Mei's Belt Assembly - Blizzcon 2016

Syless Necole
Nov 14, 2016
3 min read

Syless Necole as Mei Blizzcon 2016 Photo by: Davaan Srey Photography

I really should have taken a lot more photos during the assembly process of Mei's belt, but hopefully this helps someone. Please ask me any questions you may have!

In order to get the proper sizes I used Photoshop to overlay Mei's photo onto a photo of myself holding a ruler. This gave me approx measurements for everything.

Foam Pouch Base

I started off with the basic size I wanted for my pouch. I made a simple pouch with a flap from 8 mm foam.

As you can see in the second photo I didn't like how the top looked. It was cracking from being opened/closed and it was standing up too much. I decided to just cut the foam flap off, and make a flap out of the vinyl that I purchased to cover them in.

I started off with the basic Idea of a Foam Pouch

Vinyl Flap and Covering

I made the flap out of outdoor vinyl and stitched on the details. I also roughly covered the rest of the pouch in the same vinyl attaching it to the foam with Hot Glue. Hot Glue probably wasn't the best choice but I was working with what I had at the time.

Weathering and Painting

Using Oil Paints I started weathering the back of the pouches and around the edges. I used a iridescent blue fabric paint for the blue strip on the front of the pouches.

Sealing, Attaching the Flap, and Mod Podge

I made all 3 pouches and started to weather them. Once the back was dry I added Matte Mod Podge to "Seal" the Oil Paint. After that dried I added Chicago Screws (using an awl to punch the holes) to make sure the fabric flaps would stay attached to the foam pouch with repeated opening and closing.

The lines you see on the back are me finding the center of the pouch so I can line it up with the belt when attaching the pouches later.

Why Mod Podge? I coated the entire belt with Mod Podge to seal it because I knew it would wear, chip, scuff and add to the weathered look. Also if too much chipped off it would be easy to repair and repaint.

Belt Base

Once the pouches were all made I started working on the actual belt. After measuring it to my size, I used 8 mm foam for the base and then added 6 mm strips to the top and bottom for detail.

I then made the front flap and canteen holder which unfortunately I didn't take photos of.

Attaching Front Flap and Covering Belt

I glued one side of the vinyl that will cover the belt itself down along the very edge. I attached the front flap and canteen holder with Chicago screws and then glued the belt vinyl over top to hide the Chicago screws that were holding the front flap on.

Covering the Belt and Weathering

This is what it looked like after I flipped it over to the front. Now its time to glue down the vinyl that will be covering the front of the belt. I used hot glue and went edge by edge gluing down the vinyl so that you could still see the foam details underneath. I used a "Scraper" or small putty knife to push the vinyl into the cracks.

I used the same process of oil paints and Mod Podge to add some details to the vinyl after it was glued down.

Attaching Pouches to Belt

I used Chicago screws and an awl to punch holes through the belt and pouches to attach them. I attached Velcro to the pouches to hold them closed.

Creating the Canteen

I carved the canteen out of 10 mm foam layered and glued together. I used 3 mm foam to add the small details like the circle on the front and the black grips along the sides.

I sealed it with a few layers of wood glue and sanded it smooth. I then painted it with a few "Pearl" acrylic paints to give it a frosty metal look.

Attaching the Canteen

I used Chicago screws again to attach the canteen straps to the belt flap and then one to close the straps around the canteen.

Making it Wearable

I used plastic clips on and webbing straps to close the belt in the back. I ended up having to hot glue the clips flat so that it stayed in place.

The Finished Product

This is what the belt looked like completed. I hope this was helpful to anyone wanting to cosplay as Mei or anyone that just needs help with a belt. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me on my website or through any of my social medias.