Tips for a Newbie?

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Mythiical

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So my Fiance and I want to start making armor for conventions and things. Funding for it is low at the moment, but I was wondering if anyone could give me any tips for armor making? And are the Pep. templates like...one size fits all, kind of? Cause I'm a bit on the short side (I'm a girl by the way) and my fiance's kinda a big guy. Also, roughly how much does making a suit cost?

Any little tips would be greatly appreciated.
 
check this vid out for scaling peps.


and the price for a suit can be any thing from £70 to £150 ($100 to $200) depending on the lvl of detail you are going for and were you buy it from
 
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I've heard of suits taking $1000 to finish, but those are the really pro. I'd say around 150 for materials maybe less.

Take your time. From what I've seen, detail really can make some of these costumes.
 
I can only encourage you to read all the stickies, all you need to know is in there. So, tip number one is: Read a lot. Afterwards, you will need a lot of patience and time. This isn't like doing a paper flyer, where you have a rough look at the building instructions, then rush through it and still get it to fly.

I'd recommend getting the cardboard first, 200g/m² is ok, a little stronger might be better, but make sure your printer can take it. I'd also recommend getting a cutting mat in A3 format, that helps a lot. What kind of knive to use is your choice, I like the scalpel-type (like X-Acto in the US), but some people go with utility knives or scissors. You'll also need replacement blades, since a dull one will first ripple and then rip the paper. To glue them together, I'd recommend liquid super glue in some kind of small plastic bottle with a precise tip.
The rest of the materials (resin, bondo, paint, tools) you can buy later, pepping all the parts will take some time anyways.

Concerning the price... I would NEVER just convert the prices given here to another currency. As I wrote yesterday, I was stunned when I saw the price tags at our local hardware store. They are nothing like the prices in the US, even if you just look at the pure numerical value without concern for the currency.
You also have to take into consideration that you may need to do a piece twice for a whole bunch of reasons and that you may need tools you don't have. Those aren't consumed by the building process, but they still add a considerable amount to the price of your first suit.
 
One tip I can add to what has been said is to just take your time and this comes from tons of experience. If you have never built a costume before you are going to be learning a ton of new techniques along the way. I know this seems obvious, but you will be shocked by the end and most likely will want to go back and redo your first pieces since the difference will be obvious. Also do not let yourself get too discouraged since everyone has to start somewhere. I know this happened to me when I first got started with costumes, especially since I had zero artistic talent. Ten years later and I actually can look at some of what I have done and feel like it looks pretty awesome (everyone is their own worst critic).
 
start simple from what iv read thats best idea to do im scaleing my self so i can do a marine armor xD so good luck to you and which ever armor you pick as your frist
 
Low/Med definition files are your friend if you've never done this before. I wouldnt start on weapons or super high def files. Weapons have TONS of tiny little folds. I highly recommend Robogenesis files as they are fairly easy to fold and scale and they can really make quite good suits when you are done.
 
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