A Cosplay Technique for Transparent Props
Last year, I needed to figure out a way to make my Chaos Heart prop for my Super Paper Mario Cosplay Skit at San Japan. Although I could have gotten away with painting the heart on flat cardboard, I had already made the other props and costumes with a realistic style – which meant I was going to have to make the heart three-dimensional as well. I decided that the prop would be designed like so – a heart-shaped plane that held the two halves of heart together with the halves transparent and tinted.
The need for transparency in cosplay props is nothing new. Hobby cosplayers often don’t have access to fancy injection molding or vacuum forming machines, much less the materials used in those machines. That means we have to figure it out how to make our… whatever… without poisoning ourselves or breaking the bank. The two go-to materials to make anything transparent (and solid) are resin and the transparent worbla. Each have their own applications and have their own learning curve before you can get the effects you want from them. The common problem I have found with both of them is that they can both melt in the Texas summer heat. So I developed a method that could solve the melting issue AND make the prop look nicer.
I opted for a method that combines the scoring capability of polycarbonate sheeting and the surface clinging properties of car vinyl. The polycarbonate could be scored and folded into 3D form like origami and then set in place with the vinyl tint. I detail this process in my Chaos Heart Tutorial video below.
Note: I have found that this method only works with forms that are polygonal. That is if the material you are using is rigid and not easy to deform.
The Method
Step 1 – Get a net of the object you are making.
Chances are that whatever you are trying to make doesn’t have a template of it readily available. You are probably going to have to make it yourself. Just find (or make) a model of what you are making, scale it to the size it needs to be, mark the seams (where you will glue the object together), and export using the paper plugin. You may have to glue or tape pieces together if your object is large.
Step 2 – Tape the net to the top of your plastic sheet and begin scoring by cutting away the template.
The score marks on the plastic will bend away from you. Cut mountain edges on the top and valley edges on the bottom (if you need that level of complexity). Don’t cut all the way through and don’t bend the edges yet.
Step 3 – Cut the outline of the cut plastic onto your clear or translucent vinyl.
I’m calling it car vinyl. It’s the stuff you see people put on cars or motorcycles. For my purpose, I used the lightest window tint I could find. Place the outside faces of your object net down and trace around it. Leave 1/2 inch around the outside edge.
Step 4 – Wrap the flat net in the vinyl.
Apply the sticky side to the top of your plastic net. Use a heat gun to get it to cling to the surface. Heat it thoroughly and use a card or cloth to push out any air bubbles.
Step 5 – Cut the seams, bend the plastic into shape, and use the selvage to “glue” everything together.
You only need to cut one side of the seam and leave the other side intact. Then, bend the scoring of the plastic. Once every edge is bent, you can use the flap created from the vinyl to “glue” the edges together. Once everything is stuck together, blast all of it with a heat gun so the seams stick. If your object is concave like the heart I was making in the video, you can tuck the extra vinyl to the back of the plastic and cut away the excess.
Now the part is ready to be used in a prop or other cosplay piece!
