Lady Sif breastplate using EVA Form question

[korigirl]

Hello! I am brand new to the rpf *and* to using EVA foam, so total newb here. =)

I have started making Lady Sif’s armor from Thor: Dark World (comes out in November) and will be using EVA foam to make it.


Jaimie Alexander Fan: Click image to close this window

http://www.mightythorlibrary.com/superhero-library/img/movies/thor2/thor-2-set-pic-2.jpg

Jaimie Alexander Fan: Click image to close this window

My question lies with the breastplate. I have read the Mass Effect tutorial (and many others) where they use a ‘mold’ and a press plate for under the breasts. With these breastplates, there is a clear line under the breasts, and Sif does not have this line with her armor. I am trying to figure out the best way to get nicely shaped breasts without using the under press. Another issue I have is that my breasts are quite a bit larger than hers.

I have my pattern, just need to cut the foam. I am using one piece of foam for the entire front piece, so breast and stomach are all one piece. I am thinking I will heat the foam and just try to form it to my body (using my boyfriend as another set of hands) but I realize it will be difficult to form the breasts and the stomach at the same time.

I have a body form, but I really want the form to be formed to me so it fits perfectly which is why I was thinking I would just press the heated foam against myself (wearing a tshirt or something to protect me from the heat).

I don’t have a lot of time to make a mold of my body, so I’m looking for other suggestions. Anything is helpful, thanks!!

 

[Beer_Money_Props]

Pressing it against yourself probably won't be enough to shape it accurately, and to get it hot enough to take that many curves in one shape, no amount of clothing can properly prepare you for leaving it against yourself long enough for it to cool off and hold it's shape. We're talking burlap over kevlar over lead.

IMO, just make the breast plate per the usual tutorial, and then "fair out" the sharp edge along the under-boob area (sorry, I really don't know what else to call it) with a heat gun. You can also throw some body filler (like bondo) along that line before you shape it to dress it out more and lose the sharp edge. Think a heart shape instead of a couple of round ones.

Also, with EVA, the chances of it fitting "perfectly" are about as slim as walking into a department store and buying a dress in your size and expecting it to fit you properly without trying it on. EVA is a forgiving material, but it's not something I'd ever expect to be form fitting, especially if you need it to support your...ahem...assets...

Good luck with your build!

 

[Emmabellish]

Can't you just make a mold with a less severe line? Instead of having 2 severely rounded domes, make taper more underneath the breast.

 

[mikid]

My wife is making this same suite, will follow your thread and see if we can share ideas, she likes to sew alot of costumes, so getting her to us the eva foam is going to be fun...good luck.....Mike

 

[korigirl]

Pressing it against yourself probably won't be enough to shape it accurately, and to get it hot enough to take that many curves in one shape, no amount of clothing can properly prepare you for leaving it against yourself long enough for it to cool off and hold it's shape. We're talking burlap over kevlar over lead.

IMO, just make the breast plate per the usual tutorial, and then "fair out" the sharp edge along the under-boob area (sorry, I really don't know what else to call it) with a heat gun. You can also throw some body filler (like bondo) along that line before you shape it to dress it out more and lose the sharp edge. Think a heart shape instead of a couple of round ones.

Also, with EVA, the chances of it fitting "perfectly" are about as slim as walking into a department store and buying a dress in your size and expecting it to fit you properly without trying it on. EVA is a forgiving material, but it's not something I'd ever expect to be form fitting, especially if you need it to support your...ahem...assets...

Good luck with your build!

This is helpful, thank you. I think I'll try the 'fair out' method with the heat gun.


Emmabellish, the issue is that I don't have a mold at all. It'll be easier for me to create a 'mold' using something round rather than finding that round object and then figure out how to taper that down. But, it is a good suggestion. If I can't make it work with the heat gun, that might be my next process.


mikid, awesome! Has she started yet?

 

[korigirl]

Now that I think about it a little more, I wonder if just making a simple clay mold of my ahem..assets .. and tapering down the edge would be the easiest route to go. I kind of like that idea!

 

[Beer_Money_Props]

The heated foam will melt down the clay. Just fyi...You'll be picking little bits of clay out of the ridges of the foam for the better part of the rest of your life.

You could also use a duct tape dummy with a sweater pulled over it. Then you'd have a form to build the rest of your armor onto if you ever decide to do more of it.

The bust-cast (Can you even call it that since technically a "bust" ends just above the boobs?) is a swell idea but you could make it a little simpler and just take a well fitting bra, preferably something with a lot of internal self support and very little stretchy material in the cups, line the whole thing with saran wrap, fill the cups with expanding foam (the spray can type) and after it hardens add more foam to the bottom of the girls and shape it exactly the way you want. It should be hard enough to shape EVA around, but you could always cover it in a layer of fiberglass resin to get it extra firm.

Just a thought.

 

[fallimar]

A budget method that might work - quick and easy - Use a bowl or cup of appropriate size as a base for building a breast form, then use firmly-squashed aluminium foil to build the shape up to what you need, then hold it in place and smooth it over with duct tape. It's how I built up the armature for my Grunt head, firm and incredibly easy to build up shapes.

Just an idea anyway! Might work for practice if nothing else

 

[korigirl]

The heated foam will melt down the clay. Just fyi...You'll be picking little bits of clay out of the ridges of the foam for the better part of the rest of your life.

You could also use a duct tape dummy with a sweater pulled over it. Then you'd have a form to build the rest of your armor onto if you ever decide to do more of it.

The bust-cast (Can you even call it that since technically a "bust" ends just above the boobs?) is a swell idea but you could make it a little simpler and just take a well fitting bra, preferably something with a lot of internal self support and very little stretchy material in the cups, line the whole thing with saran wrap, fill the cups with expanding foam (the spray can type) and after it hardens add more foam to the bottom of the girls and shape it exactly the way you want. It should be hard enough to shape EVA around, but you could always cover it in a layer of fiberglass resin to get it extra firm.

Just a thought.

Thanks for the heads up on the clay melting! That would have been horrible!

Some good ideas to keep in mind, thanks!!

A budget method that might work - quick and easy - Use a bowl or cup of appropriate size as a base for building a breast form, then use firmly-squashed aluminium foil to build the shape up to what you need, then hold it in place and smooth it over with duct tape. It's how I built up the armature for my Grunt head, firm and incredibly easy to build up shapes.

Just an idea anyway! Might work for practice if nothing else

Ohhhh that's a wonderful idea! And easy! love it!
---

What about making a plaster cast of my "bust" and using a plaster mold? I know plaster warms when curing, so I could wear a t-shirt or something that might shield my body from the heat possibly?


I guess here is a better question: Since EVA is not exactly form fitting, does it even make sense to try and mold it exactly to my shape rather than using something like the bowl+foil idea?

 

[Laika]

No don't put plaster against yourself, it can get hot enough to burn skin, life casting is an art within itself, look up the techniques. But EVA foam doesn't really need to be that hot to shape though, if you are wearing clothes you can press it against yourself, I've done it against my own knee's and shoulders after heating with a heat gun, wear gloves when pressing though. But for a chest form, I think building an armature of some sort in the shape you need you be best and pressing hot foam against it would work best, for my mass effect foam armour chest plate I used a mannequin torso half form which I added polystyrene to get the shape (glued on with 5 minute epoxy) and filled in gaps with milliput and pressed my hot foam against that, even better if you can get a negative and a positive shape and sandwich hot foam in-between them.

 

[korigirl]

Well, I've made a mold!!

I found this stuff that is skin-safe:
4" E-Z Form Plaster Cloth Wrap | Shop Hobby Lobby
And incredibly cheap. Bought a few of them, had my awesome boyfriend help.

We wanted to make the mold directly on my skin, so boyfriend taped my breasts using masking tape so that they would be in the correct place without having to wear a bra. He covered me in Vaseline and then used the E-Z Form strips from the link above.

After it was dry (dries fast), we took it off and removed the tape. (That part wasn't so fun)

*edit: We built up the sides using duct tape and more of the plaster strips so that we could pour in the plaster.

I covered the entire inside of the mold with Vaseline and poured plaster in!

Once dry, it took a little TLC and help from a cake spatula (which was awesome since its so pliable) and the plaster mold came out!



Now the mold just needs a little bit of sanding, and I'll figure out the rest as I go...

 

[fallimar]

Awesome idea! Cool product too, great for making a dress form perhaps. *hmmmmmm*

 

[korigirl]

Awesome idea! Cool product too, great for making a dress form perhaps. *hmmmmmm*

It would absolutely be good for making a dress form! Just don't fill it with plaster as it would be waaaaaaay too heavy (the bust we made is already difficult to pick up because of its weight).



Side question: how do you prevent finger indentions and/or glove indentions when forming the EVA?

 

[ParadoxJane]

I press a lot of breastplates out of EVA for N7 Armor and other projects. You can make the mold so you don't have those lines. You really need a hard mold press to do it. Some of the N7 Elite Costumers use those Hamster wheels you can get from Pet stores. The key is you really got to get it super hot. I wear gloves when I make pressings and it normally takes two people. One to hold down the foam and one to use their gloved hand to shape. The Tutorial you read was likely EvilFX (He's my BF) and I was the first N7 Fem armor he built. We have pretty much perfected the method at this point because we have made a lot of suits. One of the reasons you see the line at the bottom is just the way the mold is positioned when pressing. It also has a natural lip on it which is easily eliminated . Just remember Foam is forgiving when it comes to minor dents. A heat gun will normally get it to go away.

 

[korigirl]

I press a lot of breastplates out of EVA for N7 Armor and other projects. You can make the mold so you don't have those lines. You really need a hard mold press to do it. Some of the N7 Elite Costumers use those Hamster wheels you can get from Pet stores. The key is you really got to get it super hot. I wear gloves when I make pressings and it normally takes two people. One to hold down the foam and one to use their gloved hand to shape. The Tutorial you read was likely EvilFX (He's my BF) and I was the first N7 Fem armor he built. We have pretty much perfected the method at this point because we have made a lot of suits. One of the reasons you see the line at the bottom is just the way the mold is positioned when pressing. It also has a natural lip on it which is easily eliminated . Just remember Foam is forgiving when it comes to minor dents. A heat gun will normally get it to go away.

Some really great advice, and I love the hamster wheels! That's fantastic, heh. I've opted to work on the other armor pieces and leave the breast plate until the end. Thank you for your advice!

 

[wolfchild59]

No don't put plaster against yourself, it can get hot enough to burn skin

While there are definitely a lot of better life casting options out there for quicker drying, better details, and overall better results plaster works just fine for body casting. I've made multiple castings of my face over the years to create life masks for FX make-up and almost always used plaster. I've never once had it heat to a point of even being uncomfortable, much less burning my skin. And I have really, really sensitive skin, so if it were going to have any negative effects, I definitely would have been on the receiving end.

The only trick with using plaster for body casts is making sure to use vaseline or another similar lubricant on any body hair to make sure that you don't pull it all out when removing the plaster. I've done face molds of guys with goatees before and it comes out just fine, as long as the hair is properly vaselined.

But it's definitely never gotten anything beyond a little warm in all the years that I've used it. I actually enjoy the relaxing effect it has on me as it cools on my face. And it also acts sorta like a giant Biore face strip for your entire face, so your pores will never look better. lol


Also, to the OP, awesome job on the mold. A body cast was the very first thing I thought when I opened this thread, so I was very happy to see that that was where it ended up for you. I can't wait to see where this goes with the EVA foam building. I've been looking into getting into that a bit myself, so I'll definitely be paying attention to a thread about it from a fellow newbie.

 

[ParadoxJane]

Seriously consider Worbla for your breastplate if you don't want to press foam. Kamui cosplay ahs a very good Tutorial on her site for making plates with Worbla. Even though I have a EVA foam Rig. I'm opting for Worbla for my Diablo Fem barb costume. It's thinner, hardened was cooled and can be reheated. All materials have their advantages and disadvantages but I have to say worbla by far has the best potential for this kind of build.

 

[korigirl]

Seriously consider Worbla for your breastplate if you don't want to press foam. Kamui cosplay ahs a very good Tutorial on her site for making plates with Worbla. Even though I have a EVA foam Rig. I'm opting for Worbla for my Diablo Fem barb costume. It's thinner, hardened was cooled and can be reheated. All materials have their advantages and disadvantages but I have to say worbla by far has the best potential for this kind of build.

Isn't Worbla crazy expensive? I got a roll of EVA for $7.99. This is also just a Halloween costume. I'm trying not to spend a ton of money.

 

[Beer_Money_Props]

Isn't Wornla crazy expensive? I got a roll of EVA for $7.99. This is also just a Halloween costume. I'm trying not to spend a ton of money.

I wouldn't say "crazy expensive" but it's not even in the same ballpark as EVA cost. I bought a sample of Worbla to play with (I'd recommend to anyone to try this stuff...It really is pretty cool), and without some type of backing it would deform really easy while it cooled. Plus it sticks to everything once it's heated. For something that doesn't require perfect lines or crazy detail, IMHO, it's overkill. The great thing is there is no waste at all with it. Heat it up, stick it to itself, roll it out, and use it up till it's gone.

I think you're on the right track with what you're doing. Now post up some progress pics!

 

[korigirl]

Well, my progress has been extremely slow I have been working on several things at once (legs, arms, and the shield..still avoiding the breastplate for now) so I have several pieces formed but unpainted. =) Here is a pic of one of the leg pieces though.

Left: freshly painted silver. Right: attempt at weathering



Again, keep in mind this is my FIRST armor build and my first time using EVA foam. And it will look better attached to a boot