide lines to draw out the basic shape. Make adjustments until you are happy. Then, using a sharp box cutter or another crafting knife, cut out your belt. Glue the pieces together as need. (For gluing: I use both hot glue and contact cement. Don’t use hot glue alone if you live in a really hot place or plan to store this in a hot place. The hot glue will melt)

3: Time for the little pocket thingy! Using your measurements for the hip/side octagons, draw out an elongated hexagon. Cut out a rectangle near the top. Glue on a piece of thinner foam to the back of the hexagon. (This creates a false backing. This is just a detail and is not a necessity if you do not want to do it).

4: Using your heat gun, heat seal all of your foam. While it is still warm, bend the belt to the shape of waist/hips. Bend the hexagon shapes slightly and push the sides in to give it a pop up look.

5: Glue the hexagon-pocket things down. Glue down the top, then gently push upwards a little before gluing down the bottom. Then glue down the sides.

6: Buckle... (this quiznacking piece took me three tries to get it right) Draw out the diamond shape onto the foam and cut it out. Cut out a small rectangle near the top (this will be where you insert the lights) Using the same diamond shape, extend the sides to make little tabs. 

After cutting these tabs out, cut one side of each piece at a slight angle (the angle side of one piece will connect to a straight side of another)

 Glue these together. Trace the back shape out on the plastic sheet protector and the tissue paper. Glue the tissue paper in between the sheet protector. (This will act as a filter for the lights). Glue this to the top of the buckle and then glue the top to the back.

7: Glue the buckle to one side of the belt. Glue a small piece of Velcro to the buckle and then to the other side of the belt.

8: Prime the whole thing! (I used about 2 coats of the plasti-dip) Paint the pieces, the belt white, the pockets and buckle gray. Seal the paint (I used about 5 layers of glossy mod podge) (if you need to/want to, you can sand down any rough edges before you paint anything)

9: Roll the stringed LED lights into small loops (I made three to spread them out more) and insert them into the back of the buckle. Then thread them around the inside of the belt to the side or back. Using Velcro, attach the battery pack to the belt. (I taped down the wires so they can be removable but wouldn’t fall down or get caught on something)

And then you are done!! You have now finished the belt of the Voltron Paladin Armor!! YAY!!

1.)   Basic measurements: Length and width of knee/elbow cap.

2.)   Basic Shape: Mark the basic measurements onto the craft foam (I use 5mm because this piece will be bending A LOT!) and then mark out the basic shape. The shape of the knee and elbow pads are like an extended diamond.

3.)   Using a sharp box knife or craft knife, cut out the design.

4.)   Heat seal and prime the piece at least 4-5 times. Because this piece is bending a lot (like I said before), you want to make sure that the primer and paint is not going to crack or anything.

5.)   Paint the pads the color that corresponds with your lovely paladin.

6.)   Seal with your choice of sealant at least 5 times.

7.)   Carefully, heat up the back of the pads and shape them to your knee/elbow when they are half bent.

8.)   Measure out a piece of elastic that will stretch across the back of your knee/elbow. CAREFULLY, burn the ends to prevent fraying.

9.)   Glue the elastic to the knee piece and then, using a piece of scrap 2mm foam, cut out a square and glue onto of the elastic to reinforce it.

10.) Cut and glue down a small piece of Velcro, just to make sure that the pad goes nowhere!

AND You are finished!! Nice and short tutorial for this one!

Two in a row?! You guys are so lucky! (I’m trying to make up for lost time.)

1.) Measurements: The thigh pieces actual require quite a bit of measurements. They are: length of thigh, top of thigh, bottom of thigh, width of front of knee, width of side of knee,  space from butt to bottom of hip. (Note: Measure both thighs separately! Do not be like me and assume that they are the same.)

2.) Basic shape: In order to get the flared shape that the thigh piece requires, I measured out the base piece to fit around the smallest part of my thigh (the bottom thigh) and then took 1/2 inch off. I divided the side of knee width in half to help place out where the knee holes will need to go. The highest part of the top should sit near the bottom of your hip and the bottom part of the top should sit right under your butt. 

3.) Spacer: For the spacer piece (the piece that will make this fit the largest part of your thigh), minus the bottom thigh measurement from the top thigh measurement (Ex: 18-12=6 inches.) This measurement will be the top part of the spacer and the bottom should be the 1/2 inch. (To get the right angles, simply trace out the length of thigh, mark the top and bottom measurements and then connect the lines using a straight edge)

4.) Cut out the light holes. The thigh pieces has two light holes that are just two long rectangles that fit on the uplifted part of the upper thigh (Can be seen in picture above.)

5.) Light filters: Cut out two rectangle (that will cover both light holes) out of tissue paper and plastic sheet protectors. Glue the tissue paper to the plastic sheet protectors and then glue those pieces together, leaving the top open. The end product should look like a small pocket.

6.) Glue down the light filter pocket. Also glue down a small piece of Velcro in the middle of the thigh piece to help hold the armor on.

7.) Glue down one side of the spacer, then heat seal the entire piece and bend it to fit around the thigh. Try on the piece before going any further. After it cools, glue down the other side of the spacer.

8.) Prime the foam with your chose of primer (I used about 2-3 coats of plasti-dip), paint the whole piece white, and then seal it with your chose of sealant (I used about 5 layers of glossy mod podge).

9.) Stringing lights: take the battery operated lights and wind the string in a loop as wide as the pocket. Insert the lights into the pockets and then string the remaining wire throughout the thigh piece (I tape down the wire so that it will not get caught on anything but is able to be removed.) Glue a small piece of Velcro to the battery pack and to the thigh piece in a place where you can reach it (mine is on the inside of the knee.)

And you’re done!