DIY Armor: Tips from cosplay experts

“Making costumes is addictive. You never just do one costume. It destroys your life.”
–501st Legion

I went to a couple of fascinating back-to-back maker panels at Star Wars Celebration. They shared tips that would be useful in all kinds of craft – even if you’re not into Star Wars.

The panels were given by two groups.

501st Legion: make/wear Star Wars “dark side” costumes (Darth Vader, stormtroopers, etc.)
Mandalorian Mercs Costuming Club: make/wear armor-clad bounty hunter costumes (Boba Fett). Four members constructed armor for a panel audience volunteer in just 40 minutes (!)

Like Justice League Arizona (who I’ve mentioned before), members of these two groups build their own costumes, often make free appearances for charities and other good causes, and are passionate about what they do.

Getting started

501st Legion:

Don’t do a complicated metal costume like Boba Fett for your first costume. Do a soft costume.

Mandalorian Mercs:

You can get everything you need to make your armor for under $50 – tools, Bondo, gloves, etc. But know what level of tools to buy and when to spend less. Don’t be afraid to spend a little money on good tools, if you’re able to.

Safety

Mandalorian Mercs:

- Wear gloves. Hot glue will burn you and will not stop burning until it cools off.
- The most dangerous thing is an X-ACTO knife. That’ll cut through you faster than a hot knife through butter.

Sizing for Costumes

Audience question: How do you adapt costume templates for people who wear larger sizes?

Mandalorian Mercs: Use optical illusion – black fabric, extra flanks, etc. Adapt templates to fit your body. People don’t all have the same proportions, especially women. Get up close with a friend, who can help you get your exact measurements. Armor must be molded to your body. I don’t think anyone else could put on my armor.

501st Legion:

It’s better to have slightly less accurate armor that’s proportionate to you. You don’t have to stick with on-screen measurements.

Mandalorian Mercs:

Make a duct tape dummy for a perfect cast of your body you can use to create a costume sized to fit.

1. Put on a t-shirt that’s one size too small.
2. Duct tape around yourself.
3. Have friend cut it off down the back.

Materials and Tools

Audience question: Does costume material have to be the same as the original?

501st Legion: No. It comes down to the finish. If a piece is painted well, you can’t tell what it was made from.

Mandalorian Mercs:

A dremel set is one of the most important tools. It makes plastic look like metal. However, it is extremely messy. It goes so fast it can eat into your armor.
The best place to find expanded PVC board, a.k.a. Sintra is a sign shop. [I believe Sintra is what they used for the armor-making demo. –TCJ]
You can get Bondo at Walmart. It comes in large container that should last a long time. Do not glob Bondo on. Use rubber spatula to smooth on small bits.
Krylon paints dry quickly and last. Don’t mix them with Rustoleum, because it won’t cure. Some people prefer to airbrush.
Primer is like the Velcro to help your paint stick. It’ll last longer.

501st Legion:

Use rare earth magnets when working with metal that you can’t clamp down on. Just don’t accidentally glue your magnets to your armor!

Sourcing

Mandalorian Mercs:

Costume pieces may be incorporated from found items, seemingly random things like a battery cover from a palm pilot. We like go on what we call “scavenger hunts”. You’ll never look at the thrift store or dollar store the same way.

501st Legion:

It’s funny how our costume obsession has increased the price on random and ridiculous stuff on eBay! 3D printing can be a cost-effective alternative.

Final Thought

501st Legion:

Sometimes we get too obsessed with details and have to remind ourselves: “Just relax. We’re just plastic spacemen.”

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Thank you to Star Wars Celebration for providing media passes.

February 11, 2015January 11, 2022

Phillip’s Guide to Phoenix Comicon

I decided to try something new last summer: attend the annual Phoenix Comicon (PHXCC). I would like to invite you to experience it briefly with me today.

You may think, “I don’t like comic books or super heroes or science fiction, what’s in it for me?”

If there’s a theme to the Phoenix Comicon, it is that “everyone’s a geek, celebrate it!”

What is PHXCC?

Phoenix Comicon started in 2002 with several hundred attendees as a way for comic book fans to gather in the Phoenix area to meet artists, buy and sell comic books, and have an excuse to dress up as their favorite comic book characters. Makes sense – “comicon” is short for comic convention!

But comic conventions have evolved beyond a focus on comic books to all things pop culture: science fiction, fantasy, horror, video games, board games, card games, anime, toys, filmmaking, etc. Even NASA has been coming for years to showcase their work and allow the public to interact with their newest projects.

From its humble beginning of 400 attendees at a Best Western in Ahwatukee, it has exploded into one of the largest conventions in the country – last year’s attendance topped 77,000!

The event is held during Memorial Day weekend in May at the Phoenix Convention Center.

They have 4 days’ worth of programming that includes panels and events. Don’t think of this as a serious trade convention but rather a celebration!

What to do?

Panels

Panels vary widely in topics and format. Here’s a sampling of some of the panels from last year:

Spirituality in Comics – comic artists discuss spirituality and religious imagery in comics.
Meet a Scientist – scientists from a variety of fields answer audience questions.
Justice League Arizona – hear how a team of adults from all walks of life construct their own costumes of Batman, Superman, the Flash, etc. and dress up as their characters at charitable events. Did you know that if you have Batman or Wonder Woman ask a group to donate to your charity, people get way more excited to give?!

There are special panels (spotlights) with celebrity guests in the larger convention rooms that include a Q&A. Last year, some of the actors you could see were Cary Elwes (Wesley from the Princess Bride), Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver!), and Nathan Fillion (from Castle and Firefly).

My favorite panel was the Phoenix Ultimate Geek Smackdown (PUGS). In the format of a game show, volunteer contestants get to debate such important topics as “Who was the most helpful Redheaded Doctor: Dr. Beverly Crusher from Star Trek or Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama?”

It is the audience who gets to judge the winner of each debate until the ultimate geek is crowned!

Exhibition Hall

When you’re between panels, most people spend time in the exhibition hall which takes up the exhibition floor of the Phoenix Convention Center. This space is the size of several football fields and it’s a place where you can go to buy pop culture inspired artwork, meet artists, buy unique gifts and see displays, like an entire city built out of LEGO, including replicas of buildings in the Phoenix area brought in by local LEGO building club Cactus Brick.

You could also spend time in a Star Wars village to meet R2-D2, Chewbacca, or share a drink with aliens at the Mos Eisley cantina.

You could easily spend hours perusing the tables here, but try to get out – there are more things to see!

Parties/misc.

There are also many other activities:

If zombies are your thing, you can dress up like a zombie and do the zombie walk through downtown Phoenix.
Don’t forget the parties: there’s the Geek Prom, the Peter Pan Pirate Pool Party, and all kinds of other after-hours activities.
There are also film festivals, roller derby competitions, and car displays outside (including the A-team van, Back to the Future DeLorean, Ghostbusters’ car).

What to expect

While there are many programmed activities, there’s much to expect that is not on the program.

1. First and foremost, expect to get overwhelmed! There are lots of events and activities going on at any one time!

My word of advice here is to go online and view the events of the weekend or pick up the PHXCC programming guide as soon as you can. Thumbing through this can help you make sense of everything.

2. Next, there will be lots of people in costume! People spend many hours putting together costumes for this event. Some you’ll recognize: Star Wars characters, the Terminator, comic book characters, etc. Some you won’t: I later learned one of my coworkers went to PHXCC dressed as a character from an anime show I had never heard of.

It is in the costumes where passion is most obvious.

You’ll see some pretty awesome costumes, and people love being recognized for their work. Just remember, if you’re going to take a picture of someone in costume, make sure and ask for permission.

3. Lastly you can expect to encounter people with passions for a wide variety of things – including some you didn’t even know existed!

A Place for All People of Passion

For me, going to PHXCC taught me about celebrating life and embracing who you are as a geek, a person with passions. I think I learned this best from a couple of kids.

We ran into a spunky 7-year-old girl equipped with a pink Disney princess backpack, a red lightsaber, and a big smile. Her wheelchair was outfitted to looked like an Imperial TIE fighter from the Star Wars movies! Her friend had a wheelchair made to look like the Millennium Falcon.

Everybody loved it, and the kids loved being the center of so much positive attention. For the three days of Phoenix Comicon, these kids weren’t simply scooting through life in a wheelchair, but flying through the stars.

So whether you’re young or old, wheelchair bound or not, a Star Wars fan or a Star Trek fan, at PHXCC, you can celebrate that we’re all people of passion!

We are what we love; we’re all geeks!

– More info –

Registration is open for the next Phoenix Comicon May 28-31, 2015.
Phoenix Comicon for newbies
Cosplay tips
Our take on Phoenix Comicon’s new event: Fan Fest
All our Phoenix Comicon posts

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Thank you to Phoenix Comicon for providing media passes!

January 30, 2015

Fan Fest: Overview

Phoenix Comicon organizers could have been content to continue running a really solid convention every summer. With an army of 1600 volunteers and just 6 paid staff, they were already putting on one of the largest Comicons in the U.S. They could’ve just cruised.

fan-fest-2

Instead, they decided to level up and add a second annual event. In response to community feedback, Fan Fest was held last month at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

fan-fest-uofp-stadium-2

The 3-day Fan Fest had a more focused scope than the intimidatingly expansive schedule of the main Phoenix Comicon event, wrapping up each day by 7:30 pm or so instead of stretching to the wee hours. It still had multiple tracks, two Doctor Whos (Doctors Who?), activities for all ages, and an attendance of over 11,000. (So…slightly larger than the population of Sedona.)

Yes, there was a first year glitch here and there, but overall it was a great event.

Clearly, the force is strong with them.

Comic book track

Ahead of the con, organizers polled the community about what kind of character they’d like to see created. Then, during the weekend, an entire track was devoted to bringing the character and story to life.

fan-fest-artists-2

For each step of the process – sketching, inking, coloring, etc. – a different panel of volunteer artists would build on what had been created before, brainstorming and incorporating audience feedback as they went. I sat in on the clothing session. Discussions centered on how to reflect the story and super powers of the character, Blaze, in the design of her costume with the artists sharing ideas and opinions, as well as busily sketching them out.

By the end of the weekend, there was a 4-page comic book(let) of Blaze’s origin story.

Costuming

I’ll introduce you to some of the fabulous cosplayers and other makers I met in a separate post. For now, here are some of the costuming related programming and activities I got a chance to check out.

fan-fest-cosplay-fashion

Cosplay fashion show – So many imaginative costumes! And some of the teens really got into character as they walked down the runway. It was great to see them embrace and embody something they’re into.

Costume-building competitions – Due to lack of participation, a few of these had to be cancelled. I chalk this up to first-year growing pains. I’m not sure people came expecting to participate as much as they had the opportunity to.

prop-demo

fan-fest-prop

EVA foam demo – Mike Syfritt demonstrated his techniques for working with sheets of EVA foam, laser-cutting and layering them to create cosplay weapons and other props. Also, he had a really impressive supply toolkit – with an entire drawer for glue.

fan-fest-makeup

fan-fest-makeup-2

Makeup – There was a special effects make-up competition with just 75 minutes to transform an audience volunteer using theatrical makeup. The make-up artists did a fantastic job!

Exhibition hall

There were around 300 exhibitors. A big section of the hall, “artists’ alley,” was devoted to comic book and other illustrators. There are several artists and makers I’m excited to tell you about, but again, that’s going into another post.

Beyond the exhibitors were the lines for photo ops with actors and other guests.

fan-fest-han

There were also some places to take your own photos. Phillip posed as Han Solo facing off against the bounty hunter Greedo in a replica of an infamous hive of scum and villainy.

The Cactus Brick adult LEGOs users’ group was back with a LEGO city like the one they brought to Phoenix Comicon. They also had a table where you could make your own creation.

Other highlights

Outside there were different activities like jousting matches, muggle quidditch, and bouncy houses/slides/etc. for kids.

PUGS

There was a team version of the Phoenix Ultimate Geek Smackdown (PUGS), which Phillip participated in.

Teams had to debate geeky topics like “who wore the bow tie best: Doctor Who or Bill Nye?” Moderator Jeff Moriarty assigned the sides to the teams as he saw fit, and they had to defend whichever was assigned to them.

fan-fest-pugs

For example, Phillip’s team had to argue why Catwoman was better with a whip than Indiana Jones. They put forth a valiant effort, but, really, Indy is hard to beat.

Preview of Phoenix Comicon

“We want Phoenix Comicon to be a place where you don’t just come see things, you come do things.”
–Phoenix Comicon 2015 Preview panel

One of the last panels was about what to expect from Phoenix Comicon in May 2015.

The summer event will be held at the Phoenix Convention Center again. Memberships (tickets) are already on sale. There are 8 host hotels, and they will probably sell out early.

A few of the things that are in the works:

Possible Jedi training with a lightsaber group.
Youth activities, skits, and art room.
Science tracks that count towards continuing education credits for teachers.
More writing panels.
“Drinks with Authors” events.
More fantasy programming centered around Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, etc.
More nighttime events, including nightly parties at the host hotels. Some will be 21+ and some for all ages.

phxff

– More info –

Phoenix Comicon
Phoenix Comicon for newbies
Cosplay tips
Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest
Interview with Jillian Squires, Director of Marketing for Phoenix Comicon, on the Blogadin podcast (interview starts at about 34:00)

Thank you to Phoenix Comicon for providing media passes!

December 8, 2014December 15, 2014

Nathan Fillion crafts

I wasn’t planning on taking video of Nathan Fillion’s appearance at Phoenix Comicon. Then an audience member (dressed, incidentally, as Dr. Horrible) asked him about costumes he’s made and sent me scrambling to capture the moment.

Here’s how it looked from where I sat.

And here’s a much sharper video of the whole spotlight (with costume-making question at 48:40).

They say a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. Apparently, sometimes a man’s gotta construct an increasingly elaborate grim reaper costume with tree branches, foam, glowing red eyes, and drywall stilts.

I just had no idea the Captain was so gorram crafty.

P.S. For more Phoenix Comicon, check out this weekend’s Fan Fest!

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Read a whole buncha great little posts! Links on Stirrup Queens.

October 30, 2014October 30, 2014

What You Can Learn about Costumes and Life from Cosplayers

Cosplayers tend to pretty passionate about their craft. It makes sense. They’re big enough fans of a character to want to bring it to life through what they’re wearing. So it also makes sense that when I asked a few* Phoenix Comicon cosplayers for a costuming tip to share, they shared a lot more than that – tips for wearing costumes, meeting people, photo etiquette, and good advice that applies whether or not you do cosplay!

1. Think practically.

“Safety pins are very important! You never know when you’ll need them for your costume.” –Ryan DeFusco (The Indie Imaginarium)

“Break in your shoes ahead of time.” –Genevieve Eldred

“Drink lots of water! It’s easy to get dehydrated.” –Ryan D.

When designing your costume, don’t just think about the look. Think about how you will move around in it – especially in a crowd.

“I try not to take up space outside my immediate area. Wings and other things that stick out from your costume make it hard to get around at conferences.” –Genevieve

Also, think about how you’ll feel late in the day. Ryan D. recommends bringing a change of clothes in case your costume gets uncomfortable or some part of it isn’t working.

2. Talk to people

Justice League Arizona member Ryan Holmes recommends joining a group, if you find one that interests you.

When you’re at a con…

“Talk to people! If someone has taken the trouble to dress up as a character you like, say hi.” –Ryan H.

“If you like someone’s cosplay, tell them! If you want to know how they made something, ask them! The community is in large part very friendly and more than happy to share their tips and techniques.” –Genevieve

“If you’re shy, wearing a costume that covers the face can be really liberating.” –Ryan H. (DIY masks, anyone?)

3. Keep learning

The cosplay community is another example of how the current wealth of online and offline resources for learning has helped makers flourish.

“Learning new skills keeps the brain active, and the worst thing you could do is remain stagnant.” –Genevieve

“The web is full of costume resources. Probably at least half the people into making things are also into talking about how they made them.” –Ryan H.

“Research, research, research. There are plenty of skills like sewing, jewelry making, and armor making that can be learned from cosplay blogs and tutorials. If you ever get lost on something, there’s probably a cosplayer who has done it and can help you through.” –Genevieve

“There are lots of panels on costuming from cheap and starting out to advanced prop building.” –Ryan H.

4. Have fun

“Don’t be scared that your costume won’t be ‘good enough.’ If it’s your first time costuming, what matters is that you have fun.” –Jill Rouleau (from our Phoenix Comicon newbies post)

“If it’s not fun, there’s no point.” –Genevieve

Bonus tip: Photos of cosplayers

(a.k.a. Don’t be creepy.)

“Be respectful and ask before taking someone’s picture.” –Jill

Cosplay is not consent for photos (or harassment). If you want to take a photo of a child, also ask the adult they’re with for permission.

“Don’t sneak up behind a cosplayer and try to get a photo without them noticing. People like to be able to put their best pose on, hide their con badge, look good.” –Ryan H.

They may want to cover up a small flaw in their costume or give you their best side.

“It’s also okay to ask people to pose or pose with you. Once, when I was in a Batman costume, one guy wanted a picture where it looked like I was scolding him. Much more memorable than ‘I’m standing next to Batman.'” –Ryan H.

More to check out

Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest – Phoenix Comicon is introducing a second, smaller event! Fan Fest is focused on creators, artists, actors, costumers and exhibitors. It will be held December 12-14, 2014 (during cooler weather!) at the University of Phoenix Glendale Stadium.

Cosplayers recommend:

Justice League Arizona – Costuming for a cause. “We do charity appearances and don’t take money.” –Ryan H.
“A few professional cosplayers write their own books with tutorials. Kamui Cosplay and Bill Doran from Punished Props have awesome ones.” –Genevieve
The RFP – Prop and costume information and community. “A good spot for those with lots of time and energy for their stuff.” –Ryan H.

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*Yes, two of the cosplayers were named Ryan. While there are no official statistics on this, it is my belief that the majority of cosplayers are actually not named Ryan. If Ryans are overrepresented here, it is coincidental and not an attempt to exclude the non-Ryan community or promote some hidden pro-Ryan agenda.

Photos of Genevieve taken by Eileen Kane.