Cosplay creation: Like Halloween all year

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Cosplay creation: Like Halloween all year

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

Speaking of armor, what's a good first project for someone who's new to this? Should I try making arm bracers, spaulders?

# ¿ May 22, 2012 14:56

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 08:50

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

Has anyone here built armor, or used pepokura files to build armor using fiberglass?

# ¿ Jul 10, 2012 03:24

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

McPantserton posted:

Never with pepakura, but I've built some armor in my day. ...I kid, I kid, I'm working on a set of full plate right now out of vacuum-formed styrene and it's def not my first rodeo! What are you looking to do?

For my birthday, my roommate got me a working Airsoft version of the M4A1 Pulse Rifle, the gun used in Aliens. Some Colonial Marines cosplay (or even a working version of their kit for airsoft games) would be awesome. The only tricky part is the armor. Not super complicated, but I've never built armor before. Most of the RPF and similar forums are using Pepakura files and fiberglass. The pepakura doesn't look too hard, but I've never, ever used fiberglass.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2012 03:58

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

THIZZFACE KILLA posted:

I just made armor using fiberglass. I have used pepakura for something else that didn't end with fiberglass on it. What do you need to know?

Any good tutorials, tips, or educational resources?

# ¿ Jul 10, 2012 23:31

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

Holy smokes, pepakura is kind of a nightmare. I printed out the shin armor for a colonial marine and figured "I'll get it cut out and formed!"

Talk about tedious. So many tiny pieces; even a simple shin piece has over 500 edges. I'm worried that it might not even fit right.

I think I might try a different method. spending 20 hours just cutting out tiny pieces of paper to make a single piece of armor seems... ridiculous. Or is that just par for the course?

# ¿ Jul 13, 2012 21:46

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

I'm trying to find something that looks like the exposed workings of a clock, but that will actually run. Ideally off of a 9 volt battery. And big; maybe a foot square. I have no idea what to search for on google.

I'm trying to make a costume that looks like a robot that's been damaged, so you can see the inner workings and power source.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2012 20:25

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

Forgive the cords in the background, but this is my first completed cosplay.

The leatherwork was done by me, and I made the buckle by combining some Halloween decorations with some sculpting and some styrene, then made a mold.

I'm pretty satisfied with the costume overall, but I need to finish up the gun props. They still look like the cheap Halloween store decorations that they actually are; hopefully some good painting will fix that.

This one's a little blurry but still shows off the costume well.

Is anyone from this thread going to be at RI Comic Con?

# ¿ Oct 28, 2013 19:04

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

Killer_Frost posted:

Nice job. Now it just needs dirtied up. it's very well done, congrats.

You're not the first person to say that, but there's a part of me that says "NO WAY am I going to dirty up something I spent all this time and money on!" Even though I realize it'll probably help.

Pagan fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Oct 28, 2013

# ¿ Oct 28, 2013 20:27

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

Fatkraken posted:

OH, while I'm here, what's a good vegetarian alternative to leather for pouches and belts/strapping? I want them to look old and worn but still tough, it's a cowboy type character. I was thinking reclaimed leather from old sofas would be OK for the soft stuff (I'm not opposed to using secondhand stuff, just to buying it new) but I'm sorta stuck on the thicker stuff. I know I've seen synthetic "leather" belts that are thick and tough, can one buy that stuff as an end user? Ir will I just have to buy the belts as-is and go from there?

I would look into old leather jackets, or used belts from the thrift shop. I've seen some pretty heavy duty stuff there.

Question : For mold making, what's the best price you guys have found in the US? When I made my skull buckle :

I used an entire $40 trial size of Dragon Skin and still needed more. I can see that getting really expensive really fast. What do you guys recommend?

# ¿ Nov 1, 2013 13:47

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

McPantserton posted:

More Khorne progress! Either later today or tomorrow I'm going to go on a spike-making marathon to finish up the hip plates, breastplate, and these bracers, which I just added the skulls to.

After a few weeks of semi-sluggishness I'm finally really getting into this build. I'd been feeling really lethargic what with how early it's getting dark these days where I live so it's very revitalizing to be so immersed in sculpting again.

These are great, and the breasplate is really fantastic. Makes me think I might be able to tackle some armor sooner than I thought.

# ¿ Nov 9, 2013 21:22

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

I've been working on an outfit and I wanted to take advantage of the snow. Even though it's not finished, I think the pictures came out pretty good. These aren't intended to be final shots or anything, but to give me an idea of how it looks. I know, glasses.

Almost everything has been made from scratch. Aside from things like the buckles themselves, I made everything except for the boots, pants, and shirt. Tunic, belt, shield, everything I made. The fabric is all wool, so I wasn't too cold.

I haven't put a fastener on the cloak yet. Although it looked really cool blowing in the wind, it was a pain keeping it on. Next big piece is going to be the chest plate of the vest.

Detail of the shield, quiver, and tunic.

The bracers were designed in Illustrator and "printed" using a laser cutter at the local makerspace. This shot shows the detail I got. Using the laser cutter wasn't super easy; it took a few tries to get the settings right.

The quiver was done by hand.

Before assembly.

Feedback, critique, criticism, all welcome. This is my first time making everything I can from scratch.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2015 22:50

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

Squarely Circle posted:

That is looking great so far (and the second picture is lovely, I'm jealous of wherever you are). How heavy is that shield? It looks like it would get annoying to carry around after a bit, but I guess that would add to the realism

That a park near my house in Providence, RI. We've had about 6 feet of snow in the past 6 weeks, so there's no shortage of it. The "bridge" is just a small overpass, but I've always thought it would look good in pictures.

The shield is heavy as hell. It's thick enough for real combat; 2 layers of 1/4" plywood then the strips, all glued and pressed in a mold. I plan on building a much smaller one to carry at cons.

Squarely Circle posted:

I'm working on something in a similar fantasy-medieval vein for the AZ ren faire going on right now, my stuff's mostly scavenged/altered clothes from Goodwill though. I just finished this and it's cobbled together from like five different brown belts, plus some hardware and faux fur I had lying around. Pretty pleased with how it turned out even if it's a little rough on the inside. Hooray for glue.

You're off to a good start, what kind of outfit are you planning on?

# ¿ Mar 6, 2015 11:59

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

Picked up my bow yesterday, and with one last snow storm in the forecast, I was able to do one more shoot of my costume in the snow.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2015 23:22

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

That shot was my girlfriend's idea, so she deserves the credit. I just can't believe that's me. I'm a computer geek, but I somehow look like I'm in a movie poster.

My goal with this costume is to do everything "real." I'm trying not to use props or fake things unless I can't help it. So real wool fabric, real leather, etc. The bow is a 40 lb recurve. It's made of modern materials, but since I plan on bowhunting with it, I couldn't afford two bows.

Better shot of the bow and accessories.

Pagan fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Mar 23, 2015

# ¿ Mar 23, 2015 12:29

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

The bow meets RI's minimum, but more importantly, I can put stronger limbs on as I get more practice.

Thank you all for the feedback. My GF doesn't normally take photos, but she's showing some talent.

I wish more cosplayers would work with good photographers. I see a lot of great costumes, but it's rare to find really solid photography. This thread also helped inspire me to actually start making costumes instead of just thinking about it, so I wanted to share.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2015 10:47

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

neogeo0823 posted:

I almost feel that saying your work is awesome is kind of unnecessary, because all your work is awesome. I'm terribad at sculpting anything. I'll agonize over every little detail for hours/days, and it'll still come out looking like a 5th grader made it in art class.

I have this same problem, but I took a different tack. Play to your strengths; if sculpting is not what you're good at, see if you can replace it with a different skill.

I can't sculpt at all, but I'm really good with styrene. When I played Warhammer 40K, I scratchbuilt a lot of vehicles because I couldn't afford to buy the kits. When I needed to make a skull belt buckle for my AC IV costume, I tried sculpting, every effort was terrible. Not only were the results not usable, each attempt took forever.

To make this, I used styrene to design the back of the buckle. The skull is a casting of a halloween decoration. I combined the two, and voila.

# ¿ May 26, 2015 00:45

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

I got an order on Etsy for an Alice in Wonderland Steampunk gunbelt. This is going to be worn at the San Diego Comic Con. The customer gave me some creative leeway, which is always fun.

I put a Cheshire Cat on the front of the holster, and the back has the white rabbit and the mad hatter's hat.

Instead of cartridges, I used glass vials. Here's a good shot of the White Rabbit carving

I took some pictures with a local model before sending it out to the customer.

I asked the customer to send some shots of the entire ensemble once she gets it, and I'll share those. I got into building these gunbelts bcause they seemed like a natural progression of my skills with leather work. This is the first one for someone who wasn't using the belt for cowboy style shooting, and I enjoyed being able to have more fun with it.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2015 15:54

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

chitoryu12 posted:

This isn't a 100% cosplay ask, but it's related to costuming so I figured it would fit here.

This November is the latest Wasteland airsoft game. It's held every year in Ocala, FL by Mindgame Productions and is basically a roleplay-heavy airsoft game set in the Fallout universe. They encourage players to dress up in their best post-apocalyptic gear (though some guys are lame and just come in their regular airsoft gear), and this year they're going further by giving credits toward in-game upgrades (like unlocking power armor and magazines for your fully automatic weapons) for creating good costumes.

I have a Swiss M32 canteen and cup that I want to carry, because it looks very post-apocalyptic with its beaten up metal and flaking paint. Unfortunately, the Swiss meant for their canteens to be carried in their soldiers' breadbags and thus they never made a belt carrying pouch for them. I'd greatly prefer a belt pouch, and I figure there's no time like the present to learn to sew.

The idea I had for a pouch is based on the Soviet flyashka canteen pouch that's been in use since before World War II. It's a simple cotton pouch shaped to fit the canteen, with the belt loop formed from a strap that attaches at two points on the back of the pouch. The strap also comes up over the neck of the canteen and optionally fits to a button on the front to secure it.

Does anyone know where I could find a good guide to sewing something like this by hand? I don't need it to be fancy or look perfectly factory-stitched (it's a post-apocalyptic thing, after all), so it just needs to securely hold the canteen with the strap around the neck and have a belt loop at the back. Also, does anyone have a recommendation for what material I could use? I think the actual Soviet canteen pouches are made from cotton duck.

In case it helps, measurements taken from the internet give it as 6 inches tall, 3 1/4 inches across, and 2 1/8 inches front to back. The cup's measurements don't really matter, as the canteen is meant to nest in the cup and the whole thing put into the pouch.

They're cheap, as mentioned, but it's really just a tube. Take a worn out old shirt, cut a sleeve off, sew it closed at one end, hem the top.... voila. Belt loops are easy, and youtube can show you all the various steps.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2015 20:04

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

One costume I've always wanted to try : The Abhorsen.

The problem is the bells. They wear a bandolier with 7 different magical bells, and they are crucial to the character.

I cannot find any sort of matching set of 7 differently sized bells. Even looking at high end orchestral suppliers, the only luck is buying them individually at outrageous prices. No sets. I also can't figure out how to make them, since they're different sizes. For molds, I'd have to make 7 matching molds, but out of what? Slush casting with resin?

I do metalwork, so I'm even willing to try casting them, but I wouldn't know what technique to use. Lost wax, perhaps, but then I'm back to making 7 identical but differently scaled molds. It would be nice if they worked, or at least looked realistic, so I don't want to make a bandolier that has empty pouches holding handles. Any suggestions?

# ¿ Aug 26, 2015 02:47

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

demoneyespaul posted:

This is a costume I have wanted to do ever since reading those books. I've seen a few decent attempts at it around the internet, but nothing that looked even remotely doable for me. All the problems with getting seven different sized matching bells, making a nice leather bandolier for them seems pretty tough too.

The bandolier isn't an issue; I do leatherwork already. If this project turns out, I may even sell sets on my etsy store.

Ashcans posted:

I had no idea that real handbells were so expensive. Wow.

I feel like there are a couple options here, depending strongly on how much you want the bells to be usable. If you want them all to be bells that you can pull out and ring, well, I don't know there is a really good option - besides maybe picking a fairly standard shape and just shopping around for a variety of sizes that you can refit with similar handles to make them appear more like a set.

If you are ok with show bells that don't ring (and after all, you should not be ringing those bells casually!) then there are a couple choices. One is to find/make a 3D model of a bell you like, and resize it to make the full set. If you print through shapeways you can do this in a number of materials, including metal. I don't think the metal print would ring properly, but it might be nicer than a printed and painted plastic. If you have access, you could even buy one real handbell you like, use a scanner to make the 3D model, and print smaller versions - then you would have a real 'ringing' bell and the others would be props.

Another option is to find something involving bells you can butcher. This is the sort of thing I am thinking of, although that isn't the right look for the Abhorsen's bells. But you might be able to find some sort of thing that has a bunch of bells you can tear off and fit handles to that would work.

It occurs to me that the basic shape of a bell is also shared by some bowls, cups, and pots, so you might think about looking around for sized sets of those and hacking them into bells. Again, they wouldn't ring well, but may work visually.

Yeah, bells are expensive. I was surprised, too. I don't mind spending money on this hobby, but I was looking at a few hundred dollars for mismatched bells. No thanks.

I wonder how much of the sound is due to the shape vs the materials. I hadn't considered shapeways (Thanks McPantserton), and a friend of mine is a wizard with 3d modeling software, so that is an option. I could print them in metal or try casting them. It would be nice if they sounded good, so I wonder what material to use. I'd like to try silver, but at $225 a pound they would be expensive.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2015 20:03

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

I made a cosplay pistol prop, gunbelt, and display for a friend as a gift. I'm really happy with how it all came out.

I have a more detailed post about it on IMGUR here : https://imgur.com/gallery/UD78z

I will say that 3D Printing makes things really easy. My original plan was to start with a toy pistol and then scratchbuild / kitbash until I was happy with it. 3D Printing was so much easier and faster.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2018 19:43

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 08:50

Pagan: Jun 4, 2003

Uroboros posted:

Someone with no cosplay experience looking for some advice/suggestions, but first, backstory.

With that in mind improving our costumes would be a big first step. I plan on starting with some sowing classes sometime in the near future, but currently I feel really out of my depth in tackling this particular aspect. I'm curious if any of you have experience with Roman outfits and could give me some advice or ideas on how to really impress the judges come next year.

As of current this is a theme I'd like to build on year by year, and I figured it presented an excellent opportunity to expand my hobby skills into the cosplay area, while still working within my larger goal of Warhammer 40k hobby progress.

Your roman togas look pretty decent so far. My suggestions would be to build 40k props or armor. Better belts, shoulder pads, etc. Maybe even some of the weapons and accessories? I haven't built a mini in a while, but as I recall they came with tons of little extras on the sprues. Everything from techmarine scanners to grenades to melee weapons. Pick a few and make 'em!

# ¿ Apr 7, 2018 14:37

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