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[Byren]

Hello,

While planning a Avengers-style Loki costume I've stumbled across something I've never seen before. I only get to occasionally make costumes, so I admittedly don't know what's available out there.

Can anyone tell me what this chain mail/studded leather/whatever is?
Or, how to make it?

Attached is a photo with the 'stuff' in question noted.
loki_chain_mail.jpg

Thank you in advance for any assistance!

[AVAAntares]

Unfortunately, you're not going to find that stuff available commercially. However, most people are taking one of two approaches with it:

1) Find a material that looks close enough to get by. One cosplayer I know used silver fabric with fishnets stretched over it to give the impression of scales, for example. Others use a sheet of foam or other material and paint the design on it. I've also seen square buttons that look close enough to pass; you could buy those in bulk and sew them on the pants.

2) Make your own armor plates. This is the more popular approach I've seen in Loki cosplay. You can cut individual plates out of craft foam, vinyl, fabric or other material and assemble your own armor. Or, if you're more ambitious, you can cast them in resin or clay. EHyde molded all of her plates out of Model Magic (and it looks AMAZING). I'm playing with rigid sheet vinyl and individual punched circles for the rivets for mine.

Hope that helps!

[AVAAntares]

Addendum: I found this stuff for sale today in the seasonal Halloween fabrics. Apparently it's available at both JoAnn and Hancock Fabrics stores. If you weren't too concerned with accuracy, it would probably look fine, and would be a lot faster/easier than making your own.

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/6523/armory.jpg

[E. Hyde]

Originally Posted by AVAAntares

EHyde molded all of her plates out of Model Magic (and it looks AMAZING).

I was happy with how they came out appearance-wise, but we ran into some problems after they were worn for a couple days at a con. The glue we used didn't hold them all on (especially around the knee area where there's a lot of movement) and it was a good glue, so I'm thinking we may have to go the really tedious route and actually rivet them on somehow. And I think model magic won't really take rivets well.

[Sevin-K]

Shop around for something like this: http://www.etsy.com/listing/10874139..._type=supplies

Because they're held on by little prongs in the back, they'll be a little more secure than something glued on, but they may be more expensive and more work, depending on the alternatives you're looking at. You might also not find exactly the right size and shape you need to be 100% screen-accurate, but I grabbed that link off the first page of a quick search on Etsy, so you may be able to find something better with a little Google-fu