G.I. Joe: Cobra Baroness Armor/Costume

Step 5: Body: A three piece suit

This is the most difficult part of the armor. After a few days of trying to figure out how to mold this from one sheet of foam, I determined that it's really not possible with this material. The advantages of this foam is that it's very flexible if it bends in one direction, but when you try to bend it in multiple directions, or try to make it bend in concave/convex curves, it's really stubborn. The best way to get it to shape in multiple curves, is to make it out of multiple pieces that curve in single directions.

There is a shoulder piece, a bra piece and a stomach piece. I've tried to include overhead shots to see the shape of them for your own reference. How I was able to adjust this was to make it out of paper and modify that. Once you get the stomach piece cut out, cut out the ribs outline and glue them together. For the body piece, I used the hot glue gun to assemble this. The bottom of the bra piece is the same curve as the top of the stomach piece. This way they fit snugly. Keep in mind that the curve is when the breast part of the bra is formed.

Next, cut out the bra piece and using the ledge in the stomach piece (see photo comment) to hold it in place, hot glue it together. If you need to readjust it once the glue has cooled, the heat gun will soften the glue so you can reposition. Once you've shaped the bra piece, glue on the shoulder piece and trim the legs on the "M" shape to the outside of the body.

Comments

[shipwreck54]

This looks awesome, and I would like to incorporate this method into one of my projects. I have a question though,

I was trying to mimic this chest piece using paper. I attached the bra piece to the stomach piece. I then shaped the bra piece. The curve I achieved for the bra piece was fine, but the stomach piece curved too much.

Am I to assume that since I was using paper, this happened? If I try this out with a foam piece, will the curvature be much less?

Also, for the shoulder piece, how did you fit the M onto the bra piece? After shape the bra piece, the dimensions are no longer the same, did you just use trial and error?

Any help would be great.

[Incrxtc]

There was a little bit of trial and error with this. You are correct, when you shape the bra piece, the curve will change. When I had the bra piece cut from paper, I taped it onto the shape I wanted it to be when finished. From there, I used the curve of the bottom of the bra piece, to match the stomach piece. This will be a much better match.

As for the shoulder piece, before cutting it out, I folded it in the middle to have a marker for a center line and aligned it up with the taped up bra piece. I held the paper up to a light source to draw on it lightly with a pencil, I drew the bottom pattern for the shoulder piece to seam up with the bra piece. Once I had that finished and cut out, I drew the top neck and arm curves freehand.

Hope this helps you out. If you have any additional questions, Let me know.

[shipwreck54]

Thanks for the quick reply.

That does clear some stuff up for me

After New Years, I am gonna give this a real try. I'll see if I need any help then.

Great work on the costume.