Svetlana at Kamui Cosplay has an incredibly in-depth look
at the latest generation of hobbyist thermoplastics. In contrast to things like styrene and ABS these craft friendly sheets are moldable at low temperatures. Her overview includes details on flexibility, surface texture, stretchability, and paint adhesion for various formulations of Worbla, CosplayFlex, Thibra, and Wonderflex.
Today there is a whole industry dedicated to produce materials made
especially for costume makers and cosplayers. Additional to EVA foam,
thermoplastics like Worbla and Wonderflex have been the go-to for armor
makers for quite some time. So naturally other companies started to
notice the potential of this growing marked and developing their own
similar crafting products. I guess by now you’ve probably all heard of
Cosplayflex or Thibra and so I though it would be a good time to give
you an overview of a few of these newcomers.
Plus one geek cred for the obscure H. G. Wells reference :)
ReplyDeleteIt’s pretty amazing what can be made with these new materials. I’m glad somebody pointed out the title, as I slid right over it to get to the article.
ReplyDeleteReaders can download a free digital copy of Wells’s classic Progressive magnum opus, The Shape of Things To Come (1933) from Project Gutenberg Australia. http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301391h.html
The 1936 film version is on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqH1jyiHCyo
This book may be the seed that started Philip K. Dick on the road to writing The Man in the High Castle (1963) another frame story, at least up to the date of 1940 where The Man in the High Castle and The Shape of Things To Come diverge greatly. Mind you, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is not our future either in this morass of omniverses, but it’s all the more interesting.
For further reading on the subject of past futurists you can also try another period book on the subject, W. Olaf Stapleton’s Last and First Men (1930), which contrasts interestingly with The Shape of Things to Come. BTW, HPL liked Last and First Men although it appears late in his career to be of great influence. https://www.goodreads.com/ebooks/download/564325?doc=2964
I'd never heard of this stuff before but after some research I can probably see why. Local supplier is charging $450 for a 1 x 1.5m sheet. Waaaay out of my budget.
ReplyDelete