#wonderflex armor guide
You can’t wait to start making your home-brewed suit of armor, but you’re not sure what you’ll need before you sit down. Here are some basic tools that you’ll use whenever you’re working with Wonderflex and Worbla:
Pencil
So you can mark where you will cut.
Paper
If you’re prone to making mistakes, it’s good to make stencils on paper and cut out each piece according to them.
Tape
For keeping stencils down.
Scissors
For long, straight cuts and trimming frayed edges.
Exacto knife
For cutting intricate designs. You’ll want to get a lotof these.
Heat gun
A hairdryer on PCP. A heat gun is, hands-down, the single most useful tool you will have at your disposal. It heats up quickly, will let you target specific areas, and gets the plastic nice and malleable faster than anything else will. You can get one for a little over $20 on Amazon. A microwave or heater will do if you don’t have a heat gun, but trust me, this is so much better.
And that’s it. Six tools and a whole world of prop-making has opened up before you.
This guide was made under the wing of Costume Discounters (www.costumediscounters.com). Please go check out their site!! They sell wigs, shoes, shirts, essentials…all sorts of goodies.
What is Wonderflex and Worbla?
Worbla armor by Yaya Han
Wonderflex Wings via Kelly Chehardy
Wonderflex and Worbla are a costumer’s best friends. They can be used to make armor, jewelry, weapons, wings, shoes–pretty much anything you can imagine.
Okay, but…what is it?
Both Wonderflex and Worbla are plastics that are pliable when heated and that hold their shape once cooled. You can get it to that point by using an oven, microwave, boiling water, or (my favorite) a heat gun. They’re treated with a skin-safe adhesive that will make any two surfaces of the plastic stick together once it’s been warmed up. You can use almost any kind of paint to color it. They are sold in thin, rolled sheets that can be cut with scissors or knives and layered to make rock-hard props. Despite their durability, they’re very light and easy to carry.
In other words, they’re like magic.
The best thing is that you don’t need much experience to work with them. If you’ve ever cut something out of paper and tried to fit it together into a bigger shape, than you’ve got it down.
Is there any difference between them?
This is a common question because the two are so similar. The simplest answer is…
Wonderflex has a light netting on one side of the plastic and is adhesive on both sides of the sheet. Worbla does not have any netting and is adhesive on one side of the sheet.
That means that Wonderflex is a little stronger than Worbla but won’t bend as well, while Worbla will stretch to fit organic forms but will break more easily. You can see the example of each on this armor (the Wonderflex is blue, the Worbla brown). Some people swear by one or the other, but both plastics are pretty much the same in the long run.
If Wonderflex and Worbla are so great, why doesn’t everyone use them?
It’s probably because they don’t know how easy it is to use and how long it will last. When you first start looking to get some, it will seem expensive because you might think that you’ll go through it really fast. I’ve made two masks, two hand claws, two cuff links, and seven bangles out of a large sheet of Wonderflex that I bought four years ago. I still have half of the sheet left and those props have outlasted all the other ones I’ve made. The minor splurge is definitely worth it in the long run.
Wonderflex and Worbla really are amazing materials. Get them and they’ll become the bread and butter of your props.
Wonderflex armor via Volpin.
This guide was made under the wing of Costume Discounters (www.costumediscounters.com). Please go check out their site!! They sell wigs, shoes, shirts, essentials…all sorts of goodies.
