KittyPurry27
New Member
This will be my second year entering the RPF Halloween Contest. I’m still fairly new to costuming/cosplay and I learn more with each new project I do. I would be nowhere without the information and knowledge I garner from the experienced cosplayers on the RPF and of course the advice and assistance from my husband. I know, blah, blah, but I just want to express my appreciation. 
Now… on to the costume! Ever since seeing the latest installment of Resident Evil – Retribution, I knew I wanted to be Project Alice.
The Buckles
After checking some threads on the RPF I learned from pinder91 that the buckles used for the costume were motorcross boot buckles from the Men’s Adult F3 Comp 5 Fox Racing boot and that the costume would require 94 of them (2 for the hands, 4 for the shoulders, 32 for the vest and 56 for the boots). Well that was all well and good, since Fox Racing sells replacement buckle sets and the sets come 8 buckles per package. However the first challenge I faced was the fact that the replacement sets were not cheap and almost impossible to find. Since I needed so many, I bought as many as I could (56) and decided I would try to fabricate the rest.
The first step of the fabrication process was to cut off a large portion of the strap from the buckle. In order to keep them all uniform, my husband devised a set and punch system that enabled exact placement and removal of the strap for each buckle.
Then we separated the remaining portion of the strap from the buckle so that each buckle was two separate pieces. Fabrication was next and was achieved through molding and casting of the separate pieces with Alumilite.
Since neither my husband nor I had ever worked with anything like this we worked as a team to create the molds and then pour the casts.
We completely covered each piece with the molding material and once the molds had set, cut slits in them in order to then pour the casting material.
Once the casting material has been mixed, you have less than a minute before it begins to harden, so I would hold the slits of the molds open while my husband would mix and pour the casting material and then I would gently rock the mold back and forth to ensure complete coverage throughout the mold. This took some practice, as our first few attempts were futile.
I had purchased a dye to mix in with the casting material so that the pieces would be black (like the original buckles) in the hopes that I would then only have to paint the buckle portion silver. However, as we could never get the dye to completely mix and uniformly distribute, the casts ended up looking like a gray/black swirled mess. So we ended up just painting the strap portion with black spray paint and the buckle portion with silver model paint.
We then had to drill a hole in the strap portion for the rivet that would attach the completed buckle to the different pieces of the costume. I left this up to my husband, who again devised a set using Super Sculpey on which to place the straps and ensure accuracy when drilling.
The two pieces were then put back together using galvanized finishing nails.
Since I couldn’t find any actual rivets that would work, I bought a piece of embellished leather from the fabric store, cut off the silver embellishments and then hot glued them onto the strap portion of the buckle.
The Boots
I found a pair of reasonably priced black wedge boots from Amiclubwear.com that were close matches, but needed some modification.
First, I removed the buckles and then I covered them in black auto heading (the stuff that goes on the ceiling of your car) that I bought from the fabric store. I wrapped one piece of fabric around the boot to size it and create a pattern, cut it out and then sewed it (inside out) with the seam going up the center on the front of the boot.
I then turned it right side out and, using some black pleather, added some detail along the top edge. Next I slipped it over the boot and hot glued it along the bottom to keep it in place.
The buckles were then added by a combination of sewing and industrial strength hot glue.
Now… on to the costume! Ever since seeing the latest installment of Resident Evil – Retribution, I knew I wanted to be Project Alice.
The Buckles
After checking some threads on the RPF I learned from pinder91 that the buckles used for the costume were motorcross boot buckles from the Men’s Adult F3 Comp 5 Fox Racing boot and that the costume would require 94 of them (2 for the hands, 4 for the shoulders, 32 for the vest and 56 for the boots). Well that was all well and good, since Fox Racing sells replacement buckle sets and the sets come 8 buckles per package. However the first challenge I faced was the fact that the replacement sets were not cheap and almost impossible to find. Since I needed so many, I bought as many as I could (56) and decided I would try to fabricate the rest.
The first step of the fabrication process was to cut off a large portion of the strap from the buckle. In order to keep them all uniform, my husband devised a set and punch system that enabled exact placement and removal of the strap for each buckle.
Then we separated the remaining portion of the strap from the buckle so that each buckle was two separate pieces. Fabrication was next and was achieved through molding and casting of the separate pieces with Alumilite.
Since neither my husband nor I had ever worked with anything like this we worked as a team to create the molds and then pour the casts.
We completely covered each piece with the molding material and once the molds had set, cut slits in them in order to then pour the casting material.
Once the casting material has been mixed, you have less than a minute before it begins to harden, so I would hold the slits of the molds open while my husband would mix and pour the casting material and then I would gently rock the mold back and forth to ensure complete coverage throughout the mold. This took some practice, as our first few attempts were futile.
I had purchased a dye to mix in with the casting material so that the pieces would be black (like the original buckles) in the hopes that I would then only have to paint the buckle portion silver. However, as we could never get the dye to completely mix and uniformly distribute, the casts ended up looking like a gray/black swirled mess. So we ended up just painting the strap portion with black spray paint and the buckle portion with silver model paint.
We then had to drill a hole in the strap portion for the rivet that would attach the completed buckle to the different pieces of the costume. I left this up to my husband, who again devised a set using Super Sculpey on which to place the straps and ensure accuracy when drilling.
The two pieces were then put back together using galvanized finishing nails.
Since I couldn’t find any actual rivets that would work, I bought a piece of embellished leather from the fabric store, cut off the silver embellishments and then hot glued them onto the strap portion of the buckle.
The Boots
I found a pair of reasonably priced black wedge boots from Amiclubwear.com that were close matches, but needed some modification.
First, I removed the buckles and then I covered them in black auto heading (the stuff that goes on the ceiling of your car) that I bought from the fabric store. I wrapped one piece of fabric around the boot to size it and create a pattern, cut it out and then sewed it (inside out) with the seam going up the center on the front of the boot.
I then turned it right side out and, using some black pleather, added some detail along the top edge. Next I slipped it over the boot and hot glued it along the bottom to keep it in place.
The buckles were then added by a combination of sewing and industrial strength hot glue.
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