Voltron Armor Tutorial: Part Three! Calf/Shin Guards
Part three of my Voltron Paladin Armor tutorial is finally here! This part of the series will cover the shin/calf guards.
Disclaimer: I do not pattern anything out. I just measure and then use reference pictures to sketch out the design.
FOLLOW ALL SAFETY RULES! (AKA use filter mask and work in a well ventilated area, cut away from yourself, use safety gloves and glasses, etc)
Materials: 5mm craft foam, 2mm craft foam, Glossy Mod Podge (or another sealant), white Plasti-dip ( or another foam primer), heat gun, box knife (or craft knife), white and paladin color (red for Keith, etc) acrylic paint, hot glue gun and sticks, contact cement, Velcro, white zippers, plastic sheet protectors, light blue tissue paper, battery operated LED lights, marker, ruler, paint brushes, scissors, sewing measuring tape, and masking tape.
Time to Complete: 4-6 hours
Steps:
1.) Basic Measurements: This piece requires four measurements, the length of shin/calf, the circumference of the ankle, and the circumference of knee, and the width of the back of the knee.
2.) Basic Shape: The shape as a whole is very basic, the top is straight until it gets to the bottom where it will cut inwards to narrow it. The top of this piece is more complicated. The front has a “V” shape design that should cover the front of the shin, the back has a square cut out so the knee can bend (which will be divided in half).
3.) Cut out the design with a sharp box knife or craft knife. Using the heat gun, heat seal the pieces.
4.) Cut out a small piece of Velcro. Glue it to the middle of the back of the piece using contact cement or hot glue (Warning: hot glue by itself can melt in hot weather).
5.) Prime the piece with 3-5 layers of Plasti-dip or your choice of foam primer. Once that is dried, paint the entire piece white.
6.) Colored details: the top part of the shin piece is lined with the paladin’s color. Using the 2mm foam, cut out strips about 1/2-1 inch wide in the shape of the “V.”
7.) Heat seal, prime and paint these pieces with the paladin’s color (My armor is for Keith, so they are red). Glue them to the calf pieces, being careful with lining them up. Paint the top of the foam, where the details meet the big piece.
8.) Seal the entire piece with 3-5 layers of Mod Podge or your choice of sealant.
9.) Carefully, warm up the back of the piece with the heat gun and bend it to the shape of your calf.
10.) Closing: Like most pieces of this armor, they have the ability to be slipped on. Yet, if you want to make the process easier, you can add a closing to the back (I did this because it is hard to bend to put shoes on when all of the armor is on. So, I need to be able to pull these pieces over my shoes). After trying many different types of closings, I finally decided to use zippers. Get zippers that are the length of your calves (measure your calf, don’t just hold it up like I did. Mine was not long enough so I had to add a flap). Using hot glue or contact cement (or both), glue one side of the zipper to the inside of the piece. Unzip the zipper and glue it to the other side.
11.) Ankle Circles: (You will need four of these, two for each leg) The easiest ways of creating the little circle pieces that are on the bottom is to do the line method. Cut out a line about 1/4-1/2 of an inch wide and long enough to make a circle. Heat seal it and bend it into a circle. Glue the ends together. Copy the circle shape onto the 2mm foam. Cut the middle of it out, leaving about 1/4 inch rim (***Don’t glue on yet!)
12.) Light filters: Before gluing the top on, copy the circle shape onto the plastic sheet protectors and tissue paper. Sandwich the tissue paper in between the sheet protectors. Glue them to the circle piece and then glue on the top piece. Seal the sides with hot glue.
13.) Carefully, heat seal the piece. Cover the light filter with tape. Prime and then paint the piece white. Seal them with Mod Podge Glue them to the leg piece, leaving a small part of them overhanging the piece. (This will allow you to insert the LED lights.) (Note: Make sure the circle pieces are glued down firmly or light will shine through the cracks.)
14.) Cut out a strip of 2mm foam that is about 1/2-1 inch wide and long enough to wrap around the ankle. Heat seal, prime, paint, and seal the strips. Glue them down, cutting them when they reach the ankle circles.
15.) Threading LEDs: Wind half of the LED string into a circle. Insert it into one of the ankle circles.Thread the wire along the bottom to the other half, and insert the remaining lights. Thread the rest of the wire up to the top, where the battery pack will be located. Glue a small piece of Velcro to the battery pack and then to the foam. From here, you can leave the wire free hanging, or you can glue or tape it down (Make sure your switch is facing up, unlike mine).
AND you’re done!!
Sorry it took so long to get this one posted. “Hell” week and Finals week of college kicked my butt and then my internet connection quit working for a bit.
Voltron Armor Tutorial: Part Four! Knee/Elbow Pads
Part four of my Voltron Armor tutorial is going to be really simple: Knee and elbow pads!
Disclaimer: I do not pattern anything out. I just measure and then use reference pictures to sketch out the design.
FOLLOW ALL SAFETY RULES! (AKA use filter mask and work in a well ventilated area, cut away from yourself, use safety gloves and glasses, etc)
Materials: 5mm craft foam, scraps of 2mm craft foam, Glossy Mod Podge (or another sealant), white Plasti-dip ( or another foam primer), heat gun, box knife (or craft knife), acrylic paint in paladin color (red for Keith, etc), ½ inch black elastic, hot glue gun and sticks, contact cement, marker, ruler, paint brushes, scissors, lighter or matches, and sewing measuring tape.
Time to Complete: 2-4 hours
Steps:
(I will show you only the process with the knee pads, but it is the same steps for the elbow pads)
1.) Basic measurements: Length and width of knee/elbow cap.
2.) Basic Shape: Mark the basic measurements onto the craft foam (I use 5mm because this piece will be bending A LOT!) and then mark out the basic shape. The shape of the knee and elbow pads are like an extended diamond.
3.) Using a sharp box knife or craft knife, cut out the design.
4.) Heat seal and prime the piece at least 4-5 times. Because this piece is bending a lot (like I said before), you want to make sure that the primer and paint is not going to crack or anything.
5.) Paint the pads the color that corresponds with your lovely paladin.
6.) Seal with your choice of sealant at least 5 times.
7.) Carefully, heat up the back of the pads and shape them to your knee/elbow when they are half bent.
8.) Measure out a piece of elastic that will stretch across the back of your knee/elbow. CAREFULLY, burn the ends to prevent fraying.
9.) Glue the elastic to the knee piece and then, using a piece of scrap 2mm foam, cut out a square and glue onto of the elastic to reinforce it.
10.) Cut and glue down a small piece of Velcro, just to make sure that the pad goes nowhere!
AND You are finished!! Nice and short tutorial for this one!
Two in a row?! You guys are so lucky! (I’m trying to make up for lost time.)
Part two of my Voltron Armor tutorial series is going to be the thigh pieces. Enjoy!!
Disclaimer: I did not pattern this out. I simply took my own measurements and then sketched out the design.
FOLLOW ALL SAFETY RULES! (AKA use filtering mask and work in a well ventilated area if using things such as spray paint or contact cement, cut away from yourself, safety glasses, etc)
Materials: 5mm craft foam, glossy mod podge (Or another sealant), white plasti-dip (or another primer for foam), heat gun, box cutter (or craft knife), white acrylic paint, hot glue gun and sticks, contact cement, Velcro, battery operated LED lights (I got mine from amazon), plastic sheet protectors, light blue tissue paper, marker, ruler, paint brushes, scissors, sewing measuring tape.
Time to complete: 5-6 hours
Steps:
1.) Measurements: The thigh pieces actual require quite a bit of measurements. They are: length of thigh, top of thigh, bottom of thigh, width of front of knee, width of side of knee, space from butt to bottom of hip. (Note: Measure both thighs separately! Do not be like me and assume that they are the same.)
2.) Basic shape: In order to get the flared shape that the thigh piece requires, I measured out the base piece to fit around the smallest part of my thigh (the bottom thigh) and then took 1/2 inch off. I divided the side of knee width in half to help place out where the knee holes will need to go. The highest part of the top should sit near the bottom of your hip and the bottom part of the top should sit right under your butt.
3.) Spacer: For the spacer piece (the piece that will make this fit the largest part of your thigh), minus the bottom thigh measurement from the top thigh measurement (Ex: 18-12=6 inches.) This measurement will be the top part of the spacer and the bottom should be the 1/2 inch. (To get the right angles, simply trace out the length of thigh, mark the top and bottom measurements and then connect the lines using a straight edge)
4.) Cut out the light holes. The thigh pieces has two light holes that are just two long rectangles that fit on the uplifted part of the upper thigh (Can be seen in picture above.)
5.) Light filters: Cut out two rectangle (that will cover both light holes) out of tissue paper and plastic sheet protectors. Glue the tissue paper to the plastic sheet protectors and then glue those pieces together, leaving the top open. The end product should look like a small pocket.
6.) Glue down the light filter pocket. Also glue down a small piece of Velcro in the middle of the thigh piece to help hold the armor on.
7.) Glue down one side of the spacer, then heat seal the entire piece and bend it to fit around the thigh. Try on the piece before going any further. After it cools, glue down the other side of the spacer.
8.) Prime the foam with your chose of primer (I used about 2-3 coats of plasti-dip), paint the whole piece white, and then seal it with your chose of sealant (I used about 5 layers of glossy mod podge).
9.) Stringing lights: take the battery operated lights and wind the string in a loop as wide as the pocket. Insert the lights into the pockets and then string the remaining wire throughout the thigh piece (I tape down the wire so that it will not get caught on anything but is able to be removed.) Glue a small piece of Velcro to the battery pack and to the thigh piece in a place where you can reach it (mine is on the inside of the knee.)
And you’re done!
Other Voltron Armor Tutorials: Belt, Calf, Knee Pads
