Princess Zelda pauldrons: part 1

Hello
Here is tutorial for Princess Zelda's pauldrons. I am yet to make the top half of the pauldrons, and am currently working on that, however here is the completed tutorial for the bottom half of the pauldrons.

So first off, I traced the pattern onto a piece of craft foam, and cut it out. I started off with a patter to trace, however, the pattern I had was too small, so I ended up drawing it freehand, before folding it in half to make the edges even.

The next thing I did was heat it up. Heating it up softens the foam and gives you the ability to shape it. I set my foam in the oven, although you can use a hairdryer. Once it was soft in the oven, I rolled the foam up in foil and placed it back in the oven for five more minutes.

When it has cooled, it should remain in the shape it was heated in. Don't worry if it's too curled up, when we glue it to the top half, it will unroll a bit.

I glued the bottom half to the top half, and sealed the edges with paper. When you glue it, things will get messy, and it will look like you've used a whole heap of unnecessary glue (Don't worry, as you will need a lot of glue to keep it in one piece).

The next thing I did was cover the whole thing it resin. I originally planned to use fiberglass mat as well, but I didn't end up using it.

When that dried, it was finally time to paint it. First I applied a base coat of black spray paint. Over that I used gold. I was happy with the gold paint over the resin, however, it didn't look realistic enough for me, so along all the edges I ended up painting on black paint the give it a weathered look. I then smudged that out, before hand painting more gold paint over the black.

And that's it. If you have any questions about this, do not hesitate to ask, as I'm happy to reply.

- Jeditwins Cosplay

Tutorial: Elf Ears

Here I'm going to tell you how to make elf ears. With these ideas you can go on to make ears in whatever shape you want.

Materials:

• Liquid latex 
• Clay
• Hot glue (not pictured) 
• Play dough (I ended up using clay)
• paint brush

Step 1: Creating a mold
Using a ball of play dough, or clay, which worked the same (just make sure your clay is soft). Create a mold by pushing it into your ear. The softer the clay, the more detail you will receive. Fill in your mold with hot glue to create a replica of your ear.

Step 2: Shaping your ear
Using the clay, cut out a triangle to the same size you want your ear to be. You will then need to sculpt it to the shape you want your ear to be. I created a ridge in my clay to make it more realistic. Wait for this to dry before gluing your ear into the clay.

Step 3: Latex
Using the back of a paintbrush (don't use the bristles unless you never want to see your paintbrush again) cover your ear in a coat of liquid latex. When you dry your ears, make sure you dry them upside down so they don't become lumpy. When they are completely dry, give them another coat. I takes about and hour for the latex to fully cure. I ended up applying six coats, so that's six hours of drying time. If you don't want to wait that long I encourage you to use a hairdryer.

Step 4: Removing the ears
Before you peel the ears off, give them a coat of baby powder, that way they wont stick and leave you frustrated. When you peel them off, they will come off inside out. Apply powder to the inside before flipping them around the right way. I ended up making a second pair, the only difference is that the latex went all the way down to the lobe, giving it more support.

Applying the ears

To apply them all you need to do is apply spirit gum to wherever the ear has to attach to. Wait for the glue to become tacky, then slip on the ears. I applied latex, as well as concealer to the join to help blend it out. 

And there you have it!

If you have any questions of comments, do not hesitate to ask, and I'll be happy to reply.
- Jeditwins