The Kid from Bastion: Part 1
This is the most iconic weapon from the game, so wielding this behemoth will make you seem like the brave Kid from the beautiful game, Bastion.
Supplies: A Styrofoam cooler, expanding spray foam insulation, two wooden dowels (1 inch diameter), a large sheet of craft foam, Spackle, and paint (I used the shade “Golden Sunset” by Apple Barrel paint). For the handle, I used linen fabric, coffee to dye it, tacky glue and gray polymer clay. (air-dry clay would be better)
Put the lid of the foam cooler on the side of the main body.
Clean up any holes on the outside of the cooler with some Spackle.
I found the correct place for the handle and added Styrofoam around it so it wouldn’t move around. I used scraps of foam on the inside so I wouldn’t have to use as much spray insulation.
Spray the inside with expanding insulation until it is about 3/4 full, and cover it with plastic so it doesn’t make a big mess. Make sure to spray some on the head of the hammer so it will stick to the body. Wait however long it says on the can.
I used a sharp knife and cut off everything that was sticking out, so it was a flat side. Sand it down so its super flat.
Fill the wholes left by the spray insulation with Spackle. You need a LOT of Spackle. So put it on and sand it flat when dry.
Also put Spackle in the crack between the main body and the head of the hammer (that was made out of the lid)
This is a rough picture of what the top would look like
On the body of the hammer, you must measure out the length of space between the handle and the center of the top. This is where the red flags will go. Measure twice and cut once in order to get the correct size and make it visually appealing. So cut these flags out of thin red craft foam; I didn’t have any red so I painted mine red instead.
I wasn’t quite sure how to make the handle. To make it looked weathered, i soaked the fabric in coffee overnight. I washed it out and hung it up to dry. I was afraid that it would fray, so I rubbed glue on the edges of the fabric after it was done drying. I rolled out a rectangle of gray clay and put it at the base of the handle where it meets the bottom side of head of the hammer. I took it off to bake it and slid it to the base of the handle after it was cool. I used some glue to secure the clay to the wooden dowels. Then I slowly wrapped the handle in the cloth, weaving it between the two dowels. I glued that edge together so it wouldn’t unravel. Then i made an end cap out of clay and glued that down as well.
And there you have it, a complete Cael’s hammer!
This hammer was a very large prop, and sometimes it was difficult to bring to a convention. While I was at the Renaissance Fair, I found some wooden swords that I could re-purpose for my Kid cosplay.
What you will need for the War Machete: A very small paintbrush, black paint, red paint, and golden paint (same color as the hammer). --side note, I didn’t use any sealer, but you can use some if you want.
I painted it wrong at first because I was trying to paint it from memory. Always look up a reference! This is the only reference I could easily find that was straight out of the game.
Repainted it because I’m a scrub
There you have it, Kid’s weapons from the game Bastion! It might be time consuming and tedious, but your hard work will pay off.
The Kid wears a solid plate of metal riveted together on their stomach and back. Metal would have been a bit too heavy for me considering the hammer is heavy enough as it is. I substituted metal chest plates for some craft foam, but to make it more realistic I would suggest making it with some thicker EVA foam.
I used: Gray spray paint, iridescent glass gems, black elastic, and a hot glue gun
I used some thin black elastic so it will blend into my shirt, but you could also make it more sturdy by using leather straps.
Measure from slightly above your belt to your collar bone and get the width of your torso. Cut out a rectangle that fits your body for the body armor, and place your shoulder straps accordingly. For the riveted look I used iridescent glass gems that are normally used for vases and spray painted them gray. I used hot glue to attach these rivets because I wasn’t sure what glues were strong and safe to use on this foam. Go ahead and test different types of glue for foam-deterioration and strength on scraps if you have time.
For the arm and leg bands measured the circumference my arm/leg and left about two or three inches as a space to add elastic to make it easier when getting ready for a con. After adding elastic, I cleaned off the tip of my hot glue gun and gently dragged it across the foam to make outlines around the border. This added detail really brings the whole look together and makes it look more interesting.
My next post will be about the wig and clothing, so stay tuned!
And there you have it folks, two of the weapons and all of the armor for The Kid from Bastion cosplay. I would recommend this to a newer cosplayer because the simplicity of the armor and sword painting. This was a lot of fun to make and even more fun when people recognized my costume; It was a blast-from-the-past for many people. If you have any questions or would like more reference pictures, feel free to message me.
