I've been itching to make the Modeus helmet since I first came across Suitor Armor on Webtoons, so it seemed like the perfect first cosplay item to start with for 2023. Plus I needed something that I could do quickly before a planned trip in early February and then a more complex cosplay planned for mid March. Modeus has a simply but striking design so I knew it wouldn't take long, but would still present a unique challenge.
I don't freehand very well.
The first order of business was finding a foam helmet pattern I could modify. I've used several Kamui Cosplay patterns in the past, and one of them turned out to be a near perfect helmet to Modeus's design. Instead of the cheap craft foam I usually use, I grabbed some eva foam for the first time. I knew there would be a few pieces that might be larger than the inexpensive sheets and my seaming is...not great. So longer sheets is was! After some cutting and a lot of hot glue, I had the basic pattern set. My only two changes to the overall design were the spacing of the horns and the front face plate.
Once some light papier-mâché around the horn seams was dry, I added some foam rings and began painting. I didn't have time to make everything flush as seen in the webcomic. I know I'll come back to this again with more skills and experience, so I wasn't aiming for any kind of perfection here. Luckily he has a very recognizable design, so there wasn't concern about mistaking him for anything else. An additional band around the entire helmet with some cloth cut from a shirt, and he was done!
I couldn't just have the helmet there, so I threw together a quick cosplay of my favorite disaster, Norrix. It made sense since he's Modeus's creator, plus the only change I had to make was putting in some brown contact lenses and gluing his mage triangle to my forehead. I didn't even have to hide my under-eye circles! Related - I don't know why I own a flowy pirate shirt, but I do, and it worked perfectly for what I needed.
My normal studio setup in my basement didn't really work for this shoot. It's too dark. While I'd love to eventually do something a little darker with these two (I dream of doing a creation shoot), this one needed a more neutral setting. So my dining room had to play studio for a half hour. Right now I'm still using my cell phone to shoot with a ring light directly behind it. Nothing fancy. A half hour and a thousand treks between my camera and the table, and I had a decent set to choose from. All that was left was to strip, reset my house, and make some decisions.
Depending on what I'm cosplaying and what kinds of poses/shots I have in mind, I may end up with 50+ photos to pick from. This one didn't require much and I knew what I wanted right away, so it's been much more manageable. Plus my lighting was better this time around, so my photo adjustments will be much simpler.
Overall, I'm pleased with the way this one turned out. Any creator is going to notice the flaws immediately - I admit my detail paint job was not the best on this one - but I think I managed to create something fun and true to the webtoon over a two week span without hating it at any point. I consider that a win. And as with every project, I found ways to improve for my next foray into foam prop creation.
Interested in the final product? I've posted versions to Instagram, Twitter, Hive Social, and Deviantart, plus this site's gallery.
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