cosplay

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Zagara Costume Break Down

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Photo by Steve Groves of ESI Media


Holy cow you guys, am I in love with this costume. This was the very first costume I’ve ever made that I was just grinning the entire time. I had some issues with the cape and wig, but throughout making the dress, I was just in love!

This costume basically started with me turning to Mario and saying, “I want to wear a big dress to BlizzCon this year.” I’ve always been in love with the Zerg, and thought about doing Kerrigan (this was way back in January before Countess Kerrigan was a thing) so I talked to my amazing friend Carissa (link is to her Facebook page, check out her work!) about helping me figure out the costume and getting my ideas onto paper.

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She blew it out of the water. This is exactly what I had in mind, and I was in love from the beginning! (Warning: Super long post ahead!)

Continue reading →

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BlizzCon 2014: SO CLOSE!

So… as of today, we leave for BlizzCon in 14 days! We’ll be driving down on Tuesday, stopping halfway, and getting to our hotel on Wednesday. This year we’ll be spending the con with Mario’s mother and brother, and we’re super excited to share the experience with them- especially since they’ll both be cosplaying!

I’ve been preparing for the con by putting up several video tutorials on our YouTube channel, so I wanted to post them all here for you guys, too!

Since we didn’t update here, Mario has set aside Urzael until next year, and will instead be wearing Roller Derby BRova! Here’s a preview of my Zagara- I decided to go with an original 18th century version.

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And just for you guys- a makeup test!

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We hope to see you all at BlizzCon! Make sure to say hello if you see us!

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Spell Breaker Break Down: The Costume

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I know, it’s been almost a year, but we’re finally doing a post about how we made Mario’s Spell Breaker costume for BlizzCon 2013! This post will focus on the costume/wig/mask part of the cosplay, and the next post will be on the weapon and shield.

Continue reading →

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Product Review: Plaid Leather Studio Acrylic Paint for Leather and Vinyl

2014-07-30 16.36.25While browsing JoAnn Fabrics the other day, Mario and I came across this paint- it was in the aisle where the fabric dyes and fabric paints were, not in the acrylic paint aisle.

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This was only half of the display (top shelf) but there were many, many colors and shades to choose from. They were just over $2 each (we did buy this ourselves, this isn’t a sponsored post), but of course JoAnn always has some sort of coupon so there’s no reason not to get it discounted.

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We grabbed black since it’s a good staple color, and tested it on four different types of fabric: leather, pleather (it’s stretchy with a soft, cotton covered back), thick vinyl (from the upholstery section), and stretch vinyl, the thin stuff.

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The paint went on smoothly and was incredibly easy to work with. It was opaque in one coat on each one except the thinner stretch vinyl, but it would be opaque in two coats. It dries to a satin finish.

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It stayed flexible, thin, and as you can see here, did not crack or flake at all when bent.

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Even with the pleather, which was stretchy, it had no issues stretching with the fabric.

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The thick vinyl is folded in half here, and it’s still flexible and none of it came off or cracked.

I didn’t get a good photo of the stretch vinyl, but it had the same effect: stayed flexible.
We’ve had issues in the past with getting paint to stick to vinyl, so we’re extremely happy to have found this paint. I can see it being especially useful with plug suits or other vinyl costumes that have a lot of details in different colors. If you used a stencil or taped it off to get clean lines, it would look as if it were part of the fabric and not painted on. We’ve never had any issues painting leather, though; the leather we’ve painted has always soaked any paint right in and not had any issues with it cracking, but we also didn’t bend our leather more than you would for a belt.

 

This is a great paint, so if you have to paint vinyl, definitely check it out!

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BlizzCon 2014!

Of course we’re attending BlizzCon this year, and if you haven’t seen or you don’t follow our Facebook page, we’re working on these two costumes for day one:

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Urzael from Diablo III, and Zagara (based off of a few different images, since there are several of her) from Starcraft II and Heroes of the Storm!

 

We’ve both been incredibly busy getting these together for the convention- we’re in the double digits with the countdown, now! Here’s some progress for Urzael!

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Mario first carved the rib structure for the cannon out of pink foam, then got it perfect and smooth and cast it in a quick matrix mold.

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As you can see, the first few (on the right) don’t look quite perfect, but once he switched to the drill squirrel mixer, every batch came out exactly as it should. He used a two part rigid, self skinning polyurethane foam that he tinted black to help him with his painting later.

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This is how the ribs will look on the cannon!

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We also got a male mannequin to sculpt on, since it’s very close to Mario’s size, and we’ll be molding and casting the chest and upper arms for Urzael, since it’s impossible to 1. be as muscular as he is and 2. have orange glowing from under your skin! The Hulk hands will potentially be used for the costume, as well!

 

On day two, I’m going to wear my Lovely Purple Dress from my first year at BlizzCon, 2009, and Mario is still working on his second costume!

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Here’s one of the few photos I have of it- at least I know a good quality wig now!

Oh, and this costume is a great example of finding the right undergarments. I was fully covered under this dress, but it was hidden in a way that it didn’t take away from the costume!

Also, Mario did a Prop: Live with Bill of Punished Props, so if you didn’t get a chance to watch it, you can watch it here!

 

We’re going to try and update more often with tutorials when we have them, so keep an eye out!

 

 

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Auriel from Diablo III Costume Break Down!

Photo by OTL and MLZ studios

Photo by OTL and MLZ studios

(Note: this isn’t going to be a full blown, step by step tutorial because I don’t have that many photos, but I’m going to try to cover everything I did! Feel free to ask questions in the comments, we’re always happy to help!)

So, Auriel! This costume was made for Blizzcon 2014, and based off of Auriel, Archangel of Hope from Diablo III. Continue reading →

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(Way, way late) Blizzcon Recap

I am seriously sorry you guys, I was certain I had posted about Blizzcon and our final costumes here, but apparently not! It was an insanely busy weekend and it passed by too quickly, as most conventions do.

Photo by OTL and MLZ studios

Photo by OTL and MLZ studios

 

Auriel turned out beautifully, it is easily one of my most favorite costumes in terms of aesthetics. It wasn’t exactly fun to wear (the wings were supported by a harness that made them feel like a super heavy backpack on my shoulders, and I’m not known for my strength) but I loved the reaction from it.

Photo by Davann Srey Photography

Photo by Davann Srey Photography

Mario’s costume also turned out beautifully, exactly as we imagined it. For more photos, check out our Facebook page!

We’re also in this amazing video by MLZ and OTL studios! We’ve shot videos with them before, and they are always so amazing to work with and know exactly what needs to be done to showcase the costumes.

Over all, the convention was amazing, we met so many people (we also hosted a cosplay dinner the night before the con) and made a lot of friends! Honestly, Blizzcon is less about seeing the convention and more about cosplay for us. We enjoyed walking around the con on the second day out of costume, but we aren’t the type to try to watch too many panels! Though, there was one on cosplay, which was very informative and helpful. You can see that one below, too! (It’s over an hour long, fair warning!)

Thanks for reading, everyone, and I’m working on some in progress and finished commission posts to be up in the next week or so!

 

 

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When Looking at Patterns- Butterick

If you like to keep an eye on your local craft store’s sales, then you will notice from time to time that they like to put patterns on sale for a dollar or less. I used to pass these sales up, because I didn’t need patterns just then, but I quickly realized that when I did need patterns, it costed me a lot more for than if I had picked up 10 patterns at the sale. So, we started going through each pattern book when there was a sale, carefully making a list of patterns that would be useful in the future. We already knew what costumes we would like to make eventually, but it’s also important to pick up patterns that could be easily modified to fit a variety of costumes!

Since Joann’s is having a sale on Butterick patterns from the 22-24, we thought we’d make a list of costume patterns that we think would be useful! If you click on the links that are on the numbers of the patterns, it should take you to the page for it online.

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B5935

B5935 is a corset pattern that looks like it can be modified in many ways, not only by what the pattern gives you but also by changing the shape of the neckline, taking away the straps, etc. This would be good for any costume that requires a corset! Continue reading →

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Jayce Costume Breakdown!

If you want to know how we made the Jayce from League of Legends costume, then read up!

Photo by Ed Tan

Photo by Ed Tan

For the coat portion, I used McCall’s M6143 as a base. I used the Uncle Sam coat, and left off the lapels since the coat was under the chest piece. I also lengthened the tails and made them a slightly different shape to fit what we were looking for. Continue reading →