Statesman from City of Heroes

[Todogut]

I downloaded the New Blood's free Bagley ultimate Spider-Man dye sub pattern (http://www.therpf.com/f78/free-bagley-usm-spider-man-files-215743/) (which features musculature shading by kenlandrum) and modified it to create a pattern for the bodysuit of a superhero named Statesman (http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Statesman) from the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game City of Heroes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Heroes). I still have to add textures to the red and blue parts; but, here is an image of the work in progress:

View attachment StatesmanPatternWIP.jpg

At present, my major concern about the pattern is this: how can I know if the straight lines of Statesman's bodysuit will actually align as intended when the costume is printed via dye sublimation onto Lycra fabric, cut out, and sewn together?

As shown in these reference images, the red and blue parts of Statesman's bodysuit are divided up the middle of his legs and torso toward the neck. Additionally, there's a red part on his arms, which has a stylized shape at the shoulders.



I tried my best to draw the costume on the pattern; but, I'm not confident that the lines will be straight particularly in the neck area.

Can any of the dye sub pattern makers please review my pattern and provide feedback and/or advice? How can I ensure the lines are straight?

Thank you for your consideration,
Todo

 

[Todogut]

Re: Review/Advice Wanted from Dye Sub Pattern Makers

I added a texture layer to the red and blue parts of the pattern.



As soon as I finish editing the texture layer, the pattern will be "done". Then, pending any review comments, I suppose it will be ready to send for printing on Lycra.

 

[Yrien]

Re: Review/Advice Wanted from Dye Sub Pattern Makers

Yay, always excited to see CoH stuff on here.

 

[Todogut]

Re: Review/Advice Wanted from Dye Sub Pattern Makers

Hi, Yrien. It's good to hear from a fellow City of Heroes fan.

 

[Yrien]

Re: Review/Advice Wanted from Dye Sub Pattern Makers

I saw your avatar in a different thread and had to go searching to see if you had any CoH thread and wasn't disappointed! I will be following this build with great interest (but unfortunately can't provide any advice because I've never done a dye-sub before).

 

[Todogut]

Re: Review/Advice Wanted from Dye Sub Pattern Makers

I received photos from the company that printed and sewed the costume:



The photos seem to have low lighting and/or low resolution. The close-ups show the texture detail. But, can't see much of the musculature shading. And the printed blue looks much darker than the royal blue used in the pattern.

Hard to tell how the costume will look when I receive it. Hoping for the best.

 

[Yrien]

Re: Review/Advice Wanted from Dye Sub Pattern Makers

It's too bad the pictures are such poor quality. Still, I would suggest emailing them back and letting them know your concerns. I don't really see the muscle shading at all either.

 

[king20000]

Re: Review/Advice Wanted from Dye Sub Pattern Makers

City of Heroes fans,Wowo...
Very Nice.

 

[Todogut]

Re: Review/Advice Wanted from Dye Sub Pattern Makers

I would suggest emailing them back and letting them know your concerns.

Oh, numerous emails have been sent, and I have definitely let them know my concerns.

Currently, I'm awaiting a reply about how they will address two missing special options (for a detached hood and a u-shape zipper). These special options were specified in the order form, and I paid extra fees for them. I'm asking for corrections or refunds of the extra fees.

 

[Todogut]

Re: Review/Advice Wanted from Dye Sub Pattern Makers

City of Heroes fans,Wowo...
Very Nice.

Hey, king20000. http://www.savecoh.com/

 

[Todogut]

Good news regarding my Statesman bodysuit: I received a DHL tracking number, which shows my order was handed off on Thursday morning and delivery is scheduled for Monday, April 27. Hooray!


Now, if only the suit is wearable... I should know early next week.

 

[DHGamerMR]

As a fellow CoH fan, I'm hoping to see good things here!

 

[SmilingOtter]

That goes for me as well!

 

[Xenphest]

CoH fan checking in. Can't wait to see the end result.

 

[Todogut]

Hey, DHGamerMR, SmilingOtter, Xenphest. Lots of CoH fans on the RPF--cool!

I received delivery of the Statesman bodysuit. It has some issues; but, still, it should be fun to wear at a comic convention.

Here are photos of the bodysuit.



As you can see, the bodysuit has alignment issues, which are my fault. This was my first try at creating a dye sub pattern, and obviously I didn't correctly understand how the parts of the pattern came together.

However, when I put on Statesman's boots, belt, gloves, cape, and silver Spartan half-helmet, those costume pieces should hide a lot of the bodysuit's flaws. Although, I'll have to make some adjustments to the hood... it's very misshapen and ill-fitting.

I provided the digital image file of my pattern to Zentai-Zentai.com in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. They printed the pattern onto Lycra fabric and sewed the costume together.

The quality of ZZ's service has pros and cons:

- The chief reason to choose ZZ is price. They print and sew a dye sub costume for $65.00. Of course, some people might contend, you get what you pay for.

- I paid an extra fee to upgrade to what ZZ refers to as cycling jersey Lycra, which the customer service rep told me was heavier and more elastic than their regular Lycra. Indeed, I'm pleased with the fabric.

- I provided my custom measurements to ZZ, and their tailors sewed the costume to fit my body. For sure, the suit is comfortable. However, the fit is a bit baggy in some places. Additionally, while the pattern was perfectly symmetrical, some of the sewn parts appear to be off in terms of symmetry. For example, one shoulder seam is higher than the other.

- The printing accurately shows the honeycomb texture in the red and blue parts. However, not much of the musculature shading can be seen. Furthermore, the printed blue appears considerably darker than the royal blue that was used in the pattern. In the large white star chest emblem, one edge shows a faint, blurry quarter-inch red line overlapping the white.

- ZZ's customer service representative, who identified himself as Chuck Johnson, was very difficult to deal with. I ended up filing a PayPal dispute and escalating it to claim status because of some problems with the transaction. Without going into detail, my buying experience was excruciatingly painful. I'm just glad it's ended... my long, international nightmare is over. I cannot disrecommend ZZ strongly enough.

That said, some customers on ZZ's site and Facebook page have reported good experiences. Others, not so much. I fall into the latter category.

 

[Yrien]

Yeah, the sewing job isn't great at all, yikes. Maybe see if you can find a local tailor that can help fit it to you better? I can't wait to see it with all the accessories, though! I don't think I've ever seen a Statesman cosplay before.

I believe Zentai-Zentai is also known for taking the files sent to them by customers and selling them as their own. I don't think there would be as great of a demand for a Statesman file as (for example) Spider-Man, but just be aware that they may try to profit off your file.

 

[Todogut]

I don't think I've ever seen a Statesman cosplay before.

I cosplayed as Statesman at the Wizard World Cleveland Comic Con in February 2015:



The bodysuit, cape, and boots were made by Zentai-Fan.com, which has an affiliated site, Herostime.com (and is a different company from Zentai-Zentai.com). I had a much better buying experience with Zentai-Fan.

Statesman's silver Spartan half-helmet was crafted by a skilled mask maker who goes by angelsrflammabl on the DeviantArt site: http://angelsrflamabl.deviantart.com/

I bought the belt from an online Army/Navy Surplus store and crafted the belt buckle out of EVA foam.

I bought the toy torch at Toys'R'Us: http://unclemilton.com/nat_geo/explorers_torch/

I created the new dye sublimation bodysuit in hopes of making the costume better. But, unfortunately, due to execution errors, not as big of an improvement as I would have liked.

I guess, it's back to the drawing board... or, in my case, back to Paint.NET.

I believe Zentai-Zentai is also known for taking the files sent to them by customers and selling them as their own. I don't think there would be as great of a demand for a Statesman file as (for example) Spider-Man, but just be aware that they may try to profit off your file.

Yes, I had read threads about resold patterns. Actually, I had private messaged with Orhadar of Gun Head Design, and he remarked about his situation with Zentai-Zentai.

Following your advice, I sent email to ZZ noting that my pattern should not be resold and the reasons why. (Not that they would want to sell my error-filled pattern; but, just to be clear.)

 

[Yrien]

That looks awesome! Thanks for sharing the pic.

 

[Vox]

And you had the /em holdtorch! (Sorry, another CoX vet here who just found this thread. Pinnacle server.) The suit looks GREAT! I'd have stood up in that audience and held my own imaginary torch along with you.

I and at least one of my friends (perhaps more) have commissioned a Vanguard dye-sub design for next year's C2E2, with plans to build the armor pieces out of EVA (we had a Vanguard splinter cell themed SG). I'm glad to know that, once I start the build thread, there will be people here who will not only know what I'm talking about, but appreciate it

 

[Todogut]

Hey, Vox. Vanguard cosplay would be cool!

Yeah, the sewing job isn't great at all, yikes.

After reading your post, I took another look at my pattern and compared it to the photos of the costume that Zentai-Zentai delivered... because I was bothered by the nagging thought, "Was my pattern really so misaligned?"



As the image above shows, my pattern divided the back of Statesman's leg into blue and red parts from the heel straight up the calf. But, ZZ's costume shows the red part twisted around the leg, nowhere near the heel.

How did such a twisted misalignment occur? The problem wasn't in my pattern. The problem was in ZZ's sewing.

I had provided to ZZ several reference images of Statesman's costume. Plus, I had drawn the following diagram to show how I wanted the bodysuit to look:



Even if ZZ's tailors did not speak English as their native language, still they should have been able to understand what I wanted from the diagram. It clearly shows how the red and blue parts should be aligned.

Additionally, the diagram clearly shows the hood is detached from the bodysuit. In my pattern, I drew an extra mask to facilitate making a detached hood. I paid an extra fee for a special option of a detached hood, which is among the standard list on ZZ's site. On the order form that ZZ provided, which was an Excel spreadsheet, the customer service rep typed, "Detached Hood". But, when I received photos of the costume for review, the hood was attached to the bodysuit.

I pointed out the mistake to the customer service rep and asked for him to make things right by providing a detached hood. But, instead, he offered to refund the additional fee for the special option.

ZZ just didn't care.