Neckwear/Collar prop help/advice?

By Toshiya. 06/04/13, 04:30 pm

Amateur cosplayer here! So 2 of my cosplays for Armageddon require 2 types of collars and I'm a bit stuck on how I should make them.

The first one being the Battle Royale explosive collar

Spoiler:

The second being the Deadman Wonderland collar which seems to be a bit rounder and thicker than the BR collar.

Spoiler:

Not sure how to go about the best way of making them. I was thinking paper mache with silver foil or even thin foam for the BR collar - Still have no clue for the DW collar.
Also for how to attach and remove the collars to my neck. Velcro? Tape? Both collars seem to look pretty tight on the character and for that I need a way to fasten it onto my neck.

So any help at all would be appreciated :)

By Pura. 06/04/13, 05:12 pm

When I cosplayed Eureka from Eureka 7 she had a very similar collar to the second one. What I did was make the collar out of clay and had it in two halves which connected by magnets that were pretty much the same thickness as the collar. (tbh I can't remember if I finished the collar, I don't think I did, which means this all works in theory, lol).

By lollikit. 07/04/13, 08:16 am

paper mache a headband !!!!! <3 <3 <3

By Highlander. 07/04/13, 10:51 am

Second one should be metal I would say. But in the interests of comfort and weight I would use craft foam.

The first one would need a closer look. There are two layers, the inner is leather or cloth to stop it rubbing on your neck. the second looks like maybe metal. If you got thin enough sheet metal there would be some flex in it. I would still do it as two halves connected by a hinge. The inner layer will be protect the neck from the rivets. Then you need to make a buckle that looks like the front and either have a tight spring clip, or a spring loaded clip with a hole in it. A matching bump on the band will fit in the clip when you insert it, and lift the clip and it comes out.

By Pura. 07/04/13, 11:05 am

Metal wouldn't be an easy material to work with or get a hold of though. That's like saying swords should be metal, haha. If you get a spray paint that looks like metal it works just as well. Pete's Emporium in Porirua have a really good spray paint that's shiny metal silver and you can get a small can for only $2, haha.

By azeria. 07/04/13, 11:07 am

You can also get rub in buff paint which gives a good metal look.
Maybe try Craft Foam and then build the rounded edges up in paper mache or paper clay? Or something similar.

By Highlander. 07/04/13, 11:41 am

If the metal is thin enough then it would actually be easier to work than almost anything else you could think of. The only problem is you don't want to buy a whole sheet. So you may have to ask if they do offcuts, of if there is a wide enough packing band (and can you only buy one of them?), or go around the engineering firms and ask if they have anything they can cut a band off and sell.

Working it would be as easy as just rolling it. This is why you want it very thin. Then cut it at the back if you want to hinge it. Hinges and rivets are cheap as chips at any hardware store. The buckle at the front may be more of a problem.

Actually second thought, if you do a hinge at the back, with a pin you can just pull out, then the build the buckle at the front out of clay? But then it only opens at one point.

Anyway metal requires no painting, sealing, sanding, etc. Just a little gentle bending. Faster and easier than almost anything else.

By thewolfsbane. 07/04/13, 04:17 pm

I helped a friend make a collar similar to the top one (but I can not remember for the life of me who he was cosplaying but I will find out!). What I did was went into a sports shop and bought a relatively cheap heart beat sensor with a basic screen. He took the bands off and fastened his own fabric around it. He also attached some plastic around the rims such as the picture. And wallah! Collar.

^-^ hope this helps.

By Highlander. 07/04/13, 05:33 pm

I guess looking back at the specific scene where they attach it would help. It may even be a plastic band.

By thewolfsbane. 08/04/13, 12:44 am

I believe, because there was already slots on either side of the watch where the original strap of the watch fed through, he detached that, got his own fabric, fed it through to the length he needed and I am unsure as to how he attached the plastic, but I will find out. :)

By Toshiya. 11/04/13, 11:06 am

Oh gosh thank you for all the replies! Haven't been able to reply because of school and didn't expect to get a lot of replies :) I'll give some of them a try and see how they'll turn out - so much help! Thank you!!

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