Thibra - Shapeable, Heat-Activated Thermoplastic for Sculpting, costuming and Cosplay - Quarter Sheet

This material understandably has a bad wrap, but you can not get mad at an egg for not being purple. THIBRA IS NOT WORBLA. As long as you keep that in mind you will be okay. I spent several days experimenting with this material to see what it was actually goodfor. It is thin and not very durable as a core piece, but warmed up at a lower temperature than worbla. All in all this is what I discovered:1. Use a hair dryer on the low heat setting. It is all you need.2. Apply heat at the out most lower part first and work your way to the middle, resist the urge to start at the top (prevents the dripping effect)3. It does not stick to most fabrics, so you can use it as a barrier between it and objects you are shaping it over.4.It pics up textures nicely. have spots on your Worbla armor that need a woven look? cut a piece of burlap out in the size and shape you need. place thibra over it on a flat surface. Warm til the thibra takes on fabric appearance, let cool and cut out. I recommend leaving the burlap under it when sticking it to your armor so it will maintain the texture when you rewarm it enough to shape it.5. ORnamental accent pieces and jewelry are another good use for this material because it is light weight and easy to manipulate. Just get some and mess around with it.

good stuff. i haven't tried worbla but this thermoplastic worked really well for the breastplate i made for my xena cosplay. one sheet was enough for the front breastplate with about 1/3 of the material left and after a couple of mistakes so its good bang for ur buck. super great that it sticks to itself and is smooth. i applied the paint straight on to the breastplate (no primer) and its holding up great. used a heat gun (i tried to be cheap and use the hair dryer- dnt do that- and ended up having to scrap the mess i made). maybe invest in some gloves cuz it can get hot and fingerprints mark the material. so obviously its good for details.

It is great. I used heat gun to soften and then formed over my doll shoe last. These will become part of shoe to create a firm toe even though the foot will not fill the shoe. I am exceptionally happy with the product.

Good for covering small bits for cosplay. I personally did not like the product but it's only because it would pick up the texture underneath despite me trying to "hide seams" in my foam prop. If you're used to Worbla and need a cheap replacement, go for this.

I understand thus us not worbla, but as a thermo plastic, it should not bubble or simply rip when draped over something. I added an unheated strip over the foam I was working with, and heated it slowly over it. Bubbles formed and in the time it took for me to set down the hair dryer (I hopped for different effects than the heat gun) it had melted a giant hole in the center. Keep in mind I only used it for about ten seconds in the area.

I've worked with Worbla, Wonderflex, and now recently with Thibra for cosplay. This material definitely takes practice and a bit of research in order to reach its full potential, but I think it is a wonderful prop-building tool. There is no adhesive side to this material but it sticks to itself so well that you can heat a flat piece and squish it to form something three-dimensional. This material heats at a lower temperature than Worbla, so you can heat it with a hairdryer if you don't have a heat gun. I have had some issues with bubbling, but I asked another artist for solutions and she recommended that when bubbles appear to let the Thibra cool, poke holes in it with a needle, then reheat and work the bubble out.Keep in mind that if you are covering anything with Thibra, it will take on the texture of the layer underneath. If there is a bumpy texture on your armor that you wanted to cover up, Thibra will only provide a hard surface of exactly the same texture. You need the right tool for the right job, and the right tool won't always be Thibra, but that doesn't make it any less of a great material.

As long as you realize this is NOT worbla or terraflex, you will be fine. It is better suited for creating details than used for the whole piece due to its low heating point. I have taken to making my major pieces with worbla and then decorating with the Thibra.