Superhero armor, fantasy swords, sci-fi helmets, and costumes that look like they came straight out of a movie. Los Angeles Comic Con is full of them this Halloween weekend, and 3D printing is helping fans bring some of their favorite fictional characters into the real world.
The convention, running from October 30 through November 1 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, is celebrating its 15th anniversary with three days of comics, gaming, anime, celebrity appearances, and, of course, cosplay. And this year, 3D printer manufacturer Snapmaker is joining the fun with live demonstrations, costume repairs, and a national cosplay competition.
While for some, cosplay is simply about dressing up as a favorite character, for many fans, it’s much more than that. Some spend months designing, building, painting, and perfecting every piece of their costumes. And that’s where 3D printing gets so interesting.
With a 3D printer, fans can create their own helmets, armor, masks, and accessories, customizing everything from the size and shape to the smallest details. Once printed, the pieces can be assembled, sanded, painted, and finished by hand. Some even add lights or moving parts to make their creations more realistic.
Of course, 3D printing doesn’t do all the work. Making an impressive costume still takes patience, creativity, and plenty of trial and error. But it gives fans another way to create things that might otherwise be difficult or expensive to make.
At this year’s L.A. Comic Con, Snapmaker is showing visitors what that process can look like. Its booth features creations from the company’s recent Cosplay & Costume Model Design Contest, including selected winning designs made by members of its maker community.
Visitors can also see the Snapmaker U1 in action. The printer has four independent printheads, allowing users to combine different colors and materials in a single project. For cosplayers, that could mean making accessories with several colors or combining rigid and flexible sections without having to print everything separately.
But perhaps one of the most valuable things Snapmaker is offering has nothing to do with showing off a new printer. The company has scheduled free cosplay repair sessions throughout the weekend.
The popular Snapmaker U1 multicolor 3D printer. Image courtesy of Xu Fanglei.
For cosplayers who spend weeks or even months working on their costumes, keeping everything in one piece throughout a busy convention can be a challenge. Helmets, armor, and accessories tend to have small or delicate parts that can break, loosen, or fall off during the day. And with thousands of people moving through the convention, having a place to make quick repairs could be super helpful.
There’s also a competition behind all the costumes. Snapmaker is the presenting sponsor of the Cosplay National Championship, where participants compete across three divisions for a total of $25,000 in cash prizes. Competitors can dress as characters from movies, TV shows, comics, video games, and anime, or show off their own original designs. And while the costumes can be pretty spectacular, judges are also looking at all the work behind them, from how they’re made and finished to how well competitors bring their characters to life.
On Halloween, Snapmaker also hosted a panel called 3D Printing Cosplay: The Future of Multi-Material, featuring 3D printed statue maker Luis Garcia, cosplayer Brandon Jackson, Marco from StarWars.eo, known for building fan-made Star Wars projects, and tech creator ImpulseBuilds. They discussed the challenges of making costumes and props at home, and how 3D printing can make the process easier.
Beyond Snapmaker’s activities, this year’s Comic Con also includes Halloween trick-or-treating, cosplay gatherings, and a children’s costume competition on Sunday, along with appearances by stars like Nicolas Cage, Hayden Christensen, Rosario Dawson and Sam Heughan. And with so many people already showing up in costume, Halloween couldn’t be a better time for Comic Con.
Not every costume at Comic Con is 3D printed, of course, but the technology has been part of the cosplay world for well over a decade. From helmets and armor to props and accessories, fans have been using 3D printers for years to bring their favorite characters to life. And with a little imagination, plenty of patience, and a lot of work, those creations can become some pretty impressive costumes.