[TUTORIAL] Hua Cheng’s Silver Vambraces
I was asked how I made these on Instagram so I decided to write up a tutorial for them. I am no means a foam smithing expert and this is actually the first piece of foam armor I’ve made, but hopefully it will help other beginners out there make something amazing.
I followed this tutorial by Kamui Cosplay for the base. [Actual tutorial starts at 4:44. I had difficulty with the duct tape method and it can be dangerous if done incorrectly so what I did instead:
Measure the circumference of your wrist + 1 inch for ease.
Measure the circumference of where ever you want the base of the bracer to land + 1 inch for ease. How long you want it is up to you but I went a few inches away from my elbow.
Measure the distance between these two points down the middle of your arm.
On a large sheet of 2mm craft foam, make a line with your wrist +1in measurement. Mark the center of this line.
From the center of this line, draw a vertical line that is the length of the distance we got in step 3.
Now draw the base line. This line should be 1/2 of the base circumference + 1/2 inch away from each side of the center vertical line.
Connect the wrist and base lines so you now have a trapezoid shape.
Cut this out with scissors or an exacto knife.
Follow the rest of the video to learn how to heat shape and prep the foam for the next step. I do not have a fancy heat gun so I used a hair dryer as best as I could. The 2mm foam is thin enough that it will mold to the shape of your arm after the zipper is attached at the end anyways.
Decoration time! There’s no actual “canon” design for his bracers so you can do whatever you want. As long as they’re silver with butterflies that should be enough. [ I recall that the novel may have said they had maple leaves on them too. ]
For the top and bottom I glued 1/2 in strips using hot glue, BUT I recommend using contact cement as it is thinner and bonds much better. Make sure to use it in a well ventilated area as the fumes are a bit dangerous.
The flourishes are just some fancy puffy stickers I found at Michaels. I glued these down using contact cement.
The butterflies are also just foam stickers.
Prime your bracers using your choice of primer. Kamui also has a good video on primers but I just sprayed on some modge podge.
After that finished drying, I sprayed painted them black and let them dry for about 5 hours.
I then went over with silver spray paint. Do this layer a bit sparingly so the black peaks through and you get a nice weathered effect. You can also go back and add some black back with a brush if you think you overdid it on the silver. But if you like stark silver you can do that too! I let this dry 5 hours or so.
I finally finished with a satin clear top coat (the finish is up to you really) and let that dry over night.
Finally I attached the zipper with a hot glue gun. Make sure the zipper length isn’t longer than the length of the bracer. A separating zipper will give you the least trouble but I used what I had and was still able to put it on fine.
Enjoy! If you have any questions or require further explanation or pictures please let me know!