Kingsguard Armor (or, How I learned to stop worrying and love PVC)

I'm just now starting work on my first fully custom suit - everything will be hand made by me. I currently plan on using a mix of Sintra PVC and leather, though I am leaving the option open for covering the PVC in fiberglass.

Sketch Phase 1 - Applying the Golden Ratio

Everyone's body is different and this fact is no more true for cosplayers, especially if they're trying to create a costume from a cartoon or video game character with impossible proportions. But even then, some rules are still followed in the design process across all mediums. Knowledge and use of these rules will help make sure your costume looks great on you even if you're short and stout, cosplaying a tall and lanky character. The chief of these rules is the Golden Ratio.

In the simplest of terms, the Golden Ratio is a mathematical equation that, thanks to science and magic, divides objects, both human made and within nature in such a way that is deemed appealing to the human eye. In it's most basic, the Golden Ration amounts to the Rule of Thirds - cut a picture into 3 equal parts, then put two of those parts back together. The ratio in comparison to these unequal parts and the whole is the Golden Ratio (or a + b is to a as a is to b).

So, what good is this to me/you? No matter your body type, taking this rule into consideration will help your suit look great on you, no matter how outlandish the source material is - much more so than if you just eye-balled it. Fashion designers, architects, painters, astronomers...all use this for one reason or another. For us, this will make short people appear taller, thick people appear thinner, skinny people appear stronger, etc. Note: this isn't a magical diet-illusion, this is just a way to look your best.

Using this image I found online, I enlarged it in Photoshop to fit my height and started sketching out the basic points of the armor while looking at reference images. The great thing was that there was very little I had to adjust to make sure it would fit within the rule - the show's costume designers obviously made sure to keep the ratio in mind as well. I'm not worrying about curves or details right now; I'm just looking at the major shapes and how they divide up the y axis of the human form. When ready, I can then complete this process for finer details. "Start big and work your way small" and all that.

I can then measure the correct size everything needs to be, whether I'm making this suit for someone 6 feet tall or 10 feet tall. The Golden Ratio is not exact for everyone - there will always be some small discrepancy in the human form, so it's always best to measure things to your body exactly - this method is just a great starting point.

Sketch Phase 2 - Creating Stencils and Guides

The center chestplate design.

Two additional designs featured on the chestplate.

This is the design featured on the greaves - it was tough finding an image that properly showed the design, but based on what little I could find, the design is one of the chestplate images mirrored with minor tweaks to make sure they fit together nicely.

Here's a few examples of how I'm preparing designs. I'm simply creating them on the computer and printing them out (or in this case, I'll be projecting the image to trace onto sintra). For these particular pieces, not only will I be cutting a piece of sintra out in the basic shape, but also carving into the sintra as well. The red designates areas where I'll be doing some counter-relief carving, and the dotted line around the image is where I'll actually cut the sintra (the pvc board has the tendency to chip/crack at the cut, so making sure I give myself some room for such problems is essential, plus this space also allows me to bevel the edges without loosing the integrity of the design).

There is a LOT of intricate parts to this (these aren't even the most complicated), so making sure I have them as correct as possible will make actual construction much easier. I'll also be doing something similar for the actual armor parts, but more on that later.