The Sole Wookie Courier

It's rude. You're making someone take their time to read something you couldn't bother to write. You're telling them they were so unimportant you couldn't be bothered to actually take the time to say something yourself. And frankly, you're lying about it while you're at it.

It’s called Chrome Vinyl, and it’s a metallic wrap used for automobiles.  

There’s a cosplayer who’s already made a basic tutorial for what it is and how to use it here: http://calgarycosplay.deviantart.com/art/Cosplay-Metallics-SOLVED-FOREVER-464151191

…though she’s not the first one to figure it out.  Chrome wrapping is actually a really popular method used in Asia for covering armored costumes, it just hasn’t really taken hold in western cosplay yet.  

You can look up youtube tutorials for how to apply the vinyl (all the demonstrations will be on cars) to get you started.  

To add to Calgary’s tutorial, I would say that if you buy a cheaper, no-brand-name vinyl wrap, it’s not going to give you the same results as buying a known brand of vinyl wrap.  I have a sample of generic wrap I bought off of eBay, and then a sample of Avery chrome vinyl wrap, that’s advertised to have a nice bit of stretch to it, and the Avery definitely works better because the stretchiness helps go around those curves.  Generic brands tend to be less stretchy, the adhesive less sticky, and more prone to dents and wrinkles when you apply heat.  As with all things, you get what you pay for.

Generic 

Avery

In addition, whether you’re using foam or worbla-coated foam, or wonderflex… it’s a good idea to stiffen it up a bit before applying the vinyl so that it can retain its shape.  Applying heat to the vinyl helps it stick and stretch, and you don’t want the heat un-shaping the foam/worbla/wonderflex underneath.  I find that using a few light coats of wood glue helps a considerable amount (don’t worry, you don’t need to go get yourself a gallon of epsilon or anything).  At the same time, don’t use your most powerful heat gun when applying your vinyl.  A hairdryer works fine, and the lighter heat will also contribute to keeping the shape of the foam/thermoplastic you’re wrapping.  

And of course, the more time you put in, the better the results.  Go slow, experiment on scraps first… if you’re using worbla or wonderflex, I do actually recommend smoothing it out a little bit first.  Stretchier chrome vinyls will hug a little bit to the grooves of the rough exterior.  For the smoothest possible finish, take that wood glue or wood filler or gesso to your worbla and just apply 2-3 coats to help even it out.  Not as much as you would need to if you were painting it, but just enough to give the vinyl a helping hand.  

If the adhesive seems to be losing its stickiness or just isn’t holding well enough (and you’d be learning this through your test scraps that I know you’re taking the time to do), I’ve been using contact cement.  

You can find this and various other brands at Home Depot or Lowe’s, etc… I find that using contact cement also reduces air bubbles and creases, especially as you wrap the vinyl around the edges so you get a nice cleeeeean finish.  

If you don’t know how to use contact cement, google is your friend.  

Obviously armor has a lot of pieces, and the unfortunate bit about vinyl wrapping is that you have to do it with every individual piece BEFORE assembly, as opposed to painting, where you can assemble everything first and then paint.  

The back of Kuvira’s armor has 10 pieces, and I need to wrap each of the ten plates before I can attach the plates.  The inside tends not to look very pretty, but nobody’s looking there anyway.

Worbla scraps are GREAT for assembling those wrapped vinyl pieces btw.  

their reasoning being that "we couldn't ban it even if we wanted to, every writer already uses it anyway"

"Every writer"?

WE HAVE ARTICULATION!