Have you watched One Punch Man? If yes, this will spark your interest as we talk about how to make a metal arm. If you’re looking to cosplay Genos, then having those cool Cyborg arms will certainly do the trick! There are many unique robot arms that you can make for your upcoming cosplay event. You can craft foam and turn it into characters including Edward from Fullmetal Alchemist, Gaige from Borderlands, or even the Winter soldier’s metal arm cast from Captain America. There are a lot of ways to bring these characters into life. You can either purchase ready-made armor or metal armor you can choose to customize your winter soldier’s metal arm and go for DIY.
Going For The Winter Soldier Character
If you’ve already decided on which character you’re going for, now is the best time to gather up ideas on how to make the outfit in the most creative way. After all, that’s what cosplay is about. You will need to portray a character not just by how they act but their entire detail including their costumes.
In this case, after selecting the winter soldier character from Captain America, you will need to source the material needed to make this DIY project. You can make it as natural as possible and this will all depend on which materials you’ll be using.
What Do I Need To Craft A Metal Arm?
You will be surprised if I tell you that the materials you need won’t hurt your pocket compared to buying one from a costume store. Some of the materials needed in making the Winter Soldier character outfit can be cheaply bought and are basic enough to be widely available. Here’s what you will need:
- Cardboard
- Heat gun
- EVA foam or craft foam sheets
- Adhesives including white glue, duct tape, EVA foam glue, PVC tape
- Scissors
- Plastic bags
- Red paint and metallic spray
These are the basic materials that you will need to start off with your Winter Soldier arm build. You also need to pack in a lot of patience as this will take a lot of time to craft and pattern pieces to achieve that unique after-look results.
Winter Soldier’s Metal Arm Easy Tutorial
Now that you’re all set for what material you need to craft that metal arm, it’s now time to learn the basics through this easy guide. Follow the easy steps below to get you all started.
Building The 3 Major Parts
The first step is to start using a big box to build the 3 major parts. This will include the upper arm, shoulder, and the forearm of your Winter Soldier character. You will also need to shape fingers so you will need to be extra careful here not to make it loose. Otherwise, the finger part will look soggy and won’t be flexible enough to wear. You can have the carboard glued together using a duct tape or any type of tape that is strong enough to hold it together. If you’re wondering if it really does look this ridiculous, the answer is YES! It will look odd at first but you’ll say it worked pretty well especially after you’ve painted and applied finishing touches.
Taping, Gluing And Sculpting The Pieces
Secondly, you can have both parts taped firmly using a duct or a PVC tape. You can tape the board in circular patterns as much as possible. This will ensure that the upper arm, the lower part and all other angles are attached firmly.
The third step is to have the other parts sculpted with strips of paper plus the adhesive that you are going to use. This is the most difficult part in the making process but this is is also the most important. If you have this formed correctly, you will be able to achieve the right shape and anatomy of the metal arm you are making.
Getting The Costume Marked, Joined And Painted
Once you’ve done step 3, you can now draw markings on the arm. Don’t worry about modifications while working on your craft. This is normal especially that you are altering small things and not the entire piece.
Moving on Step 5, you will need some fabric to join the parts in the elbow area. You can use a flexible, shiny textile which will allow you to a more natural and firm material after. Remember that as you move your arm, the fabric will also expand. That is why you need to have it attached inside so you can strap it onto your body.
Step 6 is probably the most fun part. This is when you get to transfer to the EVA foam sheet what you’ve drawn on the arm. Start cutting and sculpt it after using some heat glue or an ironing machine. Don’t hesitate to put a lot of glue on the sides of the craft foam. This will have an entirely different effect on the eva foam in the end.
Then we move on to step 7 which is the painting part. You will need to use a metal spray for the arm part to make it look shiny. Spraying EVA foam with your favorite color has a great effect. Be careful to get each layer evenly painted. Cover all the gaps in between as well as the edges. Some use varnish but this doesn’t really leave the same effect on the sleeve, knuckles, and the entire stuff compared to using spray paint.
The Winter Soldier Cosplay Finale
Now for the last step, you will need to use EVA foam to mold your fingers. You can find an easy tutorial to get you going through the molding process. A DIY tutorial will also instruct you how to paint parts that are molded from EVA foam. You can also be creative and make a single piece for each finger. After that, you can paint it with 4 different lines so it looks different from one another. Another alternative that you can do is to use a glove. You can attach the molded fingers onto the glove so you won’t need to glue or wrap it directly to your skin.
You will look stunning with your amazing creation. Imagine being a supervillain to the one saving the world in an awesome cosplay character. You can easily move around without worries of a shoulder ache.
FAQ On How To Make A Cosplay Metal Arms
Can I only make the Winter Soldier arm?
No. There are so many cosplay characters that wear metal arms so that means you will have unlimited options. You can even make a cyborg arm out of eva foam. This can be easily done by drawing a pattern onto your skin as the first step. Next you can wrap your hand with plastic bags or newspapers to make and seal the form. After you’ve finished molding the eva foam, you can take the sleeve out and start covering the layers. Be careful with the details so you can get the perfect arm shapes out of the pattern you drew and molded.
Can I make Bucky’s arm out of EVA foam?
Bucky’s arm is made of titanium alloy. However, since this is expensive and pretty difficult to make, you can opt to using eva foam in creating this piece. EVA foam is best material due to its durability. It is also flexible so you can bend and mold it easily by just using a heat gun. You can watch a Bucky Arm tutorial on YouTube or Facebook to make the pieces stick together. There are a lot of easy EVA foam tutorial videos and posts so you will be able to make your costume out of foam in no time.
What other material can I use for this project?
Aside from foam sheets, you can also make use of textile or some gymnastics wear. There are cheering garments available that are long sleeves so you can easily mold a costume. This type of fabric allows the tape to easily attach so you won’t have a difficult time when sticking the pieces together. Most of these pieces are also made with shiny colors making it perfect for metal arms costumes. You can cut half the sleeve and leave the other one behind.
Once you’ve finished taping, you can get your pattern transferred to the foam. When your arm cast is fully transferred, you can follow a range of designs depending on which arm you are making. You can print pictures of your chosen cosplay character so you will have a ready design to follow.
There are a lot of characters having metal arms that you can cosplay. As you have a wide variety of choices, you won’t have to worry about buying costumes with hefty price tags as you can make one yourself. With a little skill set and loads of imagination running, your design can replicate a star or a villain from a motion picture. Enjoy making an arm of steel for your costume play!
