Mass Effect 2 Armor

For Halloween 2012 I decided to try a video game armor set. This was the first costume I did which was based on an existing character, so that definitely brought some challenges.

This armor set is based off of the suit worn by Commander Shepard in the video game Mass Effect 2. Great game, great story, but more importantly - very cool looking armor. I was inspired to try to make this armor when I stumbled upon the EvilFX blog at bioweapons.wordpress.com. This guy does an amazing job, and I think that he sells the pieces too, so definitely worth checking it out. I would never have been able to build my set were it not for all of his tips, tutorials, and progress updates. The armor is made from anti-fatigue EVA foam floor mats, which you can usually pick up your local hardware store, or online at Amazon (but I found it to be cheaper to get from Lowes).

I was originally using a heat knife and soldering iron to cut the foam and create the grooves, but I found I was charring the foam and getting some pretty uneven lines with that method. I tried cutting with a box cutter, and that was okay, but still pretty rough, and a pain to cut with (literally painful, I lost a fair amount of blood on this project...). Eventually I found that an Dremel oscillating cutting tool worked the best for me. It cut smoothly and quickly, and the edges did not require anywhere near as much sanding to get even.

Anyway, I found some templates on the 405th.com that were incredibly helpful for getting the dimensions right (you can download them here). The chest and back pieces on the template were pretty dead on for sizing, but all of the others I had to adjust significantly. I was pretty okay with that though, as the chest and back are definitely the most difficult parts.

For the lit sections of the back piece I used electroluminescent wire, which I ran through foam itself. On the two side pieces, I ran the wire through some clear vinyl tubing to give a little more heft, and to differentiate between the center section. The sections of armor are all held together with nylon webbing and plastic buckles. Originally I was trying to pick up the buckles and webbing at thrift stores and fabric stores... don't, it is way cheaper to just buy a bunch online. The links above are where I got it, and it was way less expensive.

I used Rigid Collodion to make the scar over my eye, and I think it worked out really well. I definitely got some comments from people who thought it was real.