Lightning- Big Trouble in Little China

The Schlitzie

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RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Hey guys, I'm pushing myself waaaay out of my comfort zone and starting with the most time consuming part of this costume...im weaving the Ronin Gasa that Lightning (James Pax) wears as one of the 3 storms in Big Trouble in Little China. Full disclosure, I am in no way a basket weaver hehe! That out of the way, I'm trying to learn something new. Once I finish the grill pattern for the front of the hat then I'll go in and weave in the fringe to the outside and the top plume bit and I think I'm gonna get a test bit of the fibers and see how well they take to stains. I'd like to darken it up just a smidgen.

I ended up using a few wreath frames (12- 30 inch diameter) and wire for the framework and the fibers are raffia.
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If anyone has any high res stills of the chest, belt area I would be eternally greatfull!
 
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Hehe, I hope so because I am not good at sewing. I'm trying to find something similar and modify it for the shirt. The scales on the front will be attached to a vest. The closest thing I can find to the boots are traditional chinese hanfu shoes. Id like to find a source in the states though since shipping would take over a month...maybe modify a pair of costume pirate boots and just shorten them...

:eek. WOW! :eek

After that the costume should be a breeze
 
The weaving goes very slowly but I feel like I'm on the home stretch. I redid the grill section a few times before I finally found an approach that gave me the look I was after. Still not happy with it though. I might have to make another hat at some point using a lot finer fibers.


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Yikes! I haven't updated this in a while. So i have the pants and the boots and cape done. I just need to make the shirt and vest and belt. Here's where the hat is at the moment. I just need to darken it a bit and redo some of the weaving on the back of it.

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Sorry. The RPF looooves to flip pictures sideways.
 
I made a little bit more progress on the Lightning costume. I'm not too crazy about the finished result seeing as how it was sculpted out of layers of foam but it'll do for now until I can properly sculpt it and cast in a skinning foam. I still need to make the khukri looking knife and then the belt will be done and then I need to make the vest armor!

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More progress! The belt is done, the hat harness is done and the masters for the armor scales were finished and molded and the shirt is done. So i just need to rig up the vest and cast the scales to go on it. 2 weeks till con. I think I got this!

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I wasn't happy with the end result making the scales out of foam or using aluminum tape for the finish...so I'm gonna cast them and paint them with alclad chrome.
 
Thanks bro! Yeah, I'll be making copies of the armor scales and after con I'll be sculpting a proper belt which will look a lot more accurate so, yeah. I wanted to make a modular costume that I can upgrade over time at my leisure. I might weave another ronin gasa out of willow root or some other fiber that will look much closer to the screen used one. Or my ADHD might kick in and I'll have to start on another one of the storms, hehe.

This is AMAZING!!!!
 
I realized that I haven't posted any pic of the clothing. So here it goes! I have boots finished and proper pants that aren't pictured but I'm in the process of patterning out the vest/tabard. I know it gives me a slouchy bellied look at the moment but that's why I'm patterning it. I need to trim a bit around the shoulders and have the waist cinched in and a bit steeper of an angle on the bottom and then I can sew everything and add the silver trim to a few parts. I think I might make the scale armor attach with snaps into the vest. I also need to modify the way the cape mounts and shorten it a couple inches.

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I got enough armor scale castings pulled and cleaned up, so now it's time to start priming and painting these suckers! I'm hoping to finish everything up this weekend so that I don't work myself to death during the week and also so I can fine tune everything.

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I need to make another setup so that I can paint all the scales at once instead of only 10 at a time...
 
Attaching the scales to the vest today. I'm also finishing the fabric detail. I'm gonna add Velcro to keep the belt from slipping around too. I still need to modify the cape. The pressure is on but I refuse to sacrifice quality!

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Also I got to test fit the vest before bed...and it is rad! The scales add a little weight but it's %100 worth it.
 
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