Deus Ex: Human Revolution Cosplay (Body Armour)

The body armour required a fair bit of shopping for materials and tools, and was the part I was the most worried about, but it ended up being the most fun because I learned so much.

I looked up so many tutorials and Youtube videos regarding making armour with EVA foam before doing this, and you should as well, if it's your first time.

Since I didn't have a sewing mannequin or a second person to help me, I had to do a lot of trial and error on fitting the back piece to my body, and not surprisingly, the final fit was not as perfect as I might have liked, but it suits my purposes fine. The nice thing about EVA foam, though, is you can keep reheating it with the heat gun and shape it until you get the form you like. I was also worried about burning myself when I would press the hot foam to my body, so I used the low heat setting (most tutorials I've seen mention using the high setting), but thankfully it caused no problems.

BTW, make sure you work outside when you cut/sand/dremel EVA foam, because tiny bits of the stuff go flying everywhere. I was covered in black dust by the time I was done, and had to wipe everything down with a damp rag to clean up.

As proud as I am of this piece, it was the cause for SO much neck/shoulder/back pain during PAX. It wasn't painful to wear in itself, but when your movement/flexibility is suddenly restricted to a degree in such a way, it can REALLY take its toll on you.