Cosplay Weathering Techniques: How to Make Your Costume Look Battle-Worn

Not every character you cosplay will look clean and pristine. With characters from post apocalyptic worlds or who live for the battlefield, you'll need to make your costume look a little more worn out. These cosplay weathering techniques can help you to make your costume more realistic.

Weathering Fabrics

Different materials require different techniques for weathering costumes. We'll start by exploring fabrics.

Physical Distress

Tears, fraying and holes can help show fabric is physically distressed. Creating these effects can be easy and inexpensive.

• Sandpaper or metal file - To wear down the fibers of your fabric you can use

  either a piece of sandpaper or a metal file. A metal file has more longevity than sandpaper but you can also opt for a rougher grit piece of sandpaper for more aggressive weathering.

• Knife - To make slices or to rub against the fibers, a box cutter or knife can be used. You want to be careful not to have super clean looking slices or it won't be as realistic.

• Belt sander or rotary tool - If you rather have a powered sander to save your wrists than sandpaper or files, a belt sander or rotary tool can work. Use them on lower power settings and be cautious when using the rotary tool or fibers can wrap around it and get stuck.

• Cheese grater - A cheese grater can work well like sandpaper or metal files. However, it's important to note to have a separate one for cosplaying from your kitchen one.

• Wire brush or leather rougher - Any sort of wire brush can be used on fabric to wear it out. A leather rougher can also be used too if you have one handy already. This might be a little bit more aggressive than sandpaper so use it carefully to not over wear your material.

• Seam ripper - This is a perfect tool that you may already have on hand as a seamstress. A seam ripper can be used to help fray fabric edges.

Stains & Grime

Weathered fabrics can have stains, dirt and other grime present. So how do you create those marks without rubbing actual dirt in it? Try some of the following:

• Coffee grounds, tea or soy sauce - For brown stains, these household products can help. Get varying shades with tea for lighter browns and soy sauce or coffee for darker browns.

• Fabric paint - With fabric paints, you can lightly add with brushes, splattering from a paint brush or even consider dry brushing. Or you can apply them with an airbrush for shading effects. There's an abundance of color options too for different fabric paints.

• Dirty Down - The aging sprays are perfect for weathering fabrics with stains and grimes.

Fading

Fading comes with age. A simple way to fade fabrics is diluted bleach. Either add it to a bucket and dip the fabric in, or put it in a spray bottle and apply where you need it.

Weathering EVA Foam, Worbla & 3D Prints

For your armors and props made out of foam, filament or Worbla, there's a lot of ways to weather them. Most involve painting, but with some creativity, you can try any of the following ways.

Washing

Washing is a common technique that adds depth and realism with water-downed paint.

• Step 1. Start by mixing your acrylic paint with a 1:5 ratio of water. This should leave you with what looks like dirty water.

• Step 2. Apply the mixture with either brushes, rags or sponges. Remember, less is more when you're starting. Let the wash run into seams, folds and other textured areas.

• Step 3. Let the applied mixture sit for a minute or two, depending on how dark you want the color to be. After, wipe or blot it away with a rag or paper towel to remove the excess. Focus on removing from raised areas so the recesses keep a darker pigment.

• Step 4. Repeat the steps as needed to layer on the color, add additional color or to work in other sections of your cosplay.

Dry Brushing

Dry brushing paint onto your costumes can help make it look weathered. Be sure to use the proper brushes and use the following tips for dry brushing:

• Use small amounts of paint at a time

• Lightly drag brush along your costume

• Focus on raised edges with paint

• Simulate where paint wears off the most

• Highlight contours with your dry brushing

Paints

Paints can add an abundance of colors and detail to help make your props and costumes look more weathered. These are a few paints worth trying:

• Airbrush - Add shading or more natural layers of grime with airbrush paints. It's great for both faint and heavy stains and let's you have perfect transitions between clean and dirty.

• Oil paints - For grime, streaks, rust or other effects, apply your oil paints into crevices and recesses and then lightly wipe away to create realistic weathering.

• Dirty Down - Just like with fabrics, Dirty Down can also be used on foam, Worbla and 3D prints.

• AK Interactive - These are also weather specific paints for washes, streaking, grime, rust and more. Chose the right color and paint type to fit your needs to get the results you desire.

Chipping or Wearing

Colors, metals and more chip and wear out over time. To create that effect, try these cosplay weathering techniques:

• Metallic paints or paint markers - On elevated edges or corners take metallic paints or paint markers to draw thin lines. This will look like paint has chipped away to reveal the metal below.

• Latex - Using liquid latex that you paint over is perfect for chips and peeling effects. Once paint is dry you can peel the section of latex off.

• Knife - Chip away paint with a knife and remember to use appropriate PPE.

• Toothpicks - For finer chipping, you can use toothpicks similar to how you would a knife.

Battle Damage or Physical Distress

Armor and props would take substantial battle damage over time. You can use different tools to add dents, scrapes and other physical

damage. Adding that to make your cosplay more realistic is easy with these tools:

• Hot wire cutter

• Rotary tool

• Sand paper

• Knife

Powders

To add realistic weathering, you can try pigmented powders. They come in different colors and can be used for different effects.

• White - Dust, sand, concrete

• Grey or ash - Soot, dust, concrete, ash

• Black - Ash, dirt, soot

• Yellows, browns and reds - Rust, dirt

Rust

Rust is a staple effect for weathered props and armor. While you can simply paint or use powders to create rust, there's better ways to do that that gives it that grittiness as well. You also need to keep colors in mind for different metals.

• Cinnamon - Cinnamon and other spices are a simple additive you can use with proper paint colors to get a grittier rust. It also will leave your cosplay smelling amazing.

• Pumice gel - You can also get pumice gels to apply to your cosplay and then paint over once it's dry to create a textured rust. They often come in different options for coarseness.

• Brass rust - While you usually will see red oxide, vermillion and other browns or oranges in rust, brass is different. Brass typically tarnishes rather than rusts like irons. It'll have a green or bluish color and isn't typically textured.

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Conclusion

These cosplay weathering techniques can help you make cosplays look more worn and realistic. From fabrics to foam, there's an abundance of ways to make your costumes look weathered. You just have to be willing to explore new ideas and practice your techniques.

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Share Your Cosplay Tips and Stories!

Whether you're a seasoned cosplayer or just starting out, weathering can open up endless possibilities for your cosplays. We'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences with weathering cosplays, so please leave a comment below sharing your favorite thing about them.

Got more tips or advice on weathering cosplays? 

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