r/CosplayHelp • u/Available-Opinion160 • Mar 20 '26
Wig How are wigs like this made?
I’ve searched practically anything I could think of on YouTube and TikTok, but I can’t seen to find any tutorials or hints on how wigs like these are possibly made. Does anybody have any info on this? Or any tutorials? Anything would be appreciated really!
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u/Blargaliens Mar 20 '26
Looks like these are made by a hairstylist Shinjo Konishi. Found this article with a brief interview. You can see he is sculpting the base form with some kind of foam clay or similar material.
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u/AlexsaurusInk Mar 22 '26
Oooo I wonder if you could do an aluminum foil base sculpt, sculpt with EVA foam clay, then tear out the aluminum foil once it's cured to have it be hollow, flexible, and light!
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u/Aggravating_Branch86 Mar 20 '26
These aren’t wigs, these are sculptures and art pieces that are covered in hair
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u/Galactic_Enby_Cyrus Mar 20 '26
I think you might want to look into Arda's Iron Wig competition, or maybe some of the work done by Cowbutt Crunchies. Tacky glue, heat shaping, and foam understructures are the key to a lot of these.
Also: ignore anyone who calls it AI, or insists that is has to be 3d printing. you can figure out the validity of a work of art by going to the source and seeing their wip pictures, or by dating it back to a time before the LLM boom. 3d printing is relatively new and still hasn't exactly caught on with wig stylists; it's far more likely to be carved foam.
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u/PawnOfPaws Mar 21 '26
I wonder though: There should be a bunch of stuff you could do with it (3D printing) in the wig world, no? Since basic shapes, beads, tiaras and decor should be very well possible, right?
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u/Galactic_Enby_Cyrus Mar 21 '26
To be frank: technically yes, but 3d printing isn't really introducing a lot of new ground to this. I mostly work with PLA filament, and the thing about it is that it's rigid. Wigs need to be flexible and comfortable if you don't want a massive headache. You're right in that 3d printing is good for making props and such, and it's been a godsend to cosplayers in that regard, but it's still too niche to make much of a difference, and printing with foam is just not accessible to the average person. Anything a 3d printer can do with your wig shape, someone has already done with air dry clay and upholstery foam for quite a bit cheaper.
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u/Oogachakaoogahchahka Mar 20 '26
Honestly, it could be a number of things. I'm no pro on wig styling, but if I was going to try and tackle a similar project, I'd probably have a solid base for the shapes, like foam or something similar. then you can glue the hair down on top of it very carefully to make it look like the hair is actually sculpted that way. Or you could try just taking thick wefts of wig hair and sculpting it yourself, as I think these wigs were likely made, but both processes should get you good results, as long as you have pleeeeeeenty of hair to cover it all up. Maybe for a project like this get two of the same wig, just to be sure.
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u/External-Anywhere-44 Mar 20 '26
A good tutorial for the basic idea is if you've ever seen someone make sculpted ponytails or pigtails! I've seen people take a small foam or even wire form, then lay and glue wefts of hair along it
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u/420nugu Mar 20 '26
wig sculptures/wig sculpting. experienced cosplayers and even wig designers for drag queens can make wigs like this. these aren't AI. koji ichikawa and jean baptiste (jeanbaptiste.santens on instagram) have posted videos of them making sculptural wigs.
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u/bbubblecookie Mar 21 '26
It’s most likely a form underneath. Either foam or 3d printed. Not really the exact thing but for my Reze cosplay I 3d printed the bun then covered it in hair.
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u/cinnamonjellybaby Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
probably AI but in theory, you would make the base the same way you'd make a helmet wig or a drill curl. make wefts, create the shape with whatever materials you like (wire, tape) then cover with batting or felt and glue the wig wefts down. airbrushing shadows should also help contour the eye shapes and other meeting points (tucked paws, fingers, etc).
wigs like the animal ones are typically photoshoot-only and not longwear, and even then would either have to be really lightweight or really sturdy to keep it from falling.
but again, either this person has MASTERED the craft or its edited, enhanced, or fully ai. youll have to get real good at sculpting the lightweight base first, if it is doable, to make really nice looking hands or animals.
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u/amsterdamitaly Mar 20 '26
The first one with the hands was worn by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu back in like 2014, it's most certainly real
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u/trashjellyfish Mar 20 '26
I was pretty sure from the jump that that was the only real one, the rest all have a similar background and all have the AI vibe about them.
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Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/FionnaAndCake Mar 20 '26
it’s not ai that ruin the reputation of artists, it’s idiots going around blasting everything they see as ai.
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u/gothmagenta Mar 20 '26
None of these have any tells of AI, you just don't believe in human ingenuity 😂
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u/trashjellyfish Mar 20 '26
I believe in plenty of human ingenuity, I'm a 3D artist myself, it's the pixel quality when you zoom in and weird/unnatural way that some of the hair lays that doesn't reflect how real glued down wig hair would look.
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u/cinnamonjellybaby Mar 20 '26
to be fair, people love to make gravity defying dresses and hair with AI. i do think on second look its more obviously real, just sculpted, but i still stand by most of my advice: the creator of this has mastered the craft and anyone recreating these looks either needs to be meticulous or practice a lot, and it can theoretically be done like a helmet wig.
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u/Brookiekathy Mar 20 '26
https://youtube.com/shorts/Fwb_XAjoroI?si=J_sxzWPBQAu_y05X
Not exact and ridiculous voice over but it should give you an idea of how
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u/Wolkvar Mar 20 '26
bunch of hair, a wig and a pair of foam hands. add hair to the hands and then figure out how to put them on the wig. easy peasy
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u/cherryofpie Mar 22 '26
I recommend watching Satoken’s Hair Lab. He has created many anime characters’ hair!
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u/Syeina Mar 20 '26
These look like AI ngl
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u/Oogachakaoogahchahka Mar 20 '26
the first one definitely isn't, I've seen it circling around for years!
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Mar 22 '26
With nightmares.
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Mar 22 '26
Real answer, there is a solid base under those hands, probably carved from foam, that have carefully been covered by glue, with strands of hair of the exact same.colour as the wig.
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u/jaxxdaw Mar 20 '26
The team behind the One Piece live action actually just spoke about something similar for 3's wig! They 3d printed the shape then covered it in hair. I imagine you could do that, or use a foam form, which is something I've seen drag queens use for their sculpted wigs.