So i haven’t done a tutorial in a while and thought i might as well do one for the Loki bracers i made to get back into practice:
if you’ve got any questions on anything feel free to drop me an ask.
-pens/pencils (i would recommend a permanent or whiteboard marker as thats the easiest to draw on worbla with)
-ruler and/or tape measure
-gold paint (i used metallic spray paint)
1. Start by measuring from your elbow to your wrist and draw a line of this length on some paper. Then measure around the mid point of your arm, divide the measurement around your arm by two and draw a line of this length attached to one end of the first line you drew at 90 degrees. Then draw in two more lines to form a rectangle. Then sketch in the design of the bracer within this rectangle, i made mine slightly shorter than my full arm measurement but kept the width the same. you only need to make one template because you can just mirror all of your pieces to make the opposite bracer.
2. Draw around your template on craft foam and cut it out. (you don’t need the rim around the edge i’ve only got it cos i made my original template too small) Then do exactly the same with the other side of the template to create the opposite bracer.
3. draw round each craft foam bracer twice onto worbla leaving a 0.5cm or larger rim around the edge and cut those out.
4. Sandwich your craft foam between your two piecer of worbla, heat the whole thing up with a heat gun and press the pieces together taking extra care to press together the pieces all around the edge. then if its still warm enough cut off the excess around the edge being careful not to expose the craft foam. (if its not warm enough just re-heat it then complete this step)
5. Heat up your bracer again and bend it over something to create the curved shape. i heated it over a drinks bottle, i would not recommend shaping it actually on your arm because odds are you will burn yourself.
6. cut out the individual sections from your original template, then cut them out of worbla (make sure the three overlapping sections that are put on first have a slight lip on them for overlapping)
7. lay the pieces on one at a time, heat them up, and stick them down in the order that follows:
8. to create the texture on the ends of the bracers i first marked out the pattern, then i heated up the section a bit at a time and poked the end of a paintbrush into the worbla to create dimples.
9. later up more of the sections as i step 7.
10. to create the ball details i covered seed beads in tiny pieces of worbla then poked holes in the worlba using the same method as step 8. then while the worbla was still warm inserted the balls into the worbla.
11. cover the whole thing in several layers of wood glue using an old paintbrush (i think i used 4 coats of glue), and wait for it to dry completely between coats or you will just make a mess.
12. spray paint the whole bracer gold (its just the lighting making this look bronze)
13. wait for that to dry properly then cover a section in black acrylic paint, wait for about 15 seconds, then wipe it off with some kitchen roll, leaving a bit of residue anywhere the bracer would collect dirt.
14. when this is dry cover with a couple more layers of wood glue and you’re finished!
when i make the actual costume i will be attaching these by gluing velcro to the back and having a corresponding piece of velcro sewn to the jacket sleeve.
If you’ve got any questions feel free to drop me an ask.
