Prefab Omnitool

This is the cardboard template I made before I started using the actual materials for my omnitool. After I figured this out, I untaped it and traced the pattern onto the 1.5mm thick clear plastic which makes the neon orange vinyl which is glued to the plastic rigid enough to keep a good shape. I cut the plastic with a kitchen aid scissor and used that to trace and cut the vinyl. The circular ring around the hand is held together by little clear plastic L brackets I made using scrap plastic. At one point, everything was either clamped or taped together to let the glue dry.

I like using cardboard, as it's sturdy and cheap. I'm not into costume making enough right now to delve into more expensive manufacturing, but it's something I find interesting.

In retrospect, I would have loved to have found a 1.5mm thick clear neon orange plastic because having both the clear and vinyl made for a lot of excessive gluing which made the final piece messy and you can see the glue squeezed between the two layers.

This design is a mix between the Mass Effect 2 omnitool hand part and any art I've seen for the omniblade forearm part from Mass Effect 3. I didn't make the donut part under the hand because I wanted the hold drinks. I also didn't want the accidentally scratch people by putting a large plastic blade on the front end.

The final product is lit by two hand held LED blacklights, one taped to my arm pointing down on it and another wedged underneath it above my arm lighting the front end. The neon vinyl fluoresces because of that, and it looks great in a dark room or at night.

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