(COMPLETE) Life-size Watcher, Horizon Zero Dawn — Image Heavy

[amuelb]

Finally after 7 months of work, I packed up my watcher and drove to Montreal Comiccon. It was the moment of truth... and the costume held up the ENTIRE TIME. YES FINALLY! The costume was a huge success, so many people were excited to see it and look in the kids eyes when they saw me was just amazing. I had a fellow Canadian cosplayer join me as the Aloy to my watcher and we even won a floor prize for best costume.

Watcher: Amy Brown (@amuelb) • Instagram photos and videos
Aloy: Gen-chu (@gengenchu) • Instagram photos and videos

Here are some of the photos and videos of the final product.

Movement Video and Crowd Interaction:

Scaring Adults:

Scaring Kids:

Running into Friends:

View from the Crowd (Video by Matthyroche and Singesingepetit)

 

[joberg]

Fantastic job!!!

 

[swanson]

Wow!!! So incredible, the build, the craftsmanship, the movement, everything!

 

[amuelb]

Fantastic job!!!

Thank you so much!

 

[amuelb]

Wow!!! So incredible, the build, the craftsmanship, the movement, everything!

Thank you! It really means a lot to me! I am really excited about this build and eager to bring it to Toronto next week and play with the crowd.
Interacting with everyone was just magical, and I hope it holds up!

 

[propmaster2000]

Hi amuelb,
Did you have a handler with you when you where at the con to keep an eye on your surroundings?
Where did you put on the costume when you got there?
Where was your view port to see out?
.
Is your whole family "crafty" ?
Really a wonderful job of CosPlay

 

[division 6]

Very cool and well done.
I really like the subtle movements you get with the tail.

 

[halrhyrr]

Stunning! I'd love to see a suiting up video, or something which shows off how you move+puppet it all. This is a truly amazing cosplay!

 

[amuelb]

Hi amuelb,
Did you have a handler with you when you where at the con to keep an eye on your surroundings?
Where did you put on the costume when you got there?
Where was your view port to see out?
.
Is your whole family "crafty" ?
Really a wonderful job of CosPlay

Oh yes, a handler is a must! This costume weighs close to 35lbs, so I need help just to lift it onto myself. I had a handler for getting dressed, moving the costume in windy conditions (seriously I would just blow over), and making sure I don't kill anyone with the tail by accident... and surprisingly to STOP PEOPLE TRYING TO RIDE ME (I wish this was a joke).

I put the costume on either by my car and then walked myself in through some large doors (usually with staff help) or on occasion (like at this weekends fan expo) we brought it into the convention in pieces then assembled it in a large area

The whole front part of the body is the viewport its made out of bugscreen that has been painted white. My line of sight was surprisingly wide and effective! Most people seemed to think I could see out of the eye, as a lot of people would wave at it and talk to it. It was pretty funny to watch!

My whole family actually is not that crafty... my mother and sister can draw reasonably well, and my dad and mum both do a lot of reno work on their houses but thats about it! I have always been a crafty person, I used to spend hours just making models out of clay or paper as a kid, and I guess that crafty streak just never went away!

Thank you so so much for all your kind words and questions! If you have any more, feel free to ask Im always happy to share so that more people can build costumes like this one. The more the merrier (stay tuned, there may be 3 watchers at our next con in September 2020!)

 

[amuelb]

Very cool and well done.
I really like the subtle movements you get with the tail.

Thank you so much! The tail actually bobbed around all on its own, I was quite lucky it worked out because having to control the eye light, the neck, the head, the legs AND the tail would have been exhausting! I really appreciate it!

 

[amuelb]

Stunning! I'd love to see a suiting up video, or something which shows off how you move+puppet it all. This is a truly amazing cosplay!

Once my bruises have healed from this weekends convention I will see if I can convince my handler to do a suit up video for you! Getting footage of the inside mechanics might be a little more difficult but I will do my best!
In a nutshell, the neck is a parallelogram made out of aluminum that moves kind of like a lever, the movement is assisted with 4 bungee cables to help lift the weight. The head moves side to side with two strings, they are tied to either side of the head on the inside frame and fed down the hollow neck to my hands, when you pull one string, the head is forced to turn in that direction and vice versa! The tail bobs freely with gravity and my movement, no internal controls for that. The legs are just pvc thread through holes in the side of the body that are strapped to my feet, when my feet move the pvc rotates and the leg appears to walk! And the light in the eye is two different coloured LEDs (about 26 LEDs each) that are wired to a double throw switch, when the switch is flicked up it goes red, down is blue, and the middle is off

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH! All the positive feedback is what keeps me motivated to build bigger and better cosplays! <3

 

[halrhyrr]

Once my bruises have healed from this weekends convention I will see if I can convince my handler to do a suit up video for you! Getting footage of the inside mechanics might be a little more difficult but I will do my best!
In a nutshell, the neck is a parallelogram made out of aluminum that moves kind of like a lever, the movement is assisted with 4 bungee cables to help lift the weight. The head moves side to side with two strings, they are tied to either side of the head on the inside frame and fed down the hollow neck to my hands, when you pull one string, the head is forced to turn in that direction and vice versa! The tail bobs freely with gravity and my movement, no internal controls for that. The legs are just pvc thread through holes in the side of the body that are strapped to my feet, when my feet move the pvc rotates and the leg appears to walk! And the light in the eye is two different coloured LEDs (about 26 LEDs each) that are wired to a double throw switch, when the switch is flicked up it goes red, down is blue, and the middle is off

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH! All the positive feedback is what keeps me motivated to build bigger and better cosplays! <3

Awesome! That sounds super cool. Thank you

 

[Woopwoopcosplay]

Amazing! How much did it cost to make?

 

[amuelb]

Amazing! How much did it cost to make?

The whole thing cost close to $800CAN to build... that is just an estimate though.
Transporting the costume is the most expensive part sadly. Just to get it to two conventions this year was $800+ CAN just in van rentals!