c/budget-cosplay-builds

I wasted $60 on a 3D printer filament bundle that was all junk

Bought a 12 pack of random colors off Amazon for cheap and every single spool was brittle and snapped during printing. Has anyone found a reliable budget filament brand that actually works?

Hit $50 total on my Jedi Survivor Cal Kestis and nobody believes me

I see all these posts about how you gotta drop $200 minimum for a screen-accurate cosplay, but I just finished Cal Kestis from Jedi Survivor for exactly $48.37 at the thrift store. The secret is that brown poncho from the game looks way more convincing when you actually distress it yourself with sandpaper and coffee stains (the smell takes a week to air out, fair warning). I got a tan work jacket for $8, a pair of old combat boots for $12, and sewed the shoulder patches from scrap fabric I had laying around. The lightsaber was the tricky part because everyone says you need a fancy neopixel, but I built one from a PVC pipe, a flashlight, and some electrical tape for under $10. The whole thing took me about 6 weekends of work, and at the last convention I went to, three separate people asked where I bought the jacket. Has anyone else had that moment where your cheap build actually looks BETTER than the expensive versions people post here?

Switched from craft foam to cardboard for my armor build

I was dead set on using craft foam for my Mandalorian armor but the sheets cost me $30 just for a chest piece. Tried a cardboard mockup first and honestly after painting and sealing it looks just as good for $0. Has anyone else had luck with cardboard holding up at conventions?

Got schooled by a 15 year old at a con last weekend

This kid at Comic-Con showed me how he made a whole Mandalorian armor set from foam floor mats from Harbor Freight. It cost him like $40 total and looked 10x better than my stuff I spent over $100 on. How do you guys get those smooth edges on EVA foam without a dremel?

Caught a nasty case of eye glue after a con in Chicago

I was trying to glue on some elf ears for a budget Legolas cosplay at Anime Midwest last June. Used super glue instead of spirit gum by accident, got it in my eye, and spent 45 minutes in the convention center bathroom with a bottle of saline. The ear fell off anyway halfway through my first panel. Has anyone else had a cheap adhesive disaster during a con?

Rant about people using expensive fabrics for budget cosplay

I keep seeing folks in this group post their builds with $40 a yard fabrics and calling it a budget cosplay. That's not budget, that's just making a costume. A real budget build uses thrifted sheets, old curtains, or clearance bin finds for under $5 a yard. I spent $12 total on my last cosplay from the Goodwill on Broadway here in Nashville. It took three trips over two weeks to find the right colors. Why do people insist on calling it budget when they're clearly spending more on fabric than I spend on groceries in a week?

Found a killer cheap foam source at a flooring store in Cleveland

I stopped by a random flooring outlet last week and asked for their old foam underlayment scraps, and they gave me a whole roll for free. It's way denser than the craft store stuff and works perfect for armor builds. Anyone else hit up construction supply places for materials?

Had a chat with a guy at Goodwill who totally changed how I look at foam armor

He said he spent $60 on EVA foam and contact cement for a Mandalorian kit that looks better than my $200 3D printed one. Told me I was overthinking the process and just needed to start cutting. Anyone else find that simpler materials actually turn out cleaner?

So I tried making chainmail from soda can tabs for a knight costume

Honestly, I thought it would look super cheap and feel awful, but after linking about 300 of them with jump rings, it actually moves and shines like the real deal. My friend saw it and said 'Wait, you made that from trash?' and I felt like a crafting genius. Has anyone else pulled off a decent armor piece from stuff you'd normally recycle?

Had to choose between foam clay or craft foam for my armor piece

I was building a shoulder pauldron for a fantasy knight cosplay and had $15 left in my budget. I picked the craft foam because I already had a heat gun and glue, and honestly, it worked out great after I sealed it with three coats of mod podge. Has anyone else used craft foam for armor and found a better sealant?

Had to choose between buying a $70 foam sword or making one from a pool noodle and duct tape for my fantasy knight cosplay.

I went with the pool noodle, carved it with a box cutter for the blade shape, wrapped it in silver duct tape, and honestly, it looks way better than I thought it would for about $12 total, so has anyone else found a cheap material that worked surprisingly well for a prop?

Had to choose between cardboard armor and a thrift store blazer for my Commander Shepard... the blazer won and it was a mess.

My cardboard Mandalorian helmet turned into a pancake at the con

I spent three days building this Boba Fett bucket out of cereal boxes and hot glue, got it painted perfect. Walked into the convention center in Phoenix, took it off for a second to grab my badge, and some guy backed his prop cart right over it. It made this awful crunch sound and just flattened, lmao. Had to walk around the rest of the day holding a sad, folded piece of cardboard. Anyone got a better material for helmets that won't cost me fifty bucks?

I built a whole Mandalorian helmet from a thrift store bike helmet and some old floor mats

Last weekend I found a basic bike helmet for $4 at Goodwill, cut up some leftover car floor mats for the armor plates, and glued it all together with a hot glue gun. The whole thing cost me maybe $12 and a few hours of work, and it looks way better than I thought it would. Has anyone else tried using car mats for armor pieces, or got other cheap material tips?

I almost spent $50 on a fancy wig for my Jester cosplay

I was set on buying a pre-styled one online, but my friend convinced me to try making it from a cheap $8 base wig and some yarn. We spent a whole afternoon cutting and gluing the yarn pieces to make the two-tone pigtails. It turned out way more unique and fun than the store-bought version would have been. Has anyone else tried making a wig from scratch for a character?

My brother insisted I could make a perfect lightsaber hilt from a $3 plumbing part from Home Depot, and after painting it with some leftover spray paint, it honestly looks better than the $80 replicas.

Has anyone else found a random hardware store item that became the perfect base for a prop?

My friend said my cardboard Mandalorian helmet looked like a sad mailbox

Built a Boba Fett helmet from a cereal box and some spray paint, cost maybe $8 total. She pointed out the visor was just a strip of black tape and it ruined the whole shape. Switched to cutting up an old motorcycle visor from a thrift store for $3, way better. What's the cheapest material you've found for helmet visors?

My friend told me to skip the craft foam for armor and use a floor mat from Harbor Freight

I thought it was a dumb idea, but the $8 mat I got there was way thicker and easier to shape than the thin sheets I was buying. It held up all day at Phoenix Comic Fest without cracking. Anyone else have a go-to hardware store item for builds?

Can we talk about the amount of foam you can get from a single dollar store yoga mat?

I was cutting up a mat for some armor pieces and realized one $5 mat from my local Family Dollar yielded enough 2mm foam for a full set of bracers, two pauldrons, and a belt, which completely changed how I plan my material budgets now.

Rant: I hit 50 bucks for a full cosplay and people keep saying it's impossible

I built a full Link costume from Breath of the Wild for a con last month, and my final cost was exactly $50. I used a green hoodie I already had, cut up some old blue jeans for the tunic parts, and made the belt from a thrift store purse strap. Everyone online says you need at least $200 for a decent cosplay, but I proved them wrong with stuff from my closet and a craft store foam sheet. Has anyone else pulled off a full look for under $60?

My $30 foam armor disaster from a craft store kit

I bought a 'cosplay armor starter kit' from a big craft store for about thirty bucks, thinking it would save me time. The foam sheets were way too thin and brittle, and the included glue dissolved the material when I tried to seal a seam. I basically threw the whole thing out after two hours of fighting with it. Has anyone found a good, truly cheap source for decent EVA foam sheets?

Serious question, has anyone else had a friend question their entire approach?

My sister saw my half-finished Mandalorian armor made from foam floor mats and said 'you know, spending 40 hours to save $80 might not be the win you think it is.' It made me realize I sometimes value budget over my own time. How do you decide when a shortcut is worth the money?

Ran into a guy at the con who made his Mandalorian armor from old plastic buckets

He showed me how he used a heat gun to shape them, and the whole kit cost him under $40. Anyone know other cheap materials that work for armor shaping?

My cheap foam board armor experiment went totally wrong

I tried to make some sci-fi shoulder pads last weekend with that dollar store foam board. I spent about $8 on three sheets and a whole afternoon cutting and shaping. The second I tried to heat form it with a hair dryer, the whole thing warped and melted into a sticky mess. It was a complete waste of time and money. Has anyone found a GOOD cheap material for armor that actually holds its shape? I need to start over.

Saw something wild at the Goodwill on Maple Street

I was looking for fabric scraps and found a whole rack of those cheap foam floor mats, the kind for kids. They were marked $5 for a pack of four. Someone had clearly bought them for a cosplay build, cut them up for armor, and then just donated the leftovers. It's a great find if you need light armor pieces, but check the edges because a lot of them were cut really rough. Has anyone else found good base materials in the weirdest store sections?