Warrior Hawkgirl - Articulating Wings + Armor

swgeek · Feb 6, 2015

springsteel said:
I nicked some galvanized steel fencing wire off my parents, to use as the feather shafts, but now that I have it in hand, I'm worried it will end up being quite heavy. So I'm entertaining the thought of using thin wooden dowels, or something lighter still.

Wow this costume is looking great!! Hope you make it to Comicon so I can see this in person.
Have you thought about fiberglass rod for your feathers? It's used in a lot of fishing poles, so it's pretty strong.

http://www.amazon.com/1-2f8-22-48-22-Solid-Fiberglass-Rod/dp/B001TO338C

Hazmat · Feb 6, 2015

swgeek said:
Wow this costume is looking great!! Hope you make it to Comicon so I can see this in person.
Have you thought about fiberglass rod for your feathers? It's used in a lot of fishing poles, so it's pretty strong.

http://www.amazon.com/1-2f8-22-48-22-Solid-Fiberglass-Rod/dp/B001TO338C

I've been thinking about just using cheap fishing poles for wings for a while now. I think you can get them for $15 and I bet that the flex they have could give the wings a really good flap motion.

springsteel · Feb 6, 2015

Thanks everyone for the feedback! It's been so helpful!

Yrien said:
That looks spectacular! The corset looks great, and the colours are phenomenal together.

What about just putting some wefts inside the helmet, rather than a full wig? It would mean that when you take the helmet off, the hair goes with it (unless you get creative with a wig cap with only a "partial" wig built onto it from wefts, which would then look silly when you took the helmet off). I've seen similar things done when people don't want the bulk of a full wig - only put in as much hair as you need to show from the outside.

That would be *perfect*! Love the idea of a "partial" wig built into a cap. The wig I bought is a lousy, cheap thing from China, so I have zero qualms with cutting it apart.

(AWESOME Wolverine, by the way!)

spydrwebz said:
Looks absolutely AMAZING spring!

An option if you dont want to dye your hair permanently is to use red spray in hairspray like this.http://www.partycity.com/product/re...om=Search&navSet=hair color&bypass_redirect=1

Ive seen some pretty good results with this stuff and the best thing is it washes right out afterwards.

Hope that helps.

So you've actually seen good results with the spray?? I remember this stuff from high school, and the awful case of helmet head it made! I'll have to see what our local beauty supply has. I've thought about giving this stuff a shot. It's what the little blue-haired ladies use to keep their color between dye-jobs.

swgeek said:
Wow this costume is looking great!! Hope you make it to Comicon so I can see this in person.
Have you thought about fiberglass rod for your feathers? It's used in a lot of fishing poles, so it's pretty strong.

http://www.amazon.com/1-2f8-22-48-22-Solid-Fiberglass-Rod/dp/B001TO338C

SDCC?? I wish! I mostly stick to the local Missouri stuff, but one day I hope to make it out there!

And fiberglass would be *amazing*. I got really excited until I added up how many feet of feather shafts I need, and it's close to 100 feet... That would be about $60 with shipping. But I guess that's not a terrible price. They would be super lightweight and nearly unbreakable! I'm keeping that on the list!

Hazmat said:
I've been thinking about just using cheap fishing poles for wings for a while now. I think you can get them for $15 and I bet that the flex they have could give the wings a really good flap motion.

Fiberglass would be perfect.... I may just have to fork over the money!

Yrien · Feb 6, 2015

springsteel said:
That would be *perfect*! Love the idea of a "partial" wig built into a cap. The wig I bought is a lousy, cheap thing from China, so I have zero qualms with cutting it apart.

(AWESOME Wolverine, by the way!)

You could also look into http://overtone.co/ - it's a shampoo and conditioner that deposits colour onto your hair as you continue to use it, and once you stop it fades out. I've never personally used it (shopping in the States sucks right now cause the Canadian dollar is really low, and shipping is so expensive!) but I've heard good things.

Thanks! I love that costume - it's fun, comfy, and easy to wear. And I had one little kid half-convinced that my claws were real, lol.

2arrowz · Feb 6, 2015

Harvester85 · Feb 6, 2015

UH-Mazing. Skill level = Expert.

swgeek · Feb 6, 2015

springsteel said:
And fiberglass would be *amazing*. I got really excited until I added up how many feet of feather shafts I need, and it's close to 100 feet... That would be about $60 with shipping. But I guess that's not a terrible price. They would be super lightweight and nearly unbreakable! I'm keeping that on the list!

Found a cheaper supplier.
http://www.mgs4u.com/fiberglass-tube-rod.htm

Wheatbee · Feb 7, 2015

OMG! What an amazing creation! You've really captured the spirit of the character, I've always loved Hawkgirl as a character since I was a kid, but now I love her more. You've done wonderfully here!

da wesheb · Feb 7, 2015

Swoooooooon!! This is absolutely breathtaking. Remind me to build a DC costume so I can come fight fake crime with your Justice League at a Con.

regisaugusto · Feb 7, 2015

springsteel said:
I really want Hawkgirl's red hair, but a wig won't fit under the helmet, and I'm not particularly interested in a dye job. To be determined...

May I suggest hairpieces, only on the parts outside the helmet?

Once again, I'd like to say this work is astonishing!

Archer21 · Feb 7, 2015

I know you said you didn't really want to dye your hair but you could dye it a reddish brown color so its not completely red and not too different from your hair color. Just throwing out suggestions lol.

da wesheb · Feb 7, 2015

Doing research for a project and this was the advertisement on the back cover. I doubt you want the hold of gel but the color looks rich, also washes right out.

springsteel · Feb 8, 2015

Wow! Thanks everyone for the comments and feedback! My little Hawk family is growing

So, hair conundrum. I think I'm going to go the partial wig route suggested by Yrien and regisaugusto. As much as I'd love an auburn dye, Archer21, both of the conventions I was hoping to wear this to involve weddings the day of or weekend after! I think I'm going to have to keep my hair brown

swgeek - As for the fiberglass poles for the feather shafts... that's really the perfect solution. Unfortunately, the shipping is killer! I checked out the other supplier you found (plus a few others), and every way I combine lengths and shipping costs, they all come out to be about the same, price-wise. I may just have to cave and put out the money. They would be perfect! I'll have to draft up some designs and see exactly the amount I need and go from there.

So I think I'll head to the hardware and battery stores, to get some mace supplies! I'm so excited to get that ******* lit up.

Canobi · Feb 8, 2015

Hi spring, glad you got the mace torch ok :thumbsup

One small question: Do you have a hot glue gun?

There's one small detail I wasn't able to attend to. I wanted to add a bit of hot glue on the fly lead end of the battery holder to prevent the join from snapping due to repeated flexing (usually when taking the batteries out and replacing them ). Unfortunately I found my hot glue gun had broken at the time and forgot to mention it in our PMs (doh!).

If you do have one, try to avoid filling in the little cavity as the metal battery contact inside needs to move a bit. If you apply the glue with the holder on its side, any glue overspill should flow over the hole, not into it :thumbsup

HyruleInfantry · Feb 9, 2015

springsteel said:
That is an excellent idea! I even have some on hand, which is a huge plus. They might be a little short, but once I start building the feathers, we'll find out.

Thank you very much!

I'm literally held together with tape and bungee cords at this point. There's even a washcloth stuck under the pauldron to help with its shape. A preview:

View attachment 435730

View attachment 435732

I really want Hawkgirl's red hair, but a wig won't fit under the helmet, and I'm not particularly interested in a dye job. To be determined...

I also sprayed the emblem down with some hammered finish, and am waiting on that to dry before painting in the red.

View attachment 435733

But the best update is the arrival of @Canobi's awesome torch! I'm going to pick up some batteries first chance I get and stick this sucker inside the mace.

View attachment 435734

More to come...

In my best Ted impression. "Wow"

springsteel · Feb 9, 2015

Canobi said:
Hi spring, glad you got the mace torch ok :thumbsup

One small question: Do you have a hot glue gun?

There's one small detail I wasn't able to attend to. I wanted to add a bit of hot glue on the fly lead end of the battery holder to prevent the join from snapping due to repeated flexing (usually when taking the batteries out and replacing them ). Unfortunately I found my hot glue gun had broken at the time and forgot to mention it in our PMs (doh!).

If you do have one, try to avoid filling in the little cavity as the metal battery contact inside needs to move a bit. If you apply the glue with the holder on its side, any glue overspill should flow over the hole, not into it :thumbsup
http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee395/Can-obi/IMG_20150208_213652.jpg

Thank you Canobi! Yes, I have a glue gun and will glue this tonight. I would hate, hate, *hate* for that connection to break. Because it is AWESOME.

Here's a video of the mace lit up. That LED is spectacular. It's even this bright in complete daylight, outside. I am SO excited for this mace!

So, a few progress photos below. Earlier I painted the inside of the mace with a cornstarch/glue mixture to help diffuse the light (it works perfectly) and masked off the cracks and fissures in the Worbla so the light could shine through once it was painted. I also added a galvanized floor flange on to the bottom to attach it to the handle. The diameter was a tad too small with the threading, so I filed it off to open it up a bit.

I then gave it a coat of Rustoleum's hammered chestnut...

...and painted highlights and lowlights with acrylic. I edged all of the cracks in silver to help diffuse the contrast. It's hard to tell they're there at a glance.

But oh my gosh, when it's lit up? That light is amazing! Kudo's to @Canobi! This really makes me want to learn more about lighting and circuitry!

Armatus Cosplay · Feb 9, 2015

Stop making the rest of us look bad [emoji6]

Doing great, can't wait to see it all together.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

George · Feb 10, 2015

Looks awesome,Spring! :thumbsup So cool

Iggy · Feb 10, 2015

Nice! Seeing this lit up has made me go back to the mace I was building. I should have some progress to show on that soon.

I really like the corset look to the top. Question on the mace; are you covering that flange or will it show?

springsteel · Feb 10, 2015

Iggy said:
Nice! Seeing this lit up has made me go back to the mace I was building. I should have some progress to show on that soon.

I really like the corset look to the top. Question on the mace; are you covering that flange or will it show?

Do post some progress! It sounds like you've done a lot since updating, so I'm excited to see! As for your mace, is it possible to dremel out some little cracks or designs for the light to shine through? I know you've got it covered in paint and plasti dip, but that might be a solution if you wanted it to light up.

As for the flange, it does show. I've sprayed it with the same bronze-y paint as the rest of the mace/armor, so it blends in nicely, but I'll know for sure once I get everything assembled. I can always cover it in some worbla pieces to match the rest, if it doesn't.

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