Guts (Black Swordsman ver.)- Berserk (2017)

A variety of techniques were used to create this costume. I mainly used 2mm and 4mm foam because of how layered the armor is, it could get bulky very quickly and his look at this arc in the manga is still somewhat sleek despite his large build. The belt is a thin foam wrapped with a faux suede and weathered around the rivets. The small throwing knives are carved foam with small dowels in faux suede sleeves. To make the breast plate, I got a small sheet of thermoplastic and heat formed it on my dress form, front and back, to achieve a shape I liked that was similar to myself and would be a form fitted breast plate. The prosthetic closed eye was made by my friend KeltonFX, and I applied it myself when I wore the costume. It came partially colored but I also added in some shadows to it to help match my skintone. To make the Dragonslayer sword, I got a large sheet of pink XPS foam at about 2 inch thickness and traced the shape in proportion to my height. It was then hand sanded at a bevel on both sides to achieve the shape it has. For the hilt, it is a piece of PVC pipe that is threaded at the end, and there is threading on the inside of the sword so that the handle/hilt comes off to help with travel and storage. Details on the hilt and sword are made in foam.