Pike Armor WIP #1! (Patreon)

After much hemming and hawing, I finally bit the bullet and started making Pike's armor! I decided to make what I suspect will be the hardest part first: The breastplate. I used Kamui Cosplay's breastplate pattern, and it was really easy to follow! (It's a bit busty for me, but I don't feel like I understand patterning armor well enough to adjust it, so... big tiddy cleric it is.)

There's a front panel and a back panel which will eventually be connected by straps at the shoulder and sides, just like a real breastplate usually is. I created the base out of 2mm craft foam (the kind you can pick up at any craft store, or even Walmart) attached with contact cement.

Next I patterned out the symbol of Sarenrae on paper, transferred it to foam, and then glued the foam version onto the breastplate.

Time for Worbla! This is a thin thermoplastic often used for cosplay armor and props. I took a big sheet of it, laid it over my breastplate, and started using my heat gun and a popsicle stick to neatly cover the symbol of Sarenrae.

Then, once the symbol was complete, I wrapped the rest of the sheet around the edges of the breastplate. This worked pretty well, except that the sides got pulled a little too far in, and when I tried to shape the breastplate to my body, some buckling started happening at the sides. I thinking working on it on my dressform will help correct that, so I'll tackle that soon.

Overall, I'm really surprised by how smoothly this went! It's definitely going to be the most challenging piece of armor I create for this costume (the rest of the elements are all basically just rectangles shaped into a curve), so I feel a lot more confident in myself now. 

I've ordered some foam clay and some silicone cake filigree molds so I can create some fancy curlicues to embellish the armor. I want to get all of that done before I do any sealing and painting.