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StarsOfCASSiOPEiA — ATLA: Inherent Skepticism
Published: 2013-03-29 00:46:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 976; Favourites: 34; Downloads: 4
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Description
You always have to wonder what nonsense is going on with the rest of the Gaang!'Throwback Thursday' photo, seeing as how this was Otakon 2011. (Man, I need to cosplay Avatar again sometime soon!)
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Comments: 17
Aw crap. Sorry for double post. It won't let me delete one.
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I have been internetting looking for a good way to make the foam look like leather. There's a lot of info for making it look like metal or ME armor, but less on leather. I read you saying that you use shoe polish before the sealing? What sealer do you use and what paints? I'm testing pieces with plastidip spray right now, but the finish isn't coming off as leather. I'm doing Iroh for Anime Boston this year.
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I have been internetting looking for a good way to make the foam look like leather. There's a lot of info for making it look like metal or ME armor, but less on leather. Yours looks so much like real leather, you really can't tell it's not. I read you saying that you use shoe polish before the sealing? What sealer do you use and what paints? I'm testing pieces with plastidip spray right now, but the finish isn't coming off as leather. I'm doing Iroh for Anime Boston this year.
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Yes, it's shoe polish! I used this kind ([link] ) in black and brown, and brushed it overtop of brown craft foam ([link] ) with a stiff-bristled brush. It doesn't really have to look neat! The brown was brushed all over, and the black was mostly around the edges, particularly in the creases.
My sealer was actually Modge Podge Matte, which you can get in any craft store for about $7. (I can't quite remember exactly how much I used, but I'd approximate that it was one container). Sealing it was unfortunately rather tedious, as I had to paint multiple coats of it on with a foam brush, but it's held up through 100 degree + weather and three years of nearly-constant convention wear!
Best of luck with your Iroh cosplay! I always love when people cosplay Iroh well. 
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Thanks! Yea I actually started experimenting with the shoe polish since I asked. Right now I only have black, but it is Kiwi. I need some brown/s def. I'm actually painting EVA foam, so it's base color is gray. I have 1 piece I had started the plastidip tests on then sprayed with a satin dark brown. The black polish on that one with multiple layers of modge podge is starting to look pretty good. I actually happened to had bought exactly the right kind of modge podge the other day, so I had it ready to test with.
I figure if you're going to cosplay, do it right. I've only ever did one before, but I'm a perfectionist about it. I haven't even cut my beard or hair since that pic for my avatar in October, and I plan to cut out the front part of my hair for the cosplay. No fake looking bald cap for me. I'm sure there will be pictures.
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Hope the armour progress has been going well! And wow, using your real hair and beard is serious dedication. Can't wait to see it all finished!
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I just couldn't bring myself to chop my hair but I did the beard.
The Modge Podge is a great looking finish, but it chips and peels a lot. As many people said, it's not a bad thing because it looks like battle wear, but I think I'm going to seal with something else next time.
[link]
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Wow, the chest piece is awesome. It really looks battle worn!
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After a year and a half of hard convention wear, it IS battle worn, haha!
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The front part for the armor! Whoa, how'd you do that??
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Thank you, glad you like it! It's a really easy technique, actually, though a bit time consuming. It's just sealed craft foam and shoe polish!
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Really?? It looks incredible!
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Thank you! It was time consuming, but totally worth it!
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Thank you very much!
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