Black Rabbit Cosplay: 2015

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Nerf Paint Job - Retaliator

So, since I am going as a Spartan to Anime North 2015 and have put so much effort into my cosplay (started it June 2014!), I decided I needed to have a good looking badass weapon. So, I decided that going as a Spartan with a non-Halo related weapon would be fine.

So here is my Nerf Retaliator, with a custom paint job!

So, how do you go about doing something like this?

Materials:
- Matte black spray paint
- Matte olive green spray paint
- Matte brown spray paint
- Matte beige spray paint
- Nerf Retaliator
- Green ferns from outside (must be alive and very green!)
- Work gloves
- Rough grit sand paper.

1) Always wear work gloves! The paint likes to stay on skin.

2) Sand off all Nerf logos and warnings. There is no fast way to do this, it just takes some hard work and approximately 1 hour to do.

3) Spray paint the whole gun black on one side. Let it dry (10 min), flip and spray paint the other side black. Let it dry (10 min).

4) Remove the clip and the front handle! You don't want to get any other paint on these!

5) Start with olive green. Place a fern on so it is lying FLAT on the gun. Spray in quick bursts over the fern. Wait a few seconds (10 - 15 secs). Carefully, pick up the fern. Reposition it on a different angle, in a different spot and spray paint again. Repeat all over the parts you wish to have covered. Remember! You don't have to cover everything. You will be layering on other colours! Let it dry (10 minutes).

6) Repeat Step 5 with each of the remaining colours.

7) Flip the gun over and repeat steps 5-6 on this side.

8) Once COMPLETELY dry you can take your gun apart. When my gun was together, some areas of white would still show through. I just used a sponge brush and painted it black. HOWEVER, I kept the orange parts on the inside, and did NOT paint the half of the clip that is inside the gun. Why? It makes it very obvious it is a Nerf gun when I show the Weapon's check people. You can still see way the Nerf darts would move up in the clip when you take it apart.

WARNING: DO NOT take this gun off private property/have it visible off private property! You can have fake weapons at conventions with in certain limitations. I transport this gun by taking it apart and having it in a backpack. When I am not on convention grounds, IT STAYS IN MY BACKPACK! Trust me, mundanes are not smart...they will call the cops on you even over a painted Nerf gun!

Monday, April 27, 2015

Halo Mk VI Gloves are Done!

Here they are! I finally finished my Halo Mk VI handplates and have them attached to my VTAC paintball guns using elastic that has been hot glued to the handplates.

The VTAC gloves were ordered through Ebay from an American company for $14. I love them! They were a little wide, so I had to sew the fabric of the glove closer to the main plastic part of the back of the glove. But other than that they are great!

Essentially, once the hand plates were cut out and the pieces glued together I sanded everything smooth and filled in the cracks with Dap bathroom and kitchen sealer. Once that was dry, I sprayed black Plasti-dip on, smoothed it out with a foam brush then let it dry for 30 minutes. Once dry, I did another coat of Plasti-dip. When that was dry, I spray painted my main colour. Again, I waited until it was dry and paint black acrylic paint in the recessed areas. I then painted the black acrylic paint around any edges that would get roughed up and smudged it with my finger. This step is done because worn metal loses its shine. Finally, I took some silver acrylic paint and dry brushed it on places I wanted the "metal" to show through.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

The VERY LONG Overdue Anime North 2013 Recap!

So, as Anime North 2015 is quickly approaching, I figured I would do a quick recap of AN 2013!
Yes, I know! That was two years ago, but it's better late then never!

Anime North 2013 was my first time going to a convention. My fellow Marine and Freshwater Biologist, Jaxiaa, had asked me if I wanted to go, as we had been talking and both realized we are into gaming and anime. So of course, I jumped at the chance! While there, we meet up with Adam, a friend of Jax's from school.

Over the next couple of months, I went to thrift stores to gather stuff for a Setsuka Heel cosplay (Skip Beat!) and she ordered a Misa (Death Note) cosplay from online and away we went! Now, I am not a fan of my first cosplay. For one, it was put together and not well done. Secondly, I weighed 20 lbs more that year, so I rather forget it ever happened (if you watch my Youtube videos for preparing my Halo cosplay for AN 2015, you will see it).

We had a blast, went to some panels, a dance and just spent a lot of time wandering around and taking pictures. That year, Jax REALLY wanted a picture with Kakashi, who managed to show up every time Jax was not with me or Adam (we found it hilarious, her, not so much!).

Anyways, without further wait, here are my pictures from Anime North 2013!