Fangs' 2014 Costume Build Thread

Nice Finn. I've been on OC a lot and was checking a lot of your Sister build. I noticed a lot ofphotos didn't import. Today I just researched your sabbat helmet build. Good stuff.

Fangs love the detail you bring to a build. I think the modding a kids helmet is a great start for a helm. I like how one girl used a kids riot helmet so the visor pivoted.
 
Wow Finnlock! Those are amazing!

Amish - Thanks! I try to share what I learn!

I am behind in my builds. Real life TOTALLY in the way over the last week or so but I'm ready to get back at it.

A couple of weekends ago I had a lot of progress. I got my catsuit for the base of my Sister of Battle cut out. I'm using the basic catsuit pattern from Kwiksew. As I'm using a thicker lycra, as well as any time I'm using a fabric with less stretch, I cut out a size that is close to my natural size without the need for much stretch. This allows what stretch there is to be used for movement instead of wearing. It's much more comfortable this way. It does involve some fitting once the suit is sewn but I've found it the best way to wear less stretchy fabrics comfortably.

My plan is to have the oversleeve for the SOB to be attached to the catsuit sleeve to save on bunching and having to have a whole coat/shirt under my armor. I came up with a plan that seemed brilliant, but I may have to change and I'll explain why.

I took the sleeve pattern for the catsuit and traced it on to paper. This way I know the sleeve cap will fit in perfectly. I only shortened the pattern piece by folding prior to tracing. Once it was traced, I cut it out and then cut it in half. The SOB oversleeve is open in the front, so I basically moved the sleeve seam to the top of the cap as opposed to under the armpit where it was. I taped the pattern back together and then redrew the outer lines to bring them out wider instead of angled as they originally were and straightened out the bottom edge.

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I then cut out the newly traced pattern and then cut it out of the fabric.

All good...right? Ugh. It was then that I realized the sleeve opening really is more towards the front of the body as opposed to the top centre of the arm where I have it. I'm debating whether or not I need to change that but I'll test fit it once the catsuit is sewn together and see how it looks. If I need to change it, I'll use the same method to redraw the pattern piece but I'll move the seam more towards front of the body.

For the oversleeve, I went with the same fabric that I used for the catsuit. This way both have the same amount of stretch and should work well together and I know the fabric won't fray so I can leave the edges on the oversleeve raw for weathering. In the version of SOB I'm trying to do, she has gold designs on her oversleeve and kama that looks very worn. I did a test run using a scrap of the fabric and some Lumiere paint. If you haven't tried this stuff do it now! It's wonderful! You can use it on a variety of surfaces and it won't crack or peel. You can also dilute it by up to 20% with just water so that it can be used in an airbrush.


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For this test, I just used a dry brush but I'll need to get less paint and make things even drier to get a good weathered look. Because this fabric is stretchy, when I pull it apart the paint will seperate with the fibers so if I was painting this on a surface that was going to be stretched, I'd stretch it as I was painting to ensure I had good coverage. As this will be on non-stretched parts, I don't need to worry about that.

I also started painting my ODST kit. I ended up using acrylics and a paint brush as I had a heck of a time finding gunmetal spray paint. Plus, with it being cold again, this allows me to paint whenever I have the chance and not worry about curing issues. So far I'm super happy with how it's turned out.

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I managed to get about half of it painted with three coats.
 
Looks fantastic!
I know what you mean about the under robes. the 1st robes were just a front and back loin cloth and the sleeves were a shrug like affair ( i don't know how to sew :( ) However when we did the 1st group of sisters at dragoncon they all got the same robe design. I'm not a huge fan of it and it will be one of the pieces that gets upgraded next. The group design was baised off the mini's not the art, the Mini's have much more of a fuller robe then the artwork does.
But once you go with the bigger/fuller robe you lose a lot of the sleekness of the design that I love. Also one key bit of information, when you do the lower 1/2 of your robe, try walking up stairs in it...you might find you will need to shorten it a bit, or hold it up. my then GF almost tripped while wearing the 1st robe and trying to walk up a simple flight of stairs...

Mini's robe
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to me it looks like they could be buttoned up over the armor, which is the look we went for with the dragoncon group.

I'll be very interested to see how your's comes out. I'm a little concerned that by attaching it permeantly to the under suit it's not going to lay right with the armor over it , but then again I don't know how to sew :p
 
From all of the references I've looked at I was thinking that they were more metal studs (usually called spots at leather stores) and were decorative rather than functional. I was thinking this because they appear to be domed but also because they are usually on both sides.

I see what you mean by the fullness in the minis. The version I'm following has very minimal soft parts, so I'm sticking with that route. With having the over sleeve attached it has no choice but to sit how I want it regardless of how the armor shifts. But I really do need to redraft where it opens, dang it! The plan at the moment is to add red to the armpit area/shoulder area as well just slightly wider than the arm hole opening of the armor. That will definitely be the deciding factor in how I proceed so I'll wait until I have that front armor done. The other option is to add a bolero style "jacket" to it with it being attached or not. It's going to be trial and error on that.
 
Will you be doing a heeled or flat boot? I think my GF wants to do a heeled boot. That is if she still wants to do the SOB. She really wants me to scale down Spacemarine armor and mod a chest to represent a female version... Uuugggh lol
 
My first thought is to use some duty boots that I bought for another costume because they are redonkulously comfy and they'll be mostly covered in boot armor. My next thought is to perhaps use a wedge heel for a little extra height but still somewhat comfortable. But at 5'1", a couple of inches gained from a wedge really doesn't make a huge difference so I'm leaning towards the duty boots. Nothing ruins a day in costume faster than uncomfortable shoes. And most of the reference looks like a chunky soled flat shoe/boot of some sort anyway.

Scaled down Space Marine, huh......I thought about that too, but then realized if someone put a box around me others might mistake me for one of those 1/6th scale models and want to buy me and take me home. Some days I'm sure my husband might just be willing to take the money and run.....hahaha
 
From all of the references I've looked at I was thinking that they were more metal studs (usually called spots at leather stores) and were decorative rather than functional. I was thinking this because they appear to be domed but also because they are usually on both sides.

Well if you want buttons, these are what I used in ver. 1 of the sister armor.
Ancient Silver Fleur de Lis Large Button
they are a nive size and have a great finish. in fact I stil have 12 of them left over...mabye I'll go scaving the others off the old build and reuse them :)
I think they are a pertty much perfect fit for both the mini's and the art.
 
I managed to get some gorgeous and comfy wedge sneakers for my Blood Dragon armour. Super easy to adapt- it takes leather dye very well to turn the heels from white to black as well :)
neimhaille-female turian- mass effect | The Plain Jane Costume Chronicles
Same sneakers here just for my Blood Dragon I used vinyl shelled and entirely covered them with leather.

Sigh, they don't make them any more :/ Poot. I may have to pull apart my Turian feet. But they do make more sneaker type wedges, if they are the same company, and it looks like it is, then that heel is super light and super springy. Seriously springy. My wedges are 6" and I can run in them. It's a bit like running on a trampoline, but still!

And go FANGS go! And Gorgeous SoB Finnlock! The fabric components especially :)
 
Geesh.....I haven't been keeping on this this thread so well. Bad Fangs, BAD!

I've been working away on several projects, but mostly the Sister of Battle. It wasn't until this weekend though that things started looking like stuff. LOTS of mistakes....lots of lessons learned. I'll try to pass on as many as I can.

First up, my Coverstitch machine. If you do a lot of sewing with stretch fabric, invest in one of these. I LOVE IT!! Of course, it can be used on other fabric as well if you need that type of hem and it does belt loops, binding and a zillion other things. So what the heck is it you ask?

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So that's what it looks like. Sort of like a serger really. But what it does is different.

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So there's the good side of the fabric. You can have two or three needles/rows of stitches.

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And there's the underside....all finished nicely just like if you had done it on a serger! Normally I would have folded the raw edge under before doing this, but the fabric I'm using (ponte di roma) is a heavier weight stretch fabric and I didn't want to have the hems too bulky so I serged the raw edge first and then used the coverstitch. I LOVE looking at those three lovely rows of stitches. It's like sewing porn! ;-)

So, that item I was sewing is the undersuit to my Sister of Battle. I used the basic catsuit pattern from KwikSew. Keep in mind that the hem needs to be flat in order to use the coverstitch machine so you have to do the hem before you sew up the arm or leg seams. Also, if you haven't used the KwikSew catsuit pattern, be aware that the sleeves are ridiculous baggy but because of the differences in stretch between fabrics, I cut the pattern as is, sew up the arms and then take them in from there.

The catsuit is basic black with the zipper up the front. It is covered front and back, but it's easier for me to get in to with the front zipper. Something else to consider. I use a regular zipper on these - long of course - instead of an invisible one. Sometimes invisible ones can be a little tempermental and not as strong because they have such tiny teeth so I prefer when it is possible to use a regular strength zipper.

Next up - working on the details for the Sister of Battle. OMG....so much detaily bits. UGH!

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That's an example of all of the layers - this so happens to be for the top of my shin/knee area. First I drew half of the picture with the paper folded in half. Then I cut it out and had two even sides. I then traced it on to more sturdy card stock and cut that out. That was then my template. I then traced one exact copy of the design on to the Wonderflex and cut it out. Next I'd flip that over so I had wrong side to wrong side, and I traced out a second layer of plasitc but less accurate. This gives you some wiggle room and you don't need to worry so much about lining up the two layers. I'd heat up both sides, stick the sides together that you can see the mesh on, and smooth them out. Let them cool so they are hardened and then cut out the bottom layer so it matches with the top.

Some of you right now are thinking...where's the craft foam?? Ahhhh....lesson learned there as well. Some parts just don't need that inner layer. Especially when it is layer upon layer of plastic. So unless you really want some definition in that detail layer, I'm finding that two layers of plastic alone for the layers works just fine for me. And the bigger the piece, the harder it is to get to shape well if you have that inner layer of craft foam. Expensive lesson learned there.

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This is my first attempt at the chest plate. I used the two layers of Wonderflex with a sandwich layer of craft foam in the middle. I cut the craft foam to the exact size I needed the chest plate to be and then sandwiched it between the two layers of heated plastic. I was using some steel armor I own to help get the right shape. With that inner layer of craft foam it was FAR less moldable in more than one direction. So the waist area flaring out to the hips was a problem. I eventually gave up on it after hours of trying to get it right - but as luck would have it, it's going to work okay for the back plate so it's not a total loss at all.

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Soooooo....second attempt. ARGH!!! Two pieces of Wonderflex with a layer of wax paper between it and the metal armor. Thus.....the wrinkles. ~sigh~ How utterly frustrating. But, it's got great shape and there is a whole bunch of detail layering that will cover all of that up. However, even with no craft foam, it wasn't as easy as I hoped to shape. My conclusion is this - it's the mesh embeded in Wonderflex. Lesson learned - if you want to do big pieces, use Worbla - no mesh to mess with.

Remember those paper cut outs a few paragraphs back? This is what they turned in to....

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As you can see, there is some trimming and such that needs to take place....and some shaping so that they are shins and not giant flat things, but that my friends is my knee armor on the top of my shins! In the example I'm basing mine off of, she has skulls in the middle of the knee. But if you look at the shapes....the fancy fleur de lis with a circle on top where the skull goes - you'll see what can't be unseen. A skull with ponytails. Once I saw it, there was no way I could take those knees seriously anymore so another fleur de lis (no the one shown in the picture) will be going in the centre instead. I'm supposed to look tough....not like I need to add a Hello Kitty bow to the top of each skull....hahahahaha

Next up the forearms and biceps:

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I'm sure you can see that these still have some things to sort out. I needed the fronts to be slightly flat to attach the fleur de lis to but that made everything go all woobly. So lesson learned. Wait until the piece has completely cooled and THEN start spot heating for stuff like that. Both the forearms and the biceps are two layers of Wonderflex for the base and one layer for the detail bits except for the centre "I" on the forearms. Because this had strips going under it, I wanted it to be a little more beefy so it wouldn't look like it's melting over the strips, so I made it two layers, with the very centre strip being the third layer.

This is the big "I" that goes just below waist height kind of like a giant belt buckle.

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This really has some substance to it. The main "I" is floor mat foam covered in one layer of Wonderflex. I did the bottom side up and then the top side down. It worked okay, but I think next time I'll do the top side down and wrapped around the back, and then a piece the extact size and shape as a back panel to cover all of the ends. It seems to work cleaner that way. The detail bits on top are all two layers each. The skull....(kinda, right? Don't laugh...it's my first try....it's a skull of something.....hahahaha) is sculpted out of Model Magic. Once I practice with Friendly Plastic (beads of plastic you heat in boiling water and then mold) or maybe even with scraps of Worbla, I'll redo it. He's cute, no? In a tough way. ;-)

And lastly I built this belt thingy.

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I don't know what it is. All I know is a belt comes through it and it sits on your waist. Soooo....I built it. The gold bit is a spot from Tandy Leather. That's what they are called....spots. They have little prongs on the underside and when the plastic is soft, I just pushed it in. Should have been silver though. Oops.

I'm doing the rest of the build with Worbla. The two plastics work together well so that's not a problem. I just wanted the chance to work with both while how each behaves is fresh in my mind. Some other things I've learned - Wonderflex is moldable, if you pull out the mesh. Had it happen by accident but it is doable. Wonderflex is much, MUCH stickier than Worbla. It sticks to anything and everything when hot. Worbla seems to need much more heat to have stuff stick to it, and even then, the non-shiny side seems not to really get sticky.

Verdict so far? Both have things I like and don't like. But I have to admit, I'm leaning towards Worbla for not being as sticky. That may change once painting begins. The Wonderflex is much more smooth than Worbla and something cool I discovered - I work on silicon baking sheets to keep it from sticking to my work surface. Something about that makes the Wonderflex go even smoother when heated. I don't really understand why or why it does it some times and not others, but I like it! Worbla with the wood chips is always going to be rough. So plus one for the annoyingly sticky Wonderflex in that department.
 
Nice work on the SOB, and the ODST as well. Those are some of my favourite characters. Where do you plan on unveiling them?
 
Nice work on the SOB, and the ODST as well. Those are some of my favourite characters. Where do you plan on unveiling them?

Good question. The goal is for the end of April at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, but if I work hard there is a small chance they could come with me to All-Con in Dallas next week. That's probably too much rushing for the SOB so I might just stop working on that for now and focus on what I can get done. I did assemble the base layers for the thigh armor (both legs) this morning but given that there is a lot of detail layering still to do plus the shoulders, neck and backpack and then paint - it's a lot. Sometimes things come together quickly, and other times they just don't. I think I'd be smarter to just go with some other smaller projects and have something to take next week rather than messing up the SOB.

So I'm thinking that redoing the soft parts on my Zam and my Scout will be the focus for the rest of the time, plus perhaps sewing up a new Steampunk for a easier night time costume. The ODST probably could go together in that time as well but then packing space becomes an issue. Plus, I'd like to work on a proper undersuit for the ODST and there's quite a bit of detailing on that in the thigh area. Potentially time consumming to figure out and put together. Decisions, decisions.
 
I have the same predicament. I am working on an ODST as well, but I don't think I can pull it all together in time for Calgary. Best of luck getting all/any of your projects done in time!
 
I have the same predicament. I am working on an ODST as well, but I don't think I can pull it all together in time for Calgary. Best of luck getting all/any of your projects done in time!

Oooo! Have we met before? How far in to the ODST are you? Is that your Space Marine gear in your profile pic? If so, will you have it with you in Calgary? Sooooo many questions....hahaha
 
You me, Ravenna-Maleficent selfie. Just saying. It needs to happen. So to that end.. How is Ravenna going???

XD

(One day we'll be at a con at the same place in the right group costume.)
 
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