December 2016 Update and Anime North 2017

Hello world!

Yes, I have been away, but school is important! Anyways, currently, I am into my exam period which is probably going to kill me.

Anyways, enough of that boring stuff. Cool things that have happened in the last year or so: I am now officially and archer. I shoot recurve and if I had the money, it would be Olypmic recurve haha. For now, I just use my archery clubs gear.

As for my cosplay plans....I am totally going to be going as my Nightingale for Anime North 2016! that is the plan that I have, which means I have 3 weeks on Christmas break and 1 week for reading week to get this puppy done! I will also be bring my Sheik from SSBB (my back up that is comfortable) and will probably pull out my Spartan Mk VI again. I just can't choose between them!

I am also currently working on losing weight so that I feel more comfortable in my cosplays. Its going well and I have almost dropped 10 lbs :)

Below are the references I have re-collected (my computer died) for my Nightingale.

Halo Chest/Shoulder Mounted Combat Knife with Sheath

My next project was to try and make another Halo combat knife using foam poster board and wood putty. I had done this before, without the wood putty but unfortunately my dog, Master Chief, decided to steal my knife and leave teeth marks in it!

 The blade is made of three layers, as is the blade. The hilt and the end of the knife is made of one layer. I cut into the outside two layers of the blade to make the line. It was glued together using hot glue.

 Next, I applied the wood putty to the areas where the curve of the blade is and also to the handle to smooth it out. Keep a small dish of water with you because in order to get the smooth effect, you need the water to smooth it out. Once it was completely dry, I sanded it with fine grit sand paper until I was happy. Also, I made sure that a thin layer of the putty was applied to ALL of the knife to act as a sealant because paint can eat foam, especially the foam in these boards! Don't use spray paint unless you seal it first, because it will definitely ruin the foam.

 

Next, I painted the blade using acrylic paint. The silver dots were done by making a dome with hot glue and painting it. As you can see I also made a sheath with pleather to attach it to my chest piece.

 And voila! A beautiful combat knife for my Spartan. I just need to paint the back of the pleather (which is currently white) black so you can't see it! Three weeks to Anime North 2016!

BOOMco Halo M6 Paint Job

It FINALLY came and early too! Here is the grand un-boxing of my BOOMco Halo M6 dart gun :) It's obviously not 100% accurate, but that is okay with me. My brother and I shot each other with it for a while before I went to work on it. Not going to lie, it hurts more than you expect. Has quite the sting to it!

 

So as you can see, it comes in this horrible, although expected, lime green and has some details on it, mainly white paint and "BOOMco" and "Halo" in raised plastic. The raised plastic was the first thing to go. Luckily, the white paint was easy to paint over and I didn't have to do much to it.

 

They also carry other various guns from Halo for those of you interested!

 

For sanding, I take down the raised logos using a bigger grit sand paper.

 

Once it is down far enough, I switch to a fine grit sand paper to start smoothing everything out. I still have to use the large grit sandpaper in the image above as the plastic was still very raised.

After, I decided on the paint job using internet references. I was debating on taking the gun apart, but apparently this is no easy task with this gun and I read online about more than one person breaking it while attempting to disassemble it. As such, I decided to leave it intact. This really would pose no issue as I am not taking the "ammo" because it is not allowed at the con, so you won't see the green on the inside.

  

Here is the silver coat. I only do one coat for this base. Make sure the spray paint is for plastic!

 

Once dried, I tape off the areas I want to stay silver and spray paint using the black paint. I highly suggest leaving the first coat of silver to dry for 24 hours BEFORE spraying the black. It will give the silver enough time to cure so you won't get sticky paint.

For the final product, I painted on details and weathering using acrylic paint. I also added writing with a black permanent marker.

 I can't wait to use this bad boy at the con! I am hoping to attach it to my thigh using strong magnets, but we will see how that goes XD

Custom Khajit Cosplay Halloween 2015

For Halloween 2015, I decided that I wanted a decent costume, but I didn't have much time between starting late and school. So, I decided that I want to do a custom Khajit from Skyrim!
Here is the basic pattern that I came up with:

The belt came out very Assassin's Creed like lol. Overall, it went well, I need to sew the vinyl a bit better (I want to fold it over so it has a nice line and finish).

Here is a look at the prosthetic I used! I absolutely love it :)

As you can see, I also have fangs (double set at the top) which were a lot of fun as well.

The white fur is my favorite part! Especially the hood.

For the bow, I bought a wooden bow from a Halloween store and painted it. It is WAY to small for what I normally shot with but I doubt they would be okay with me showing up with a real weapon.

I look a little crazy here haha. The contacts are a screen mesh.

Spartan Mk VI Helmet Visor Update

So, as noted, I don't have much time to do anything. As such, today I am working on my helmet.
First off, I wanted to add another fan into my bucket. It likes to fog up.

This is not a hard thing to do. All you need is a computer fan, a 9V battery clip and 2 butt connectors. Cut the end of the 9 volt battery clip and strip the wires. Insert the black end of the wire into one end of the butt connector and crimp down the butt connector. Take the black wire from the fan, insert it into the other end of the butt connector and crimp it. Do the same with the red wires in another connector. Attach a 9V battery, and TA-DA, you should be in business.

Here is the insert I have from Stony Props. As you can see, it has holes I put in it to fasten it to my helmet. I purchased a clear plastic desk protector from Staples, cut out a piece in the same size. I overlapped the two pieces and put a dot on the clear plastic where I needed to put the holes for attachment. Next, I traced the pattern onto the protective peel of layer. I then used and Xacto knife to cut out the pieces.

Here is the clear plastic overlay for my visor. Up close, you can see it easily, but if you are farther away, it is less obvious.

...and here is the final result. I think it will look even better when I get the hexagon visor!
I also made the "light" covers on the side much smaller.

Next up on my list today is to add in the new fan...only downside is it is REALLY loud compared to my other fan haha. So we will see how this goes. I had originally ordered some blower fans, but they never arrived and the seller refunded me :(

On the bright side, my neck microphone has now shipped! Which means when I talk, there will be NO sound from the fans in my bucket :D

BOOMco Halo M6 Inspiration

As I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of my M6, here are the pictures I am using for inspiration!

First, this is the image of the BOOMco M6 I have ordered:

 

 Apparently, taking this bad boy apart is a pain in the butt and it breaks relatively easily...so wish me luck. 

 Here are the game/official looking M6s that I am using for a ref:

 

And here are replicas made by fans with repainted BOOMco M6's mixed in:

 

This is the colour scheme I think I am going with.

This is a painted BOOMco. Only thing I would change is "Halo" sticking out the side. Also the part sticking out at the end would need to go...

Another BOOMco with a custom paint job. I also don't mind this paint scheme.

 Ugh! Hurry up and arrive! I want to paint!

Spartan Mk VI and Anime North 2016 Updates!

'Sup internet?! Yes, I know. I have been away for WAY to long, but I never forgot you! Life has been busy, ya know? But don't worry, I am still adding and fixing stuff on current cosplays and working at new cosplays (specifically, my Nightingale from Skyrim). I also whipped together a quick Khajit from Skyrim for Halloween 2015, so keep your eye out for my pretty kitty cosplay post ;)

So, as you all know, I am a member of the 405th (Canadian Regiment, eh?) and HIGHLY recommend that if you want to build anything Halo related, that you head over to those awesome forums with equally awesome Spartans who share a passion for all things Halo related and costuming. They are a great knowledge of wealth and have NO problem helping out if the answer isn't already buried in the forums (don't expect us to answer stuff when we KNOW the answer is on the forum, do some homework ya?). Google "405th" if you want to find us!

Speaking of Spartans, here is what I am doing for my Spartan Mk Vi for Anime North 2015:
Updates, more updates and fixing stuff.

To do in the next 30 days for my Spartan:
1) Add in the other computer fan into my helmet. I want this one to blow towards my visor so it helps control the fog.
2) Work on the visor. If my budget allows, I want to get another visor, with the hex pattern from Stony Props. The first one I have works like a dream. I am going to play around first, as I want to have the cut out effect.
3) Double check that ALL my lights work in my armor. If not, I need to replace them.
4) Get some paint thinner to get the paint off the pleather for my leg guards.
5)Hope my neck microphone arrives so I can install it. If not, figure out a way to install a regular microphone (I don't want to as it will pick up the fans...so maybe I won't).
6) Paint my BOOMco M6 when it arrives...going to be cutting this close as well.
7) Add a pocket for my phone or camera? Probably camera and most likely in the thigh.

To do for Anime North 2016 in general:
1) Try to get a closer hotel. The one we have isn't bad though, only a 16 minute walk.
2) Put my Black Rabbit Cosplay cards in the pocket of my Spartan thigh armor to hand out.
3) Pack
4) Print out directions to the hotel.
5) Figure out my budget.
6) Find all the parts to my Sheik from SSBB cosplay (this is my comfortable back-up cosplay haha and always a fan favorite!)
7) Pack my Emergency Cosplay Failure Kit

~Black Rabbit Cosplay ~ Spartan - Anime North 2015

One of the questions I get all the time is how do I go about picking my cosplay. Quite honestly, I find a fandom and character that I love and then this happens when I realise I could possibly cosplay as, find a few white t-shirts, GIMP and...viola! Sheik from Super Smash Brother Brawl:

 

  

Okay, so I also had a pair of red contacts, but you get the point! This method works well for me and once I have my heart set on a cosplay, I start to collect pictures of other cosplayers, reference images from the game, tv shows and movies and fanart. 

Seriously, I have at LEAST 200 Sheik images on my computer at the moment. These images help me sketch out my basic plan of what each part of the costume will look like. 

Eventually, this....

Becomes this...which becomes...

This!Ya, I'm just that cool ;)

 For this, I bought a white men's t-shirt from the dollar store. Next I removed the neck and opened it up more and removed the sleeves at the seam. I cut out some "tear" mark and sketch on my pattern outline in pencil.

 I then carefully added red and blue fabric paint. Make sure to let it dry for 3 days before you try and wash it!

 For all my patterns, I sketch them onto newspaper first basing what they looked like on the many pictures on my laptop. For this material, I used a cotton blend. Each leg piece is made of two identical parts and on the inside I have iron on interfacing. I ironed the interfacing on so that it would be in the centre when the two outsides were stitched together.

 As you can see, I cut out the piece that was use for decoration on the centre as well. I then line the outside with wrapped edging, sewed the smaller piece onto the centre of the bigger piece and added velcro to wrap around my leg.

 

The above process was repeated for the arm guards. For the white "bandages" for the legs and arms, I also used cotton strips sewn together for wrapping.

For Shiek's Tanto, I found the perfect sized knife in a ninja set at the dollar store. Visit my Deviant Art account, which has a full sized version of the below tutorial on how I made the tanto more appropriate looking for my cosplay:

malakhite.deviantart.com

 Below you will find some pictures I took as I progressed through putting my cosplay together. I was really happy with how this turned out as it was the first cosplay I had sewn and made completely on my own.

 

 

And finally....cosplay as Sheik at Anime North 2014 and 2015!

 A girl's gotta eat right? ;D

                                                       Me hanging out with Future Link.