EVA Heat Shaping Test

I've just cut some of the major pieces for an EVA foam armor project, and I wanted to get a feel for different methods for how to heat-shape the material. Here are my results:

The wavy piece was under a heat gun at high settings, and the round piece came from a 250*F oven after ten minutes. The oven piece seemed to warp a little on the corners from gravity, but for my project that might actually be an advantage. The oven piece gets even heat, and this bends very evenly. It comes out warm, but manageable even with bare hands; after some shaping, it cools quickly and gets quite rigid. I think both pieces are actually more rigid after heating; I wouldn't be surprised if this also shrinks them very slightly. I can see using the heat gun for fine points and touch-up, but I prefer the oven for large pieces. I wonder if the heat gun scorch marks could also be avoided by using a lower setting or trying for a more gradual, even heat. 

What I'm Playing:

-Main Campaign: Shin Megami Tensei IV

-Side Quest: 3DS Mii Plaza games

Cutting Some New Shapes

BlizzCon 2013 is coming up, and I'm preparing a costume that I've been wanting to do for some time. I don't want to reveal it yet, in case this whole thing falls apart, but I would like to put up some progress blogs.

Basically I'm making an EVA foam armor set, similar to the Mass Effect suits that can be seen on Punished Props. I downloaded the templates and the instructions for how to use them, and after much futzing around with Gimp and having no idea how to print them, I decided that the best part of the package was the example images and the instructions on how to take and modify your body measurements. Other than that, this is a custom job...

The first step was Molly helping me to trace my body outline on brown wrapping paper. I then plotted out my heigh and width measurements for my chest and back. I laid tracing paper over that and tried to do a decent freehand that came close to the example template...

I cut out that drawing and laid it over some sturdy cardboard and traced the outline. This is free hand, so instead of tracing it in full, I picked the better side and flipped it over to make it symmetrical. I cut out the cardboard with a razor knife (safety, kids!) That will be my template for cutting the EVA foam. I'm taking a break from the back piece to bang out this blog.

So far in the build process I've hit several fail points and redesigns, and its been valuable to remember that this is part of the process. I appreciate Adam Savage's advice to give yourself more time and supplies than you think you need, and expect to fail and waste materials. It's just part of the build. I'm also staying open to modifying tools and techniques to suit my build; after all, them end result is going to be more of a reference rather than a duplication of the source concept. Once it's done, I think I'll have enough call-outs to the source that it'll look really good. Keep an eye out for some updates after PAX Prime!

What I'm Playing

• Main Campaign: Dragon's Crown
• Side Quest: Divekick!, Animal Crossing New Leaf