Hi my wonderful little Rebels and welcome to this week’s What The Bleep Am I Doing?! An Artist’s Guide To All Things Creative! This week I’ll be talking about the pro’s and con’s of one of the handy dandy materials for cosplayers. That’s right, I’m talking about the thermoplastic that all cosplayers have a love/hate relationship with: Worbla! So let’s get started shall we?
What exactly is Worbla?
I give a brief rundown on what it is and the different types in my other article, which you can find here. But to give a more detailed explanation here’s an excerpt from the good ‘ol Worbla website itself…
Worbla is a German brand of non-toxic thermoplastics that come in sheet and pellet forms. Each product in the Worbla’s Art Line has a specific use, color coded to help differentiate them at a glance. From armor builds to fabric manipulation to gemstones, Worbla products are designed to help you build faster than traditional materials might allow, with a far more forgiving margin of error. When heated, Worbla plastics become pliable, adhesive and moldable – simply mold into the desired shape and allow to cool. Worbla plastics can be heated endlessly and have no shelf or pot life, require no specialized tools or ventilation, and can be used in small workspaces and classrooms without extensive safety gear
Excerpt from Worbla.com
They have several different helpful sources on all types of Worbla and not only that they have some really good tutorials that can teach you how to work this material too! And of course you’ll be seeing some Worbla tutorials pop up here as well! I have some tricks and tips to share with you guys too after all!
Now for the ups and downs of this wonderous material…
Pro’s:
- It pretty easy to work with, just heat it up and you can mold it to and into virtually anything.
- It has a shelf life of practically forever. This material isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
- Worbla is a pretty light weight material
- It makes your projects even more durable.
- Non-Toxic.
- It’s self-adhesive.
- It doesn’t take many tools to work with it. All you need is your hands, a heat gun, and a good pair of scissors.
Con’s
- Leave it in your car for too long and it’ll melt
- Too much of it together will make it heavy.
- It’s going to take awhile to prime to make it nice and smooth.
- It’s not the easiest to procure.
In conclusion
Worbla can have a few downsides to it and a bit of a learning curb when you are first working with it, but it’ll give you amazing amazing results! Stay tuned for more How-To’s on Worbla and other amazing materials my little Rebels! Rebel Fae over and out!
*Cover image from Worbla.com
The Rebel Fae 