Introduction: Weathering Fake Holsters for Cosplay

About: Im from The Netherlands and I love to cosplay. So i decided to share my work and make tutorials. I hope you'll find them useful

Recently I started an apocalypse survivor cosplay and since im on a budget I bought some very cheap halloween Laura Croft guns and holsters. As expected they looked quite flimsy and cheap so I used this method to make them look more realistic and weathered. It's very easy, fast and very cheap. I also have a video explaining everything as well. Turn on CC for extra explanations

Step 1: Supplies

Things you'll need:

  • Some fake holsters
    They don't have to be expensive. I bought some very cheap Lara Croft holsters. You can find toy gun and holsters at any halloween and/or toys store.
  • brown and black eyeshadow
    I used eyeshadow I already had, but if you don't have any brown eyeshadow one tint of medium brown and black eyeshadow will do.
  • a sharp knife
  • a white gel pen
  • and hairpsray

Step 2: Creating Texture

The problem with most fake holsters is that they are all completely brown or black. That can look quite boring, especially on photos. So i used my finger to smear brown eyeshadow all over the holster and belts, with exceptions of the edges. I left those black to create some extra depth. Then i applied some black eyeshadow around the brown to blend the brown eyeshadow in.

Step 3: Making Scratches

Then I used a knife to make some scratches on the holster they serve as quide lines so they don't need to be noticable. Then I grabbed a white gel pen and traced those scratches we made and carefully blended it out.

Step 4: The Inside

The insides of my holsters were grey and on photos that didn't look great. So i put some eyeshadow on the inside as well. The same rules apply. lighter on the inside and darker around the edges.

Step 5: Adding Fake Seams

I used my white gel pen to create some fake seams. You can use brown or black too, but I wanted the seams to be very noticable. Draw the seams around all the edges and don't forget the belts as well! If there is a real seam, draw slight above or under it.

Step 6: Hairspray

Lastly use some hairspray to seal everything and you're done!