Yojimbo’s shoulder piece tutorial (NO COST*)

I’m not sure I can really call this a tutorial BUT I like to share how I made things even when they're not exact replicas. SO, since Yojimbo is taking me a CHUNK of time to get through, and I started with the shoulder pieces, here's how I got them together.

*[A fun fact about this is that I used NO new materials in making these, thanks to my material keeping (or hoarding LOL) I managed to make these for NO COST!] How exciting is that?? I used the foam from Kisara's left over armor and used her old pauldrons as bases. Unfortunately Yojimbo doesn't have great references in good detail (mostly just screenshots or certain arts from FFX) so I took a little liberty with these and made them more my size.

Materials used:

4mm craft foam
Pins
Scissors/Cutting knife (I used both depending what shapes I was cutting)
A piece of insulation foam
Sanding block
Hot glue
Water based spray paint (this way, the insulation didn't get eaten)
Acrylic paint (red, gold, and purple)

ok ok!! Let's get this ball rolling!!

Starting with the foam pieces I had from Eliza and Kisara, I cut up the different sizes (2mm, 4mm, etc) and striped them across in the pattern I needed for the pauldrons for Yojimbo. To make sure I had everything placed how I wanted, I pinned the foam in a LOT of places. This took me... like 2 days? Not worked on consistently but ANYWAY, it was very tedious. Then before gluing, I made the spirals/pieces that poke out (whatever you want to call those??) and placed them where I felt fit. Again, this isn't about accuracy (since this is not a competition piece), it's about sizing to my own body and making it comfortable! Before attaching anything for good, make sure you sand down your insulation foam!! Make sure it is nice and smoothe so painting it doesn't become a nightmare. I used a cheap sanding block in my house with a fine grit so nothing too crazy.

Once all pieces were pinned in place, it was time for GLUE! Some of the foam took a little longer to hold than in other places BUT even after dropping the piece on the wood floor, it held together beautifully! When we get everything in place, it's time for paint!!

Now, since it's multiple foams, I want to point out that insulation foam will be eaten by regular spray paint. This has ruined a couple projects for me and I don't want you to fall into the same curse!! There is a water-based spray paint that I've seen used for minis though, and it has worked GREAT for insulation. Luckily, Kimber had a bottle he hadn't used in a while so he gave it to me. (The bottles usually run for ~$15 from what I last saw!) --IF this is not your jam or you cannot spray for any reason, doing acrylic by hand works JUST AS WELL!

When that first layer is completed, it is time for your regular paints!! Unfortunately for me, before this step, pet hair and hot glue strands were kinda all over the placed so I had to remove them while painting (which meant extra paint layers UGHHH). SO be sure to clean your work area and your work BEFORE PAINTING IT!!

I had all the colors I needed for paint, and since the screenshots are a little hard to differentiate, I used red, gold, and a hint of purple. There are purple accents across this costume so I think it'll really work! BUT so I did two base layers of red to get into the nook and crannies (this was all done by hand with big and small paintbrushes) and then started on the gold. I used a smaller brush to do the striping and had to do 3 layers on each piece! I wish my airbrush was working at this time (the needle is bent ;A;) cause it would have saved me SO much time. BUT, once all of the gold was done over in gold, THEN it was time for the accents. I did them all by hand so it's a bit sloppy BUT THEY ARE DONE.

Done is always better than perfect! It's hard to keep that mindset but I'm grateful for it. Now to figure out how to connect these to the cloak I have to make... and the the rest of the costume LOL .

WISH ME LUCK!

Hope this helps in any future projects of yours!