just one second i just want to write a quick thing down is it here yeah not
why did i start the camera only to write why why did you need to see that what is going on
with my hairs hey good morning everybody this is what my hair looks like in the morning um
adam savage here in my cave answering a few questions from tested uh patrons from tested
uh yeah tested patrons if you'd like to find out how to become a tested patron uh there's
a link in the comments below uh and this question comes from g-man g-man or come on come on come on
gman says i've been waiting to take the next step when it comes to cosplay but i'm not sure
if i should get a 3d printer or a vacuformer i'm planning to eventually get both however
i'm not sure which will have a larger impact on improving the quality of my cosplays well
i think there are a lot of cosplayers out there who are yelling at their screen about the answer
and i think i have the same answer which is get yourself a 3d printer you are a cosplayer you
are looking to up your cosplay game and that means you want to include more detail uh but also since
you're thinking of a vacuum former i'm going to assume you're thinking about scale because
a vacuformer is a fantastic tool for adding scale to a costume that is also incredibly lightweight
alternatives to that lightweight can get a lot more complex recently i did a lovely interview
with the incredible cosplay pair uh cowboy crunchy at new york comic con um and regan had this huge
elaborate floral dimensional like floral piece on her neck that she made and molded and cast in an
ultralight resin that is a multi-step very complex process i'm not saying that she should have done
that with vacuform because you would never get the same level of detail and she considered it
um however vacuform is definitely like it's definitely the approach for going for highly uh
highly lightweight uh scale detail however vacuum forming is a really it's a uh it's a tricky art
it includes lots of so there's making and then there's making and there's making in order to make
a vacu form in order to use a vacuum former you've got to make a buck you've got to basically mess
up with a bunch of vacu forms to sort of learn the process there's just no other way of understanding
the vagaries of how to get really good vacuum forms and there are a lot of tips and tricks
and techniques and there's a lot of youtube videos out there bill duran's done a bunch
of great stuff on this um but like buying a vacuum former doesn't necessarily mean that
you are immediately vacuforming or that you're immediately using the parts that you vacuum farm
there's often a ton of post-processing on vacuform pieces
and so for that given that you're asking about like which tool should i add to my shop
first i'm going to say the 3d printer
specifically because one of the best ways you could make a buck for the vacuformer is using your
3d printer seriously um not only that 3d printers i mean i have seen some of the most amazing
constructions made of like a woman brought a a rifle that she had designed uh to show me in uh
where was it toronto toronto i think uh and it was made of 18
separate pieces that she had printed up on a small home 3d sla printer and
glued and sanded and you couldn't tell that this was not a monolithic piece
plus the entry level for vacuum forming machines has gone way way way down for a few hundred bucks
for 300 bucks you can buy a printer with a reasonable volume that you can use to make
literally anything um there are tons of stls for sale out there on etsy and on other sites
i think the 3d printer adds way more functionality to your costume construction than a vacuum former
i think the vacuum former is like that's a specific solution to a specific problem where
the 3d printer is a very broad set of solutions for a really incredibly broad set of problems
yeah i think that's a nice way to put it uh g-man thank you for asking such a terrific uh a terrific
question it is it is always a fraught decision what you spend your money on and what is going
to increase the functionality of your of your output absolutely uh i think it's a great question
all right thank you guys so much uh tested patrons keep submitting your questions when we ask and
again if you'd like to find out how to support us uh more than just watching these videos which
by the way thank you there's a link in the comments below i'll see you guys next time