Hey friends! Long time no post to this blog! Real life’s been kickin me in the pants lately so cosplaying has become a rare occurance for me, but since I had a little time to post this small tutorial to my IG, I figured I’d also post it here too!
I’ve had a lot of people ask me how I did my Widowmaker arms (bc yknow fuck body paint lol) so here’s a mini compilation of the process ✨
🕷I started off with some seamless nylon gloves from eBay. They’re about $11-15ish depending on seller and come in white, black, and nude. They’re teeny tiny (see mini Deadpool hand lol), but amazingly they stretch? like A LOT??? Lol
🕷Not shown is the dyeing process, but it’s pretty straightforward. I used RIT DyeMore in royal purple and super diluted it until it gave me a pale purple color that matched my face paint.
🕷After they dried, I put on the right glove and lightly marked out where and how large I wanted my tattoo.
🕷I found a large enough image of Widow’s tattoo online and printed it out to the size of my arm, taped it in a tube, and stuffed the tube with extra fabric I had laying around.
🕷CAREFULLY stretch the glove over the tube and arrange it so your marks line up with the template and secure each side with rubber bands.
🕷Paint over those tedious-ass designs until you feel death come for you. I used Jacquard to avoid texture and the shiny look, but any fabric paint should do.
🕷Let the paint dry and then carefully peel the glove free from your paper template.
🕷Et voilà! Purple arms! If you wanna be really extra like me, paint some fake nails and glue them into the fingers for that natural dead goth spider-lady look lol
Hi, different Anon here. What is your papier-mâché made from? What ingredients and technique? Its different from what I see usually and looks a lot... sturdier? Please and thanks!
I make a base of cardboard and hot glue tinfoil to build up any places that need it (on this it was the eye sockets) and then do a quick cover layer of mache. I use blue shop towels (from auto parts), and concentrated sta-flo liquid starch. Then I come back after its dry and do a detail layer to smooth it all out and add features like the lips and nostrils. If it needs to be smoother I come back again with tissue paper.
Ive tried a TON of methods and I totally stand by this. Chicken approved
One thing I'm not sure about with 3D printed stuff, is how is that judged or should it be judged for craftsmanship? What questions should a judge ask? Is it more or less work, etc?
This is a great question! When I first started getting into 3D printing it is something I thought about a lot.
How 3D Printing Fits In
Cosplay already is a huge amalgamation of skills. We’re here styling wigs (sometimes that alone is an understatement), doing makeup, sewing, crafting, working with electronics, engineering all sorts of structures and contraptions, we’re woodworking, painting both digitally and traditionally, modeling, writing skits and acting in them. Cosplay judges already have it rough! How do you compare a brilliantly sewn ballgown to a brilliantly crafted suit of armor when the skills, tools and techniques behind making them are so different?
In that craziness, I think 3D printing is able to fit right in. 3D modeling? Cosplayers have been using models for pepakura crafting. Machine precision? Vinyl cutting and laser cutting for cosplay are rare but not unheard of. Plastic pieces? Worbla, wonderflex, PETG … we’re no strangers to thermoplastics. And from there the filling, sanding, priming and painting is similar to just about any other armor or prop.
3D printing is tool that can help with the creation of costumes, and I think 3D printed props can be judged alongside others. However it is important to remember this is a tool and not a magical solution or an impossible skill.
Cheating
Cheating at cosplay competitions isn’t something new. There have been cosplayers caught passing off commissioned/bought costumes as their own work and there are cosplayers who were called out for winning awards with commissioned costumes. Unfortunately, 3D printing offers new avenues for cheating:
Props, accessories and other models are offered for free on a variety of sites and communities. There are also models for sale, models could be commissioned and even printed pieces could be sold as part of kits. How do you tell if someone modeled their own piece or if they downloaded it?
Even though pieces can be downloaded, cosplayers may still add their own additions. At what point does it become their own work?
How much value should be put into the initial modeling vs. finishing the object. How does painting a nerf gun compare to making a gun from scratch?
If judges are uninformed about 3D printing, it will be easier to pass off someone else’s modeling work as your own.
What Should Judges Ask?
Did you model it yourself or download a model?Modeling it yourself is like drafting a sewing pattern or designing a pepakura file. Downloading is like using a commercial pattern or downloading the pep file and working from it.
What program did you use or how did you construct it?If they modeled it they should be able to tell you what program or programs they used in designing it. They may be able to give you examples of challenges they faced or how they solved some design problem. They may be able to show you modeling progress pictures.
Did you modify a file? How much and why?If they downloaded a model, they may still have made a significant contribution to it through modification. Similar to altering a sewing pattern. With modeling, their contribution could also be to solve problems: smoothing out a really choppy game rip or fixing an impossible object/broken geometry.
Did you print it yourself or through a service?Setting up a print is pretty quick and relatively easy, but there is still skill involved in problem solving errors and choosing the best settings. A comparison might be getting a wig that is already the right length for your style vs. getting a wig that is too long and needs to be cut before you can style. There is a little bit more knowledge and skill involved in cutting the wig to the right length first. If you are unsure about their answer try asking them about the printer they used, the print settings or the infill % used.
What material did you choose and why?There are different printing materials although ABS and PLA are the most common. Asking the cosplayer what material they printed with, and why, can give you information about their involvement in the printing side of things. PLA is the easier to use material and it smells a lot less, but it also is less heat resistant than ABS. ABS is more heat resistant, perfect if your prop will be sitting in the sun, but it smells terrible when printing and is more tempermental. Other materials include resins, wood filament (looks, smells and feels like wood), copper filament which is heavy and metallic, nylon and even carbon fiber!
How did you prep your piece and paint it?3D printing gets you a prop, but few pieces will be perfect right out of the printer. Home printers are usually fairly small and most prints will be in multiple pieces that have to be glued together. From there, there is filling, sanding, priming, sanding and painting once the base is smooth — much like making armor or props from other materials. Judge these finishing steps the same way you would other projects.
Why did you choose 3D printing over another method?Understanding why they went with 3D printing might help you with your overall assessment of their pieces.
What should cosplayers do to be prepared for judging?
Document your progress so you can show the work put into it and provide it is your work. Take screenshots through the modeling process, take a picture of the print as it looks off the printer and show the settings you chose when setting up your print.
Give credit where it is due. If you built off another person’s work or used another person’s model: tell the judges.
Be willing to explain your process and what it means, your judges may have no knowledge of 3D printing. Remember, you have a short amount of time to “sell” them your costume as the best. Letting them know where you spent your time, what skills were used and what challenges you faced will help them understand what went into the costume you are wearing. Tell them you spent hours sculpting in mudbox and creatively sliced your piece to fit on a tiny printer the same way you would tell them you spent hours beading and made your own lace.
Is 3D printing More or Less Work?
The first thing I 3D printed for cosplay was my Rosalina brooch. I turned to 3D printing because I was having trouble getting crisp lines and a proper star shape. To do it, I drew a vector drawing in illustrator and brought that into a 3D program. Then through extruding, beveling and subtracting I was able to create the shapes I wanted. For me, it was easier to create the shape digitally but it also involved applying my vector skills/knowledge and learning 3d modeling skills/knowledge. It is hard to say if that is more or less work than using the same vector as a stencil to use with the worbla/foam. In this scenario it is a means to an end.
Another piece that I used in cosplay was my Lucoa horns. These were originally designed by diogok but I came up with a peg system to attach them to the hat and Kevin did the modeling for me. Downloading the file was definitely less work, even though we made modifications. In this scenario, 3D printing saved time and work by building off existing models and just having to paint the final piece.
So it largely depends on the work put into the piece compared to other methods. There are going to be things that are easier to do in 3D printing and there are going to be things that are easier with other materials. The best thing to do as a judge is asking questions to find out how involved the cosplayer was with their work. As a cosplayer, the best thing to do is explain how much work you put into a piece, what the challenges were, and why you chose to 3D print over other methods.
What would you say is a scenario where a 3D printed piece does not quite meet the previously listed criteria? Hypothetical situations, if you can think of any?
Are we talking about the post on how 3D print pieces should be judged in competitions? The questions were mostly to help identify the work put into a piece and determine if the cosplayer is the one who did the work, rather than criteria to judge on.
That said, I can think of some situations where the cosplayer may have put in work in other areas, aside from the initial model:
Maybe a cosplayer drew up the plans and figured out how something would work, but got a friend to do the modeling or got it commissioned. From there the cosplayer did the printing and finishing.
Kevin printed a Type-40 sword from Nier:Automata. He did not do the modeling but he sliced it (cut it up into smaller sections) so it could be printed on a very small printer. To get the final sword he had to glue those parts together and still has to do the finishing. It isn’t the same as modeling but there is some level of problem solving and work involved.
Many cons have a “You must have made 80% of your costume/prop yourself to enter” rule for their costume competitions. So it will be up to the cosplayer to really show that at least 80% of the work was done by themselves. It is also up to the judges to determine if the cosplayer’s contribution was actually 80% and how their work compares to the competition.
Queadlunn- Over the last year and a half I’ve learned a lot about electronics and Arduino and how I can apply it to props and cosplay. Just some simple LEDs in a sci-fi gun, a couple fans in a helmet or making a microcontroller light up some programmable LEDs when I close a switch on a DIY-ed lightsaber can really add to a project.
On basic circuits: If you have a battery (say 2 AA cells) you should be able to find out the cell voltage (for AA cells, it’s 1.5v per cell. This is easily google-able for most batteries) and if you know the voltage you have, you’ll know what kind of parts you can use with them.
For our 2 AA example, that’d mean you could use LEDs rated from 2.8v to 3.5v pretty safely, any more or less and it’ll take extra work and/or parts.
On Arduino/Microcontrollers: These are a lot more complicated than a battery, LED and a switch but can open up a whole world of options. From sequenced LED flashing, accelerometer-based triggers, even sounds. Sites like Arduino and Adafruit have amazing tutorials to get started. Arduino and like controllers are programmed via USB connection (sometimes through an adapter) and use a language that is a variant of C I believe.
You don’t have to be able to code from scratch to be able to use Arduino. I’ve gotten by with using the demo and tutorial code from various sites and modifying it a bit to suit my needs. I’m pretty bad at coding but good tutorials help wonders.
A good Arduino starter kit can be a great way to begin.
Online sources (these are where I buy 95% of my parts):
Adafruit (https://www.adafruit.com/) - An amazing source, my favorite. They have loads of pre-built boards, everything from Arduinos to sensors to power supplies and an entire ‘wearables’ section. Adafruit has amazing tutorials for almost all of their products, this is where I learned the most while I was getting used to working with Arduinos and the like. Their Feather Arduino boards are awesome!
Sparkfun (https://www.sparkfun.com/) - Another great source. A bit more barebones than Adafruit (not as great with tutorials on products) but still a great place. I’ve mainly bought basic components and sensors here.
Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/) - If you know what you want, you can probably find a version of it here, though maybe of a different build than other sources. As always, Amazon Prime is amazing.
Ebay (http://www.ebay.com/) - Like Amazon, if you know specifically what you want you can probably find it here, though with little to no documentation or support. Ebay’s a pretty good place to get lots of basic components like LEDs, wire or pin headers.
In an effort to challenge myself to save money and exercise my creativity, I'm building Samurai Jack's Season 5 armor for under $20. Time to build the rest of the armor, including the shikoro (nape guard). Hope it doesn't look too shoddy when I'm all finished. #samuraijack #samuraijackcosplay #samuraiarmor #horn #armor #cosplay #cosplaygirl #girlswhocosplay #cosplayers #cosplayersofinstagram #diy #kabuto #adultswim #cartoonnetwork #toonami
hi!! i know you guys typically make your cosplays, but I was wondering if you have any tips for buying ones? (I saw the nozomi one on your store) I'm currently unable to make my own due to lack of resources but i still really wanna cosplay!! thank you for your time and have a nice day!!!
We don’t buy very often –– in fact, I think the only ones we’ve bought in the past ten years are a couple Love Live school uniforms (the Constellation ones), an official Cospa K-on! uniform, wedding Kotori and a Green Lantern zentai. We have no personal experience with Taobao or anything; all of ours have just been through direct retailers (i.e. Cospa) or wholesale sites.
As such, the advice we can offer is slim, but here we go!
Take sizing seriously. If you’re buying wholesale or from Asian sellers, sizing runs very small. Shirts that fit around the chest might still have very narrow arms or other quirks typical to Asian clothing. When in doubt, size up. If you’re providing your own measurements for a custom piece, double-check your measurements; sometimes an issue with a final costume isn’t because the seamstress did anything wrong –– it’s because the measurements provided were inaccurate. Along the same lines, when taking measurements make sure you’re wearing the same undergarments that you intend to wear with the costume. If you are wearing a push-up bra or corset or shaper with the finished costume but measured without, the fit will change.
Do your research. Look at reviews and gather as much peripheral information as you can from others who have ordered or left reviews. Much heartache can be avoided by knowing not to order from a company or individual with a poor track record for product delivery, known quality issues, or history of scamming.
Take pricing with a grain of salt. Sometimes you get surprisingly decent quality for a cheap price. Other times you get something below your expectations for a fair bit more. Remember that if you’re buying wholesale, odds are someone was paid mere dollars to put that costume together, and if you’re commissioning an individual, they’re likely vastly undercharging themselves. (I’ve rarely met commissioners who charge enough to be making even minimum wage.) Be graceful if an item you didn’t pay much for isn’t stellar quality.
Keep in mind that many individual commissioners these days are young and inexperienced, or haven’t decided to pursue it as a serious profession. Sewing (or prop making!) professionally is a job, and many people open commissions as an extension of their hobby (or a need for quick cash) rather than any intent to make a career out of it. I have commissioned props from probably about a dozen people; the difference between the work of professionals and the work of students making ends meet or adults trying to make a buck off a side hobby is a vast chasm. That isn’t to say their work isn’t worthwhile –– I love a lot of those pieces! –– but I am never surprised when they blast past deadlines, have rough edges, or too-hastily-shipped paint jobs, never send progress updates, or take weeks to respond to inquiries after long silences. In my mind, as long as I get a passable piece in the end, these are the costs of going with hobbyists, but I think it’s an important thing for anyone to keep in mind.
Okay, NOW here’s the complete set for Samurai Dad visiting the Scotsman.
I’ve compiled the first batch with the rest. Now there’s some inconsistencies with Jack’s armor, because he wouldn’t have that armor from the cartoon YET. Give maybe a few more years. Also I noticed that I’ve missed quite a few details from the Scotsman (his beard & eyepatch).
2nd drawing was the one I REALLY wanted to draw, & had a blast with their faces. All mixed reactions, kind of like how people react to riding a roller coaster for the first time.
For the 3rd drawing, I drew the Scotsman’s children all grown up. I never expected to have fun designing these guys on the spot. 2 member in here are not siblings. They’re considered in-laws since they married into the family. Somehow I unexpectedly put in Bog King in there. And “Boggart” is rarely far away from his wife, Marianne. I had fun with the last chick on the right. Got the idea of her being a dog breeder & trainer for fierce Scottish Deerhounds.
Last batch is just all collective bits here and there. I drew those deerhounds again. Had to draw their reaction to seeing Haggis for the first time. But I’m pretty sure it tastes better than it looks. The last bit in the left corner is Jack sharing how he was forced to kill in order to save the girls, & how he’s responsible for these girls having to suffer for the sole purpose of killing him in the future. Obviously the Scotsman would definitely console him with something close to “Them She-dogs got what was coming, gewd riddance!” Scotsman’s wife mummifying the girls with old baby winter clothes for the encroaching winter chill (they can barely move, but hey it’s a generous thought).Last bit on the bottom right was the girls playing a prank on Jack by braiding his hair & beard while he was sleeping.
GAH! So much more to draw! Big thanks to everyone who came to both streams Friday & Saturday ^^
Just rewatched episode 1 of Season 5 of Samurai Jack, and I noticed something spooky in the scene in which Jack loses his sword. THERE’S A FACE IN THE PIT.
In addition to all the green aura that’s very similar to the aura that surrounds the Green Samurai, this strengthens my theory that the loss of the sword is connected with Jack’s hallucination of the Green Samurai.
I’ve formed two theories about who this Green Samurai is:
1) It is Jack, but an embodiment of everything that he fears becoming, a manifestation of his fear, rage, malice, and everything negative. I think of him as Mad Jack 2.0
How to make custom lace appliques – the “Frankenlace” method
A lot of people asked for more info on how I made the appliques that decorate the bottom of Zelda’s gown. Here’s my tutorial for the whole process! This method can be used to make all kinds of applique shapes and designs if you get creative with it.
These lace appliques are made out of other lace – hence the nickname. To get started, you’ll need to collect a few lace trims to use as raw material. Look for styles that are similar or complement each other, because you’ll be combining them. This is some, but not all, of the trims I used. I bought these in the LA fabric district, but most are available at trimexpoonline.com.
Cut your lace down into smaller pieces that are more modular. Don’t cut up ALL your lace – this is just an experimentation stage, to practice rearranging the design.
Using a template of your desired shape (I made mine digitally, but you can hand draw one too) practice arranging your pieces until you find a design that suits your needs. This is not my final design in the picture – I went through several versions before I was totally happy with how it looked. You might discover that you need more lace, which is why planning and experimentation are so important. When you’re satisfied with how it looks, it’s time to start putting it all together.
You’ll need an embroidery hoop large enough to cover your whole template, plus some netting that is as close to transparent as you can find. Most generic tulle is NOT fine enough to do well with this technique – the holes are too large and the tulle stretches too much when handled. Look for netting that does not stretch or fray, if possible. Put some netting in your embroidery hoop, tightening the surface like a drum. I taped my template to a small sheet of masonite to give myself a portable work surface. I also ended up using clamps to hold the embroidery hoop to the masonite, but forgot to get a picture. This is optional, but really helps the design from shifting too much as you work.
Tools for the next step: fabric glue (other brands work too), a small paintbrush, and a water cup. I watered my glue down a little to make it easier to spread with the paintbrush. Be careful not to add TOO much water, or your glue will be too thin, not grip well, and take a long time to dry.
Working in small sections, begin gluing your lace pieces onto the netting. Start at the center and work outward, if possible. Continue until all your lace pieces are glued onto the netting.
Here’s what mine looked like with all the lace attached! At this point, I flipped the embroidery hoop over and applied a second coat of glue over the entire back of the work. The netting is so thin that you can continue to apply more glue from the backside to get a more secure grip.
Optional: add rhinestones to taste. I used E6000 for this step. Not every applique requires rhinestones, but in this case I wanted Zelda to sparkle as much as possible.
Repeat to create as many appliques as you need! Zelda has 8 along the bottom of her dress. Here’s part of my assembly line.
When you’re ready to attach the applique to your fashion fabric, trim away some of the netting along the outside, but leave any “interior” portions that help stabilize the design. I simply glued my appliques onto the silk, but I later went back and hand-stitched them down for a more secure hold. After they are properly attached to your fabric, you can VERY CAREFULLY trim away the “interior” pockets of plain netting using small scissors.
The final look of my gown, after all the appliques and trim were attached.
This method is very time consuming and requires a lot of patience and concentration – but I just love the results! I wanted to achieve the look of professionally-made applique, but without access to industrial equipment, this was the next best thing I could come up with.
The white-on-white effect is subtle, but matches the look I was going for. Photo by Vontography.
I hope this is helpful to some of you in your own costume projects. Let me know if you have any questions, and good luck!
Happy Friday! About to go outside to coat Storm Bow with a first layer of diluted Elmer's glue, but I want to show off the reversible Shimada Brothers jacket that came from @shattered-earth. I'm wearing the Hanzo side outside (so happy you can see his name in kanji, 半蔵), and the Genji side is on the inside.
Don’t buy Angelus pain’t on Amazon, it’s like $6.99 an ounce. Buy it direct from their online store the poster above linked, the single ounce bottles are $2.95 there. Also, a little goes a long way, unless you have something HUGE to paint, you can probably do it with a small bottle. I barely dented the one I got doing all the black on this;
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