How To Make A Batman Styled Gauntlet For Cosplay

Everyone, here Vergia Farrow  is sharing her experience of making this Batman inspired gauntlet, she will contribute many valuable cosplay contend to our blog , let’s expect and see how she did this in the following article first.

 

As with all items that an individual can create, you can either find a pattern or layout for what  you are making or something close to what you are making.  I personally love to use patterns when it comes to clothing items. Accessories I tend to stray off the beaten path and create layouts.  This means the item could end up an exact duplicate, or  can just resemble the item the replica is made to resemble.In this tutorial, I chose to create a gauntlet that was Batman inspired.Batman cosThe materials I used for it are as follows:
1. Craft foam sheets(5 ½ x 8 ½ ) 8 ½ x 11 stock card paper

2.  Terraflex (You can use Worbla, Terraflex is a little cheaper and works very close to the  same) Hot Glue Gun (to attach the craft foam sheets to each other as well as the terraflex)
3.  Sharpie
4.    Duct Tape
5.    Sturdy scissors Ruler
6.    Measuring tape (the ones you use for your body, not carpentry)
7.    Heat gun(or blow dryer if you do not have a heat gun. Blow dryers take a little longer to heat the plastic) Plastic Primer           (primer not made of plastic will likely melt your hard work)
8.   Acrylic or Citadel Paints (Citadel paints are model paints sold my gamers workshop. They  are expensive, but worth the  money)
9.Velcro with doublesided tape on the backside

The first step I took was to research and decide on a picture of Batman to base my design on. I then measured my arm around the wrist, middle of forearm and top of forearm near the elbow. I measured the length from my wrist to my elbow as well. This  is important to make sure the gauntlet is the accurate length you would like it to be.

I then took the card stock and taped two pieces length wise together. I measured from the  bottom of the paper towards the top for accurate length, and used the middle of the taped together sheets as my middle point to put the arm measurements, to have equal lengths on both side.

Measuring around the points on your arm, you want to make sure you overlap about 2-3 inches when finding the measurement. My wrists are 6 inches around, and when I overlapped to make the flaps that are shown, the measurement changed to 8 ½  inches.

I took the straight edge of the ruler, and connected the lines from the wrist line to the line at the top of the arm line. This creates the overall shape. After cutting the initial shape out, I taped two more pieces of paper together and traced the first shape onto it. I used my ruler to sketch a ¼ inch measurement from the edge around the whole shape. From here, I cut the ¼ inch excess from the second shape. This creates the ‘step’ effect along the edges.

I used smalled sheets of craft foam, so I had to tape 4 small sheets together (as shown in pictures) to cutthe initial shape out for one arm. I then took one sheet, and took the corners from the original foam to save on materials. I taped the corners to the  single sheet of foam, and then trimmed it to match the shape of the second cut out.

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I used my hot glue gun to attach these pieces of foam together, and then I traced the total outline onto the terraflex. Terraflex  generally comes in thin sheets, so a pair of sturdy scissors will easily slice through. When you trace the initial outline, you want  to be sure to add about ¼ to ½ of an inch to the shape (so you can automatically trace larger around the shape, or make  additional lines after the shape is traced) This is so when we heat the terraflex and mold it to the form we have created, we can  fold the edges over to make sure it keeps a firm grip to the craft foam.

What I did next was decide how many grooves I wanted along the edges for the flaps. It will cary by personal tastes, and I went with having 5 wing like flaps (meaning I made 4 equal slits in the side of the materials. You can adjust the sizing to what you feel is best). I made sure to cut the grooves out first, and then put the craft foam on top of the cut terraflex to draw the new flap cut outs, and instead of making exact cut outs, I draw a line down the middle of each indent. This is done so we can fold the plastic along the edge of the flaps, and under to make sure it stays firm.DSCNc

DSCNdI personally like to hot glue the craft foam to the thermoplastic to ensure while heating, that the craft foam doesn’t float away  like a leaf on the wind. This is now the most tedious part of the build. Thermoplastic tends to cool very fast, so you will play the game of heating, folding, reheating, folding, so on and so forth. You will also use the straight edge of the ruler to press the thermoplastic into the step features we built into the foam when we initially made cut outs. This is tedious, and you may end up with  toasty fingers at some point due to the temperature of the plastic.DSCNe

DSCNfWhen you have finished folding the plastic over on itself, you can work out another piece to add on or work with the item you  have created so far. I added another piece of craft foam/terraflex to look like an additional guard on the gauntlet I created. You can make various shapes to add on, and you will treat the items the same as the craft foam you just covered, folding the plastic under to the black side. This helps a lot as the terraflex sticks to itself very well when heated, and you won’t have to do anything crazy to get it to attach to the gauntlet piece you have already made.

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DSCNhWhen you have finished the initial veering process, you will heat the plastic again, and actually model it to your arm. The flaps you created should, ideally, face to the outside of your forearm, with the protective part going on the inside of the  forearm. You mat need a buddy to help you hold it in place. Whrn it has cooled enough that you can move it without hurting the  shape, you will then prime the plastic with the plastic primer you  have.

When the primer dries, you are ready to paint. I used black and gold, to keep with the batman style I was going for, I painted  the extra guard ans the steps along the gauntlet gold, and the rest black. When the paint dries, you will add Velcro to each of the  flaps you created. Having Velcro with tape on the back of it makes for easy attachment. You can also line it along the inside to  attach directly to a glove you may be wearing. If you do it this way, you should be sure to cover the inside of the flaps with  terraflex as well, or make sure to use craft foam and duct that matches the color build that you are using for the gauntlet.DSCNiDSCNj

sado44

Co-Founder of Miccostumes.com,love Cosplay,Anime,Game,Hiking,Running,Board Game,Poker!