Roman-esque soldier uniform - from cardboard!

Step 9 How to apply texture.

This can be used for a variety of different things - not just this costume, I started getting some awesome ideas for what i could do with this technique, but alas, I get distracted too easily, so those were put to rest.

A border (Images 1-5)

I tried a number of techniques to try to get the glue to do what I wanted. I tried using a piece of plastic with a profile of the shape I wanted and tried dragging it around like clay... This really didn't work. it was too irregular.

I decided in just laying a bead of glue to make the border of the shape. I knew that the bead doesn't dry uniformly and tends to create a crease in the middle (images 2 and 5), but I figured I could cover the border glue bead with the swirly texture pattern.

A brush (image 9)

I made a brush from the cut off ends from my broom - a little duct tape and you have a perfect swirling brush. The tape should be fairly close to the end of the bristle, when i tried to use it on the other end, the bristles started breaking.

A texture

Simply squirting glue onto the cardboard, (image 6) I used the bottle's attached glue spreader (images 7-8). This is perfect in that

1. The thickness is even, uniform, and easy to spread. The engineers who designed the glue know exactly what thickness to make the spreader. I'm not going to question them.
2. With the correct thickness, it dries evenly. This is the best part, it keeps the shape when it dries evenly and doesn't warp.
3. The glue doesn't stick (permanently) to it. Easy to clean.

Use the brush and make whatever patterns in the glue you want. One day, I'm going to try to sculpt dragons out of this glue - I was thinking that when I was testing the glue. I chose swirls for their quickness and aesthetically pleasing curves.

Wait one day for the glue to dry. Then feel free to move onto painting.