GOTG: Gamora Costume

[Harmonopolis]

Started my Guardians of the Galaxy Gamora costume. Hoping to have it completed for Chicago C2E2 in April of 2015. My fiance is creating a Starlord costume as well. And I am molding and shaping a Baby Groot out of clay and wire.

I have ordered several items that have slowly been arriving in the mail. Starting with the black leggings/pants for the costume.

Found these on amazon for a pretty decent price. They are a bit loose, but after a few washes should tighten up and fit great. I will be adding a blue lace overlay to the pants to create the blue effect seen on Gamora's costume in the movie. I like them and think they will work well because of the faux leather details on the legs and the fit.

I ordered a combat utility belt from Amazon for the belt in the costume. I'm going for similarity and not complete replication. I will be adding a thigh strap to one side and moving the buckles from directly over my hips to the sides, everything is strapped together with velcro making it extremely easy to change and alter.

As you can see, together they look pretty good, just have to add a few details. (Ignore my cat in the background.)

Finally I ordered green face makeup to try out for color and application. Its extremely difficult to apply and the color is not quite right and it doesn't go on thick. I read in details released from GOTG that MAC body paint/acrylic paint was used and I will be looking into purchasing and using that to recreate the green skin. I will need to mix shades of green and yellow to create the look from the movie. I have never worked with body paint before outside of child face paints, so this is new territory for me.


As you can see from the image its very light in appearance and extremely difficult and time consuming to apply, so I will be looking into another option. The only up side of this paint was that it washes completely off with the smallest amount of water and no soap needed.

I have also ordered several thin silver rings to put on my hands and will be using fake skin to recreate the facial scar details she has on her face. I will be sewing and creating the top using faux leather and black mesh with the blue lace detailing, unless I find something at the fabric store that would be a better match for the blue.
I am looking into my options for creating the sword and dagger and were given several ideas on a previous post about the weapons. Gamora also wears a collar type detail in the movie with mirror like details and for that I will be covering thin foam with fabric and either using mirror tiles or foam painted to resemble a mirror for the details.

I will update as items arrive and as progress is made on all the pieces.

Updates will be a bit slow coming as I'm getting married in three weeks, but you can expect more details as October rolls around.

 

[cborchardt82]

I am making a gamora costume as well, my family is doing GOTG Recommendation for body paint. Mehron liquid body paint, can be airbrushed or dabbed on. its $14 on amazon for a 4 oz bottle. It doesn't smear unless you get really sweaty, washes off easy with soap and water. I used it to do nightcrawler and beast, it lasted most of the day, I airbrushed it on and brought little bottles with the colors I made and a sponge to touch up the color. That color you bought can still be used for the lips which is slightly darker. Of course youcan use whatever you want I just had really good results with the makeup. Someone here has a good thread on gamora's costume, she made the neck thing, can't remember the name.

Congrats on getting married

awesome start on the costume!!!

 

[Harmonopolis]

Thanks for the Body Paint recommendation. I am clueless in that area so the advice really helps, I will look into purchasing the paint. I don't own or know how to use an air brush so it will most likely be dabbed on. I will give it a try! I am subscribed to the thread of the woman who is doing the Gamora costume. I didn't like the rigidity that it has in her thread, so I thought using foam and fabric would give me more flexibility.
I'm hoping that with the body paint I can use a light powder to set the color and keep it from coming off when sweating, I will be sure to test it out.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[WooingScotsman]

cborchardt82, thanks for the makeup recommendation as well! My wife is also working up a Gamora costume (going for the maroon Ravagers outfit from the final battle), and I know last year when she was Luminara Unduli from the Star Wars prequels/clone wars the full face/hands green paint she had was lacking in both color and consistency for her liking. Will try to post pics of her build as it progresses, likely will be a passably good but not super screen-accurate one, I'm working on a Star-Lord and our 7yo daughter will be Rocket. Sooooo many things to build and paint and mod between now and the end of october (halloween and our local comic con the next weekend in RI)!!

 

[amydoesthings]

Congrats on getting married! Hope the special day is smoother than MAC's make up...

Can't wait to see how it turns out - especially the blue lace. That part is definitely the hardest for this costume.

Cborchardt - thank you for the recommendation. I've been browsing Mehron for ages tonight, now.

 

[redsheep]

Have you tried the Mehron cream sticks? I've had some pretty good success with them for Homestuck cosplay. Cream is always way less of a pain to apply than cake. The MAC is probably the Chromacake which I feel will go on the same as what you're using. The belt looks good. Not screen accurate, but I like the look of it. Looking forward to see what you do with this.

 

[Harmonopolis]

Thanks for all the advice about the makeup, anything helps. I have ordered Mehron liquid body paint from amazon in a green color, there were two colors on amazon, so hopefully the one I picked will be close to accurate. I just don't want to look like a lime. :/ I should be picking up the blue lace, black mesh and faux black leather material in October to begin creating the top and adding details to the bottom. Again I will be updating as I get the time.

- - - Updated - - -

- WooingScotsman: Its so great that your entire family is getting in on the Guardians action! The Rocket costume would be amazing to see upon completion and it would be great to see how your wife does Gamora. So many different characters and different ways in which everything can be completed and replicated. Can't wait to see any progress you make!

 

[Risu]

Just FYI, the dark blue parts of Gamora's costume are waxed denim. It's way easier to sew than vinyl, and will breath a lot better, too.

 

[Gabriel Zero]

For the green skin a little bird told me they used MAC green base make-up, I have a link to all the make-up used.

http://www.allure.com/beauty-trends...8/guardians-of-the-galaxy-makeup-details.html

That's as official as you get, down to the exact brands.

http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/shaded/8682/9614/Pro-Products/Multi-Use/Acrylic-Paint/index.tmpl

This is the exact green

Gabriel

 

[Harmonopolis]

Thanks Gabriel - I actually found that same article and another one by a different news agency where they discussed the use of several different colors of MAC green paint and even a yellow. I still have several months before I need to have a set color, so I plan on playing around with a few to find one that will work. I'm not going for a complete replication, but if I could get the green color correct that would make it all the more perfect.

Thanks Risu - I have never heard of Waxed Denim and will definitely research it and see where I can get it here in the city, I would still like to compare it to black faux leather and see what works best, but I appreciate the advice.

 

[Risu]

No problem, here's a picture I took.



I wouldn't be surprised if it's stretch denim, but I can't tell for sure either way.

 

[Panterona]

wooooow would never have guessed this is what was actually used hahahaha, I used leather and dye and handpainting N now I can see d pixely bits close up!! gahhh i used dots

 

[Risu]

Yea, they're two different colors of ink silk screened on. They did a LOT of silk screening for this movie.

 

[Harmonopolis]

- Thanks for the photo Risu. It definitely gives a better idea of what the fabric and patterns look like. I won't be starting on the top of the costume for a few more weeks, but that time will allow me to look around at fabric stores for the right material. I would of never thought they used silk screening. Nice technic it is thought to use.

 

[Harmonopolis]

Quick update: A set of rings purchased for the costume has come in and the Mehron Liquid body paint that was mentioned by cborchardt82. I am still waiting on two sets of rings and then its will be a break, for the wedding, and I'll jump in full swing with fabric searches for the top and the process of creating the collar, sword and dagger.

This is the set of rings that came in, 5 sterling silver and thin stackable bands, I will spread them between both hands to mix with the other two sets I have coming, since Gamora wears random thicknesses of rings on both hands during the film. You can see a bit of the green body paint in this image also.

Sorry for the sideways image :/
This is what the liquid body paint looks like once applied with a single coat. It went on very smoothly and took just under a minutes to dry completely to allow for another coat. It went on super easy and quickly and washed of just as fast with soap and water. It looks very close to the color from the movie and I think will be the final product I use. It was $14 on Amazon for a 4oz. bottle. The lighting in my apartment isn't convention" quality so it will look slightly lighter in those bright lights!

So far I am extremely happy with the progress I am making and can not wait to start on the collar, sword and dagger.

 

[shank]

mehron has good stuff

 

[supermuffingirl]

You can see a bit of the green body paint in this image also.

View attachment 375640View attachment 375641Sorry for the sideways image :/
This is what the liquid body paint looks like once applied with a single coat. It went on very smoothly and took just under a minutes to dry completely to allow for another coat. It went on super easy and quickly and washed of just as fast with soap and water. It looks very close to the color from the movie and I think will be the final product I use. It was $14 on Amazon for a 4oz. bottle. The lighting in my apartment isn't convention" quality so it will look slightly lighter in those bright lights!

So far I am extremely happy with the progress I am making and can not wait to start on the collar, sword and dagger.

Have you tried painting more than a section of your body yet?
I have Mehron and I will try to describe in words the issue that I had.
Because it is fast drying, it would dry before I got one body part complete. Then when I went back over, or next to, a part that had been previously painted, there would be a visible "seam" where the earlier painted skin met the currently painted skin. This was a nightmare.
When I did my Gamora at Dragon Con, I ended up hiring a professional body painter. It was money well spent because it alleviated a lot of stress and the end product was awesome.
She used Wolfe FX, put on one layer - which was kind of streaky but didn't matter, because she did a top layer with the airbrush to even it out and add contouring.
That is definitely the way I'm going to go when I wear this costume again. We have the supplies and are starting to practice between now and then.

Good luck... I just wanted to give you a heads up on this issue before you got to D Day and struggled. Because nothing is worse than a major issue or struggle on application day!

 

[Harmonopolis]

Finally I have an UPDATE! Sorry its been so long, before I knew it October was over......and the holidays are fast approaching.

I picked up the fabric that I will be using to create the top piece of the jumpsuit from. I will be using a blue tinted faux leather and black stretch net nylon fabric. I found both at a local craft store. The only fabric I am missing now is the printed material in a blue/teal shade for the detail on the top and bottoms. As you can see from the image below the blue is dark and looks black until it hits the light, once paired with the print details and the black mesh I think it will look perfect. I'm also throwing around the idea of adding some of the blue fabric to the pants/leggings I already purchases to help tie in the color to both the top and bottom.


I also purchased some Bias Tape in black which is similar to elastic to use on the top as the crossing pieces between the two sides, across the breast. You can see that below. Its 1/2 inch wide and will be easy to measure and attach in place once the top is close to completion.



I've never sewn any type of clothing for myself so to help me with the process, I purchased a t-shirt that fits me snuggly in order to use it as an outline to measure and attach the fabric, to ensure a good fit for the final costume. Once I begin the process of measurement and eventual cutting and piecing together of the top, I will post updates. I expect this process to take awhile, as I want it to fit snuggly. I will be pinning everything to start and will eventually sew, but will need to purchase or rent a sewing machine to do so.



Final purchase made to date it more "bling" for the hands for the costume. I purchased two sets of thick sterling silver type rings from Amazon to wear with the stackable thin bands I already purchased and posted about. I'm hoping both sets together will look pretty cool, once i'm painted green and in the full costume.



Thats it so far. I will continue to post about progress. October flew by so fast. With the holidays coming up I'll have more free time to work on the costume. Still need to decide what I am going to do about Gamora's collar, Sword and Dagger. I have had many ideas given to me and need to just sit down and determine the time frames and what i'll be able to do in my one bedroom apartment.

I'll be working on my clay sculpture of Groot more tomorrow and will hopefully have him completed this week.

Thanks to all for the advice, and I will continue to post as purchases and progress are made on my Guardians of the Galaxy Cosplay.

 

[Harmonopolis]

Started work on the top of the jumpsuit for my Gamora costume. I put on the white shirt that I liked the fit of and using an image of the costume I traced a rough outline of where on my body the pieces of the jumpsuit would fall. I have a long torso, so tracing on myself helped.


After tracing onto the shirt, I laid it out and using a permanent marker and ruler, I made measurements periodically to help me make a stencil later out of paper. I measured across the waist, shoulders and under the breasts. Then measured the length from shoulder to waist for height. I also took measurements for the width of the jumpsuit covering each breast and the width from each side of the stomach to the jumpsuit where it curves in slightly. After a practice run on paper, I ended up with a stencil of one side and just flipped it and copied it to make both the left and right half of the jumpsuit top. For the back of the costume. I will follow a similar process, but will make the back almost completely black mesh for breathability.

Here is a picture of the stencil and the completed two pieces pinned to the shirt for reference. I have and extra 1/2 inch of paper surrounding each stencil because when sewing you need a bit more to make a clean edge. So it may look a bit "big" but once edged will look correct.



That's all for now, Next step I will be working on the collar for the costume and once I purchase a sewing machine or borrow one I will begin to create the jumpsuit. I will be trying the stencil out on some cheap fabric to make sure the sizing is correct before I make the final top. Will post more updates as the progress continues!

 

[Lythara]

I'm also going to do a Gamora for the London Film and Comic Con and I was slightly worried about painting myself as I probably will be going there alone. However the tip on getting a professional body painter to do the painting is excellent! It will probably work out the same cost wise, but will look a lot better!

Wig has been ordered, next stop... fabric shopping!