Below are summaries of how I made each piece of my Armored Ciri cosplay, which was based off of Witcher concept art by Klaus Wittmann. For the most part I had no idea what I was doing so I don't necessarily recommend doing what I did! I now know of way better methods than what is shown below, but that is how you learn! I also recommend checking out the highlight reel on my Instagram to see even more in-depth progress.
The gorget was made out of 2 mm EVA foam and painted with acrylics. I wrapped my neck and shoulders in cling wrap and duct tape in order to draw the pattern out. I then transferred that pattern to EVA foam and cut out the shapes. I primed the pieces with several layers of Mod Podge before painting them with shades of brown and black acrylic. I poked holes and stitched up the pieces with simple cording, and the gorget closed with velcro in the back.
The little belt piece in the middle was also made out of 2 mm EVA foam. The "Buckle" is actually a filigree cameo - I cut off the edges of the cameo and reglued them back together to get the shape I needed. The stud at the end is a halfback pearl bead. The belt piece is nonfunctional and was glued on top. I later also made the trailing brown belts which hang down out of EVA foam; the silver belt buckles were modeled in Fusion360 and printed in PLA. The gold studs are thumb tacks.
The hip pouch was made out of 2 mm EVA wrapped in vinyl and weathered with acrylics. The gem on the front is a cameo. I painted a greenish-yellow insert on a piece of paper, glued it to the cameo, flooded it with hot glue and then used heat to even out the glue and give it that "resin" like look. Painted googly eyes were used for the fake stud ornamentation and the pouch was weathered with acrylics.
When drafting the pouch, I wanted to make sure it was big enough to hold essentials such as my phone and wallet. When I didn't have these items in the pouch I stuffed it with some polyfill. Two loops were on the backside of the pouch so that I could slot the belts through.
The chestplate was made out of 5mm EVA foam for the main structure; 2mm foam and halfback pearl beads were used for the accents. I used the cling wrap/duct tape method to pattern the shape and then cut out the shapes from 5mm EVA foam. The foam was heatsealed and primer filler was used to help even out texture, and then I spray painted the chestplate silver. I do NOT recommend this method now (this had been my first EVA foam armor!) as spraypaint isn't flexible enough for EVA foam armor - the paint cracked and chipped in areas where the armor bent and fastened. If I did this again I would've sealed the piece with a lot of Mod Podge and I would've used Rub n Buff for the color. I weathered with acrylic paints.
The armor was fastened with Velcro strips on the sides. I also used Velcro to hold the chestplate to the gorget.
For the pauldrons, I used a pattern by Plexi Cosplay and altered the shape slightly to fit my proportions better. 5mm EVA foam was used for the base, while 2mm EVA foam, halfback pearl beads, and flat disc beads were used for the accents. I once again did the filler primer and spraypaint method on these pieces - these ones survived better because they don't flex as much. Weathered with acrylic paints.
For the attachments, I had strips of EVA foam running down from the chestplate, from the top of my shoulder and down my arm, which were lined with Velcro. Velcro was also on the inside of the pauldron so I could simply press the pauldron down on my arm and the pieces would connect. This was not the most stable or reliable connection method so I don't exactly recommend it - but at the time I had no idea how to connect the pieces otherwise!
The chainmail was made using laser cut 2mm EVA foam. I utilized the laser cutter at my local MakerSpace. The foam gets cut out in long thin strips, and then you "knit" the pieces together for the chainmail look. I used the SVG file by Ben E and followed his Instructables tutorial.
After all pieces were cut and knit, I flattened the sheet with a heat gun and sealed the ends with beads of hot glue. They were spritzed lightly with silver spray paint for color. The chainmail "sleeves" attached to the velcro strips by the pauldrons, and I affixed the chainmail "skirt" directly to the leather skirt with hot glue.
I drafted the shape of the metal bracer by taking measurements across the top of my forearm and my wrist. The metal bracer is a very basic tapered cylinder shape (so a trapezoid when in 2D) cut out of 5mm EVA foam. Accents included a strip of 2mm EVA foam to hide the seam as well as googly eyes for studs. Once again this piece was finished with filler primer and silver spraypaint.
The leather bracer used measurements from across my knuckles, my wrist, and the top of my forearm. I made a mockup in scrap fabric first before transferring to my vinyl. Details were added using square studs, D rings, flat disc beads, and thumbtacks. Weathered with acrylic paints.
I drafted the corset with the cling wrap and duct tape method and cut it out of the same vinyl I had been using for the rest of this costume. I sewed the panels together and folded the edges over where the eyelets would go on the sides. Each edge had 9 eyelets - so 36 eyelets total. For the rest of the raw edges, I just covered them up with bias tape because I am lazy and don't actually know how to sew (especially when I had made this!). For the closure, I added buttons only where it would be visible- the part of the corset hidden by my chestplate closed with Velcro.
The skirt is fairly simple - the shape is just three rectangular panels. Since the vinyl I used was so thick, this was sewn wrong sides together, and the edges were folded over and sewn down. The panels were attached to a thick strip of vinyl (the "waist belt") which closed together with Velcro. The skirt was weathered with acrylic paint.
The belts that go on top of the skirt were made out of 5mm EVA foam and painted with acrylics. The buckles were 3D printed and belts close (you guessed it) with velcro, which is hidden by the hip pouch.
I took a picture of the lower half of the costume (legs, pants, skirt) and sketched the shape I wanted for the knee armor on top of that to get a feel for proportions. I then sketched that pattern on paper and then eventually to 5mm EVA foam. I added details with 2mm EVA foam. The foam was sealed with mod podge, painted black, and then Rub n Buff was used for the silver which allowed the piece to flex without cracking. Weathering was added with acrylics.
I glued the main "knee plate" directly onto my boot, while the upper shingle parts attached at the back of the thigh with a foam belt and velcro.
I purchased an Aerondight STL by Random But Quality on Etsy. I printed it on my Bambu Lab A1 in PLA and sanded it with varying grits of sandpaper. The pieces were glued together with Loctite super glue, and a steel dowel ran down the middle of the pieces for support. I then coated it in a thin layer of Kwik Seal, thinned it out with water, and then wet sanded that layer as well. Kwik Seal was also used to hide the seams.
I used coats of filler primer and wet sanded them until I was happy. Rustoleum silver spray paint was used for the sword, and the hilt was wrapped in fake vinyl. I added light shadowing and weathering with black acrylic paint.
