Fallout Raider (Cosplay Overview)

So, I was able to finish my Raider costume just in time for the Youngstown Comic Con. I was up til 3 am the night (or morning) before the con, but it was so worth it!

The convention itself was an amazing experience, and not just because I won best in show in the cosplay contest, but because I was surrounded by like-minded people who share my love of comics, movies and video games. As well as many people who share my passion of cosplay. Since I'm a horrible introvert, going to conventions like these have really helped me break my shell.

But we're not here to talk about me, we're here to talk about my costume.

In the early reference/design stage I looked at the raider armor set quite a bit while playing Fallout 4, as well as looking at concept art for the game. The concept art looks much more imposing and brutal, than the raider armor in that is in the game. While loosely following the art, I had the freedom to add/change anything I wanted.

For the basic design, this was the primary picture I looked at.

For the construction I used EVA floormats. More specifically, foam scraps from my past projects. The scraps I had laying around were my only limitation, since I wasn't worried about accuracy. I used up about 3/4 of my scrap foam and ended up with a decent looking set of armor. Which is a win-win in my book!

For the paint, all the pieces were primed with Plastidip, and were followed up with a base coat of chrome. After that dried I added multiple layers of black and brown acrylic washes.

And of course, the most iconic part of the armor; the rust.

Kamui Cosplay was the main inspiration for rusting the armor, her video about making Dogmeats armor I found most helpful.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6wvVQ-ojNo

I ordered a pound of iron powder on Ebay years ago, back when I was working on my Gauss Rifle (also from Fallout 4).

The iron powder was attached with Elmers glue, then sprayed with a mixture of a homemade oxidizing solution as well as a solution that I purchased. The mix of the two created a variety of colors in the rust. Though after the rust matured the color is much more muted than it is when first oxidizing.

The rebar was made from a piece of PVC pipe, with 2mm craft foam wrapped around it

The unevenness and gauges in the armor were done with my rotary tool, utilizing almost every bit that I had. Each one had different purposes, whether that be for smoothing rough edges, or creating mock bullet dings.

Yes, I don't have a fancy Dremel branded tool. I've had this little guy for almost four years and it hasn't shown signs of slowing.

On my armor I had a lot of fake weld lines. I achieved this by using my hot glue gun, and slowly beading the glue along the areas I wanted the weld. I was kinda on the fence about how the weld lines came out because I didn't think they looked very realistic. But at the convention, a woman (who turned out to be a welder herself) told me that when she saw the welds, she "wanted to take a grinder to them". That was the biggest compliment I ever could've gotten for them!

Besides the rusting metal armor, I also added a few bone pieces. Most notably the jawbone on my gas mask. When I finished the construction of the mask, it looked much too simple. I originally thought about painting some kind of decal or logo on the mask (similar to what I did on the chest piece) but ultimately I decided to add the Deathclaw jaw. Mostly because, nothing like that exists in any of the Fallout games, and I was going for originality.

Like the rest of the armor, the bones were also made from EVA foam. For the texture, I went crazy with my rotary tool, making the surface as uneven and natural as I could.

Each tooth was made separate from the base jaw. They were then glued into holes I cut out of the gumline. Was this unnecessary? Yes, but I loved the way it ended up looking!

After priming the foam with Plastidip, I base coated the bone pieces with white acrylic (if you're following along and painting you own bone pieces, you can also just use white spray paint), then sprayed on several tan acrylic washes followed by some light brown. Instead of cleaning the washes off with a clothe or paper towel, like I normally do, I used a damp sponge. Doing this gave a subtle difference from the weathering on the "metal" parts, making it stand out. After the washes were fully dried, I went back in again with that sponge and some thinned down dark brown acrylic and picked out certain areas I thought grime might build up in. Doing this added a little more depth and just an ever so small step toward realism. Bone collects grime and dirt different from metals, since they're not perfectly smooth, so using a sponge here really helps.

I am by no means I master at painting bone-like pieces... since these are my first, but I really enjoyed the process and wanted to share my thoughts on them.

And with that, I think I'm going to bring this post to a close. I believe I covered all the interesting parts, but if you have any questions at all, about the build, or the finishing steps, feel free to comment down below, or contact me via Instagram. I'm happy to answer any questions!

Thanks for taking the time for checking this out!

I'll see you guys in the next one!