Super easy X-men Claws for X23 cosplay

Hi everyone!

So, I very hastily had to put together an X23 (Laura Kinney) costume for a fun video shoot with my friends over at Why So Serious Show. The only reason I agreed to do it within a week's time is because I already had a striped shirt and because I figured that doing these claws would be super easy, and it is!

Here's how you can make yourself some mutant X-men claws.

You will need:

• 1 sheet (8.5" X 11") of styrene/syntra plastic 0.2mm thickness
• 1 sheet of  (8.5" X 11") cardboard
• Hot glue gun
• Sandpaper (I used 150 grit)
• Silver spray paint
• (optional) Spray paint primer
• (optional) Bondo

You can be neat and trace/digitally draw the shape of the claws, or you can be devil-may-care about and just do it by hand! Like moi~

I used a scrap piece of presentation board to cut out the shape.

Now that you've decided on the shape of the claw, use your template claw to draw over the styrene/plastic. You see the little curved arch at the bottom of the claw? This is to nudge the claw between my fingers, giving it the illusion that it grows out of my hand and securing it between the fingers.

you can draw on styrene with ballpoint pen.

Cut out all pieces with an x-acto knife or scissors. You will need 2 pieces of plastic per claw.

Now you will need some cardboard, anything that's lying around is fine. We just need some to make the claws sturdy. Make sure to cut it a little smaller than the plastic, and not leave any for the bottom part that goes in between the fingers. You will glue one piece of styrene on each side, completely covering the cardboard.

Use more hot glue to fill in gaps along the edges, you can cut out the excess with a knife or sand it down with sandpaper. Once you're satisfied with the shape, get ready to paint them!

claws before paint

Spray paint takes 24 hours to dry between coats, so this is the part that is a little sucky. If you're totally in a rush, just spray them claws silver and boom! You're done! If you want to fine tune your work, spray one coat of primer, fill gaps with Bondo, sand it beautifully, prime again, AND THEN give it a coat or two of your final silver color.

please spray paint in a well ventilated area

RAWR. After all this, get your hair did at the salon for that Laura Kinney look.

To further un-complicate my life, and because the claws wouldn't stay upright unless my fingers were somewhat extended, I took the extra precaution of choosing a look for X23 where she was wearing gloves (which she does, a lot of the time) so then all I have to do is stick the claws inside the gloves, and they will stay put.

Thanks for stopping by!! And don't forget to follow Why So Serious Show on Instagram and YouTube to catch the X23 special episode.


BONUS!! Cosplay cat!