Nicknacks coming together

It's a pipe! No... really.

Lately we have been working with the small stuff our costumes require. Yoki started working today on a giant safety pin, as I finished Joxter's pipe. I constructed the shape from modeling material, as the package titled. In the frame I used bent aluminium stick and cork from a deodorant container as seen above. The mouth piece is modified from rubber cork and piece aluminium foil.

I must say that the "modeling material" we are using at the moment smells horrible. Yoki stated that it smells like finger paints, but I strictly disagree. Normally I would have bought modeling clay, but in a rush I purchased this current paste of continuous puking from our local craft store. I'm never making the same mistake again... I'm glad that after I painted the pipe the smell got little milder. It will be really interesting to see, if I can resist the urge of gurning while being photographed.

Joxter's pipe and tobacco pouch.

I also suffered minor casualty, when I stuck the hot glue gun straight to my thumb. Now, I has a blister. I got it when I was working on Muddler's tail, which succeeded extremely well damages taken in concideration. The material on the tail and on Joxter's tobacco pouch is recycled leather. Same stuff is used on Muddler's "head" and ears. I will add pictures of them when they are finished.

Muddler's tail.

Cosplay nightmares - Pet peeves got nothing

I've had some real cosplay nightmares. They are quite the same as dreams, where you have went to school, work or any public place and you realize that you are naked or you have forgot some crucial part of your clothing. I don't get nightmares too often and I think ones including cosplay or costumes are more frustrating and embarrassing than scary.

One time I had a dream, in which I was in a convention and had a great time until somebody came up to me and asked who I was cosplaying as. I was like... And... Umm... I had no idea! There I was standing in a costume (pretty awesome, I remember) clueless who I was portraying. In another dream I was in a convention again and in cosplay, but I randomly changed parts of it to make it more interesting. I think at the beginning I knew who I was cosplaying as, but the idea was lost quite rapidly. It was truly bizarre. I even got a full body paint to "make the cosplay better".

Now let's move on to reality. If I can form any thought about people's biggest fears with cosplay after reading many pages of forum posts and individual blog entries, I think the nightmares connect with things one can't affect and things where there is money involved. Matters of worry are for example finding trustworthy commissioners, commissioning costumes or parts of it, ordering wigs, having them styled on someone else, having things shipped to you overseas and on time arrivals. I think I personally would crawl in my skin, if I was faced with these kind of issues. More if there is little time to the deadline.

I must admit that I have been avoiding previous issues on purpose. I hate the feeling of not being in charge. And when it's passionate hobby combined with relative amounts of money, I want to know every moment how things are and where they are. I'm also touchy-feely type of a person. I need to see and be able to examine fabrics, materials and products before purchasing. I need to assure myself that I have done all the decisions, even if they later prove not to be the best on my costume. Luckily, we have been able to find the things we need locally.

All the previous has been sweet talk, now let's move on to what the topic is all about.

Some of the true nightmares are the ugly side products emerging from cosplay. I was mad and out of my mind in my little corner of the cosplay community, when I came across thread, which were written by a cosplayer who was outrageously ripped off by a "cosplay commissioner". After searching a little it came obvious that there were more than one case. I don't want to mess with my blood pressure too much, so I'm not going to all the dirty details. They can pretty much be read on the thread and on few similar ones at Cosplay.com.

Like when making the costumes yourself, I think throughout base work is also necessary when looking for commissioners and cosplay gadgets. It is a shame that opportunists have found such a narrow audience to cheat. And apparently cosplayers are rather easy to cheat. Even I didn't think year ago, when I first heard about commissioning hoaxes that they could even exist. And to the hoaxes even work in both ways! Commissioners have ended up finishing a costume, sending them to the client and then having e-mails where the client claims that the goods have not arrived and they are not going to pay for them. This is just one example from many. Ones that actually got me stunned for quite some time were the cases, where "clients" tried to use their commissioners for money scams with invalid checks.

Because of cosplay scams people have stopped cosplaying or/and stopped making costumes which is sad and a pity, but then again, understandable. Money has been lost, hours of work has been all in vain and long, painstaking battles have been fought because these nightmares. I cheer every time I read that some of the scammers have been caught one way or the other and guys on the good side wins.

Buying costumes is a hush-hush issue here in Finland. People don't speak about them much, so it's pretty unclear from where people buy their costumes. But because costumes are bought and they will be bought still, I think conversation and interaction about commissioners and online shops would be helpful for everyone. Maybe more disappointments could be avoided.

There are trustworthy commissioners, some enthusiastic hobbyists themselves who work genuinely and accurately. There are also cosplayers who will pay from job well done. Do your homework.

Hiron explores: Detangling a long wig

I set myself a record few months ago in fiber length, when I bought used wig from a fellow cosplayer. The price was set low, even if the wig was ridiculously long. Long wigs equals tangling, which brought down the cost. I have a cosplay in mind in which I would use the wig, but it's not likely done in near future… Unless I magically turn into well-toned bombshell overnight. Pretty please?

I had thought of trying experimental ways to detangle the wig before and today I bumped into a thread by ChilmarkGryphon on Cosplay.com forums and was like "Yeaaaah!". When we were vacuum forming we used silicone spray as a release agent on the molds. At the time I was too busy to think of anything else, but now I think I get inspired by "Detangling discovery: silicone spray lubricant" and start experimenting.

Here is the subject of the experiment. For peace of mind the design of the possible cosplay character will require the wig to be shredded to pieces. Normally I wouldn't go and try techniques I'm uncertain of in a pretty wig like this. Let's see where this ends up!

Snowtrooper: Third step (Part 1)

These posts might make you think that the construction of the Snowtrooper costume was well planned ahead. But really, it wasn't. I'm just trying to make some sense to it dividing the process in a reasonable manner. It wouldn't be pleasing to read if I had described it as it really was. Maniac.

Let presume that all the ground work is done. Huge amount of references have been collected, material purchases has been done, all the patterns have been drawn and work spaces have been prepared. It’s time to start!

Third step: Production- Soft components

I started from the shoes. The base shoes were fake-Crocs we had bought for 5 euros per pair from a local supermarket. Yoki detached the back straps, because we had no need for them. I made the patterns using scrap fabric wearing the base shoe, like making a shoe cover. This is the idea behind shoe covers by Sarcasm-hime. To make the pattern work, it is recommendable to make a trial version and try it on before cutting it out from the real fabric. Also during the process it doesn’t take too much effort to try the cover on with the base shoe just in case. You might have sewn too similar pieces together and the cover just doesn’t fit on the base. Happened.

Preparing the Crocs.

Based on the references, I chose to do the seams on front and back. Before I started sewing, I authorized Yoki to attach backcloth for each cover piece, while I hot-glued sheet cotton over the top of the sandals to cover the holes and to make them little warmer to use in the wintertime. I sew the shoe covers and linings for clean look. I cut openings on the curve seams to make them set better. To imitate the look of real Mukluk’s I topstitched the seams. This also makes the seams more durable.

Inside of the shoe.

In the back of the shoe, I sew heel tags from fiber fabric for the look, but also to make the shoes sturdy to use, because there was only a sandal as the base. I also kept durability in mind. In our experience, the heel is usually the first to suffer. Because the design for the shoes is loose and the base is a sandal they needed some attachment. We measured rubber band around our ankles and sew them on the sandals to prevent them from falling. Before I attached the cover to the base, I sew on three straps with Velcro for each cover and stitched round shapes on the tip of the shoes.

Complete shoes.

I attached the cover to the shoe with hot glue. It worked with the materials, but I don't recommend hot glue for fake leather or leather covers and base shoes. They tear easily. After the covers was attached I cut all the excessive seam allowance I had left on the bottom of the cover. I glued strips of craft foam around the base of the shoes for finished look. The hollows which were left between the foam band and the sandal I filled with hot glue. At the time I couldn't think of any other filling material which would be easy to apply in small gaps and which would be somewhat flexible. Yoki painted flat studs with metal grey miniature for the details on the back of the shoes. Note to self: buy latex paint for the soles, because spray paint will flake.

Pouches I chose to do mirrored. Some people make them identical.

Next I moved to the clothing made from flannel. In other words everything, pants not included. For the pouches I used pattern from The Definitive How To - Snowtrooper. For finished look lining was added. In the movie the gloves was originally gardening gloves, but because I like to do everything myself, I made them. Pattern I used can be found from here. I had to enlarge it about 5%, because the proto made from the original pattern was quite tight and I worked with woven cloth. Lastly, I added trimming from tricot.

Gloves with the armor plates.

The jacket was relative easy to sew. Structures were easy to accomplish, even if the corners on the front took some thinking. I seem to forget how to make strict corners, even if I have done them repeatedly in my projects. Velcro attachment I sewed in the interface of the topmost flap so that the stitches would not be visible on the bodice. For the lining I used white batiste and flannel on the hem part. I wanted it to look and feel little heavier that what it would have been with batiste and of course, because the inside of the hem is rather visible. Batiste would have looked ridiculous. I added shoulder pads for build look between the bodice and interface.

Velcro attachment.

I topstitched all the borders of the jackets few millimeters from the edge. Based on the references, I topstitched the hem about centimeter from the edge. Because there was some added looseness on the lining of the top part of the jacket, I added reinforcement stitches on the waist seam to prevent the hems flannel lining "dropping and sagging". Belt loops I added after we had our armor parts ready for right alignment.

Front view of the duster.

Back view of the duster all wrinkly.

The pants I made full length. I sew the zipper on the side of the pants for comfort. I didn't want add it under the crotch piece of the armor for obvious reasons. I thought about adding half lining on the pants, but in the end I didn't find them necessary.

Jabba approves!

I will gladly give more detailed information about making of the clothes, their structures and patterns if there's interest.

For the love of instructions

I stumbled on this thread at Cosplay.com forums. "Public cosplay do's and dont's?", started by Amanita contains good points for beginners, but also for "seniors". Convention season has started, so I think this is a good time to recall and think over these issues. Events usually take place in locations where there are outsiders and we all like to give a nice impression as cosplayers, right?

All the colour!

Oh yeah, it’s not even June yet and we have rather many finished items for our cosplays! It's really refreshing to be ahead of the schedule. Usually we have made the last, finishing touches to our costumes minutes before heading to a con. Even if things are looking good now, I think I’ll go with the presumption that we will stretch the completion to the last day as always. But I don’t really care. I enjoy working on these current costumes.

Why? Because I can use my expertise and imagination with them. The great thing about Joxter and Muddler is that we can lean on many sources. More than copying the appearance of the characters from the animated series, I use them as inspiration. Usually we try to copy the design of the character as exact as we can. With these Moomin characters there is a lot more “feel” to them than any other costumes we have done. Using Tove’s writing and all the visual sources available we try to bring them to life in a way which would honour the original work, but also satisfy us as fans and me as a costume creator.

When we were searching for the fabrics we didn’t only look based on colour, but also feel and texture. For us Moomin world is all about nature, so we chose only natural materials from cotton and linen to wool. These materials would also be easy to weather to suit the mobile and carefree lifestyle Joxter and Muddler have. Because Moomin world isn’t modern, I used old folk clothes as inspiration for the designs on the clothes. Most of the details aren’t visible, like Muddler shirt which I patterned based on type of a peasant shirt and the robe attachment on Joxter pants. It just matters that they exist, because it brings more “real” to the characters.

Here are some real and almost ready stuff. Next I’m going to start dyeing and weathering and Yoki will start knitting Muddler’s scarf. We also need to solve the footwear issue as soon as possible.

Radioactive hat.

The wig is at the moment cutted. Finishing touches and styling lacks.

Shirt from linen for Muddler.

Muddler's leg warmers in action.

Back in business

First things first… All the English readers this question is for you! Is it possible to eat a chocolate covered waffle with strawberries whole in one sitting by yourself? We thought that we have to try them while in London and possibly out of greed and gluttony bought one for each. That shall never happen again, trust me on that. It was really good, but not in big portions. So, are they meant to be shared? Next time we are going to split one and enjoy them with delight.

Now, back to business!

Because our first duo’s costumes are looking quite good, I think I can reveal that we are going to be Joxter (Juksu suomeksi, Joxteren på svenska) and Muddler (Hosuli suomeksi, Rådd-djuret på svenska) from Moomin in some summery convention. Ha-ha, I must say. We moved the completion of Snowtroopers to the fall because they would be hot to wear in summertime. Instead we are going to wrap ourselves in wool, leather, thick cotton and multiple layers of clothing. No mask is the best improvement I can think of.

Here are some pictures from the progress. The most interesting parts including Muddler’s “shoes” and headpiece are still under planning, but I think they’ll start to take form during this week. The real problem we are facing with these guys are their lack of carriage. We can’t possibly drag along a giant tin can, so we need to think something else. I suggested to Yoki, that she could carry a paint bucket, which would actually be a purse. We are still going trough Tove’s cartoon strips and books in hopes of finding some references. Hope we bump into something which would solve our problem. Moomin fans, suggestions are welcome.

Highly recommend!

Straigtening project for Joxter's wig.

Yoki collecting reference pictures.

Joxter's hat in the making.

Yoki knitting Muddler's leg warmers.

Costumes for summer 2010 concluded

During the weekend we discussed about our costume plans for the summer. We decided to put our Snowtrooper costumes aside for the spring and work on them in summer. I’m relieved about that. First reason for my relief is that we won’t suffer horrible heatstroke. The Snowtrooper costume, with helmet and all equals HOT. Second one is purely construction related. In summer we can work outside. I think Yoki is still finding foam dust floating in her room and we worked with the foam over a month ago. Third is that we would be in a terrible hurry and I want to make the costumes perfect before taking them to public. Looking at our schedules for the next three months, the process would be scattered here and there. And for this costume its bad, with all the different requirements for space and materials. We noticed that it’s lot easier to work continually for two weeks than try to achieve something during the weekend, then put everything aside to take them out and start over the next weekend. According our current planning, the Snowtrooper duo will be debuted next autumn.

With this long explanation and convincing arguments, I think we are now justified to start working on new costumes, yes? Yes! We have a lift off!


Because our plans for conventions are still wide open, we chose two duos to be made. It might sound weird that instead of one and a half costume we have now four. But these ones don’t include plastic sheets or spray paint fumes. It’s mainly sewing, which sounds great to me. I have the structure and pattern plans almost done. And this gets better. We have the wigs ready for every costume, thanks to my collector soul! They need to be styled, but we don’t need to see the effort of finding nice wigs and use hilarious amount of money on them. The hardest part is finding shoes. Lately I have been really keen of observing the shoes used in cosplay here in Finland. I think having believable shoes for the character is one of those finishing touches beside things like cosmetic contact lenses… which are also on their way to the nearest post office.

I fight the urge to reveal our complete plans. I need to have some result before I can do that, like some pieces of clothing. But I dare to give some info and I’m actually quite sure that we’re going to finish these guys easily for the summer cons. Yes, guys. Yoki didn’t get to show her feminity still. One duo is actually listed on my earlier post. The second duo is from an older series and it’s going to be a nice splash of colour for our monotonic costume history. There is actually no plain black or white clothing on either person from the duo.

The result of spontaneous material shopping.

We have already collected some materials for our colourful duo. I have cut almost all main pieces for the clothes, while Yoki has started the knitting project. But the real work starts after Easter. We are going to jump on a plane and get a head start to spring, eat a lot of (English) chocolate and enjoy the holidays! Happy Easter everybody!

Packing for conventions

Convention season has started here in Finland. We are not yet sure which ones we are going to attend, but the great wheels are turning. In the meanwhile, waiting to see if our schedules’ match and how our bank accounts relate to travelling, I thought of revealing our strategy of packing for conventions. This post is based on the experiences of train and car travelling.

First thing is to see that you have everything ready before you start. We make a list of all the objects we need for the cosplay. Nothing will be left out and the direction is usually from top to bottom and from inside to outside. When you have all items checked and in front of you, you can start packing. Golden rule for packing is to put heavier things on the bottom and lighter ones on the top to avoid crushing effect and un-wanted wrinkles. On the bottom of your bag you can also stuff your civil clothes, they don't matter as much as your cosplay gear.

Always iron your clothes before packing! And have a proper sized bag or suitcase, not a back bag where you just stuff everything.

Things like jeans, t-shirts and tricot can be rolled. They don't wrinkle easily and rolling also saves space. If you have boots or shoes other than sandals, you can put the garment rolls inside them. I usually put the shoes in their own plastic bags to protect clothes from getting dirty and to make their positioning in the bag easier. Pack the things which don’t really need any folding attention, like bandages and socks to fill the gaps and to make a nice bed for the more meaningful items.

Dress shirts should be buttoned and folded like in stores. Press out any wrinkles and check the sleeves that they are neatly folded. Here is a one way of doing it. Items like jacket, suits and skirts can be folded and recommendable is to pack them in a garment bag or a plastic bag, possibly ones from dry cleaners or just any garbage bag. Avoid too many folds though. Lay the items in the top of everything else.

Accessories and other small props we usually pack inside characters own carriage, like pouches and just place them inside the bag to fill gaps or carry as they are, like a back bag. If they are delicate we put them inside paper towels and plastic.

Armour parts we carry in hand in a tote or a bag. They take space, but better to see the effort than to find them crushed in your luggage. For swords we have made a special bag that we can carry on our backs. Takes away some un-wanted attention. It's wise to cushion the sharp points and to wrap every item in a plastic, to avoid scratches and paintjob failures.

Wigs we carry on our heads, on wig heads, possibly inside a box well secured or neatly rolled or folded in a hair net and a plastic bag in the luggage. It really depends on the wig which of these is the best solution. Hats we carry in hand in their own carriage, if needed stuffed with newspapers and other reinforcements.

When you are done travelling, immediatilly un-pack your bags. Take few hangers with you just instead. Put the clothes on hangers and if they have wrinkles, place them in the bathroom after shower. The steam will flatten the garments a bit. If you have opportunity to iron your clothes, do it. Hairdryer works also in some extent.

Always take at least a sewing kit with you. We carry around a cosplay kit, where we pack our contact lenses, make-up, binding materials, small accessories possibly with spares, scissors, tapes, glues, small containers of paint... you get the point. Anything we could need to fix the costume if something happened.

And ALWAYS remember to pack your personal stuff. Taking care of your personal hygiene makes your cosplay experience much more pleasing... for others too. Remember to take regular painkillers, possibly your prescription drugs, sunblock (summer cons obviosly) and your ID with you. Carry your ID around all the time in case of something bad happens. Preferably do the packing in one sitting. It's more likely that you forget something (possibly important part of your costume, like... shirt?) if you pack some here and there.

CasualtyCosplay cartoonized by laira87

Few posts ago I wrote about our collaboration with doujinshi artist laira87. It was probably two days after I put out the post when Laira contacted me. She granted us a permission to put her upcoming doujinshi cover here on our blog! The title of her new work is Soulstrip. For more information about publication and availability of the doujinshi and about the artist herself go to Laira's Deviantart profile.

Forged faces and features- Cosplay make-up

For us, make-up is a necessity. Even Yoki, who never wears any make-up is willing to powder, fade and blush if it's for the sake of cosplay. Once I even got her wear mascara, which she really, really hates. I'm not in any way professional make-up artist, but through try and error I have found ways that work well for us. There are lot of make-up tutorials in Youtube from basics to professionals. But because we get a lot of questions about our make-ups and body paints I thought that I'd make a post about it.

I think it's best to go with the products you already know. For cosplay purposes I use almost all the same stuff I have in my make-up purse crazy body paints not included. I have found a good foundation, which I use daily. For conventions and photoshoot I usually pair it with powder in hopes of making it last the whole day. Good foundation reduces shine. It also perfects your skin in photos reflecting light and making small errors less noticable. Powder should be used with care, even if it sounds great not having to worry about the foundation wearing off. Powder tends to react to flashlights harshly, eating away facial features and natural shadows. It's wise to test make-up at home with different lightings to see the results and to choose which products works out the best. Bronzers and blushes are helpful faking shapes on your face, but also defining them for photos if powder is used.

Eyes are dominant feature when anime or manga characters are under discussion. A lot of expressions starts from the eyes. They also give an unique look for the character and gives information about characters aligment and personality. It's natural to pick the focus from the eyes to cosplay through make-up. But I don't see why you couldn't alter distinctive eye make-up of the character to suit you. Seriously, I once tried on similar heavy eye-lining that Gaara from Naruto has and it looked plain horrible. I have seen many Gaara cosplayers, who can pull off the type of thick eye-lining he has, but it didn't honesly suit be the slightest. I don't know is it the shape of my eye and eyelids, but I couldn't see myself wearing that type of make-up without looking stupid. For me I think eye-liner with black eye-shadow would do the trick. To achieve the goal I think it's acceptable to cheat a little with the original design, because we are real people, not drawn to perfection.

Mascara is essential if you cosplay girls with flashy eyes, but not necessary with male characters. Deidara is an exception for me. Because he has heavy lining on his eyes it's rather normal to presume that he has dark lashes or he uses mascara. Personally I always use some type of mascara, because I have the lightest lashes. Brown one, if the character happens to be "natural" looking male. Akon is an exception from the other end. For him I tried to fade away all the hair sticking around my eye area. Instead I used a lot of faded eye-shadow to make the eyes pop in a different way.

Eye-shadow suits both men and female. It gives some depth to eyes, so photos generally look much better. Also slight alterations to shape of the eye is achievable. The best palette for natural and not too noticable result is one with browns, greys and possibly black for heavier shadows. Eye-liners work well with almost any type of eyes. Depending on the character, you need to choose do you go with liquid or pen type. Liquid eye-liner gives a sharp look, when pen type is a lot softer and it's easy to fade and blend.

Pairing with the eyes are the eyebrows. They usually are same colour as the characters hair. Eye-shadows and pens can be used to change the shade of your natural brow colour, but if it's drasticly different like burning red, I would use a lip liner. Of course you could purchase a liner specially created for eyebrows, but the range of colours might not be as wide as in lip liners. Lip liners are moister than eye-liners and have rich tone, so it should cover up your original brow colour easily. I recommend using powder to fix the lip liner on place. Otherwise you could accidentally smudge it all over your forehead.

Basic products can carry great lenghts.

Next to basic make-up we have a history with more masking body paints. We trust in Grimas products, which can be purchased in water- or oil-based. Usually you would think that the oil-based paints are better, but we can't make the difference between the two. Both have ups and downs. Luckily we haven’t done cosplays that require full body paint, because next to awkwardness while wearing full body paint, when you can’t regularly touch anything without messing up yourself and others, it takes time to apply it. Make sure you have a buddy with patient nature to help you out. And read the instructions. Even oil-based body paints need to be applied with moist sponge, thus speeding up the whole process.

Before wearing any type of body paints I recommend you care your skin with moisturiser well before, if it’s not a daily habit. Applying paint is easier and your skin can bear little better few days heavily concealed. It’s also wise to purchase body paints in two consistent. We have cake types next to few liquid ones. Liquid ones come in handy when there are sharp lines or patterning in the design you are aiming for. For applying body paints we use make-up sponges and normal paintbrushes. They have proved to be lot long lasting and in all ways better than make-up brushes in the same price group.

Body paints should always be fixed with transparent powder! It lasts way better and smoothes up some minor tone differences. And always have good products to wash away make-up despite the type of it.

Grimas has a website where you can find different types of make-up from theatrical to basic beauty. You can search for retailers near you after moving to your country's section, if you don't like to order through the online shop.

Breakfast, water and emergency chocolate bar

When your costume is finally ready it´s time to participate in an event. But before you rush in the middle of kitty caps, over-sized swords and flashlights you should prepare yourself. Usually events last the whole day (and the next day and so on) so you need to remember that even though you're cosplaying undead priest, your stomack doesn't cooperate with willpower only.

First step: Breakfast!
The most important meal of the d-day and maybe the only proper one. Two pieces of bread aren't enough so you have to add something extra like porridge, yoghurt and fruits. This combination will keep you functioning the next 3 to 5 hours. This is our experience, every person is different.

Second step: Water.
Because summer is often hot (that depends) and we cosplayers tend to drape ourselves on black PVC, multiple layers of clothes and most painful accessories, it is reasonable to drink water. It prevents headaches and dizzyness. You don't want to pass out, right?

After convention you can reward yourself with huge cup of hot chocolate! (Photo by Hiron 2008)

Third step: Emergency chocolate bar.
Cause everyone is hopefully having fun time you easily forget the passing time and eventually your blood sugar levels drops, like fangirls jaws, causing weakness. This is when you stuff your chocolate in your mouth and walk to the nearest market or foodplace. We are not fictional characters. Actually we need to eat and we need to go the bathroom, which tend to be quite difficult, especially for me.

Extra step: Your buddies.
When having a group around you it is highly advisable to check how they are performing. That their wigs are looking good and that they don't pass out while walking behind you. This came very clear to us when our friend and fellow cosplayer Karan was joining our trip to Animecon two thousand and something (Hiron edit: 2008). Casualty Cosplay doesn't carry chocolate around, we don't need to 'cause we mainly shut down our inner organs when we go to con. Karan however, was different. Her blood sugar dropped much faster than ours and it was our fault to let it happen. So next time Karan, I've have a chocolate bar for you, you like it or not.

So people, take good care of yourself and buddies. Weird things might happen.

- yoki out

Collaboration with doujinshi artist laira87

This picture of us will be drawn as a doujinshi cover by laira87.

Last month we got a message one of a kind. Doujinshi artist, who has account on Deviantart under laira87 contacted us and asked a permission to use one of our cosplay pictures as an inspiration for a cover of her new project. I explored her work, discussed with Yoki about the matter and changed few messages with Laira. She was really nice person and quick on her moves! It didn't take long before she sent me a sketch, where Sasori and Deidara were drawn in the way we pose in our picture.

We granted the permission and now we are waiting for the cover to finished. So exiting! The funny thing is, that this particular photo is based on a drawing I, myself made years ago. So Laira is drawing a picture of our photo, which is based on a drawing. From Laira's Deviant profile you find more info about her and her work.

Akatsuki interviews uploaded

Today I went to Yoki's place with my wig and a bottle of fake blood. We had done the script ready a week earlier, so we didn't have to mind that. The editing was fast, thanks to Yoki's new computer. Zero crashes, zero grey hairs. Music, more precicely "Bad Ideas (distressed)" we got from incompetech.com by Kevin MacLeod and it's licenced under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0. At 11am we started to prepare for our photoshoot and and at 6pm we were ready and the outcome of the day was uploaded on Youtube. You can check here for Akatsuki interviews.

Obligatory "after" pic.

We were thinking of doing a series of interviews. First question came up years ago when we were cosplaying Sasori and Deidara the first time, but for some reason we didn't materialize it back then. The second one was just random idea we laughted about when we were drinking coffee and tea and playing cards. If you have ideas or you would like to ask something from Sasori and Deidara, leave a comment or send us a message on Youtube!

Preparing to wear a cosplay almost after three years!

Next weekend we are going to do something we haven't done in almost three years. Wear Sasori and Deidara! We have worn non-canon costumes, but not their official outfits for a long time. It's quite obvious that things have changed after the last time we had Akatsuki gear on... and they will change before the weekend, when we are going have the photoshoot. Our wigs are going to spend some quality time with me and my scissors. And loads of hair spray, I predict.

We tried the outerwear of the costumes, in other words the Akatsuki cloaks yesterday. We both squeaked how nostalgic it was and how long it's been since then. We were standing in Yoki's room staring ourselves from the mirror, tilting heads back and forth. Just staring. That... was... wierd. But still, quite exiting to breath life to those costumes again. We'll see what will happen.

First try out! Looks silly without definitive make-up.

If you ever think you are going to put on a cosplay again after some undefined time, store it well. I didn't have a clue where Deidara's head protector was, so I had to go trough every possible hideout after all the possible wardropes and shelves. And that was only at Yoki's place, where most of our costumes are kept. Gladly, I found it. It was at my place, in a shoe box companied by a rank badge from Matsumoto Rangiku. What a discovery!

Another thing that pops in my mind on this matter, is to write down all the names and colours of the make-up products you have used on a cosplay. I think tomorrow I'm going to hit the stores after work to find some pretty coloured nail polishes.

This, by the way is my first cosplay accessory ever. And still in a good shape.

Popping stuff , unhappy paintjob and the devilish cracking sound

We are taking heavy casualties! My snowtrooper costume took some damage on the battleground. Hiron wanted me to tell about it so I'm going to list the casualties here, right now:

After spending few moments on our yard

my kneepad holder said
POP
while entering a car
the armor piece on the back of my hand said
POP
I didn't notice as
my shoulder straps said
POP
and when there were no glue or tape around
my visor said
POP
and as I came back to the base
I saw that one of my details had said
POP

Conclusion: glue doesn't like the cold

You move and your armor parts sometimes rub against each other. That is how you come up with unhappy paintjob. Most of the areas, which are lacking paint, are luckily in hard to see places like your abdomen and outsoles.

And finally the devilish cracking sound. The one you never wish to hear. Which happens to us way too often, maybe Hiron wants to tell us wath happened to her sword. "Your sword belongs to cloakroom, mine however is small enough to be carried with me", she said and look how that turned out.

Back to the point. I thought that the whole shoulderpeice was going apart when I heard the sound, but it was only one detail.

Ever thought where our name stems from.

-yoki out

Snowtrooper: Second step

References are important when the goal is screen accurate costume. That’s why I made whole post about it. The second step is much vaster. It inncludes all the ground work and material selection.

Step two: Initialization

When you are pulling your costume from the ground, you need to start with choosing materials for the clothes and in our case for the armour. Again searching trough forums and other sites I found recommended materials for the uniform. We chose flannel for the coat and pouches and for the pants I used thick cotton. I used same stuff on my Bubblehead nurse costume, where it proved to be really nice quality and forgiving material. For the shoes I chose awning cloth for its durability and thickness. For attachments I used Velcro, rubber bands with different widths and plastic buckles. For the helmet shroud I had to buy white vinyl, with a nice tint of pink. Better material is on search.

For the armour I needed to dig deeper and the extra work was worth it. First we thought we would do the armour parts from fibreglass, but with that we would have needed a lot of help from our commissioner. In The Definitive How To: Snowtrooper I was introduced to vacuum forming, so I started to Google and eventually found many helpful sites from model builders homepages to How to- Youtube videos. I collected all the information together to form a plan suited for our project.

Our version of vacuum forming set-up

I draw patterns myself, so I didn’t have to go trough the horrible mission of finding close enough patterns to be later modified for the purpose. I used size 38 (UK 12) basic patterns for us both. I didn’t need to add any extra looseness, so the whole pattern process was really quick and effortless. I drew the coats little more form fitting than they are in the movie and designed some extra cuts for the upper part of the pants, which are hidden under the crotch piece.

The plan and structure for the shoes were born also quite fast. I’ve made few shoe covers and sandal-type shoes, but now we were building boots. I ended up using techniques I knew would work. I decided to construct the shoes over a “base shoe” using hot glue, cotton sheet and soft foam with the awning cloth.

More planning were put on the vacuum forming molds. They can be made almost from anything. I have seen people using metal, wood, plaster and ready-made objects. We needed a material which we could shape in home environment, so we didn’t even think of any other material instead of insulation foam. We had work with it before with props and small accessories. We knew what could be made out of it, how it would react to spray paints and wood filler, which we used to smooth out the surface and to prevent the foam from melting.

The molds were made of insulation foam, which was stacked and glued if needed. For some guidelines I took The Definitive how to Snowtrooper measurements, which I then scaled to suit us. I smartly though, that the measures are made for full-grown man and we don’t have quite the same frame. It was rather challenging to get the shapes and proportions right, but thanks to art classes it wasn’t over-powering. The only object, which I really fought with and almost lost my mind, was the chest armour. Not only was it the biggest part, it was also curvy and needed to sit on your shoulders beautifully coming down to your midriff and sides. It could not be “tried on” because it was huge, bulky piece of foam. Measurements and taking them multiple times were the only option I had. It took some patience and re-doing, but in the end it paid off.

After the mold issue was solved, the next step was to find the right plastic. I was really proud of myself when I, by myself actually found a company which could provide us with the material needed. Before I even got to look for the company, I had few alternatives in my hand. I somehow ended up with PETG-plastic, which was provided in clear sheets.

First frame and clear plastic sheet attached

When we were waiting for the plastic to arrive via mail, we commissioned the frames and the vacuum table from Esa. We had to bother him few times, because the first frame was too small for some armour parts. The second time was my fault and stupidity, but gladly he’s patient commissioner and didn’t think ill of me. So please think carefully of your working space, equipment and everything you might need before starting! You will save time later and don’t do ridiculous mistakes. And if you commission anything at all, make sure you have enough time for the order and the commissioner has enough time to carry trought your order.

Snowtrooper: First step

Snowtrooper is definitely the hardest costume I have ever done. Not only did I have to learn things I didn't even know existed, I also had to work long hours and bounce between three or four process steps at a time. Planning a schedule became day to day habit. I knew it was crucial to plan ahead, because there where things I needed to do before I could do something else. For example, I had to finish the abdomen piece of the armour before I could go out and find a right width of belt strap, so that I could sew the belt loops on the coat. If I happened to miss a step or I didn't have enough time to do it as planned or I didn't find the right materials, the progress stopped. It happened few times and I think Yoki didn’t find those moments pleasing. In addition, neither did I.

Also working with new materials got over-whelming time to time. Plastic and vacuum forming, or more precisely failing with them made me want to rip the hair out of my head. But it was only a passing feeling, along with numerous times I thought my veins would burst from high blood pressure. Like with everything not too familiar, mistakes are inevitable. It takes some effort to pull yourself up numerous times and keep pushing on. For me at least, but it really builds a character.

I thought I would open the process of making the costume. The information I include in this series of posts is quite costume based, but you can always adapt it. I'll start with a step you always should do with care and patience. It pays off in the end, when you don't have to go and Google in the middle of chaulking, sewing or cutting off your finger. It's just plain frustrating.

1st Step: References

We were starting a costume based on movies and not on any movies, but on Star Wars. After some research and finding the right channels of information, it was really easy to stock up a nice collection of reference pictures. And there can never be too many references. More the merrier. The best source, which led to many other convenient sites were the 501st Legion’s homepage.

501st is a world-wide costuming organization which is specialised in the folk of the Dark Side. Dressed up as villains, they still have a good cause. Showing up in birthdays, weddings or game shops or being ordered in conventions doesn’t fill up their purses. All the profits are directed to charity work and fundraising. All the members of 501st are volunteers and constructs their costumes themselves. More information can be found at the homepage of 501st Legion: Vader’s Fist. I recommend you check the origin of the name, their mission and the testimonials and endorsements.

Thanks to well organized and helpful fandom it was really easy to find tons of reference pictures. I read throughout two forums, which I think were the most beneficial for me: Blizzard Force, a detachment specialised on cold climate troopers and Nordic Garrison, branch formed from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

Reference pictures in use

As references we used costume exhibit photos provided by snortooperrefrence on Photobucket, screen captures from Star Wars: Empire strikes back from various sources and process pictures from people who have constructed the costume. The Definitive How To: Snowtrooper proved to live up to it’s name. They have step by step tutorial, designs for the armour and a whole much more on their sites reference pictures and links included.

For us it was natural to find different sources for the references. When you are making a costume based on animated character the process is little different, but alternatives still exist. You can strictly follow animated design or choose more detailed comic version, possibly both if you know how to combine then and if you can stand behind your decision. Digging up original art from the artist might also prove helpful. If the character is wearing something what is recognisably a piece of clothing like kimono, finding pictures from real ones isn’t a bad idea.

Me and protective gear made by Yoki - Mission: Find ref-pics

Always see the effort to search information about your costume! Many questions have already been answered and many costumers have been helped out. You can learn a lot without participating and find sites and tutorials just by reading and clicking. Cosplay.com forums are a good source, but more specific help you can find on specialized sites. Not only references, but also recommendable materials and techniques are explained. You can also learn a lot from posts, where people ask for critique on their costumes. Usually the answers are really pin-pointed and possibly you haven’t even thought about some matters by yourself.

New cosplay debute- Snowtrooper

Finished! Well, almost... but atleast it's wearable! We finished the costume eight hours before it was to be worn by Yoki. We dropped the backpack from this first version, but I think that Snowtrooper from Star Wars series is making an impact even without it. When we manage to finish my costume all the missing objects will be done... and also some adjustments for Yoki's armor. There were casualties. Yes, there were... Yoki might post about them, because I witnessed only some of them.

So this is the huge project we have been battling with three months. Some armor making changes occured during the construction. We planned doing the armor parts from fiberglass but ended up doing them from PETG plastic using vacuum forming method. It was new for us and a great learning experience. I will post more detailed information about this costume later on, possibly when we have both of them entirely done. We have also planned some shorts skits and hopefully we will be able to shoot them when we still have snow.

But I must say... Star Wars costuming is epic!

Yoki

Weekly - Pick a pic

casualties happen


Hiron has taken damage (pic by yoki)

Something feminine

Our cosplay history is dominated by male characters, but now we are trying to chance it... even though it's starting to seem like mission impossible. There are plenty of interesting female characters, but finding a duo with strong and confident charasteristics hasn't paid off. I was quite suprised when Yoki pointed out, that I could choose a male character if it was too overpowering to find suitable ladies for both of us. Our tomboy want's to be a lady! As a result my task got a bit easier.

But not too easy. We are not only looking for a strong will and action oriented females. Because we like showy costumes girls in regular school uniforms needs to be counted out, even if we take liking in their personality. As a duo we try to be respectful for the height difference between characters as well as their difference in bodytypes. It just takes a lot of workload off if we can avoid building characters structure over ourselves.

In short, we are looking something mean and lean female or male partnered with something mean and curvy. Burst Angel's Jo and Meg would ba a match made in heaven... if they had more clothes on. I'm not a fan of "skimpy" outfits and Jo and Meg have great amount of panty and booby stuff going on.

I have gone trought manga, anime and games hoping to find suitable characters for us. We have always wanted to do a cosplay from Soul Calibur series, but the ladies in the games also suffer from common cloth-loss, which is really annoying. And the ones with more clothes aren't just as alluring for us, like Cassandra and Sophitia. They actually fill many of our requirements, starting from "connected" characters, but something in them just isn't catchy at all. Maybe they are just not mean enough.
If we forget about female duos, I think I might have something promising in mind. Recently I have been reading Pandora Hearts and totally fell in love with the character design and complex storytelling. The outfits just screams to be made. Alice would be a suitable character for Yoki, not too girly and fluffy even if she has a softer side. The male representation is wide and almost everyone of them have some kind of a connection to the heroine. I must admit that I like Xerxes Break, but then again Jack Vessalius would be more natural choice.We can't get too caught up with our future projects yet. We still need to finish our current one and it actually seems that we will be done in the end of this month! But it's always fun to do some character research and I think we will be doing some more before we are both satisfied with it.

Weekly- Pick a pic

Even the mad scientists love cookies! By Hiron 2007.

Weekly - Pick a pic

protection (pic by yoki)

When and how cosplay goes wrong?

You will not see any low-class images in this post. There are multiple webpages dedicated to make fun of people who doesn't fill the "regulations" for so called good cosplay. The worst ones are created and updated by individuals who belong in the same fandom as the persons from whom they are publishing pictures without permission. "Cosplay gone wrong" is probably the most horrid thing born in the finger-pointing and failure seeking "righteous" fandom. It might have started from a joke, but have quickly exploded into phenomenon. The main purpose seems to be insulting and bad-mouthing without any modesty. It resembles rasism, because usually the "failures" are related to race, skin colour and bodytype.

Lately and possibly because our current costume project I have been digging up information about early fan-based costuming. People have always been imitating their idols' appearance (Queen Mary Antoinette, "The Count of Rein", thus creating fashion), but dressing up like fictional characters is more late discovery. The first spark in fan-costuming, or now-a-days "cosplay" is not originated in Japan even tought the word cosplay was born and created by native Japanese. Nobuyuki "Nov" Takahashi was the first to use the term "cosplay" in his article in My Anime magazine (June 1983). Thus he came the inventor of the word. But it is said that Forrest J Ackerman was the first person to wear "futuristicostume" designed by Myrtle R. Douglas at 1st World Science Fiction Convention in 1939.

Still it's quite common to bump into opinion of Japanese being the superior and the only righteous cosplayers. It is true that the huge development took part in Japan when cosplay started to become more popular in mid 80's. If that is put aside, the usual argument why Japanese just are better, is that anime and manga are from Japan. So they are the only ones who should cosplay. Usually this is being said by non-Japanese, which is quite bizarre. In Japan cosplay does not only mean dressing up as anime and manga characters, the field of inspiration is much wider. Is the reason just ignorance or is there something more in it?

If you are cosplaying character from anime and manga, which are originated from Japan the chances of having disliked comments is highly predictable. And the argument is, that the characters in the series look like Japanese when you as a Caucasian, do not. I'm not sure how to react in this kind of opinion or am I just unable to see the resemblance, which for some seems to be clear as a day? Can I justify my costume if the character in the anime/manga is described as European? Or are the characters, even if named in an European way and living in historical France played by Japanese... cartoon... people? Everyone who conciders to cosplay as Spock, do not. You must be alien. Live long and prosper. Nano-nano.

If the Japanese aspect is forgotten the other targets, when looking failures are skin colour and physique. It can become invincible to keep cosplaying, when all you get is how big your nose is, how dark you are and how fat you are and all the effort you have put in the costume doesn't have any effect. Cosplay being based on clothing and designs, mimicin outer appearance of the character the degrating is mostly aimed at the person. It would make more sense, if the negative comments would relate to the costume's construction. If you don't have waist narrow enought or even have few kilos extra that seems to make you not only ugly and unfit for cosplay, but also failure, stupid and lazy in all aspects of life. Where did the "costume" and "play" concept go? How come cosplay seems to be turning into beauty pageant and look-alike realm?

Not everyone are willing to suffer with full bodypaint and corcets and there should be no need for those. Cosplay is not always performed to please the public eye and to gain acknowledgement. Cosplay itself can't go wrong, because there are no guidelines. None at all. But the by-products can go wrong and seems that they are getting more ignorant and ugly.

People seem to lose their touch to reality regarding cosplay. Cosplay goes wrong at the precise moment, when people start to think that they are qualified to make rules for cosplay and that they can start to criticise others harshly based on those . And they sometimes really seem to believe that they are right. Are they forgetting that behind the costume there is a person who might have different point of view? They might cosplay for their own sake, for fun not trying to achieve "a professional level". Or are these self-proclaimed critics just in love with their "cunning insights" that they just need to yammer about them? If contructive (as constructive) critique is wanted , it also will be asked for.

I might have said this before and will continue to say that cosplay is a hobby. Hobbies are not related to outer appearance. They are practiced based on interest and for enjoyment. Cosplay should not be restricted by looks, not of the character or the enthusiastic fan. In my point of view everyone are free to cosplay whoever they want. There are no regulations for cosplay if competitions are not counted. Even thought cosplay is a hobby which is really visual and even superficial, everyone does it regarding their own reasons and causes. And there is no wrong in that.

Do something useful

this week has been full of stitches and different kind of patterns. Because I can handle neither sewing nor pattering I was given a job to add something here. So here you go, pictures from our progress... taken weeks ago...in 2009...I should take new pictures.

armor in progress (pic by yoki)

this is something I can use, Woodfiller! (pic by yoki)

-yoki out

Weekly- Pick a pic

Hiron, also known as The Hunchback of Seam ripping. Pic by Yoki 2010.

Happy New Year everybody! After the holidays we are back in business. I'm so pleased to work with materials and techniques I know I can handle. After spending days, possibly weeks with pieces of styrofoam, sanding paper and chaulk I just love the rumble of a sewing machine. Our shoes are almost done. I think I manage to finish them tomorrow. Then I move on to the clothing and hope that I will avoid those stupid mistakes I did today. The picture was taken in a moment of a meltdown after sewing one seam incorrectly... twice. Yep, I can handle this...