League of Legends - Tryndamere - Fanime 2013

BEHOLD!!! The most well documented armor build I've done to date! I have 80+ pictures available but Lord only knows if I'll use them all.

I always wanted to cosplay Tryndamere since his redesign was released, but I was too scared to try and do it. Then on Christmas morning we were having breakfast with Yaya Han of all people and she convinced us to make the attempt. I wound up finishing a month late since we were supposed to cosplay League of Legends together at Anime Matsuri, but better late than never.

**Note: This is not in chronological order of how things were fabricated, but arranged in line for ease of understanding.**

Let's get started!!! Here's the reference!



First thing I started knocking out was the sword. Made a wood base with a border. The border was to allow the separation of PVC foam and expanding foam so as to save some weight.



PVC was added on the outside of the wooden border.



This was then ground down using an angle grinder. A hole was cut to allow for an even greater weight reduction.



Expanding foam was added and sanded flush with the wood.



Lastly a styrene (important it is styrene since styrene is harder than PVC foam) plate was added to the whole affair.


The bases for the large gem were built from styrene and PVC nibs at the ends. These nibs were ground down later on with a sander.





Cardstock pattern for the wacky detailing was cut from the game art.



If you blue tape your pattern to the PVC it stays on better for a more accurate trace and, eventually, cut.



The gems were PVC and acrylic extrusion, then filled with apoxie sculpt.







Additionally the large gem was filled with model magic (for weight) and then PVC plates were placed on top instead of my typical apoxie method.



Painting time! Prime it, sand it, prime again. Base coat, finish coat. weathering. Always tape stuff off for maximum sharpness!







Helmet time! Started its life as a construction helmet then PVC was glued to it.




Horns were made even larger from initial pattern.





Ring guides added to give a uniform shape.





Bondo EVERYWHERE to get the damn thing smooth.





 OOPS!!! Had to bring the eye slits in and round them out. But also added acrylic extrusion and 1mm PVC detailing!





Model magic interior of horns.



The infamous aftermath of the prior shot where the helmet glued itself to my head and I lost an eyebrow in the process....If you're interested it doesn't grow back the same anymore.





Apoxie sculpt shell for the horns.



Prime it and sand it!



Base coat it!



Detail paint it!



Don't know where to start with armor. First progress picture again for it chronologically.



Guard was added to pauldron. Stacked PVC.



PVC extrusion was added to all pieces, example in bracer.







Skull belt patterned from cardstock. Used exacto knife and paper folding method to get symmetry.



Skull belt placed onto 3mm PVC.



Skirt armor! Used a PVC guide to give uniform spikes on the ends with apoxie sculpt.





Another example with the bracer.







Not shown.... priming and sanding portion.

Base coat down!



Tape it all off for the detail coat!









Had to paint the gem bits. Used a mix of the Testor's Flat Blue and Green Metal Flake. Put down 1 coat of blue then 1 thin coat of metal flake.





Strap it! Clam shell strapping is shown below. I labyrinth my arm in there with elastic for the clam shell effect.





Skirt is just nylon strapping.



Pack it into a tub for the con!



That's about it. I didn't use all the pictures, but they're mostly redundant. See you all on the Fields of Justice!!!







25 comments:

  1. Oh my God that's amazing! Craftmanship is absolutely stunning!

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  2. Im looking to make a tryndamere costume for my boyfriend for a con that we're going to in January, would you suggest using PVC for someone who's never worked with it before, or would you suggest another material?

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    1. Well we all had to start somewhere with PVC and you'll never get experience with it unless you dive on in! It's a fairly inexpensive material that is simple to heat form so I'd give it a go of course! GL!

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  3. Did you have any problems at the weapons check with that sword?

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    1. None at all. I was under the 7ft and 15lbs rule that Anime Expo has. That is the most restrictive convention I attend.

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  4. Replies
    1. And i was wondering where did that 2nd piece of wood go?

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    2. That was a base for Leona's sword cut out for a friend. Just happened to be in the pic.

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  5. Couple of questions, since I'm interested in building large scale props: What kind of wood did you use as the base? How did you cut it (like tools and the like)? And how did you do the detailing with the acrylic extrusions; were they heated or are they able to bend on their own cause I've never used them before. Thanks.

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    Replies
    1. I typically use plywood for bases because it's cheap and I don't have to worry about the grains. It's heavier than other woods though. FYI. I use a jigsaw almost exclusively to cut wood.

      You have to heat the acrylic to the shape you want with a heatgun. GL!

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  6. Can I ask about how much all of this costed?

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  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlbdOUTp5CA

    asi me siento al intentar hacerlo....

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  8. How long did it take to finish the entire costume?

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  9. Could you tell me the thickness of the wood and measures of total sword

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  10. Very nicely done. I hate to revive an old thread, but may I ask how you made the kilt?

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    1. Made from vinyl strips sewn together. I didn't do any of the sewing so I don't know much past that.

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  11. Hey, where did you get the 3mm and 1mm pvc at? I'm having trouble finding it, but I keep running into things that say sint ra pvc, is that the same thing?

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    Replies
    1. Check out my materials section on my blog! I link my supplier.

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  12. One more question to add to an old thread, how/where did you print the large version of the sword? When I try enlarging the photo, the edges blur (pixelate) to the point of being unusable?

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    1. I printed the picture I provided on my own home printer. Nothing fancy. Pixelation is normal.

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  13. What type of panting techniques you used
    ?

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