No idea how to make Paper Mache.

By Rikashiku. 29/11/08, 08:00 am

Are their any tutorials out there on how to make em?
and do the props last long?

My hands are 10 by 5. is that a problem? lol. (10in long and 5in wide without openning)

By fleyer. 29/11/08, 08:19 am

~Depends on what prop, I mache a lot of things depending on how many layers it can be very strong. Most of my mache ones last through people stepping on them *coughlukecough*. They don't last if you throw them off buildings ^^' I don't think hand sizes your be a problem unless you have very small spaces.

By Dozy. 29/11/08, 10:26 am

People use to make furniture and other household things out of papermache. It turns up on antiques roadshow every so often. So if it can last two hundred years as a table it can take some battering.

By Pura. 29/11/08, 12:02 pm

Papermache props tend to be rather heavy.

By **seraphik**. 29/11/08, 12:53 pm

i've never found my papermache props to be very heavy, but then again, i haven't done very big ones.

to make the paste you just use flour, water and sugar- there's a recipe somewhere on the net- but yeah, it's v. easy. it just requires a lot of patience.

By Rikashiku. 29/11/08, 12:57 pm

I would possibley make a weapon, like a Katana. I have real ones here but i dont think that would be wise to play a skit with real swords :p

But maybe use their image :)

And....are wings hard to make? I'm making an outfit that represents Seraphim.

By **JVCA**. 29/11/08, 01:57 pm

Depends entirely on the type of wings you're after. Ref pic?

By Pura. 29/11/08, 03:42 pm

Axel's chakrams are HEAVY when made from paper mache .__.

**Guest** Guest

Paper mache is a stupidly easy to do. If you don't have to confidence to make paste from one of the zillions of recipies, you can get wallpaper paste very cheaply at hardware stores. If you have access to an office shredder that makes it so very easy (one sheet of newspaper into enough shreds for a bracelet - zoooooooooooooooooom. Done.) It doesn't HAVE to be heavy, it depends what you're doing with it and it can be very strong.

And as for real katana's - they're a no-no at Geddon and the organisers of any grass roots events usually say no to them as well. You don't want to damage your katana or your buddies!

By **jpwise**. 30/11/08, 01:12 am

Yeah, the armed offenders squad seems to be a bit on the twitchy side these days.. they were sent to recover a bird (of the feathered variety).. and it wasn't even the right bird!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4776459a11.html

**Guest** Guest

Oh dear.

By Dozy. 30/11/08, 04:37 am

You could try a wire frame underneath the papermache to form the shape rather than building the prop fully from it. Lessen the weight make it hollow.

By **seraphik**. 30/11/08, 05:25 am

i always thought it was the 'armed DEFENDERS squad' ;;;

By Rikashiku. 30/11/08, 07:06 am

No idea how to make Paper Mache. Seraphim

I have my own pics but cant use Photobucket sad

But this is an idea for wings.
Yep, ehh if you dont know what a seraph is then you suck Razz

jkjk *shifty eyes*

I haven't used paper mache since i was 5 :) im a wood and steel boy, me loves me wood....0.0

By IcyRose. 30/11/08, 09:28 am

u_ne_korn wrote:: And as for real katana's - they're a no-no at Geddon and the organisers of any grass roots events usually say no to them as well. You don't want to damage your katana or your buddies!

I will point out that ornamental katanas are actually ok at geddon (by ornamental I mean that the blade would have to be harmless and blunt) as long as you're EXTREMELY careful with it and have a sheath. I had a friend who brought in a replica of the Masamune and managed to get away with it despite the fact it was metal.

Although it may depend on the security's own opinion of it as she did check it over with the security officer there first just in case.

However if you intend to enter the contest, metal weapon props are strictly prohibited and would result in a disqualification if you some how got into the competition with one.

Anyways on the actual subject at hand, if you're a wood and metal person, why not try design the sword from wood? Or at least partially, one idea could be to get a very light wood to create the shape and base and then you could paper mache it to get the further details or such. Although if you are crafting something from wood it might just be easier to stick with it.

Paper Mache is quite easy, water + flour + sugar or salt (something to stop it from getting moldy) gets the job done. My Hei mask from Auckgeddon was paper mache, held together really well.

EDIT: Ah, re-read your current post to see you're now wanting help on wings. Well I imagine wire would help but I've never done wings before so you can problem find someone else to help out there like Rowan or Pyro who have both done some impressive winged cosplays in the past.

By Rikashiku. 30/11/08, 09:35 am

Best i just bring a paper mache one then :)

And this is actually good because i used to make wooden swords in woodshop and metal crafts(metal handle lol)

The paper mache will last long right? Do swords last longer than a day? (laughs at the idea of rain at Acukgeddon) Razz

Hmm i think ill start soon a draft after ECW. Raw sucks.

By Grassangel. 30/11/08, 09:45 am

Pura wrote:: Papermache props tend to be rather heavy.

It seems to depend on if you use cardboard as a base and if you use watered down PVA as the glue. Also, anything more than about.... 8 layers gets heavy.

Anyway, I'd recomend using heavy card as a base for light stuff like wings and cardboard for more solid objects. I wouldn't recomend using paper mache for a sword though, as you'd be making the bulk of said sword out of cardboard. Maybe to smooth out all the joins but not to construct it.

Use newspaper and newsprint (unprinted news paper)/tissue paper/lined refill for the strips. They have a lower gsm than normal printer paper, making it lighter in the end. Also it helps when figuring out how many layers you've done. You do one layer in one type of paper and then the next in another. You then just count how many changes you've made. Means you know when you've finished a layer too. Very Happy

Tear it into thin, medium length strips. Have some smaller strips separated too, for itty detail bits.

As to the 'glue', I like wallpaper paste or school paste. You can use PVA and water in a 1:1 ratio, but I find this makes it harder to paint on and to cut.

Ummm... 2 layers should be enough to smooth out any construction lines where you've glued stuff, 5 gives it a decent shell and 7-8 layers should be the limit for objects that have an armature. Go up to 12 layers for objects that don't have an armature of some kind but around 7-10 layers seems to be the magic number for decent sized-objects (mask size and up). Feel free to do more or less layers though.

Not sure if I'd recomend paper mache for wings though... Not entirely anyway. Paper feathers look really lame, unless you spend loads of time cutting them out.

Hope that helped~

By Rikashiku. 30/11/08, 10:03 am

Quote :: Hope that helped~

Very helpful thanks :)

By Green_Sage. 16/04/10, 03:35 pm

im guna start work a paper mach'e gourd for gaara, might take a while =P

By **JVCA**. 16/04/10, 03:43 pm

Please look at the date of a thread before posting in it - this thread was created in November 2008. It is now a year and a half later, and the topic is no longer relevant. Posting in dead threads like this is called 'necroing', and against our forum rules as it is a type of spam. I am locking this thread.

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