Aveline Armor Costume

My costume is from one of my favorite video games, Dragonage 2. The game itself is relatively old and the graphics are not too good but what truely inspired me is the stories every character held. With the fantasy world it is based in and the characters looking less than human, it was hard to imagine it could ever exist in the real world. But what I could imagine existing is this beautiful character named Aveline. Growing up as a little girl I never did what other little girls did. I would beg to go outside and play in the dirt and would try to steal my dads pocket knife so I could widdle a stick to make it look like a sword and fight all my imaginary monsters. I always wondered why I was any different from all the masculine knights pictured in all the old tales. But with time that thought faded and I started to become more like the other girls. Until I saw this character. She was a wife who lost her knight husband to monsters and instead of grieving she picked up his sword and fought. She knew in her heart what justice truly meant and the sacrifices it took to save the innocent. She inspired me beyond means and the childlike sense of adventure came back to me. Now being 19 years old I couldn’t go out and play in the mud to feel that sensation again so I decided to make hand make all of her armor and weapons in tribute. Then began the months of watching tutorials and buying 16 different kinds of foam and heat tools and paints and all the fake leather the local Walmart had in stock. It wasn’t easy, especially because I had never worked with foam to make armor before but if there is any advice I could give out there for beginners like me it’s to always do your research. Many people have already made the mistakes you are about to make and have wonderful advice on how to work around it and how to craft and create in beautiful and easy ways. It takes determination but anyone can do it. And if you don’t have a passion for making costumes, have a passion for what the costume is. Take it from your favorite game, movie, tv show, comic, book, or be completely original and make your own ideas come to life. If there is ever such a thing as magic in this world, I believe it’s the moment you step back from what you created, look at the picture of what it is, and look up to see it in reality.

The pictures presented are taken of my wonderfully kindhearted and DIY model brother. He got so excited and encouraged me so much throughout the process I figured it was only right to make him be my model for the final product.

To make the armor I collected a lot of EVA foam from my local Walmart, Hobby Lobby, and even Lowe’s. It is actually very cheap and a little goes a long ways. Once you have the basic idea for your armor piece you can create a pattern and trace it into your foam. Cut out your foam using a box knife or an exacto blade. Take your foam and use a heat gun to soften the material on both edges, being super safe and using heat gloves. Once it’s heated you can work your hands around it and bend and form it into the shape you want it. Let it cool and it will stick in the shape you modeled it to. Then all you need to do it hit it with a coat of Plastidip (a plastic coating that will seal and prime the foam for painting). Once that dries you can add your favorite color of spray paint or break out those acrylic paints and get some weathering done with a little bit of black to highlight and lowlight your pieces. Once you let your paint dry you have a beautiful piece of art that you created all on your own, without breaking 20 bucks.