Yeah I’m a cosplayer and a sports fan. It’s weird. They’re really cousin hobbies. Both dressing up in appreciation and support of some pop culture “team”—usually that we had nothing to do with creating.
Huh, I guess I’ve somehow avoided those jerks
My experience is a very inclusive atmosphere. Everyone I’ve met is interested in talking about the source material, or construction techniques, or just wanting to express their love for the character. Yeah sure, Iron Man looks more “real” if the guy looks like RDJ, but Sexy Iron Man gets just as much of my admiration if the metallic finish is great and the LEDs are poppin
The cosplayers?
I’m here, but I think I’m the only one to have posted in the last 4 months. I just make a couple cosplays per year as a hobby, so I don’t really have much to post. And asking for cosplay help seems pointless. Here I could wait a week for one response, whereas on instagram I’ll get 5 different ways to fix my issue in an hour
reddit had some decent cosplay discussion, but as far as i can tell, most of the community is just on instagram (and some youtube)
In case anyone comes across this later…
Hot glue for the PLA-PVC connections was plenty. I haven’t tried to muscle any of the pieces off, but they’ve held up to two days of walkin around at con with no noticeable shifting
Hi-Fi Rush was hands down my favorite game of last year. Such a beautiful and joyful game! I even made a cosplay of Chai
social media that focuses on displaying your personal image is a scourge on humanity
I get what you’re saying, but I think that’s kinda reductive. When I see a picture on Facebook of my uncle on his dirt bike all smiles after winning a race, I think that’s a positive and fruitful use of social media.
And personally, I like sharing a picture of a cosplay I made, hopefully to help someone else who might be on a similar creative path. Or at least to discuss creative processes.
I guess this is my actkually moment, but I think your assessment is off.
Haha it took me like 4 or 5 episodes to make that realization!
I’d never seen more than half an episode before embarking on this costume, so I watched the whole thing to prep. Got some good reference pics out of it too!
Seras Victoria and Alucard Hellsing from the anime Hellsing, at DragonCon 2023
My buddy is really into Hellsing, and he wanted to do a group cosplay after his first DragonCon in 2022, so here we are!
This was my first time doing 3D printing, and I think it turned out mostly good. My cannon is basically a PVC pipe with 3D printed parts Barge-cemented on it. Link to the file below (not my model). I printed the pieces, retuned the printer, printed again, and repeat many times lol. Then for each piece I'd sand it, spray it with primer/filler spray, sand again, possibly repeat, and paint it. Then glued them all on.
For the "foot" of the gun, I didn't want it sliding around on the tile floors, so I tried Smooth-On's Ure-Coat urethane coating. One, that stuff is a pain in the ass to use lol. It's simultaneously goopy and sticky, and I had a helluva time getting a smooth finish. But two, the "stickiness" is great! No slipping at all! But it does pick up every little piece of dust and debris from the floor.
The model on Thingiverse was apparently designed for a European size of PVC? So I had to do a bunch of test prints and resizing to get to fit on the 3" pipe you can readily get in the US. Also needed to model the pieces to attach the legs to the body. Details in my Thingiverse "make" linked below.
My friend was short on time, so I made his pistols too. Same print/primer-filler/sand/paint process. Model links below.
Hallconnen: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1718666
My Hallconnen make with build notes: https://www.thingiverse.com/make:1125630
Jackal: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1676009
454 Casull: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1675987
I commissioned Seras' wig from @aoka_amelie on IG. Really happy with how that turned out! (Especially after my attempts at wig styling all ended hilariously poorly)
I got the shirt from Aliexpress as part of a whole Seras costume--my sewing skills are functional but very ugly lol--but ended up only using the shirt from the set. I ended up using fabric from the skirt from the Aliexpress set to make more belt loops on the shirt. I also added some small snaps to keep the sleeve collars high and tight.
The skirt is a tennis skort from Amazon that I hemmed up some to give more of a peek of my getaway sticks. The gloves and boots are just off Amazon also. The socks, also off Amazon, are high compression socks, like the kind you'd use to avoid embolisms I guess? They were the only ones I could find that were opaque, flat textured, and didn't slide down my legs with walking and moving around. We do a lot of walking at DragonCon!
I also made my friend's hat--he's got a monster gourd, so the included hat and premade ones for sale online were all too small haha. It's just high density EVA foam, cut, heat shaped, Plasti-dip primer, and paint. He also had a wig, but I didn't make the hat big enough to fit his head + the thickness of the wig. So he went without a wig. Womp womp
Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out! Didn't get that many people recognizing us from a 20-year old anime, but we had a fantastic time at con!
Me and my knee-high Miata are hyped!
I’ve made a few costumes, and worn them them to a few cons. Looks like she could unbutton the shirt, undo the belt buckle and pants, and basically take the whole thing off down to the upper thighs. Like you would a jumpsuit with a front zipper.
Hopefully she at least has a hotel room nearby, because doing that in a public restroom could get harrowing lol
Thanks! And the Imperial office on the left in the scooter, and someone in a Winter Soldier(?) cosplay upstairs. That’s one of my favorite things about “hallway” convention shots vs. organized photo shoots—you get to see an eclectic mix of fandoms and a taste for the feel of the con. Makes it all feel more alive.
There were soooo many Vashes at DragonCon! I’m not familiar with the manga/anime, but it’s pretty cool and intriguing that the character is so popular after having been introduced so long ago.
Appreciate it! My sewing still sucks, but you can’t tell unless you’re up close. And I wasn’t convinced the guitar would look right until it was like 90% done
Chai from Hi-Fi Rush with sidekick 808, at DragonCon 2023
Pretty happy with how this turned out!
Spent a ton of time on the guitar--modeled the pieces in Fusion 360, then 3D printed, sanded, primer/filler sprayed, sanded, mostly hand-painted them, and hot glued them all onto the PVC frame (progress pic here https://lemmy.world/post/2258285). Also, Fusion 360 has an "import part from McMaster-Carr" feature, so that's where a bunch of the screw/nut/bolt shapes came from. And the chain on the bottom right is from Thingiverse. It actually moves around when I move the guitar, which I think adds just a little "life" to the guitar.
Also velcroed on a few pieces of foam and glued on a couple random wires. But so. Much. Sanding. If I 3D print something like this again in the future, I'm either buying a nicer and less fiddly 3D printer, or having a pro print them.
For the rest of the costume:
- Wig was made by @aoka_amelie on IG. Super happy with how that turned out!
- I made the scarf myself
- Jacket was a normal yellow London Fog (lol) jacket, and I sewed on the orange sections, cut off the right sleeve, and cut the left sleeve down and sewed it up into a cuff
- Right upper- and lower-arm "armor" and hand and finger "armor" were 3D modeled by a guy on Fiverr. Not super happy with how they turned out, and I had to print a couple times to get the sizing right, but it works. Might remake those. The hand and finger armor is velcroed onto a grey running glove
- The right shoulder "bulb" was one of the biggest design challenges. My Fiverr guy 3D modeled one for me, but I couldn't get it to fit on my shoulder. Tried adjusting the model, but still couldn't make it work well. So I went back to what I know, which is EVA foam. So it's a foam sphere, which I then iteratively cut a shoulder hole out of, and cut the top off of to make it flat on top. Attached some magnets to hold it on my shoulder (and with magnets sewn into a compression shirt I'm wearing underneath). Hit it with plasti-dip and then "metallic aluminum" spray paint, same as on the hand armor. But it turned out suuuuper matte and dull. :( So I tried "chrome" spray paint, which is what you see here, but the finish is very delicate, and already looking a bit haggard. Glued the 3D printed screw cap on top of the bulb.
- The coral lightning shirt is custom printed from Printful, with the logo grabbed from a screenshot and cleaned up
- The belt buckle is just a plain belt buckle that I painted
- The jeans are just jeans, though I sewed in the grey stripes
- And the shoes started plain white, and I painted the red soles and grey areas. Trying to paint clean lines on mesh cloth is another thing I'm gonna try to avoid in the future lol
My buddy's 808 is just a kigurumi from Etsy that just happened to look vaguely like 808, with a red choker from Amazon, the charm is 3D printed using a model scraped from the game files, and flashing LED runner's belt and wristbands just for a little nighttime light show.
If you have any questions I'll try to answer them. Also open to commiserating on the pain of sanding a bazillion little intricate parts.
Planning on wearing this guy again at Anime Weekend Atlanta this weekend. If you see me, give me a holler!
Looks great! Is the hat like a pastel green? Did you find a hat already in the right green? Or paint an existing hat? Or make it from scratch?
Yeah I like making costumes. It’s creative, hands-on, it gets me away from a screen (3D modeling aside), and it still intersects with my nerdy interests like video games or sci-fi and fantasy worlds.
And as a bonus, I get to wear it to nerdy costume parties when it’s done!
Oh this was at DragonCon 2023!
Edit: Oh dang never mind, I see dtjaaaam’s 2017 watermark. Well this costume was at 2023 also haha
I have a buddy in a cat kigurumi (like a hoodie + sweatpants in one) and some accessories who’s gonna be my 808! I agreed to be the Seras Victoria to his Alucard Hellsing, so he gets to be my 808 haha
Yeah I’m surprised more people haven’t cosplayed people from Hi-Fi Rush! It’s such a bright and colorful game, and obvs a lot of fun
Congrats on learning to sew! I have plenty of experience sewing little things to little things, but any time I try some “real” sewing, it ends up looking drunk haha
Hope to see you at DragonCon!
Chai’s guitar from Hi-Fi Rush
It’s all done! The 3D printed pieces are all glued on now. The foam panels and dowels are Velcro’d in place, the chain links are all snapped together, and the blue wire is glued on. All set for DragonCon in a week!
Chai’s guitar from Hi-Fi Rush
All done painting the 3D printed components that go on the PVC frame!
Now I just need to glue the components on the PVC—does anyone have a recommendation for a adhesive to stick PLA to PVC? Something less-than-permanent would be ideal, in case I ever need to repair it.
And after the gluing, I’ve got a couple foam panels to put on it, and various wires and greebles. DragonCon here I come!
Chai’s guitar from Hi-Fi Rush
All done painting the 3D printed components that go on the PVC frame!
Now I just need to glue the components on the PVC—does anyone have a recommendation for a adhesive to stick PLA to PVC? Something less-than-permanent would be ideal, in case I ever need to repair it.
And after the gluing, I’ve got a couple foam panels to put on it, and various wires and greebles. DragonCon here I come!