How to Make Princess Zelda Jewels and Armor (Twilight Princess)

This tutorial will show you how to make Princess Zelda's armor and jewels using EVA foam and polymer clay!

Tools & materials:

-Metallic gold polymer clay (x2)

-Hot glue gun & hot glue

-Aluminium craft wire

-1 Light blue acrylic rhinestone teardrop

-1 Light blue flatback rhinestone round 18mm

-Aluminium foil

-Hobby knife

-Ball tool

-Toothpicks

Optional:

-Plastic wrap

Some brands of uncured polymer clay can dissolve/soften polystyrene plastic. Here's a great post about Plastic compatible with polymer clay: http://thebluebottletree.com/polymer-clay-melt-pla...

Polymer clay might stain your desk and other materials. It's safe to work with plastic wrap so I like to protect my desk and my tools with it.

-Printed patterns: The patterns I included in this tutorial are far from perfect ( but I hope they might help) :)

Let's get started!

Start by rolling the clay into a sheet (approximately 2mm thick) and use a hobby knife to cut a leaf shape.

Use a toothpick to carve 2 center vein lines on the leaf. Use a ball tool to carve 3 spots on each side of the leaf. Slightly widen the dots in an upward motion as shown in the picture.

Once your done sculpting the leaf, slightly "curl" the side of the leaf as shown in the pictures, to give it a more delicate shape.

Shape the clay into a log and curl it just as shown in the picture, use a ball tool around the edge to accentuate the crease.Trim off excess clay with a hobby knife. Repeat this step, to add the different curls of the crown.

Roll the clay to make 4 logs, about the size of a finger. Flatten the clay and use a knife to trim off the excess. Create a sharp "V" shape that will form the center of the crown. Use a ball tool to blend the seams together.

Fit the different parts together on parchment paper and bake the clay (following manufacturer's instructions on the package=> for fimo: 230°F (110°C) for 30 minutes.)

Roll a big chunk of clay into a log shape, flatten the clay so that the bottom is larger than the top. Trim off the excess clay. Use a ball tool to carve the details, as show in the picture.

Make two thin snake shapes, and add them to each side of the piece. Make another snake shape (even thiner!) and arrange it around the rhinestone.

Use aluminum Craft Wire (preferably in a gold/bronze colour) to make a base for the crown, try it on and make sure it fits well. If you are going to wear a wig for this cosplay, you might need to try it on with the wig.

Use a hot glue gun to glue the cured polymer clay parts to the wire. Then glue the big blue rhinestone to 'V' shape.

Paint the wire in gold or bronze paint if necessary.

Tools & materials:
-Metallic gold polymer clay (x1)

-Aluminium craft wire

-1 red flatback rhinestone round 4mm

-1 red flatback rhinestone round 10mm

-Hobby knife

-Ball tool

-Toothpicks

-6 teardrop shaped faceted jewels.

Roll the polymer clay into a sheet an cut a semicircule shape, as shown in the picture.

Roll a chunk of clay into a long log shape. Arrange it around the semicircle shape.Using a hobby knife, make 10 indents to divide the arched shape into roughly equal pieces. You will need to make several log shapes to make the rest of the medallion. Make sure they fit together properly. Smooth the clay and blend seams with a ball tool. You can give more depth to your sculpture by pressing the ball tool around the edge. This will accentuate the creases.

Make a thin snake shape and arrange it around each rhinestone.

Roughly make eyelets in aluminium craft wire and cover them in polymer clay. These rivets will be quite usefull to connect the medallion to the armor.

You can sculpt the blue teardrop jewels by making several log shape in blue polymer clay. Then use a ball tool to carve the facets as shown in the pictures.

Roll the polymer clay into a sheet and cut several trapezoid shape, which will be used to hold the jewels.

Tools & materials:

-Metallic gold polymer clay (x2)

-Hobby knife

-Ball tool

-Aluminium craft wire

-1 Big light blue acrylic rhinestone teardrop

- 2 Light blue flatback rhinestone round 18mm

-Aluminium foil

-Toothpicks

Shape the clay so that it fits the pattern. Use a ball tool to give more volume to the shape as shown in the picture. Trim off the excess clay. Make the center of the belt by joining 2 smaller logs of clay together. Slightly curl them as shown in the picture. Blend the seam with the ball tool.

Make a small clay "pancake" and wrap the back of the rinestone. Then sculpt the other parts of the belt. Make sure they fit together properly.

Make a base structure with aluminium craft wire, and make 2 pear shapes out of tin foil.

Roll a pancake of polymer clay and cover the « aluminium pears » starting at the front. Smooth the clay with a ball tool. Use a toothpick to carve the design as shown in the pictures. Place the blue rhinestone and gently press it on the clay to make sure it stays in place.

Tools & materials:
-Hobby knife

-Scissors

-Hot glue gun & hot glue

-Paintbrush

-Gold acrylic paint

-Brown acrylic paint

-Q-tip

-Gesso

-EVA foam mat: 6.5 mm thick

-Craft foam sheet: 2-3 mm thick

-Aluminium wire

-2 Flat back round acrylic rhinestones 32mm

-3D gold fabric paint

-Gold color aluminum chain

Use a pencil to trace each pattern onto the craft foam. The base is made of a yoga mat (100% polyethylene, 6.5 mm thick). You can use a 2-3 mm thick craft foam sheet for the details.

To shape the piece, you might need to heat it gently.

I held the foam mat with wire and heated it up in a 212 degrees F (100 degrees C) oven for 30 secs in order to get this curved shape.

(EVA foam is non-toxic & anti-flammable). You can use other methods for heating the foam : heat gun or hairdryer.

Let the piece set in this position for a few minutes. The foam will stay rigid once it cools.

Cut out the pattern with a hobby knife or scissor. Before gluing any pieces together, make sure that they fit together properly.

Set aside to allow the glue to dry fully. Then make a smooth coat of gesso (You can also use elmer's glue as primer). To get a really smooth finish, this piece requiered 10 layers of gesso.

Gesso will help making the surface more stiff and prepare the foam for painting.

Paint the pauldron in acrylic gold paint (2-3 layers to ensure paint applies evenly).

If you want to give your armor an "antique gold" color. Use a large paint brush to paint every edges & corners in dark brown. Then use a Q-tip to slightly wipe the paint.

Use 3D fabric paint to make the raised designs and glue the fake jewels with hot glue.

Use the same method to make the shoulder armor (epauliere).

Glue the differents parts together and connect the medallion to the armor with an aluminium chain.

Have fun creating your own Princess Zelda armor with EVA foam!

If some steps are not clear, don't hesitate to ask me any questions, I will try my best to answer !