The Mechromancer from Borderlands 2 Build (WIP)

I finally finished this costume! -Completed pictures start Page 4, album here.

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Hey guys! I'm a long time lurker here, but never really had any costumes appropriate for a build thread before this one. I've been playing a huge amount of Borderlands 2 the last few months, and started a Gaige costume at the beginning of the year. It has everything I like in a costume- a fun pattern to create, lots of details to obsess over, and opportunities to try out some new skills. Plus her robot arm is AWESOME. Let's be honest here. Oh, and DEATHTRAP.

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The plan is for it to be fairly rugged. I want this to be something you could actually wear to explore Pandora and for it to come off more real world than cartoonish. I went back and forth about it, but I decided to go with the "Cherry Bomb" skin instead of her uniform. It's the reward for getting a hundred kills with a rocket launcher... and I really love to blow stuff up. Plus I like red. I don't play video games on default so I shouldn't have to cosplay that way either.

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I started with the fabric pieces of the costume. Using my duct tape dummy, I draped out the basic sillouette of the vest and then transferred those pieces to some grid wrapping paper to make a pattern. A few drafts later, I ended up with an okay mock up and plenty of notes on the game plan to fix it.

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After I got my good fabric, I tinted the denim from a bright red to crimson and made some chunky piping. The final draft took a few steps to get to, but fits nicely! It is lined in sateen with metal snaps. I cut the shoulder piece from an old, torn, stretched out leather coat, added a few details, and hand stitched it on.

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The t-shirt was one of my first projects working with a serger so it isn't perfect, but still really fun. I used that jersey fabric in several places throughout the costume- it really came in handy. I screen printed on the skull last night.

The skirt was a pretty straight forward box pleat with a few darts at the hips. I made a kilt last year for St. Paddy's and used the same technique but... shorter. It is finished with matching bias tape.

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I still have a long way to go, but its a start! It will get some airbrushed "distress" before its done- everything looks entirely too shiny. Next I'm designing the patches for my vest, hand stitching a leather glove for her right hand, and getting the base of my arm ready for a date with some Bondo. :) The fun prop stuff comes next, I promise. I'd like to have a very full utility belt when its done.

I've got a lot more progress pictures in this album. I had more included in the thread, but it was causing irritating side scroll.

I'll check back in once I've got some progress to show, but I update my Facebook page as I finish things here.

So yeah, uh, Hi Everybody. I'm Caitlin at Contagious (previously known as Chance), and I'm into Scifi, English Bulldogs, comic books, belly dancing, XBox 360, and making stuff. I hope you like my costume. :)

(PS, n00b question-Can you resize pictures in this forum? It doesn't seem to stick in the edit/preview box... I guess I'll need to start uploading some smaller ones.)
 
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Hi Caitlin! Welcome to The RPF!
I'll start by saying fantastic work!
If you are hosting your images on an external site, you should be able to select image size there, other than that the forum will resize it for you.
Anyways, what did you use for the buttons? The lining also works really really well, -Nice Contrast. I did textiles as a course when I was at school, I wish I had the option to make something like this!
Great work, Looking forward to more!
 
Thanks so much! Hopefully these patches turn out alright.

I actually used some black metal snaps that were applied kind of like a grommet. I sanded the finish off to reveal the brass finish on the two in the middle. They had a few varieties at Joann's but I'd probably look at something more industrial next time. I'm a little worried they would pull off if not treated gently.
 
This is going to be awesome, already looking great
that robot arm is going to look awesome!
Will be following this for sure
 
Now I'm starting to work on accessories!

I started by hand sewing a glove out of the same leather and jersey I used on the vest...
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And stitched together two pairs of tights to make Cherry Bomb leggings.
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The holsters were really fun to put together. I started by building a base out of EVA foam, then covered it with leather I got from a cheap thrift store jacket. The top stitching and suede added some details without straying too far from the game design. I wasn't satisfied with the yellow hue, so I used some shoe polish and some other weathering techniques to reach the perfect shade of "broken in".

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Thanks! I love the class mod you did! Making it reversible was a great touch! I have the skills of six year old when it comes to painting so a friend of mine is refinishing my lunch box and building my gun. Austin usually does miniature painting and terrain building for tabletop gaming (https://www.facebook.com/Brush4HireMiniatures), but also makes props for our films and is starting to branch out into other stuff. He is insane with an airbrush and has that amazing skill of "making something out of nothing" that so many of you RPFers have. I can't wait to get that rocket launcher in my hands...
 
I'm glad you guys like it! I was a little shy about posting here.

No update on the arm because I spent the afternoon designing my patches. I started by drawing out the symbols as vectors in Illustrator, then used some ancient software to digitize the art into something a machine could understand, tweaking the angle and density of the stitches on each patch. I don't have an embroidery machine (yet...) so I sent the .dst files to an embroiderer friend to turn into nice clean satin patch. I went through the process successfully making an "R" patch for my Carrie Kelley Robin costume so hopefully they should turn out alright. Fingers crossed they don't need too many edits.

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I'm really looking forward to the big skull applique for the back... it is going to be such a long wait!

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Austin finished my belt buckle! It looks so much better than anything I could have ever done with my stupid-hands and instamorph. I'm so glad he offered to help with it! Currently on the hunt for a chain to use for the belt.

I think I'll be wearing this costume for Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle in March. Hopefully.
 
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I made some good progress on my arm today. I made a copy of my arm out of duct tape and fabric scraps, then attached the basic shapes in foam. After dinner, I'm going to give it some details and texture with Bondo. If everything goes as planned, I'll get it vacuum-formed this weekend!
 
She's the best. I haven't even started messing around with the Anarchy tree yet, and that seems like it could make her even better.

I added a layer of Bondo over the foam to give a little texture and fill in some holes. After some sanding it should be good to go for this weekend!

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Fantastic!! Love me some borderlands. Im actually planning on doing the bunny head killer marauders and making a shark tooth bandit smg. Its a shame you don't live out in so cal. we could have started a group!!
 
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