What are thermoplastic materials?
Various types of materials are needed to create Cosplay. It depends mainly on our design and vision for the whole outfit. The most popular choice is Eva foam. With its help, you can create various costumes, weapons. It is relatively lightweight and has considerable flexibility, so it can be used in a wide variety of situations. The choice of material from which to create Cosplay should be appropriate to the final application. Of course, they can be combined, but one of them should be a solid base.
Cosplay, how to get into it?
Creating Cosplay is not an easy task. It requires a lot of time and is labor intensive. In cosplay, a huge amount of attention is paid to details and the most time is usually spent on polishing them. There is no shortage of people who are eager to reproduce a variety of characters. Most do it purely amateurishly. However, there are people who compete in various competitions. To take high places, you have to really try hard. What matters most is the performance of the outfit. Thermoplastic materials are often used, which have many advantages.
When discussing what products are available to create a costume, it is worth starting with what Cosplay itself is. It is primarily a hobby that involves creating an outfit and dressing up as a fictional character. The word Cosplay comes from English - costume and play. The name originated in 1984 in Japan and was invented by Nobuyuki Takahashi. Cosplayers draw inspiration from their favorite comic books, TV series, movies and video games. Since the 1990s, it has been thriving and growing in popularity. Costumes created by cosplayers have a wide variety of themes. In addition, they can be formed from different materials. Many rally participants choose to make their own creations, which are made based on descriptions and illustrations. Often people who start their adventure with Cosplay use ready-made costume parts, for example, such from old clothes. More advanced materials that are used when creating an outfit from scratch are thermoplastics.
Thermoplastics
What are thermoplastics? These are such plastics, which are made of macromolecules, mostly linear, and under the influence of the appropriate temperature and pressure change their state of aggregation into liquid. As a result, they can be molded, and after they are cooled - they become hard again. Such technology makes thermoplastics ideal for shaping by stamping, extrusion, blow molding or injection molding technology. They can be processed repeatedly, but it should be taken into account that over time their properties may deteriorate.
We can encounter thermoplastic products in our daily lives. Often we don't even realize how many things are made from them. Due to the fact that the phenomenon of thermoplasticity occurs, plastics can be shaped in one quick and simple technological process. This allows them to create objects of complex shape , which would not be possible to create by other methods. In addition to the mass production of everyday utensils, toys, furniture or even bodies and pipes, it can also be used to create Cosplay costume pieces. Thermoplastic materials often form a major part of a costume, decoration or prop. They are characterized, first of all, by high plasticity, and this means that you can create any shape based on them. The most commonly used thermoplastic materials in the industry are: polyethylene (PE)
polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), poly(methylene oxide) (PMO), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyamide (PA).
Thermoplastics used for Cosplay
In our store Cosplay Craft many products are available from which you can make the most fancy accessories, accessories and costumes. Worth noting are the brand's thermoplastics Cosplayflex. Here we distinguish four materials with different characteristics that can be used in different situations and projects. Sheets Cosplayflex (so-called classic) and Cosplayflex Clear, as well as Pebbles, and Crystal granules. Their most important feature is that they are low melting point thermoplastics.
Cosplayflex classic is the most versatile and also the most used thermoplastic material by our customers. It is available in sheet form in various sizes. The smallest size is 50x37.5 cm, and the largest is as large as 150x100 cm. It consists of a mixture of different polymers mainly Polycaprolactone (PCL) along with the addition of a filler that gives a light brown/beige color and a smooth texture. It activates from as low as 60°C, and the temperature range at which it can be developed is between 60 and 90°C. The higher the temperature, the more flexible and stretchy it becomes. This temperature range means that all we need to work with is a small heater or a bowl of hot water. It can be easily molded in many ways. For example, by applying it to other objects to imprint details, apply it to a pre-prepared piece of another material (for example, from EVA Foams) to make it more rigid, or you can shape small parts, details and finishes using scraps of material. An interesting fact is that unused scraps of material can be used again because the activated Cosplayflex can be put back together by pressing one against the other. Once cooled, thermoplastic becomes hard and rigid again.
Cosplayflex Clear is quite a specific product, it is 3 mm thick, transparent, very flexible and durable. It can be said that it is the equivalent of transparent Crystal granules except that it is in sheet form, which can make some jobs much easier. The largest sheet is 100x65 cm and weighs 1400 g. Activates at 90°C which is noticeable because the material begins to shrink at the edges. Activated is very stretchy, difficult to tear and can be used, for example, to replicate small objects. Once cooled, it remains flexible and feels like hard rubber to the touch.
Cosplayflex Crystal technically is an EVA copolymer in the form of colorless granules. The working temperature starts between 60°C and 80°C while for full flexibility it is recommended to heat up to 110°C. As the temperature increases, it becomes more viscous. It is certainly suitable for extruding in molds and making durable ornaments, jewelry and details for costumes. First of all, for illuminated elements. Once cooled, it is very durable and flexible. To the touch it resembles hard rubber.
Cosplayflex Pebbles is a PCL (Polycaprolactone) granule that activates as early as 60°C. It can be used similarly to Crystal granules with the differences that Pebbles is white in color, and when cooled it becomes hard like plastic and is much less flexible. It is also easier to work with because it is less sticky.