L y d i a

Sworn to carry your burdens

Techniques used: EVA foam fabrication, pattern making and alteration, machine sewing, acrylic painting

First place winner at Derpycon 2022

This was my first time making wearable pieces from EVA foam. A good amount of the build process was hoping the skills I had from art and design classes would transfer over to working in foam. The rest of the time was narrowly avoiding slicing and/or burning myself on the various tools I was figuring out how to use.

I added velcro straps to the armor pieces early on so I would be able to try them on to ensure they fit at every step of the build. The carved pieces were made from layering thin pieces of foam and then smoothing the edges with a dremel.

Once everything was assembled an sanded, I sealed each piece with Plasti-Dip. The metal texture was created by drybrushing thin coats of silver paint. I used a chip brush to create the “scratched” texture seen in the image on the bottom left. The pieces were then finished off with reddish brown paint to simulate rust.

I didn’t have a pattern for the sword and shield. I instead took in-game screenshots of characters holding the items and then scaled their proportions up to my own. I then found photos of the pieces, printed them out to the sizes needed, and used them as my patterns.