Research

Since I wanted the smooth "authentic" plastic/metal look of MegaMan, I originally thought about either using vacuum forming or thermoplastics.  Since I don't have access to a vacuum forming machine, I'd have to go with thermoplastics.  A recent trip to The Engineeer Guy really opened my eyes to the possibilities.

With either route though, I'd have to create a basic mold for the forms to go over.  I didn't want to deal with a ton of clay, so that left styrofoam.  It's a lot more challenging / expensive to find a big block of styrofoam, so I ended up going to HomeDepot for a few sheets of foam board insulation.  Then I stopped by Michaels to get some glue to layer them together, as well as a hot wire knife to slice through the styrofoam easily.

I pulled up my target image and found a basic human diagram.  I overlaid some simple lines just to give me a better idea of size and proportion.  I think the results below do a good job of preserving the larger-than-life anime style.  Tomorrow I start gluing and slicing the pieces.  Thanks to the hot knife, there shouldn't be any mess, but I'll probably have to keep the windows ventilated to avoid breathing in toxic gases.