From pale to olive: Barriss make-up trial

"You call me pale?! Why don't you take a look in the mirror then..."

Four of our costumes have required more make-up than the basic foundation and enchantments. Mayuri was the first and he was followed by Jasdero and Debitto. From them we learned that for applying oil-based products you need damp sponge like with water-based ones. Not dry. You might quess that it took some time to apply the paint...

After realising that it was child’s play to create Samara’s look last Halloween. Even if we have some body paint stuff behind us, we never actually made try-outs with exception of Joxter's nose. By miracle they just have worked adequately. But we don’t like to settle for that with our new costumes, so we had a trial for our Mirialian chicks, more specifically for Barriss who will be portrayed by Yoki.


We had in mind of doing a tutorial, but because we didn’t have all the right products we decided to share our experience as a regular post. And the make-up isn’t that hard to do if you just have patience. The hardest thing is to apply the diamond shapes, but when good position is found for both the model and for the one doing the make-up it will go fast.


I started with the base. I applied Grimas’ Créme Make-Up with damp sponge. It’s best to tap the color on to avoid streaks. Then I fixed the paint with transparent fixing powder. I think we will buy tinted powder later on, because the white powder will catch flashes and make the skin look really pale, which I noticed after taking photos from the process. At this point the golden eye-shadow would be added, but we hadn’t purchased it yet.

Comfortable position is everything. Note the pillow started when I was 18 and never finished.

Then I started with liquid eye-liner. I used it for making the diamonds shapes on the nose and cheeks and lining the upper eyelid. Again the trial proved useful. Because the eye-liner was water soluble, it was rather hard to even get the color on, yet try to make the shapes sharp. I think three layers would do the trick. I did only two for the trial. For eyes I think I’ll use pencil eye-liner, it can be also added inside the lash line safely. That was actually my first idea and purpose, but the pencil was missing at the time we started the make-up.


Then I added black mascara, black lipstick and darkened Yoki’s eyebrows a little and we were done. It’s annoying how nice facial structure Yoki has; she actually looks pretty with the crazy make-up!

In all the process took about an hour. We’ll buy the products we missed and have another trial, possibly for Luminara's look. I also need to study my camera options more, because the photos Yoki's skin is pale compared to what it really looked like. Next to practising my make-up Barriss' also needs some more attention; the diamond shapes extend further on the cheeks.

Under construction: Barriss' cloak

During the last four evenings, the only sound that was heard was: thump thump thump thump thump thump thump and some unmentioned Finnish words which happened to escape our lips during the process. Indeed, it was time for printing Barriss' cloak fabric.

As I said, this project took four evenings, Hiron helped me out during the first two. We made one template out of soft plastic that was found from our local fabric store. The downside of this material was that it started to curl as the pattern had a lot of small strands in it. I got really frustrated with it while doing the final two lines, consisting 16 individual prints. But clearly I weren't as frustrated as Hiron during the first evening when it looked like the pattern was wrong, parts being too far apart from each other and the color was too light.

After going through most of her emotion arsenal, (the time I decided it was best to retreat) Hiron made a simple solution for the problem. She linked the small figures together with a brush, used more blue color in the mixture and finally pressed the wet print with a paper, removing the excess paint and making it more animate.

The template of doom!

There was another small problem with the template. After doing three lines, we noticed that the pattern started to look smaller and it was clearly missing parts. The paint had stuck on the template, closing the holes and making a nice layer on the plastic's surface which acted like a sticker tape. For this, there was a easier solution: a wash.

So after sitting, kneeling and lying on the floor for hours the print was finally finished, now only thing left to do is to create the network-like structure and put the cloak together.

Casualties: one telephone directory, yoki's right index finger and few stiff back muscles.

-yoki out

Typical situation with changing plans

Changing plans with costumes, conventions or schedules must be one of the most typical situations (or problems) amongst cosplayers. We are no exception. After Tampere Kuplii we unanimously dropped Bakacon from our convention list because of Yoki’s exams. Now, after being somewhat crippled for weeks first by back problems and now with swollen knee and notorious spring flu, I’m completely assured that it was the right choice.

As a duo, it’s really easy to tell the other party if a costume idea doesn’t appeal too much or if you've had a change of heart. Dropped and changed costume plans happen so casually between us that we don’t even remember to report them. I think our long-term readers have noticed that. If I were to count all the costumes we have thought about doing, the list would possibly be at least double the length of the list of the actual costumes.

Crazy things have been introduced here on our blog with our possible projects. Talking about lists, I thought I could make one and try to clear out what new costumes we are going to do for this summer:

Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

That was short… These costumes we will wear at Desucon, which is the next convention we are going to attend to. Of course we have plans for the autumn, but at this point it’s too early to go there.

"I find the lack of your ergonomics, while constructing your lightsaber disturbing!"

Under construction: Luminara's cloth

Yesterday was the “May the fourth be with you”-day and I spend it according to theme; constructing Luminara’s accessories. This time I worked with the cloth she has attached to her belt. I managed to cut all the pieces and some I even prime painted. You could tell by looking around my apartment that the material I used for the cloth is craft foam. After months of static Finnfoam dust I’m happy with the some foam scraps wandering around.


I scaled the design from printed image and drew it on pattern paper. I traced the shapes on craft foam in two different colours. The markings and details I made with various objects and I’m using acrylics in brown, copper and gold. I still have much work ahead. Especially the detailing will be troublesome as there isn't many close-ups from the cloth.

During the upcoming week we are truly going to work with Luminara and Barriss as Yoki is having days off from school. We'll start printing the fabric for Barriss’ cape and hopefully finish the lightsaber hilts for both of us. I’m also trying to make some progress with Luminara’s headgear. I have started with it, but after realising how hard it is to find the right materials for it, I’ve just pushed it back.

We might also have some video stuff coming up.

Snowtrooper: Costume assembly

Our Snowtrooper costumes consist of sixteen different components per set: pants, shoes, knee plates, crotch piece, abdomen plate, pouches, thermal detonator holder, jacket, chest plate, shoulder straps, backpack, shoulder bells, arm guards, hand plates, gloves and helmet. In this post I will go through the fastenings and assembly.


The crotch piece has a plastic buckle on the side on a canvas strap. The buckle was placed on the side, because opening the buckle would have been hard to find the buckle under the cape with thermal detonator etc. on the way. The pouches have double loops and they hang on canvas belt, which goes through the abdomen plate. The belt has a plastic buckle on the side. The thermal detonator holder has two aluminum "loops" to keep it on place.


The knee plates has elastic band glued inside the outer edge of the piece. On the inner side and on the end of the elastic band is Velcro.


The shoulder straps are fastened to the chest plates with screws and nuts. Between the strap and the chest plate is craft foam cushioning, so that the parts would sit tightly and not scratch each other. The canvas straps of the chest plate suspenders and similar straps with D-rings for the backpack connects to the same screw. The harness is fastened with a plastic buckle on the back.

All the parts from the chest set. Here you can see how the chest itself is constructed from four pieces.

The arm guards have elastic bands on the wrist. The cuffs on the guards are craft foam. The palm plates attach to the gloves with Velcro as well as the shoulder bells to the jacket. The backpack has canvas straps with Velcro glued and screwed on it. The straps slip trough the D-rings when worn.


The helmet has cushioning on the forehead. The buckets are actually so form fitting that they don't need anything else. The visor is attached to the dome snugly with Velcro. I wanted the visors to be removable, if we ever needed to pack tightly: the domes can be stacked, like almost all of the armor parts in the costumes. That is also why the back cowl on the helmet is taped on and not glued.

Front.

Back obviously.

Under construction: Luminara's accessories

Next to leather gauntlets and cloth Luminara has few more accessories. She has a brooch fastening her cape on next to pair of belts and a lightsaber. The brooch I made last year already. I thought about re-making it, but after I examined the reference pictures I settled to it. There is still painting and weathering ahead, but I could say I'm on the winning side with it.

I've done lot of brain work with Luminara's belt buckles and few days ago I took the bull from its horns and started crafting. I've seen buckles that resemble the original ones, but never have I found exact copies. Nitpicky as I am, I had to get as close as possible. I have the simpler buckle done and fail-painted. The spray paint I used was really poor quality. I was able to get the bubbles out, which can still be seen in the picture. I'm going to paint it again with acrylics and trim the edges a little.


After painting the buckle, I need to weather it with black paint to give the design more depth. I also need to make the other, more difficult one and then come up with a fastening mechanism. I'm leaning forward to making the front of the belt “fake” and hiding the real buckle or snaps to the back, where the belt is covered by the cape. This way I would not need to worry about ruining the buckle while trying to make a tongue to it or about breaking the whole thing.


We have thought about applying to Rebel Legion with Luminara and Barriss, which makes having a lightsaber or the hilt of it necessary. I started constructing version 1 saber hilt a day prior to the buckles. The base is a carton tube from baking paper container and the covering is craft foam. There are insulation foam structures in both ends of the hilt. With the previous materials the hilt is really light, but looks neat. After covering it with glue I will paint it and add buttons and other required details.


As I stated the saber is just a version 1. If we get accepted to the Legion, we will make sabers with the blade later on. I also wanted to have little simpler props to work on now, because we are going to wear the costumes in two months and we will be busy on our own quarters for at least a month.

Snowtroopers got shot a bit

We didn’t take photos at Tampere Kuplii for few reasons: our pouches weren’t suitable for carrying my camera and we didn’t see that well under the helmets to actually get the model on the screen of Yoki's digital one. But Sunday morning we left our hotel early to take some photos of our costumes. Here is the outcome:

Back from Tampere Kupl-z-z-z

Home, sweet home, I say and send hearts to Yoki who needs to travel three hours more. But I bet we both are really happy with how the con went despite the tiredness. I will write more of how everything went from the last minute repairs to well rehearsed competition entry next week. Now I can hardly get this two paragraphs post ready. It has already taken ten minutes…

My Tusken impersonation. I'll also load the few photos we took next week.

I think this will only apply to the Finnish readers, but you can find an open voting on Aamulehti’s webpage for the best costume at Tampere Kuplii! Go and cast a vote!

March progress and March progress

I had planned to be in good standing with my projects this week, but then my job totally crashed everything. Past few weeks have been pretty unstable. I've had to spend extra hours at work, which had an effect on my costumes. And it seems that the uncertainty is going to continue few more. I pushed our Jedi costumes in the back of the closet and tried to spend free hours I had finishing the backpacks for Snowtroopers. To be honest, they are really killing me. Tampere Kuplii is just weeks away and some parts that I thought would work on them didn't live up to expectations. Now I need to come up with a plan B and at the moment I have no idea what it could be... Nyaaa!

But something I was able to do considering Snowtroopers and their first public appearance. That thing was a flag. We are not going to have rifles or any sort of weaponry what so ever with us. The blasters we left to be nice crafting project for lazy summer days. Instead we are going to roll with Empire emblem on a stick. The base of the flag is just regular cotton and the paint is basic white wall paint. I tried to make the logo look worn out and messy, but didn't quite achieve the look I was going after. I need to wear out the emblem maybe by scraping it with something and washing the color out. Easily portable stick has been found and is waiting for minor alterations. I'm going to paint collapsible fissing rod black and make some security attachments.

Somehow I squeezed sewing in my schedule, so I was able to do something with March also. The jacket is fully appliquéd and the pants are finally done. Last year I already worked with the accessories; the pendant and the “bell” on the tip of the hood. Even if they are almost done, I think I’ll redo the pendant. I don’t know what I was thinking back then, but now that I compare the proportions of the jacket to the pendant, it’s just way too small! Gladly it’s pretty fast to build, so that is least of my worries. Bigger one is the hood, for which I have made nothing more than a trial pattern.

I still need to check that the tips of the silhouettes are sharp.

Super-skinny pants. I haven't had courage to test if I can sit on them or not...

I think that it will be safest to leave the hood construction after Tampere Kuplii, if we anyhow manage to survive it. I was happy to notice that the weather could be quite nice! We might not look like we actually have crawled through a slushy battlefield afterwards.

Edit: Things happen, so I'm back to business with the backpacks! Esa took the parts I was hesitant about and made them work. Now I'm sure there is a chance that the costumes will be ready in time, hopefully even before the eve of Kuplii!

Third moment uploaded

After a long silence Sasori & Deidara moments number 3 is finally out and viewable on Youtube. I will also announce that there will be less ninjas in the future. We have few ideas for the moments but the Akatsuki interviews have been shelved, for now.

-yoki out

Comic relief!

Upcoming cosplay from March Story

We got our costume plans for the summer conventions somewhat cleared last weekend. It seems that instead of Luminara and Barriss we are going solo to Bakacon. Yoki has been growing her hair out for Snufkin and I know she is dying to wear the costume again, so it’s Snufkin for Yoki! Now that I actually need to do a single cosplay I thought it would be good time to reveal my project, which I started last autumn as a time killer. I have done a lot for the costume and also have featured the making process here many times without giving series or character information out.

The character I’ve been working on is March from March Story. March Story is written and drawn by Koreans, but in my books it’s manga. The comic was first published in Sunday GX and first volume was released by VIZ last autumn. I’m looking forward April, because the second volume should be out then. I think March Story is one of the few comics I have fallen crazily in love with. Cosplay-wise it’s also the only costume I’m making based on a character which might or might not be recognized by anyone at all. The visual side of the manga is great, but the story is also good! If you are interested in tragic stories spiced with humor, carnivals and bloody and thorny things I think you should check the series out!

Cover of the first volume of March Story.

We laughed with Yoki some time ago, that our cosplays are rather monochromatic and March is no exception. It’s also bit challenging to do a costume based on only few colored covers and panels, which vary rather much. But then again, that’s the fun of it too! I’m now working on the jacket, which is coming together nicely. I’m doing the black shapes by appliquéing them. Only thing I’m feeling bit insecure is patterning the crazy hood. I’m not good with hoods. I tried to avoid them while back at school and now I’m feeling the consequences of not paying attention to them.

I’m going to make a better update from the costume in a week. By then I hope I have solved the problems with the silly hood. The earlier posts featuring this costume includes information about how I striped the pants, constructed the suitcase and did the buckles for colonial shoes.

In the convention post I stated that Snufkin and March have similarities. Don’t they?

Luminara Unduli, the knee buster

I recently started one of this year’s big projects, which is Luminara’s robe. It’s not a big project only because of its size, but also in the way I’m going to execute it. I thought that I would now, after making some progress clear out why the “Project Luminara” is big and why it got a slightly barbaric nickname.

I’ve wrote about searching right fabrics for our Jedi duo’s robes some time ago. While with Barriss I got really close to what I was looking for, the selections in fabric stores didn’t fill the requirements of what I visualized to be the correct or acceptable material for Luminara. And I went through few of them in the bigger cities in Southern Finland. In the end I chose wool flannel, because it seemed like a good bargain and the brown was subtle enough to act as a background for the upcoming pattern.

First try out with the possible construction modeled on a mannequin.

The original robe material for the movies seems like it was woven. I never thought weaving it as an option, if anyone wonders. I’m not that good with looms or that crazy. Printing was the first option from the start. My dear home town doesn’t have good craft store, so it was time to travel, again.

I went to visit Yoki on my free days, found a shop I was looking for and fell in love a little. It had like… everything! And the staff was really helpful. It’s been years from my last bigger scale printing experience, so I happily took notes from professionals. I ended up dragging along three kilos of printing emulsion next to smaller containers of black pigment and pearl cover paste in plain and blue for Barriss’ cape. No casualties on this stage yet, if sore neck is not included.


No casualties occurred when I started to cut the templates for the print either. I was not going to use a screen or a stencil; instead I cut wormy and bulky pieces out from clear plastic film (Thank you for clearing the word out, Batsy!). These pieces I placed randomly on the fabric to create the pattern. Compared to screen printing, I chose this slightly slower method, because I can skip the screen washing and as long as I’m able to keep the printing space prepared, I can work when ever I feel like it. When the tools you are working with is the fabric print and a piece of foam it’s really quick to pull them out, work a while and then be going. For example, one morning I arranged the plastic pieces on the fabric while I waited my eye liner to dry. Small progress is progress still.

The printing is the brutal knee buster! I work on the floor, because my sewing table is not nearly big enough for five meters of fabric. If I want to stand up, I’ll need to stretch for few minutes before my left knee feels like cooperating. Either the working posture is horrible or I’m just getting old.


I calculated that with this speed and overlapping projects I’m ready in two weeks with the printing. Then I’m going to dye the whole fabric to make it darker and possibly if I feel like it, create more texture to the robe with needle felting. Big project is big. And I’m wearing a support bandage on my knee.

There is no spring without Snufkin

Snufkin starts his journey usually before the first snow fall. One year was different. Moomintroll wished that his best friend would wait until the Moomin family had fallen asleep for the winter months. Snufkin respected the wish. His road had vanished under thick snow drifts, but he didn't feel sorry. He didn't look back. Traveler only sees the adventures lying ahead.

"Sleep well and do not worry. At the first day of Spring, I am here with you again."

We had a small photoshoot last weekend and the weather was warm (-7°C)! I could actually stand there without my nose falling off or my fingers turning into icicles. Couldn't say the same while we were wearing the troopers.

There will be a new photoshoot later this spring, maybe even a new video. I do not promise anything though, since Hiron suffers from serious cosplay frenzy (points at the convention list) and I have my studies.

-yoki out

Mayday! Snow in the shoe!