Past works 1

So this will be my first ever blog post... Hopefully I set it all up right and nothing will blow up *crosses fingers*. This is the blog where I will display all my prop and costume work from past, and detail the steps I take while making future props and costumes. I'll try to go into as much detail about the construction of each costume as I can remember, since some of the pictures will be over 5 years old.

Alrighty then, let's get going shall we?

So first up is my first attempt at prop making, I made these giant metal wings for a school project and had one of my friends pose for me while wearing them. For scaling purposes, please note that my friend is about 5 feet 7 inches tall.

The total wing span when opened was just under 9 feet, my friend had to turn sideways to get through doorways when I showed this project to my class. I don't remember the exact thickness of the metal but I know it was a solid sheet of steel that my dad and I cut with a 4 1/2 grinder. We then took 1/4 inch steel square tubing and welded it to the steel 'skin' of the wing. We made a frame out of more 1/4 inch tubing and welded two bolts to the top corners where the wings would later be positioned and pivoted. When opened, the wings rested on two small metal rods that sat between the wing frames and the frame on the wearers back. The whole setup was mounted onto the wearer by use of simple 1 inch straps that I do believe we found in the camping department of Canadian Tire.

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Next up is my first Final Fantasy cosplay. I had just recently bought FFX-2 and was completely obsessed with Baralai so that year I splurged on fabric and bought some really nice imitation suede. Since the main focus of the costume is on his jacket, I started on that with major help from my grandmother. She made most of the jacket while I added on the embellishments, and then made the pants, and the misc. wrappings.

I used this picture and the one above as my reference material.

 

And this would be the final outcome, turned out nice if I do say so myself. the one thing I would do differently is NOT bleach my hair platinum white. It ended up feeling like straw three weeks later and I had to cut most of it off...

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The next two years were filled with major costume failure in my own opinion, I made three costumes for Halloween (one for a friend, one for my 'then' girlfriend and one for myself that I through together on October 30th just to have something to wear.

The first on this list was the Paine Trainer costume from FFX-2, here is a reference shot:

And what it turned out to look like;

and yes, those are safety pins holding the back together, I miscalculated while measuring for the top...

Number two on the list is the outfit for Sophia Esteed from Star Ocean, till the end of time. Here's the reference;

And here is the finished product;

I personally think the only good thing in this is the staff which my mom helped me make from blue sheet insulation which she carved into the shape of the crescent moon. the sphere is held in place by toothpicks, (it was REALLY fragile) and the staff handle was your run of the mill broom handle that I got from the dollar store which I painted with alternating layers of white, black and gray acrylic paints. Happily the staff is still alive today!

And last and certainly least liked out of my work from that year, my attempt at throwing together a costume for Demian Von Prios from War of Genesis 3. Now, let it be known that I never actually played the game, I just stumbled onto artwork for the characters one night and thought it would be a really nice costume.

Here's the reference;

And here is the lame attempt I made in five hours;

I classified it as a 'color variation' on the cosplay forum I was part of at the time. I think to this day, that year's Halloween will live on in my memory as the worst in my life. Mainly in part that most people thought I was dressed as the 'Dark Magician' card from the tv series Yu-Gi-Oh.