[Le_Saboteur's Sketchbook] In the Game of Cosplay, You Win or You Die

By Le_Saboteur. 17/10/12, 04:08 am

So okay, I guess I should FINALLY make one of these things.

At the moment I'm working on Evangelyne from Wakfu for Auckgeddon Comp.

Spoiler:

Bodysuit - 50% done, needs to be finished and trim added
Gloves and Bootcovers - 80% done, boots need to have extra piece added to turn it from heel into platform
Bow - 80% done- THE PAPER MACHE IS TAKING SO LONG TO DRY /sob
Arrow - Waiting on EL wire to make it Razz

Wig - done
Ears - HAVEN'T STARTED YET OH GOD I'M GONNA DIE

And a Lady version of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.

Spoiler:

Cut out all pieces, just needs to be put together! It's basically just a top and belt, since I'm wearing tights with it. EASY.

Progress pics to come.

By Le_Saboteur. 17/10/12, 04:33 am

All right, since I have no pics of the bodysuit (HAVING NO CAMERA SUCKS) I'll upload my progress on the bow from start to where I'm up to now..

Here's how I worked out the proportions from the bow! I based it on my own height (from top of my head to just under my knee, it was 140cm, so that's where that comes from). There was a lot of calculating to get this right. Her bow really is slightly longer on top (I didn't notice it until I looked for it in the show), which is weird, but hey, it's French. They're whacky like that.

[Le_Saboteur's Sketchbook] In the Game of Cosplay, You Win or You Die Eva_bo10

[Le_Saboteur's Sketchbook] In the Game of Cosplay, You Win or You Die Eva_bo10

I made the skeleton of the bow out of card. It wasn't just a flat piece of card, I made little 'vertebrae' type things to make sure I could find the shape of the bow that I wanted when I eventually sculpted the expanding foam.

Spoiler:

Since the bow is tapered I made little 'stilts' to place underneath the ends of the bow where it gets thinner, to keep it's shape once I foame'd it. Turns out these were completely useless as it still bowed (GET IT) under the shape of the foam anyway.

The first brand of expanding foam (the only one they had at the hardware shop I went to- protip: don't go to Hammer Hardware on Dominion Rd) was actually terrible. It had about three different textures (over-aerated, brittle and bubbly; silly string; and normal expanding foam). I don't have a picture where you can clearly see it, but you can notice the colour difference in the next picture.

Spoiler:

If you've never used expanding foam before, then you might not know that it usually blows up to two to three times the size it first comes out as, over twelve-ish hours. IT'S AWESOME STUFF. The above picture was after I had spent half a day carving it down to shape. If the foam doesn't have too many holes in it and you have the money, you can get away with just covering it with filler (and probably a myriad of other things! so many options) and sanding that, but instead, after carving I had to cover with tape/paper strips to make a base for the paper mache.

Spoiler:

I wish now I'd used filler over the top instead of paper mache (I was poor at the time and couldn't afford filler), the mache pulp has been a nightmare to dry. And it the pre-pulped (just add water supposedly, but it needed glue anyway) stuff I bought wasn't even good anyway, it is just as lumpy as homemade- I'm gonna be sanding and priming the heck out of it tomorrow night! Boo! It has been drying for more than 24 hours, I'm now blasting it with a hairdryer.

Spoiler:

I was following this tutorial by Kamui Cosplay. I don't think I'd do it this way again, but hey. It's the first prop I've ever made, and I've really made a ton of mistakes! Oh well, learning! Knowledge! Etc.

Hopefully I can get it to the point where I can sand it tonight, the painting is what I'm mostly looking forward to :)

By **Duckeh**. 17/10/12, 04:54 am

EVEN THOUGH IT SOUNDS LIKE IT HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE, it is starting to look really good, I can't wait to see it!

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