Are you ready to take your cosplay to the next level? Then experts Robert Allsopp, Chris Donio, and Frank Ippolito’s “Advanced Armor-Making Techniques” panel was a must see event. Held on Saturday at 4PM in the Hilton Grand Salon East, this panel covered everything a cosplayer might need to know to kick it up a notch.

The panelists all worked well together, bouncing ideas off each other and sharing their own experiences with different techniques and materials. With professional experience ranging from Doctor Who to Ant Man, the accumulated knowledge was impressive.

A wide range of topics were covered, playing off the skills of each individual panelist and their experiences. Attendees got a quick lesson in everything from thermo-plastics like Worbla to vacuum metalizing. They discussed techniques the average person could do and gave everyone an insight into how things are made for stage and screen.

One thing the panelists all recommended was learning to vacuum-form. Build your own vacuum-forming rig and try it out. It’s a rite of passage for every armor maker. There are tutorials all over the internet where cosplayers can learn exactly how to make the rigs and use them to create incredible armor.

The biggest advice they had for cosplayers is to make mistakes. Don’t be afraid to mess things up. Learn from your failures, and the failures of others, and improve each time. Even the panelists admit to making mistakes regularly. The important part is to learn how to do better next time.