Scissors are Progressing...

I finally had some time to really crack down on working on the scissors for my Souseiseki costume! The first step was making a pattern, which has involved a lot of sketching, erasing, measuring, and pencil lead (as it were) on hands. I measured a small picture I have of the scissors, then scaled it up to figure out the appropriate ratios. I think they're maybe even a little bigger than I had planned, but I think they look good this way. Giant props are fun!

I'm nervous about cutting out the foamcore, because I know it is going to be tedious. Since it's thick, I'll have to make several passes with the knife, and I have a lot of pieces to cut out. But, such is the plight of prop creation. Large amounts of effort are usually expended upon it. I think the results are worth it, though, ne?

I've been being lazy about the shopping post. It'll get up here some time this week, along with some progress shots of my costume. Hope everyone else's are going well. I'm starting to really feel the crunch... this is the last free weekend before BAMBAM two cons in a row! Agh. My wig isn't here yet. I don't have shoes. Aaagh...

... ._. I'll be fine! Do your best!

Blizzcon Cosplay!

Well, Blizzcon 2009 was absolutely amazing. It's completely different from an anime con, and was twice as big as the biggest con I've been to!

I'm just going to focus on cosplay in this particular post, though as you might imagine, I have a lot to say about the rest of the con, as well. Going there was an absolute dream.

I have to admit, it was very difficult seeing all of the amazing costumes, because as I've mentioned many times before, I want to do WoW cosplay very badly. However, I had several very nice conversations with some of the people in the amazing costumes, so I picked up some good tips for when I start on mine! I mostly asked about armour making, as I've heard of so many ways to do it. Wonderflex was involved on everyone I spoke to (except one person, whose friends made his armour out of REAL LEATHER. Crap.), as I assumed, but the rest was varied.

The priest (first photo) used Model Magic on top of his armor, much to my noticeable surprise. I have heard of people making things with it, but it has some issues... it shrinks a lot, for one, and can be dented during various stages. He wasn't surprised at me being skeptical, so he went on to explain that it works very well and is nice and lightweight, you just have to remember to account for the shrinking when making the pieces. I'm now confident that if I do experiments to see how much it shrinks in different situations, I could form some pretty intricate pieces with it.

A girl dressed as a... which doctor? Shaman? From Diablo 3 told me that most of her stuff was made out of Sculpey, which surprised me even more than the Model Magic guy. Almost as if reading my mind, she said that it of course is very fragile, and she has to be extremely careful not to break it. She also used the much talked about Wonderflex/Friendly Plastic combo. She also used Bondo for a few things, and I asked her how easy it was to work with. She said don't use it on things that bend, which I pretty much figured. She also had a very cool system of LED lights embedded into cast resin jewels all over her armor. She explained that all of the wires were hidden in the cloth, and they were all powered by D batteries disguised in a scroll case! That was a great idea. I regret not taking a photo of her, but she was in the costume contest, so I'm sure there are many photos of her on the internet.

Kael'thas (second photo) is the guy who was wearing a costume made by two friends; one did the armor, the other the sewing. The armor was all hand-tooled leather, and was very impressive. Leather working is an in-game skill I have that I've always wanted to learn to do in real life. Hopefully some day I will. Anyway, he was very nice, and enjoyed doing Kael'thas's voice, which was fun.

I didn't get to talk to the Draenei Shaman (third photo) about his armor, but I thought it looked very cool. The LEDs gave a nice effect because the whole con was so dark. I wasn't so sure about the scale of his mace, but everything looked really great. You could tell he spent a great deal of time on it. I was also just happy to see a draenei male! More beard tentacles next time, man. Beard tentacles.

The costume contest was great fun to watch. I didn't have good seats, so I have no photos from it. It should be easy to find on the internet. The girl who won had a very intricate and amazing costume and, almost as importantly, was in character all the time! I saw her several times throughout the con, including on stage, and she was always acting her part. Congrats to her for all of her efforts.

Overall, there weren't many people walking around on the floor in costume, and I could see why. Most of the costumes were big and bulky, and the convention was completely packed and difficult enough to navigate in normal clothes. But... I'm going to try to do it anyway! Here's hoping I can get tickets next year.

Pokemon costume progress

My sister's wedding is over, so I've finally had time to get back to costumes and putting up my portfolio site, which I just finished today (finally!).

I've been working on my Gijinka costume. I decided on Gabite. Here's what I've got so far:



I still have to sew the sleeves on the shirt, and put fasteners on the shirt and skirt.

This was my first time making a "proper" collar. I did my best, but it didn't turn out that great. It's passable, though. It's one of those things that I would only redo if I found myself with a bunch of spare time before the con (read: not gonna happen) but I won't be too disappointed if I don't.

For the skirt, I used a pattern I had from high school. The skirt is simple with a waistband, and isn't too full. I modified the pattern by (1) making it shorter, and (2) making the skirt even less full, though only slightly. I just folded on of the pattern pieces down to about half its width, effectively removing about a foot of fullness.

Instead of installing a zipper, I elected to leave a slit and close the skirt using velcro. I wanted more flexibility to adjust the waist size so the shirt would sty tucked in and lay flat. I also just wanted something that was just fast and easy to sew and to use. I left the slit where the zipper would have been installed, then folded under and finished the edges.

On a side note, I keep all of my patterns in their own plastic bag, which I label with the pattern brand, number, and sizes. Then I can keep everything organized without having to worry about fitting the pattern pieces back into the little envelope. :<

If you're planning on modifying a pattern, read the directions for the pattern first, especially if you aren't very familiar with garment construction. It will teach you more about the way clothes are put together, and can save you a lot of time and trouble. You can see what pieces are unnecessary and, therefore, you don't have to waste fabric cutting out. You can also look ahead to see what steps are skippable and what steps are a good idea that you may not have thought of.

I hope everyone else's costumes are going well!

Cosplay Material Links

I get excited when I find a new source of materials or information for cosplay, so here is a short list of some that I've found recently.

Reynold's Advanced Materials - These guys just opened up a store in the Boston area, which I plan on checking out. They have basically everything you would ever need to cast anything. If you live near a store, they also have classes.

Simply Spray Fabric Paint - The website isn't so great, but I'm trying to focus on the product. I found out about this through a cosplay forum. A girl used it to paint an intricate plaid pattern on a dress, and it looked great. It doesn't get stiff or anything, and goes on like spraypaint. You can buy it in stores... I just saw some in Joanns recently.

Volara Foam, Conductive Foam - These foams are supposedly alternatives to "fun foam" or craft foam for forming armour. Apparently they respond well to heated shaping and are pretty durable. One is closed cell and the other appears to be open celled. I was recommended these materials by others who have used it.

Friendly Plastic Pellets - This is an alternative resource for Friendly Plastic pellets, which might be a little less expensive than cosplaysupplies.com.

Electrique Boutique - This isn't for construction, but this place has a large assortment of different shoes that might be useful, and their prices are good. You can get a pair of boots for about $25, brand new, which is good in my book.

Hope you guys can find these links useful. ^_^

AB Prep Day 2

Hello there.

Earlier today I finished Ashitaka's hood. Sorry, I know I look... not good. heh. I traced a hood on my WoW hoodie for a general idea of the shape and size of the hood. I brought it over the forehead a little more and made the top more pointed, then cut it out and sewed it together. I made two of these exact hoods, one in red and one in brown (for the lining... the red fabric has a bit of an open weave). Then I used trial and error, putting it on to check the shape. I ended up making the top shorter. Sometimes trial and error is the best way to go.

Right now I'm working on my ball gown. I finally got the top fitted to me properly, which is extremely important for strapless dresses. Now I am working on pinning on the colours. I finished and gathered the top edge of my blue fabric and am in the process of pinning it on, which is what you see in the picture. That's why it looks weird.

I ran into a problem with Ashitaka's pants. I won't go into details, but needless to say it came down to a shortage of fabric... even someone as skinny as Mike wouldn't fit into these. We're going to try to substitute some premade pants for the sake of time, either a pair of Mike's or one that I will go purchase. Sometimes, when there is a simple component to a costume, it is more worth your time and money to just buy it and add it to the pieces you made yourself. That way, they won't detract from all your hard work.

I've been trying to take more step-by-step photos, but I've been having a problem with my camera's batteries running out for no reason, and then I have to recharge them. Since the con's only a few days away, I can't stop working to wait for the camera. So, sorry. ._.

I'm going to post some links to cosplay supply websites that I've found lately. Next post!

More Costumes; More Sword Changes

As is typical, the idea and process for creating the Suigintou sword has changed yet again.

I spent hours with my dad (definitely a two-person job) creating a blade out of foam to cover in plastic, and it was just not working out. We got stuck trying to make the difficult angles in the blade, and worried how the plastic would adhere if we couldn't get the foam perfectly smooth. It was all blowing up and we were at a standstill for a while.

I finally came the conclusion that I should just make the blade out of wood/MDF and deal with the consequences should there be any. That way, the sword would look the way I wanted it to. I will take it to Anime Boston and hope no one thinks it's dangerous (it certainly will not be). If they do, I'll just leave it at security, pick it up at the end of the day, and go on without it. But at least I will have a sword the way I want it to look for other cons and photo shoots. That seemed more important, in the end, than a particular cons potential rules, particularly when I'm not being entered in any formal competitions.

In the realm of more costumes... MORE COSTUMES. I will be making myself another costume for Anime Boston to wear to the formal ball, which will be Gwendolyn's ball gown from Odin Sphere. I bought all the fabric for it this weekend and I'm really excited about it.

I also bought fabric for my friend Mike's costume, who will be going to AB as Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke. It's a pretty simple costume, which are some of the most fun to do, because every detail is important. I got great fabric for the hood and burlap to make him some shoe covers. He's (supposedly) taking care of his own sword and (maybe) bow.

I'll be working on 4 costumes - the two mentioned above, Suigintou, and the Urd commission - over the next month leading up to AB. Spring break is definitely my friend this year (first week of march). I'll be posting all kinds of photos over the coming weeks, including of sword construction.

This is the fun part!

Slow progress...

Well, I did get SOME things done over the holiday. The sword is about 1/3 of the way done. I don't have any photos yet, but I should have some when the process is a bit further along. It's just as well, so that you can see where it's all going.

After much planning and discussion, the original plan was sort of thrown out, or at least modified. No more "sandwich". Now, the main part of the handle has been made out of a baseball bat, and the wings were cut out of MDF (medium density fiberboard; available at any home improvement place). I put wooden dowels into the foam for the blade for structure and support, and the bottom end of the dowel will be put through the handle several inches.

The next steps are to carve and cover the blade, and dremel the design into the wing section. I will do those some time in the next several weeks, when I have access to the tools and space at home again.

I also spent about 2 hours simply detangling the wig. What an annoying process. When I next work on the sword, I'll work on the styling of the wig more as well. I got a curling iron with adjustable temperature which I'm hoping will help solve the problems I've been having with it.

In Gwendolyn and general construction news, I FINALLY got a shipment of Wonderflex in the mail, and will be playing with it this weekend with my heatgun. I'll also be experimenting with various combinations of craft foam, polystyrene, hot glue, and the heat gun to see what comes from it. I'll post my results next week.

If you are looking for Wonderflex, I got mine from Mainstage Theatre Supply, where I got a full sheet for around $30 shipped, MUCH cheaper than cosplaysupply.com's $70ish dollar charge for a sheet. (EDIT: I have reason to suspect that Mainstage, while nice people, do not have a website that is as secure as it should be for credit cards. Please use caution when using your card over the internet. I recommend trying to phone in your order and/or paying with a different method.) I will probably still end up ordering Friendly Plastic from them, though, unless I find it somewhere else. I'm thinking about ordering some Fosshape as well... but more on that another time.

Holiday Cosplay Goals

I'm finally done with finals hell, so I can focus on cosplay for a few weeks! That is, between seeing my friends and family and doing holiday activities. *sigh*

My biggest goal for this time period is making Suigintou's sword for my costume (see crappy picture to the left).

I registered for Anime Boston at the nice low rate of $35. I plan on entering the Hall Contest, I think, because I'm a little concerned with the masquerade taking up too much time (like Connecticon, though I'm sure it will be run better at AB), but I still want to enter the costume in a contest. It seems to be a good middle ground.

I'm planning on making the sword handle out of wood. I'm going to use two pieces, one for the front and one for the back. I'm going to cut them out and dremel the same design into each one. Then I'll sandwich the blade between the two halves of the hilt.

I'm going to construct the blade out of a (insulation) foam core that I will cover with plastic. I chose this method to comply with convention regulations. Many events absolutely do not allow wooden swords, so I figure this way I won't really have to worry about whatever convention I take it to. I made Zabuza's sword out of plastic covered foam last year, and that was huge, so I know they will allow it. In my opinion it's better to be safe than sorry with this kind of thing, lest you be left without the amazing prop you spent so much time working on.

At least that's the plan.

I'm going to try to make an instructable for the sword, or at least take photos and share them.

My second goal is to fix the wig for the Suigintou costume. It's a bit wonky right now. I got a curling iron with adjustable temperature so I think that will help coax the wig into doing my bidding. I'm also going to fix the cut. It's a little strange.

I'll be happy if I can get those things done while I'm here.

I'm in the process of making instructions for my Izumi goggles. I figure even if you never make an Izumi costume, it could be helpful for if you have to make any kind of goggles or similar item.

Costume Profile - Izumi from Genshiken

Okay, I've been failing pretty hard at updating, but in my defense, I had a bunch of school work and I also threw a bridal shower for my sister back home.

Anyway.

Here is the profile of my Izumi costume.

Character Name: Izumi
Series: Genshiken
Worn to: Tokyo Kid Cosplay Contest (Boston, MA); Will probably be worn the Sunday of Anime Boston 2008

Total Time: About 25-30 hours
Total Cost: About $70

Easiest things about this costume: The hat was incredibly easy. The black shirt I bought and modified.

Most difficult things about this costume: The shoes, which my boyfriend helped out a lot on... lots of gluing involved and I didn't have time for that. The skirt was also ridiculously hard.

Materials Used and Price Breakdown:

- Jacket, skirt, and hat: Plain blue cotton, $3.95/yd, Winmil Fabrics.

- White detailing on skirt, jacket, and shoes: White cotton/poly, $2.95/yd, Winmil Fabrics.

- Shoes: Yellow stretch synthetic fabric, $5/yd; Orange vinyl, $3/yd; White buttons, $1.30/2 pack; Fabritac, $7; all from Winmil Fabrics.
Felt (for structure), free (leftover from a long time ago).
"Kung-fu" shoes, $5, Chinatown.

- Shirt: Silk knit (yeah, I don't know why that exists, either) sweater, $.90 at the Dollar-a-pound at the Garment District.

- Mah-Jong tiles: Sculpy clay, $1.50(ish), Utrecht Art Supplies. Lovingly painted by my boyfriend. ^^

- Collar, Shoe, and Hat Stuffing: I stuffed these things with a combination of leftover polar fleece, felt, and foam from projects long past. The fleece made the hat really snuggly. ^^

- Other misc. elements, such as the zipper and elastic, were purchased at Winmil Fabrics or found in my sewing box.

- Wig: Chinadoll green wig, $27, Dorothy's Costume

- Goggles: Black vinyl, $5/yd; Black elastic; Buckle, $2; all from Winmil Fabrics.
Basswood for main construction, $2 for the size and thickness I purchased; Model maker's tin sheet, about $2; Model maker's plastic, $1.50 for the sheet; all at Utrecht Art Supplies.

More Wonderflex and Feathers

So,
I tried to place an order for some Wonderflex and Friendly Plastic via cosplaysupplies.com, as I had mentioned in a previous post. Their methods are a little strange over there and they confirm your order via email before letting you actually place it. The reply to my order was that they were "having some trouble with their Wonderflex supplier" and therefore I can't place an order with them at this time.

All of this ended up being a blessing in disguise, as it were, because I have found other sources of Wonderflex that are far less expensive than cosplaysupplies.com.

Cosworx has Wonderflex, but their supply is apparently out at the moment. But when it's in, it sells for $30 for a big sheet, which is much less expensive than cosplaysupplies.com. I have also found a theatre supply company that sells it. I'm going to try to buy from one of these two places.

I would like to say that I still think cosplaysupplies.com is a great site and has a lot to offer, especially hard to find things like shoe-making supplies. I just won't be buying my Wonderflex from them, is all. Unless these other things fall through.

I have been doing a lot of research for supply resources, namely for plastics, armour, and feathers. I will need a lot of feathers for my Gwendolyn costume, and I was able to find a promising website or two. At Rainbow Feathers, they will custom dye feathers for you. This seems to be the way to go for this project. Their prices also seem pretty reasonable. I found a couple of other feather websites, but other than Rainbow, the only other one that seemed worth looking into was Lamplight Feathers. They seem to have a bunch of different items at a decent price.

Wonderflex and Friendly Plastic

I've been reading up on this newfangled Wonderflex and its friend Friendly Plastic.
I've been searching for something to make, at the very least, the calf armour for Gwendolyn, and potentially any and all armour for Oswald, if my boyfriend decides to go as him. Both are from Odin Sphere:

After reading the FAQs and tutorials for using Wonderflex and Friendly Plastic, I feel confident enough that this could be a good solution for making armour and maybe even weapons. I am going to order a small sheet of Wonderflex and a small container of Friendly Plastic to experiment with.
I am also going to pick up some Bondo, because (1) I have never used it before, heard some mixed opinions, and want to see what it can do, and (2) I wouldn't use gesso as suggested in the Wonderflex FAQ because there is no way that will not come off in chunks.

Once I get the materials and play around with them, I'll post my results with photos.

Links:

Wonderflex, Fosshape, and Friendly Plastic Purchase Page
Wonderflex and Friendly Plastic Tutorial/FAQ
Wonderflex FAQ