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[Noellisty]

Hi everyone!

So my friend, who is also a fellow mascot cosplayer (if you don't know what that is, think of those big, foamy creature costumes), is in need of some help. She is making a full Palkia cosplay from Pokemon: Diamond/Pearl with high density foam, LED light eyes, and all other kinds of cool effects.

Here is a pic in case you need a refresher of what Palkia looks like: http://img.pokemondb.net/artwork/palkia.jpg

We've come across a bump in the road with one of the design aspects. We'd like to create the pearls on the shoulders to be 3-Dimensional and have a smooth, plastic surface for that extra "wow". She'd prefer if she could also have lights in it too:3

However, we're having a lot of trouble finding a decent site that'll give us exactly what we're looking for. We're looking for something that isn't a salad bowl with a flat bottom, but will still give us a dome shape. Our desired dimensions are 4.5'' for each "pearl", though our results have either been larger or smaller than what we want.

If anybody has any websites that have what we're looking for, we'd be forever grateful and forever in your thanks

[Xaevier]

Resin gems sound like your best bet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a7VVHJ6Jhw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pszN08KCNUc

As you can see in the first one she shows you how to create your own mold and sizes. If you want semisolid colors just add a lot more coloring

You can see the gem I made using a mold on my knightman costume
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/3321119/

[Noellisty]

Oh wow, that gem you made is beautiful! It made a great touch to your cosplay~

I think we'll give this a try and hope for the best. I just hope the resin won't make it too heavy for the foam, though I think we should be ok.

[Xaevier]

It's a bit heavy, but you should be able to use some strong glue. I recommend JB Weld or some other super strong epoxy

[dbchan]

An alternate idea appears!

I used plastic globes from michael's not too long ago, for my blitzball. They came in halves that snapped together. You could use one half for each side, frost them pink (or whatever color) and then put LED's inside.

[Penlowe]

I was going to say the same "decorate it yourself' Christmas ball ornaments come in a lot of sizes (up to 6" across). Companies that make sports type mascots use them for eyeballs, painting the insides to look like typical toy animal plastic eyes.