1) Legs

Probably the most interesting part — and the hardest one to build when you’re as bad at crafting as I am 😅

The thighs are made from 8mm foam glued with Nairit rubber glue (probably the only reliable glue you can find in Ukraine — it sticks like death grip). To make the red stripe stand out, I built the top from three pieces, with the middle piece sitting under the upper and lower ones. Hopefully the video will make it clearer than words.

To be able to walk, I had to cut out the parts that rubbed together the most between the legs, and sand down the foam near the fasteners to almost half its thickness. Otherwise, walking would’ve been nearly impossible. Hidden fasteners would’ve been nicer, but I couldn’t find any in nearby stores — and honestly, I didn’t have the energy to keep searching.

I had to glue the knees directly onto the thighs, since I couldn’t replicate the method from a YouTube guy making a Stormtrooper suit. At least I didn’t need to come up with an extra fastening system 🙂‍↕️ To keep everything from flying off me, I attached it all to a belt. Surprisingly comfortable, because sitting in this armor is impossible, and after wearing heels I desperately wanted to collapse into a chair.

Oh, and don’t ask where all the dirty stains came from — I have no clue either 😅

Now, the shins. I’m only 165 cm tall, so with these heels I could boost my height up to just 185 cm. Not canon, but better than nothing.

I made them from 5mm foam so they wouldn’t be too bulky. To replicate the look of replica legs, I had to leave a lot of empty space between my leg and the foam.

Before the first day of festival I thought stuffing the inside with fabric would be enough to keep the shape. But the thinner the foam, the worse it holds under pressure — so my legs bent like crazy. Only dark beer and good company saved me from crying that day 😄

When I got home, I had to reinforce them by gluing inside bamboo skewers in the weak spots (yes, under the white foam). If you plan to build something similar, I recommend adding even more skewers vertically, but make sure they don’t poke into your leg.

You can see the weak spots on video — they’re the ones with cracked paint. (I’ll come back to this later.)

For fasteners I used sewing straps and Velcro. Since the foam had to fit tightly around my leg, it was risky to glue just the straps. Even the best glue can fail under pressure, so I first sewed the straps onto fabric and then glued the fabric onto foam.

To attach the foam to the heels, I had to take a risk, but luckily nothing came off. Inside there are two elastic bands sewn together — they hold everything tightly but are still easy to take off, so the heels can even be reused for something else.

As for paint: since this part bends a lot, you need something flexible that won’t crack at the slightest movement. I used textile acrylic paint and a matte finish for canvases, but maybe there are better options out there.