Steel Plate Armor Dragonborn Cosplay (2025)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Video Games
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Background
This EVA foam armor was one of my dream costumes and I finally had the skills and resources to be able to make it. I find the armor to be very pretty with the many engraved swirls, design lines, and fitted plates. (Funnily enough, I actually reached out to the designer Ray Lederer and he expressed regret at designing it as a boob armor. But, as a bra maker, I happen to enjoy patterning and making boob cups!)
In fact, I have attempted to make this armor twice before: once in 2023, and once in the beginning of 2025. For my first attempt, I made stencils of the patterns with my Cricut to trace the swirls, then scored the lines with a knife and used heat to open them up. I wasn’t very happy with the result as the lines were too thin. For my second attempt, I stamped the patterns onto the foam after printing them onto acetate sheets, then used a wood burner to engrave the lines. This, again, had a mediocre result as burning by hand makes mistakes very obvious and the final product look amateurish.
I ended up getting a very affordable refurbished laser engraver (Creality Falcon CR 10W Diode Laser) for my birthday. The result from the laser was incomparably better than any of my previous attempts. I can’t believe I thought I had to spend thousands for a laser all these years!
I also considered making the armor with flexible 3D prints, but flexible filament is difficult to print with. (I did end up using flexible filament - foaming TPU - for some pieces.) An armor like this that encompasses my entire torso would also be difficult to fit with a 3D print. I considered molding and casting with a rubber or silicone as well, but both these methods would be much heavier and less breathable than foam. Comfort and weight were major priorities for this build. I truly believe that EVA foam was the best medium to make this armor with and it allowed me to have more mobility than I expected.
I am proud of the amount of research and thought I put into choosing the right techniques and materials for this project. I used a wide variety of technical skills including patterning and 3D modeling everything from scratch and designing four different kinds of resin printed functional buckles seen on the costume.
I entered the costume at Anime NJ++ 2025. I ultimately did not take home a win, but I hope to continue improving the costume and competing with it again in the future. You can find my detailed build book below. I spent a lot of time and thought in designing it!
At the con, I got together with my fellow Skyrim cosplayers, @metalmadecrafts and @goosefangs.png, who won Best in Show with her beautiful Shrouded Robes! We were able to take some awesome group photos.
Making-Of
I posted lots of WIPs in my Instagram highlights here and many posts and videos of the process on my Instagram. You can also purchase the base patterns I used here in my shop.
Below is my build book that I submitted for competition!
References
Originally designed by Ray Lederer.
