First-time build: Mass Effect Shep

[bradford174]

Hi,

I'm new to the whole Cosplay scene; I sort of told someone on a whim I'd turn up to my first con in full cosplay as Commander Shepard, so I've been working hard on it. I'm also trying to do this on the cheap, freecycling stuff and trying to repurpose objects.

This is the first major costume I've built from scratch; I've LARPed before, but usually made costumes out of spare packaging and junk I found at thrift shops. As such, it's the first time I've actually worried about it all fitting together.

I'm keeping a blog of my efforts in full, but here's a few pictures of how things are going:

My first foam things - the gauntlets and water wings:



My omni-tool made out of plastic binders:



My repurposed GameCube laser gun:



I have come across a few issues, though. Does anyone know the best way to secure thigh pads and shoulder pauldrons in place? I've tried elastic and am experimenting with buckle straps, but I'm wondering if there's an effective way to pin them to the belt on a hinge?

Thanks.

 

[sky1ess]

Great start will be watching to see how u finish good luck

 

[bradford174]

Thansk sky1ess.

Right, just done the first arm fitting. Having some problems getting the pauldron strapped in the right place; thinking of pinning it to the undershirt. Here's my left arm test; I'm going to wait until I've worked out the problem of the pauldron slipping out of place before testing the right arm. I'm going to be moving the right hand more anyway.

 

[bradford174]

Build coming on. A few more shots of the work in progress. Just the back piece to do, then I'll post some full costume shots.



I'm pretty proud of it. This is my first time cosplaying, and I've had to drop about 2 1/2 stone for the costume already.

Full history of the build is up on my blog.

 

[trackboy186]

Nice progress! I look forward to seeing it in full!

 

[bradford174]

Almost finished. Con next weekend so should have some photos of the costume in action.

The water wings/upper arm guards slipped a little during my test run, so I'll be securing them, but otherwise it's pretty much as-shown.