- I'm having so much fun with this.
(pounds on breastplate)
I am a little scared
that I actually won't be able to do this.
(upbeat music plays)
Zendaya.
She is winning right now.
And she's lead in one of my favorite shows, "Euphoria."
I can write a dissertation on why having a black woman
in a role like that is impactful,
but that's not what I'm here for either.
I'm here for this.
Look at that.
I don't know why but as soon as I saw this I just couldn't,
I couldn't get over it!
Her stylist Law Roach dressed her
in this custom Tom Ford breastplate
for the Critic's Choice Awards.
So weird but in the best way.
Whenever I see something like this the first thing I ask,
"Can I make this?"
I don't know why I'm,
actually I do know why I'm this way.
(laughs)
I have always asked myself this question
about a variety of things.
That's how end up having tons of DIYs
that I have laying around the house.
I'ma try to make this!
I did some research.
I wanted to learn how Tom Ford makes it.
They do 3D body scans.
To buy this is $15,000.
15K.
I don't have $15,000.
I also don't have a 3D scanner.
So, I did some research,
and I went down the rabbit hole a little bit.
And I found cosplay.
When they're trying to build armor for costumes,
they're wrapping themselves
in layers and layers of duct tape to get that shape
and use it as a pattern.
So, I'm bout to get started!
To make the duct tape pattern
I used three layers of duct tape,
and I used different colors
to make sure I don't miss any spots.
I feel like this is really good.
(pounds on breastplate)
While I'm still wearing it,
I'm drawing lines on the bottom, center, and sides
to show where they go on the breastplate.
Ow.
There's hair stuck in tape.
I'm gonna have to cut these hairs.
Oh well.
Damn, that sucks.
I'm free.
Oh Lord!
Before I start cutting,
I'm going to draw some lines following the curves
of the body.
I'm also going to number the pieces,
so I remember how to put it back together.
This will help me make sure that the shape is accurate
when I start gluing the foam pieces together.
This is two millimeter,
millimeter,
EVA foam.
Yay.
Oh.
It is thin.
Okay.
Oh, it has a smell.
Gotta draw all the pieces.
Before I get too ahead of myself,
I'm just doing some trial runs.
Trying to test my theory of how to put this together
and getting used to the material.
So, right now I'm only doing half of the body.
That way I don't use up all of my materials.
This is my body.
(laughs)
This looks pretty darn good.
The next thing I wanna experiment with is the worbla.
I wanna see if this is too flimsy
to mold the worbla around it.
I hope it's not.
Y'all, I'm so excited!
I don't know why I didn't know about this stuff sooner.
As you see, some of the pattern pieces look different
because I combined them to reduce the seams
that will show through after I apply the worbla.
I feel like I'm nearing the final stages now.
Now, I'm using the heat gun to help shape the foam,
and I'm using that round ball
to help give me the shapes that I need.
Here I am again being a perfectionist.
I kept trying on the foam base
to make sure it was the right fit
and realized that it was a bit too wide for me,
so I had to cut a part out and glue it back together.
I am now in a good spot to start cleaning up the mess
that I made on this thing.
I know it looks weird.
I'm striving for close, not perfection.
Now I'm using Kwik Seal and a little bit of water
to fill in and smooth out the seams.
Now I'm using the dremel to smooth down the rough patches.
I'm finally at the worbla part!
The fun part!
Since the foam was so thin,
I decided to sandwich it between two pieces of worbla.
Starting on the back, I'm heating the worbla
and trying to mold it to the back of the foam base.
(blows raspberry)
I'm back.
Yesterday I failed bigly.
I was very confident yesterday
that I'd be able to finish this,
especially after building such a good base!
From here up to this part is fine.
It all falls apart right here.
This is too flimsy.
I am a little scared
that I actually won't be able to do this.
I called my mom today.
I was telling her, like,
"Yeah, it's harder than I expected.
"I thought I'd be done yesterday and I'm not."
And the first thing she said was,
"Well, it's your first time working with that stuff.
"Just try again."
So, I appreciate that, Mom.
(laughs)
So, this is two millimeter.
This is four.
Now I would love for it to be as thin
as the one Zendaya's actually wearing,
but if I can't do that, at least I want it to look good.
Okay, this it, the final attempt.
I'm redoing the pattern pieces.
Again they've been altered slightly for better fit.
And I'm also doing the worbla in sections
with plans on using the dremel to sand down the seams.
It looks terrible, but I think it'll work.
Now I'm gonna put the second layer of worbla,
and it should be seamless.
I'm priming with the white gesso
which is basically a white acrylic paint.
I'm doing this so that when I spray paint it
the color shows up just a little bit brighter.
This was something I figured out
during my trial runs a few day ago.
I have let it dry.
Now I'm bout to go outside
and do two coats of paint
and then a coat of gloss.
And then I'm gonna come back,
and we're gonna do the resin part
after it dries a little bit.
I'm carefully measuring the solution for the resin.
It's a two part solution,
and you have to make sure
you're using the exact same amount for each.
If you ever use resin at home,
make sure you're wearing a mask a gloves
and that you're in a well ventilated area.
I have all the windows open and the fans going
and the AC's on.
Here I'm using the heat gun
to get rid of any air bubbles that formed.
And when I'm done applying the resin,
I have to let it sit for at least four hours to cure.
But I think I actually left it alone
for about 10 or 12 hours.
And here's the final look.
(camera clicks)
Okay, I know it looks nothing like Zendaya's,
and that's okay.
What I've learned is that there's no competing
with a 3D scanner and a 3D printer with duct tape and foam.
They just don't hold up.
Literally they did not hold up.
This was really fun to figure out how to make.
In the end I spent $155 to make this.
Let me know what you think.
(upbeat music plays)