Cosplay Tutorial: Mercenary Katarina (LoL) Arm Bracers

Also check out: Mercenary Katarina Breastplate

Hello Generation of Cosplayers!

Here's another oldie that I wanted to post on here. This is for Katarina's arm bracers! These could be used for her regular skin or for Mercenary Katarina (which is the skin I made these for). 

Products Used

• Scissors 
• Worbla
• Craft foam
• Heat Gun
• Gesso primer
• Spray paint (silver)
• Small brushes
• Acrylic paints (black and silver)

Tutorial

1. I started out by making a pattern with craft foam (you can see THIS tutorial). Then I  proceeded with the "sandwich Worbla" method for making armor pieces. Basically this is using two layers of Worbla to sandwich the craft foam pattern you made (so you will have worbla-craft foam-worbla). This ensures that the armor piece will be thick and durable. For the arm pieces, I used one piece of craft foam and two pieces of Worbla to create a cuff-like shape. I used my heating tool to bind the pieces together and to bend the Worbla into a cylinder shape that would fit around my wrist. The easiest way to shape the Worbla is to heat it up and then to gently bend it, then place it over the area you will be wearing it on. In this case, I wrapped it around my wrist (I protected this area with a thin sweater since the Worbla will be hot), and then gently pressed it so it would get a good shape (although it did not end up perfect).

2. Once I had the basic shape done, I went to make the spikes. For this, I improvised. I used those tips that are used for frosting cakes xD They were the perfect size and it made this whole process so much easier. Because the spikes are hollow, I filled them in with Model Magic and then used a bit of Model Magic to create a base around the spike. I then glued the Model Magic base onto the Worbla. EDIT: Model Magic SUCKS!!! It made the spikes really fragile. If you are doing this method, I suggest filling the frosting tips with heated up Worbla instead. I had to remove all the spikes and do this to get the spikes to really stick to the rest of the bracer. DO NOT USE MODEL MAGIC!

With Model Magic

Fixed with Worbla

3. I followed Step 2 to make a total of 5 spikes for each bracer. You can add your own touches to this by adding small designs and borders with Worbla. ^_^ Here you can see the difference between one bracer that I was barely starting and one that already had the spikes on.

4. After adding the spikes and all the details are done, you can prime the entire bracer with Gesso (or Woodglue).

5. After applying a few coats of Gesso, you can finally paint your bracer. I just used a silver spray paint as a base color and silver and black acrylic paints for details.

6. I secured to these to my arms by adding 4 D-rings on the inside and using laces to lace these on my arm. You are essentially corseting these on your arms. There are better ways to secure bracers onto your arms, but this method is the easiest, least-time consuming way.

That's pretty much it! If you have any questions, let me know in the comment section below!

See you next time ^_^

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