Tested: I open the door to a hotel room at one corner of the Atlanta Marriott's 17th floor. As I walk inside, four heads turn my way, but the eyes that greet mine look not of this world. Glowing blue pupils glare from the horned helms two Draugr Deathlords, and the two Dragonborn warriors peer at me behind warpainted scowls. It's a sight that in any other situation would have me backing away into the hallway. But what gives me pause isn't the fact that four creatures from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are adjusting their helmets and examining their battle axes in this bright air-conditioned room, it's the stunning craftsmanship of their armor.
5 comments:
I am soooooo jealous of being able to make this kind of thing. I've been dying to cosplay something with armor, but I never knew how to do it. It's really cool that they were able to overlap their work of Props making with cosplay. The different techniques that they used are so well thought out that I'm sure only other serious cosplayers have figured out. The way that they made these means that they are also very durable. Durability is a big thing for cosplaying at conventions. If your costume can't withstand a crowded rush of people for a whole day, you did something wrong and need to start over. Some of my cosplays have failed a little on that aspect, and I've had to redo them or stop wearing them. I think armor like this will be my next project...I am currently working on some chain mail myself, but I am making it out of soda tabs instead of real chain links.
Great stuff! I especially love to read about the different methods used to accomplish similar goals -- having the step by step methods from each of the makers right on the same page was very effective. It's definitely a reminder about how costume/armor/props can be made by so many different methods and one is not necessarily better than the other. There are so many materials available to use, from simple to fancy. In the end it's all about your finishing techniques and attention to details. I'm also glad there was mention of adding foam to the inside of the helmets for a custom fit -- so important and often neglected! There are some great things coming out of cosplay (and some not so great things too..) and I think it's important as a costumer to keep informed about what people are doing. I definitely look forward to playing around with some more armor making in the future!
Oh man, I did not realize this was a thing. I want to go. They made some really detailed stuff. The amount of time people put into the costumes for these things, is stunning. Also the skills. I would love to be able to show up for an event like that in full body armor. I can do a decent job with the crafting but nowhere close to anything this fancy. But just once I'd like to make a suit of armor like that. I would wear that every Halloween.
I just learned about cosplay this summer when I started watching SyFy's Face Off and Heroes of Cosplay. I think the costumes are amazing. I thought it was cool how both propmakers had to use the same technique to create the hammered-look on the helmets. I was actually curious as to why they chose to make these out of foam instead of muslin, vacuform, or foam latex. I'm pretty sure that there are other ways of making these costumes. Of course, they would probably take longer and be more work. There was the option of making a plaster sculpt of their head and then sculpting a form on top of that. The pictures of these costumes are really nice, but I am curious as to how durable they are. Other than that, I thought the paint jobs were really great, and the overall effect looked incredible.
I feel as if I could really learn from lots of cosplay things, the methods the creators used seem extremely useful for the creation of masks as well. I wish I would have read this article early this semester, because I probably would have changed how I made mask and thing about the details and painting of the whole process. On another note the process and reasoning behind cosplay is interesting, it is the recreation of a costume from a movie or video game or T.V. show. Where we are in the business of creating these costumes. Could cosplay be costume designing in a weird form or could you design a costume for one of your favorite characters that does not follow the original costume design?
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