Bullshit, moeblob i am not. If u see me u're eyes will bleed.
I blame anathe.. PFFT
Hee, sorry, that's what you showed up as on the topic earlier... *embarrassed*
I'm a Ran Yakumo cosplayer, though at present I can only claim credit for the tails and the rig that I use to attach them to me. I bought the dress, hat, and tabard (found them in my exact size less than two weeks before Katsucon...I couldn't say "no"), although I'm in the process of remaking them myself.
Pretty hard to do, tails.. 8 of them and to make them look good. Anyone who does that is worthy of respect.
Exact size is kinda meh, modification can be done easily thou if there is excess cloth.
Ur tails are a bit too stiff IMHO.. I prefer furrier tails myself but that's just me.
They're actually fairly soft and fluffy, but they're also held up with 3/8" steel wire down the middle, hence why they look so stiff. After Otakon I'm probably taking the tails apart and rebuilding, partly because I'm moving, and partly because I want to shorten the wires some to give the tails more "give"...and probably pull out a bit of the stuffing too, if it'll still hold them up.
I have to second MoeBlob's comments about good cosplay not being easy. It can be cheap, yes, but it's not easy. There's a lot of trial and error that goes into it, especially if you're starting from scratch. And you can't just cut out a pattern and be done with it - you have to think about designs, seams, edging (will you use bias tape, or a variation on applique, for example), color matching and synergy. Even the order in which you do things will matter: In redoing Ran's hat, though it's been a royal pain to embroider the designs into the hat charms after they're already sewn onto the hat (because I have to do it all by hand), it produces a much better result this way than it would have had I done a quickie machine-sew before attaching the charms.
Sweet, another sewing cosplayer, we shld exchange tips...
Personally i like fabric paint for designs, it save me lots of trouble.
Just cover the offending part with the same cloth, sew the ends and paint away.
and please,dun call me Moeblob, the guys are having a terrible joke >/
I've never had much success with fabric paint, actually, although I suspect that's because I've never had much success with paint that isn't a stencil, and because the paint seems to wear off faster than good applique or embroidery. I tried paint with Balthier (Final Fantasy XII), and promptly switched to applique+embroidery as being far less frustrating for me, if time-consuming. If done well, embroidery (especially) looks far superior to paint, and can be absolutely gorgeous.
That being said, feel free to pick my brains over PM or the boards, I don't mind at all.
This increases between fivefold and tenfold once you start adding engineering problems to your cosplay. If your costume isn't going to be cloth only, you start getting into questions of materials, safety, weight, shearing/pressing forces, and so forth. I went through four redesigns of Ran's rig/harness/tails before I finally got the effect I wanted, in a way that would hold together, was safe (though I still ended up with mild bruising), and was easy to get into and out of.
This is the truth, thou personally i focus on weight, cost, durability and personal comfort... i'm not that much of a perfectionist..
I have to see how u did ur tail's harness man, looks okay to me. =x
If it was me, I'll have made a harness that was made of wire and hooked on to a strap that can be adjusted.
The frame of the wire would be the base for the tails which i will attach the tails to for strength =)
As I said above, the tails are filled with regular stuffed animal filler, but there is also a 3/16" steel dowel running most of the length of the tail. At the end of each tail, the dowel sticks out a bit, and is glued (Gorilla Glue) into a 3" doll's head. I had to drill holes for each tail...
The doll's head is covered in fur as well. It is attached via double-threaded screw to a wooden block. This second wooden block is inside of the gown and tabard, allowing me to have the tails screwed onto me after I get the rest of the costume on.
This block is attached to the actual "rig" part of the costume, via Gorilla Glue and epoxy. The rig itself started out as an old leather belt of mine, but it is reinforced with a half-dozen 1/8" steel rods that I bent into a shape to fit around my body. Then, to add even more support, I added a layer of harness leather on top of the rods in key places (behind the block and at my sides). This is attached via Gorilla Glue. If I'd had enough, I'd've backed the entire belt. That's actually what caused the bruises I got the second time: the ends of the rods were exposed and dug into my tummy, even through my undershirt. I've remedied this by wrapping the exposed areas with scraps from the tails.
The belt is held closed with the usual belt buckle.
Total weight: 11-12 pounds. Total cost of the tails was probably in the $60-$75 range, counting fabric, filler, metal, glue, and leather.
If you'll be at Otakon, it's a rather easy setup to demonstrate, although it took a lot of trial and error.
Safety is also a concern, especially with costumes of more than cloth. What do you make a sword out of if you're cosplaying Youmu? Answer: Rattan. Or resin, if you've the money for that. But be careful: rattan is difficult to cut with a jigsaw or scrollsaw, to the point that it can break blades and send them flying (he says from experience). What do you make armor out of? Nothing thinner than 1/16" (~16 gauge) if you're using metal, that's for sure! Otherwise you'll cut yourself getting into or out of it.
And so forth.
It's a rewarding hobby, if you enjoy making things, but don't expect it to be easy, because if you do, you will be sadly disappointed.
Oh Lol, rattan? good choice..
TBH, I've done well with mounting board and cardboard...
My last sword was made of nth but cardboard, aluminium tape, nails and toilet roll =)
It looks passable and it's not dangerous.
Btw, it's silly to bring metal sword to a convention as u might get caught
[/quote]
I'm involved in a swordfight during Otakon's masq, so we need weapons that would hold up to serious beatings, hence rattan. The last sword I did (Cecil's Legend Sword, from FFIV) was a wooden dowel with poster board over it to form the blade. Actually looks pretty good, but not as
lethal as properly shaped and painted Rattan, nor as durable.