Mandalorian Armour
Cosplay Consent Project
2020-2024
Artist’s Statement
A Star Wars Mandalorian cosplay constructed mainly out of cardboard, incorporating interactive technology to enhance the armour and relate it to the topic of consent in cosplay. I was the artist, fabricator, and designer behind this piece.
All the armour was created by hand, using cardboard, hot glue, papier-mâché, modelling paste, sandpaper, gesso, dark grey and silver chrome acrylic paints, and metallic silver spray paint. I used cardboard for the armour, mainly because it’s cheap (free for me), and any other material would’ve been either too heavy or not durable enough to shape it. I started building the Mandalorian helmet during the pandemic, using templates from YouTuber EpicCardboardProps but constructing and painting it myself. Next, I created one of the shoulder pauldrons for a design course in university, applying new technologies and skills such as 3D printing and laser cutting. For a studio course final project, I decided to complete the rest of the Mandalorian armour: the other shoulder pauldron, both leg armour plates, both wrist gauntlets, and the chest plate. Still using templates from EpicCardboardProps, I built and shaped the pieces, then painted and weathered them to match the finished parts, making them attachable and detachable with strong magnets glued to them and sewn into the inside of a pair of cargo pants and a turtleneck. I built the wrist gauntlets last, incorporating an audio recording system to play sound bites from the show. I took phrases from the Mandalorian show, “Don’t touch anything”, “You stay right there, you stay, don’t move. Understand?”, and “This is the way” from an online soundboard and uploaded them to the system. These snippets were chosen to align with consent – a recurrent and imperative theme in cosplay culture, especially at conventions. This is the longest-running project I’ve ever worked on; it took a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and I still wear it to Fan Expo and Comic-Con almost every year.
Timeline
2020 – During the COVID-19 pandemic, I found an amazing tutorial to create my own Mandalorian helmet out of only cardboard. As a huge fan of the show, I decided to make it my next project. The entire construction of the helmet took a few weeks to make, and a lot of frustration and patience. Click here or view the video below to see my building process.
via @adwcreates on Instagram 2022 – I created one of the shoulder pauldrons for my Designing Material Experiences course, applying new technology and skills like 3D printing
and laser cutting. View below to see some of the sketches and mock-ups I created for this step in the project.Click here or view the video below to see my building process.
via @adwcreates on Instagram 2024 – For a full-term project in my Studio Practice course, I decided to finish my Star Wars Mandalorian cosplay, integrating interactive technology to make the project relate to consent in cosplay. My skills had drastically improved while in the New Media program, so I wanted to follow through on a project I’d been working on for many years.
This project helped me venture into tangible technology and interactivity as it included using magnets and a sound system with a programmable chip, speaker, and trigger button. I used phrases from the Mandalorian show, “Don’t touch anything”, “You stay right there, you stay, don’t move. Understand?”, and “This is the way” from an online soundboard for this project. These snippets were chosen to align with consent – a recurrent and imperative theme in cosplay culture, especially at conventions where creators dress up and interact with others. Due to its prevalence and my own experiences with cosplay and consent, I decided it would not only be an entertaining and original project but a meaningful one too.
I built and shaped the remaining armour pieces (with the help of EpicCardboardProps templates and tutorials) then stylized them to match the finished parts, making them attachable and detachable with strong magnets glued to them. I built the wrist gauntlets next, repeating the stylistic process while also incorporating an audio recording system to play sound bites from the show. For the sound system, I struggled with making it feasible, as I didn’t have much experience with the technology to make it possible. I decided to work smarter rather than harder, so I researched simple recordable sound systems online and found an option with great reviews on Amazon. The EZSound Push Button Recordable Sound Chip had an instructional video telling the user how to upload audio clips onto it, so I was able to put my preferred sound bites onto the chip. The system is hot glued together, but during the testing process when the speaker wires broke, I was able to solder it back together stronger. I measured the chip and speaker, cut pieces of cardboard that fit each, and hot-glued magnets onto the cardboard and the right wrist gauntlet. I attached the system onto the cardboard so it could be removable, and glued the button directly onto the top panel of the gauntlet so it’s easily accessible when wearing the suit.
Although this project may have begun as just a cool fan-made cosplay, it was inspired by some of the artists and creators I find most influential, and it means a lot to me personally. Using consent as the main focus and message behind this project was important to me, I’ve been grabbed and touched without approval many times when cosplaying at FanExpo and Comic-Con. Even when fully covered, someone has groped during a picture, and the fear of it happening again prevents me from wearing any costume I want. I am also very socially anxious, I do not like confrontation or telling people when I am uncomfortable and will usually just concede. But when wearing this cosplay, grabbers must rethink approaching me in a way I don’t approve. All I have to do is press a button and the Mandalorian voice says “Don’t touch anything” and “you stay right there” for when they get too close, and “This is the way” for when they move to an acceptable distance. Using Mandalorian in-show phrases adds a sense of humour to my warning and prevents any rude or awkward interactions after I trigger the sound clips.
Final Presentation Video
After years of work, late nights, rushed paint jobs, problems with magnets, tons of hot glue burns, Exacto knife injuries, and a lot of aches and pains, my Mandalorian armour is finally finished. It isn’t perfect, and there were plenty of issues throughout the process, but I’m thrilled to share my proudest creation. During my showcase, I received many compliments on my work as well as appreciation for the fact that it’s handmade and primarily made from cardboard. I used black privacy window film for the updated visor, but I’ve been thinking about redoing the whole helmet. The signet necklace was 3D printed using an SLA printer, and all parts except the gauntlets were attached with magnets glued onto the backs and sewn into pockets of clothing for wearability.
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