Useful tools and materials for cosplay

One of the things that really would have helped me when starting out was advice on what tools and materials cosplayers use. I also want to avoid any repeats of my first costume (the Rocketeer), which involved me using card, fibreglass and car body filler. Materials that are nasty thing to work with in an enclosed space. Like my flat living room for example!

So, here’s that list that steers you clear of the mistakes I made and hopefully helps you to get started cosplaying!

Safety gear #

Don’t make the mistakes I did and make sure when you start out you’ve got some PPE unless you want to be coughing up foam dust or feeling dizzy from fumes.

• A mask/respirator - If you’re just working lightly with foam a dust mask is fine enough. However if you’re working over long periods get yourself a respirator with decent filters. I’ve got a JSP half face with replaceable P2R filters which covers dust and light chemical fumes (e.g. contact cement!). These aren’t especially cheap but your health is worth it.
• Safety glasses - Keep the dust out of your eyes and fumes away. They cost a few quid at most DIY stores and your eyes will thank you for your kindness.
• Crafting clothes - If you’re messy like me make sure you’ve got overalls or old clothes you don’t mind getting covered in the results of crafting flavour of the month.

Tools #

For construction #

Most of this is available from art shops. I tend to use Cass Art as they’re nearby and have a good selection. For power tools check you local DIY store - there’s a B&Q and Screwfix nearby I tend to use.

• Craft knife & spare blades - Looks vaguely like a scalpel with interchangeable blades. If you’re cutting foam always invest in a set of spare blades as foam blunts them quickly (You’ll be able to tell when you need to change!). Good for precision cutting, I’ve found them not so great for longer lengths as they’re less stable in the hand.
• Retractable knife - Used for longer cuts, they’re must stable than the craft knife but less precise because of the chunky blade. You can just use a craft knife if you’re saving money, I did for years.
• Cutting board - Sharp object will mark surfaces so these are a lifesaver. An A3 mat like I have lasts a while so it’s a good investment. You can find them in most art shops (I got mine from Cass Art).
• Contact Cement - Incredibly useful. A strong bond and flexible. Gives off fumes so make sure you’ve got a respirator and some safety glasses. Leave it for a good 5+ minutes until it’s dry for a solid instant stick, even with curves. Make sure you close the tin up otherwise you risk it all setting before you use it.
• Sandpaper - The kind of stuff you can get from a DIY place, you want some 120+ fine grain for cleaning edges and simple shaping.
• Heat gun - If you want to shape your foam (and trust me, you will) you’ll need this or a hairdryer (the hairdryer might not be as effective though). Use this to heat shape foam, clean up after sanding and close up foam bubbles for a smoother finish. You can get them from most DIY shops.
• Flexible filler - To fill in all those gaps in the foam. You can use foam clay for this as well, but filler is cheaper. Make sure it’s flexible! Some fillers are inflexible and will flake and break away.
• Squeezy bottles - The kinds you’d put sauces in! These are so useful for controlled application of contact cement. Just fill them up and you can limit how much comes out (most of the time), as well as not having to keep the tin open and shorten the lifespan of the cement. You can look on the internet for these, and as much as I hate to send business their way, Amazon is the easiest to buy from.

Once you’ve got into cosplay, these are helpful:

• Dremmel/Rotary tool - This is the most important power tool you’ll need if you plan on doing any kind of complex foam work. You can sand, cut and score foam, shape into complex objects and clean up mistakes. It’s also worth investing in some different heads too as it’ll make life easier. DIY stores will have these.
• Soldering Iron - You can’t solder foam but you can use it to burn marks into the surface for various effects (like wood grain). Make sure you get a decent wattage electric one - I started out with a 20W and while it works, a 40W one is far more effective (both for foam and soldering!). You can get these from DIY stores and aren’t that expensive.
• Airbrush - This makes painting so much easier! You can control the amount of paint you use and create far more subtle effects. Definitely an investment, but a good one if you’re going to be doing a lot of prop painting. I’m just starting out with mines so all my knowledge is coming from this video by Benny from KamuiCosplay.

For costume #

• Needle & Thread - You can get away with a simple needle and thread for basic costumes, but be prepared to put in the time. You’ll also need them for those fiddly bits even when you have a proper sewing machine.
• Pins & Clips - You’ll need these for holding things in place. If you’re working with faux leather you’ll need clips as the pins will damage the fabric. Pins do blunt after a while, so make sure you replace them regularly for your own sake (It’s ok, you’ll loose half of them before they need replacing).
• Tailors chalk - You can use a pen for tracing templates, but tailors chalk allows you to draw on fabric and know you can wipe it off later. Very useful for areas that might be seen.
• Fabric Scissors - Get a pair of these rather than butchering your fabric with normal scissors! Only use them for fabric though or you’ll blunt their effectiveness substantially.
• Fabric dye - This is great for repurposing old clothes that are the right style and wrong colour. You can get dyes you just throw in the washing machine and boom, different colour! Remember you can’t brighten a fabric, so dying a black pair of jeans is maybe going to tint it, but a white t-shirt is going to colour well. Fully synthetic clothes are much harder to dye, so while it is possible it’s worth just sticking to natural fabrics (cotton, linen etc.)/polycotton blends.

Once you’ve got into cosplay, these are helpful:

• Rotary cutter - Definitely needed if you’re using faux leather as it cuts way more cleanly. Optional if you’re just using normal fabric, but it will make things much easier to cut as you don’t need to pick any of the fabric up and potentially crease or move.
• Sewing machine - If you’re getting into making garments for your cosplay, a sewing machine will save you hours of time and effort. If you’re just doing simple stuff you can get tiny machines for like £30. However, if you’re doing anything more than a simple stitch you’ll need a bigger machine. Look around, I got my Janome as ex-demo for a good discount. If you can’t buy, maybe someone has one you can borrow.

Materials #

• Foam - What you want to look for is high-density EVA foam. There are two things to look out for when buying: thickness and density. Density is how packed together it is and the higher the density the tougher and less squishy the foam is. It’s measured in kg/m3. At the least dense there’s craft foam (45kg/m3), super squishy but cheap, all the way up to CF200 (200kg/m3) which can apparently take the place of leather it’s that strong. I tend to use 5mm CF150 from Poly-Props as it’s a good all rounder, and detail using 2mm CF150. If you’re starting out and have a small budget, the lower density foams are also much cheaper.
• Wigs : Unless you’ve got versatile hair you’re probably going to need a wig at some point. Coscraft have a great selection, CosplayBuzz do a lot of character themed ones and if you need something more natural Lush Wigs have a great selection.
• Fabric - This is very much a “what’s available near you” kinda deal as it’s much easier to assess a fabric’s suitability in person. If you can order a sample before you buy. A couple of places I frequent are Abakhan (because there’s one near me!) and Minerva because they have a great search function and selection. Ebay is also a good place to look for more specific needs, such as coloured faux leather or specific textured materials. You’ll find quickly that polycotton is dirt cheap, but it also lacks texture and weight so it tends to make costumes look cheaper. Great to start out with but worth investing in better textures and weights later.
• PVC pipe - I’m adding this here as it’s an absolutely fantastic way of adding strength to a prop without adding too much weight. However, as I discovered there’s a lot of types of PVC pipe around! What you want is PVC waste pipe as it’s inflexible, rather than standard plumbing pipe.

Once you’ve got into cosplay, these are helpful:

• Foam Clay - I’ve only just started using it but I love it’s versatility. You can mold details, clean up mistakes and best of all it blends in perfectly with your existing foam! You can again get it from Poly-Props.

Paints #

• Primer - Paint doesn’t stick well to foam so you need to prime it first. I’m a fan of Hexflex as it’s water based and doesn’t stink up the room (unlike Seal Prime which I used to use and required a lot of ventilation). Make sure whatever you buy is flexible! If it’s not (as with a lot of car paints) it will crack and break when the foam shifts.
• Paints - You can use acrylic paint for most of your painting needs, though having oil paints in browns is good for weathering. You can get these from arts stores and they vary in price for how fancy a colour they are.
• Surface sealer - Something I really should have used and didn’t and it shows in my older costumes! A matt or glossy spray varnish, the same stuff used to protect paintings, will do as it’s flexible enough. There are purpose made sealers as well, but I’ve never used them so can’t comment on their effectiveness. You’ll see people say you can do this with watered down PVA glue and why yes, you can, it will peel off.

Things to avoid #

Not completely, there’s always time and a place for materials but these are best avoided unless you’ve got the right setup and experience.

• Fibreglass - It’s strong, sure, but it’s really nasty to work with and weighs a lot more than you’d expect.

I want to hear what you think! #

This list may seem overwhelming but to put it in context: needle, thread and some fabric and you can sew yourself a basic costume garment. Craft knife, cutting board, contact cement and foam and you’ve got the basics of a foam prop. Throw in some primer and paint and you’re done!

Has this been helpful for you? Do you think there’s something missing or needs a bit more detail? Let me know, you can tweet me on twitter @tjomas or message my on instagram at @smojcosplay.