Episode 27: The Materials of Cosplay

Halloween is right around the corner and like many of you, we’ve been hard at work on our spooky costumes! If you’ve ever been to Comic-Con you’ve seen the incredible costumes that cosplay artists can create. Giant suits of armor and weapons crafted out of EVA foam, Mandalorian suits with Worbla or Sintra armor plates, life-like silicone and latex masks, monsters built from Papier-mâché, Styrofoam, Plastidip, and PVC. This episode is dedicated to all the incredible material science & engineering that goes into Cosplay materials. On this episode, we’re joined by artist Cara Krebs who is a fantastic artist who specializes in using many different materials in unique and creative ways. Check out her art on her Instagram page

Articles Discussed:

• 1994 Stone, High wet-friction elastomeric coatings including a thermoplastic rubber and petrolatum [LINK]

• What is silicone rubber? [LINK]

This episode is sponsored by Matmatch. Check out how they can help you find the perfect material for your next engineering project! This episode is also sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more.

Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show!

If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter.

Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks (co-creator, co-host, production), Andrew Falkowski (co-creator, co-host, production), Jared Duffy (production, marketing, and editing)

Keywords: cosplay costume design foam halloween Halloween Comic-Con EVA Worbla Sintra silicone latex masks Papier-mâché styrofoam plastidip PVC.

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