fizzygoodcosplay-blog

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

Hihihi! I was looking at your morrigan necklace tutorial, I'm using it to make a necklace of my own! I was actually wondering how you casted the plaster mould? i've sculpted the pendants and such out of air dry clay, do i just cover them in wet plaster and wait? And what did you use to mould the bars? I don't think I'm capable of sculpting so sharply and i have no idea what to use as a mould instead! Thanks xxx

Hi! For the plaster mold, I just built a little box with cardboard and masking tape and poured the plaster in. Having now experimented a bit more with molding and casting, I think silicone and resin are a much better idea - they'll give you a longer lasting mold (and final cast) and are usually quicker to cure, depending on the products you use. Silicone also won't usually stick to your original sculpt, whereas getting your master out of a plaster mold can be impossible.

With the bars - I sculpted mine in plasticine initially, but have re-made some and cast a few test pieces. What I did for round two was cut the bar shape from sintra, and glue a piece of styrene to the top with a hole trimmed out so the styrene formed a border around the edge. Once you tidy the edges up so they sit flush they look a lot more like her necklace in-game.

I'm so sorry if that makes no sense - I didn't take any photos when I was working on this!

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

So basically I had a bunch of tutorials liked/bookmarked and I wanted to consolidate them into one nice place. I hope this is helpful! I will probably make a part two later.

Beginner Help

Cosplay Crash Course - x

A Guide to Conventions - x

Conventions and Your Stomach - x

How to Budget for Cosplay  - x 

How to Start Cosplaying - x

Everything About Sewing

Sewing Tips and Tricks - x

How to Use Fabric Paint - x

Sewing Language - x

Gathering Fabric - x

All About Interfacing - x

Finishing Seams - x

Kimono Sleeves - x

Button Holes - x 

Sailor Collar Tutorial - x

Introduction to Sewing - x

Wigs

Buying Wigs - x

How to Cut Wigs - x

Elsa Wig Tutorial - x

How to Dye a Wig - x

Restoring Your Wig/Washing it - x

Where to Buy Wigs - x x x 

Contacts

All About Circle Lenses - x

How to Open the Stupid Containers - x

Where to Buy Contacts - x x

All the Skirt Tutorials You Could Ever Need

Circle Skirt - x x

Half Circle Skirt - x

Gathered Skirt - x

Tulle Skirt - x

Maxi Skirt - x

Pencil Skirt - x

Ruffley Petticoat/Skirt - x

Pleated Skirt - x

Makeup 

Basic Cosplay Makeup - x x

Coloring Your Eyebrows - x

Make Your Own Lipstick - x

MTF Cosplay

MTF Makeup - x

FTM Cosplay

Make Your Own Binder - x

Affordable Binders - x

FTM Makeup - x

Misc Tutorials

How to Make Invisible Shoes - x

Anna Masterpost - x

How to Make a Sword - x

Two Colored Bow - x

Satyr/Goat Feet - x

Pointy Teeth - x

Super Cleavage - x

Master Sword - x

Fitting Thigh Highs - x

How to Make Things Shiny - x

Armor Pattern Tutorial - x

Asuna Boots Tutorial - x

Lightweight Wings- x 

Asuna Stocking Tutorial - x

Zelda TP Armor - x

Misc Useful Things

Colored Tights - x

InstaMorph - x

How To Bead Dresses - x

Elf Ears - x

Helpful Cosplay Blogs

for-the-cosplay

cosplayguide

cosplayhelp

cosplaying on a budget

vicious cosplay 

youcancosplay

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

AWESOME lacefronting tutorial using a regular needle!

Sometimes you end up cosplaying a character with a really crazy hairline, and you think “How am I going to make THAT?”

Maybe you’ve already learned about lace-front wigs and how they appear more natural-looking. Maybe you’ve even heard of wig ventilation, which is the method for individually adding hairs into the lace of a lace-front wig. If you’ve gotten that far, you’ve probably noticed you need special tools, called ventilating hooks/needles, and they can be costly and hard to acquire. Fear not! I am here to show you a few methods to ventilate hair with just normal supplies you can find at your craft and sewing store!

That’s right, you can ventilate hair with just a normal sewing needle!!!

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[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

Hello! So I thought i'd pose a question to you before I go spending all my money on one method. How would you recommend doing the hair for a cosplay with shorter, thinner, slightly more receded hair than yourself? (Ser Jorah Mormont). My current plan was to use a wig cap and then a cut-down lace front over the top but I'm mildly concerned by latex and have never even cut a wig, let alone tried ventilating a lace front so if there's any other methods, that would be fantastic.

Hey - that is exactly the method I would suggest lol, however, I promise you that lacefronting isn't too hard. It is incredibly time consuming, and a little tedious, but not difficult! There are two difficult bits to this plan - first is getting your bald cap PERFECT (and by that I mean smooth, applied correctly, and tinted the correct colour) and the second is the actual wig. For a good quality wig that's as short as Jorah's hair is, you're looking at dropping a decent sum of money - the shorter your wig, the more wefts you need to hide the base of the wig. I'd look specifically for mens' wigs, too.When it comes to styling the wig, if you need to modify the hairline by bringing it farther back, you first need to sew a stay of some kind to the wig base - a strip of elastic should do fine. Once that's in place, carefully trim the wig back until it's close to even with your stay, and from there you can do any little tidy-ups and make it all pretty, and THEN you can start your lacefronting! There are a billion tutorials out there on that, so I won't talk about it, but here's a good tut - this one doesn't require a ventilating needle, but in terms of a general how-to, it doesn't matter too much which needle you're using. I personally think a ventilating needle would be easier, but that's just me.

Take note of the images in the tut - she's only using one or two hairs at a time. THIS IS GOOD! I have ventilated one wig ever, and I got very impatient and it just wasn't a good look. You do need a hell of a lot of patience!

If you can get a lacefront wig to start with, awesome, but if not, here's where you can buy wig lace in nz - Minifies

Good luck! Oh, and if this is for the Auckland contest, I would seriously start now. Ventilating is one of those things where you do it for a few hours and then leave it the hell alone for like a fortnight before you can bear to do it again :P

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

Thermoplastics tips!

Hi all - I work a lot with plastics of various kinds, and have been asked a bit recently about the differences between this and that, how to use them, etc. So here's a brief little braindump. Enjoy!

WORBLA

Worbla's one unique feature that makes it pretty indispensable as a costuming material is that it stretches. This means that it can take on fine detail and smooth curves extremely well, and can be used to "skin" softer materials like foam. I've always been a bit meh about using resins to do this, because it's messy and toxic and then you need to sand it, etc etc. With worbla, although you still need to prep the surface for paint, it's simpler and less messy - I've recently lost access to a workshop space, so for me, this is pretty important. I need to be able to work in a tiny central city apartment, and worbla is really good for that. Compared to wonderflex, Worbla is a little bit cheaper - but not but much, and only if you're getting small amounts of it. It's definitely not the cheapest material, and there is a bit of a learning curve. Because it's so soft and pliable when heated, it is much easier to use it over a pre-shaped base. If used as a base on its own, I would recommend using a double layer for strength.

Worbla is enjoying some insane popularity at the moment, largely thanks to artists like Kamui and Lightning Csoplay using it to brilliant effect. Although it is a wonderful crafting material, I think people need to remember that those girls make amazing stuff because they are talented and familiar with the materials they use, and also paint things like pros. They could make a little wizened turd look good. If you're just starting out, there's every chance your stuff won't look like theirs. Don't give up if you're disappointed with your first attempts! Learn to work with the material, start small, and get used to what it can and can't do. Be patient!

WONDERFLEX

Wonderflex differs from worbla in that it has a fabric grid embedded in it for strength. This means that it is stronger than worbla and less prone to tearing. It also has a slightly better adhesive than worbla, and I find it much easier to fuse two layers of the material evenly. For this reason, I prefer it for large bases - eg. bracers, pauldrons, shin guards, etc.

STYRENE

Styrene is available from Gordon Harris and hobby stores, and in larger quantities from sign-writing and plastics companies. It's good for vacuum forming, is rigid and reasonably strong, and can be shaped with a heatgun. The working time with styrene is quite short though, and it tends to fold rather than curve smoothly, so a shaping tool is really handy. I use it for armour plates like biceps and thigh pieces, where a simple curve is all that's needed. Because it's relatively cheap, it's good for large, flat areas. It is quite brittle though, and can snap or tear if you put too much stress on it.

PVC FOAM/"SINTRA"

PVC foam is sold under a bunch of different trade names, 'Sintra' being the most well-known overseas. In NZ, it's got about five names, including palite and foamex. Just ask for foam pvc at signwriters or plastics companies and they should know what you want. This is available in various thicknesses and is much softer and lighter than styrene, and very easily worked. It's easily shaped with heat, and can be carved easily. It's relatively durable - you can snap it without much effort, but for thicker pieces it holds up to knocks and bumps pretty well. Like styrene, I prefer to use this for large, flat pieces - it's slightly easier to curve than styrene, but more expensive. It's also only available (to my knowledge) in NZ in very large sheets, so that may be a prohibitive cost if you're not planning on using it for multiple projects.

EVA FOAM

EVA foam and craft foam are fantastic choices for armour making if you're just starting out and want to experiment a bit. It's cheap, readily available, and very easily worked. That shouldn't suggest that it's a 'beginners only' material, though - master crafters like EvilFX, Punished Props and Volpin Props (to name a few) use it to create armour that looks like it came straight out of a game. It's also incredibly lightweight, which is a massive bonus if you're creating armour that is large and bulky. As mentioned above, it can be strengthened with worbla or resins, and is very easy to shape. Also, hot glue works extremely well with foam!

One thing to remember if you're working with naked foam is that if you plan to paint it, it needs to be sealed. PVA glue, either straight or diluted with water, works well. Painting without sealing means that the foam absorbs a lot of the paint, altering the finish. Andy Cook/Dafrontlinetrooper has used unsealed EVA to great effect with his Skyrim armour, and it looks great - just experiment and see which finish works best for your project.

No matter what material you're using, detailing and painting make a huge difference in how it will look. Most of these materials can be used to create raised detailing to add interest, and both styrene and foamed pvc can be carved and embossed. Large flat areas of armour can look boring, so adding in some low- and high-lights when painting can really help. Adding in rivets or strapping can lend realism to a set of costume armour.

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

Important!! For those attending the Auckland show, there’s a mistake in the Stage 3 (Cosplay Room) Monday schedule - correct times will be printed and stuck to the door Nothing major, it just invites you to turn up for stage presentations two hours early - 4pm, as always, and as printed in the Main Stage schedule  Pass this around!

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

I just saw on your facebook page a mention of tattoo scales and transfers, and was wondering how this worked. I need to do some extensive arm tattoos for next weekend and am still a little unsure how to do them.

No worries! I have two ways of doing them - my original plan, which I've had to shelve for now, was to use temp tattoo paper. The stuff I have is really high quality, but I have to laser print onto it, so it's been pushed back for a bit until I sort printing out.

How I'm doing Steele's tatts is basically painting them on with alcohol activated makeup - I'm using a liquid makeup, cake might work too. By 'transfer' what I mean is more of a template - tracing the design out on paper with a vivid, then using meths to get an imprint onto my skin for tracing around. Not great if you've got really complex art, okay for block shapes etc. If you need artwork more than just shapes, I'd either go for temp tattoo paper (you're pushing it to get in to nz for Geddon though - unless you find some on TradeMe) or make some flesh-toned sleeves. Aint no shame in fakin' it for cosplay - JiaJem's Jack is a tattoo shirt and it's kind of insane.

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

Hello! I'm dying pink satin purple for my Alisa (Tekken) costume with Jacuard iDye Poly, any tips on how to make it fade nicely? Thank you! <3

Hey! So you're dip-dyeing? Awesome :D With poly fabrics you need heat to actually get any colour change at all, so definitely go buy a pot that will NEVER BE USED FOR FOOD EVER (cannot stress this enough - dye is incredibly toxic, and will kill you, usually with cancer) and pop it on to bubble away.

Once your dyebath is ready - up to temperature, all dye is completely dissolved, etc - you can start dipping. I've done a gradient on poly twice - both were reasonably successful, but not 100%. Biggest thing to remember is that if you want the deepest colour you can get from your dye, you'll need to leave most of the fabric (ie. the bits you want the darkest) in the dyebath for the full time, because you need it to be heated the whole time.

Two things you need to watch out for here: making sure that your darkest colour is smooth and there are no splotches or uneven patches, and getting as smooth a gradient as possible. This means you basically need to be moving the fabric constantly! Either in agitating and unfolding the fabric in the bath, and dipping the gradient portion. It's really easy to get a hard dye line by mistake - avoid this by constantly dipping, and slowly lowering the fabric further in. Let me know if you need a better explanation - I'm at work and a bit rambly :)

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

Just popped up on my dash, should be useful for someone out there :)

some random pages. need more? let me know

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

Yo, where do you buy your worbla from, and do you have any critical advice on using it? Words of caution or clever tips.

Yo! I get it from coscraft.co.uk - you can get it from Heaven's Forge in Australia as well, and from what I hear, HF stock the jumbo size sheets (and will ship them to NZ) where Coscraft don't. I like Coscraft because their shipping is crazy cheap, whereas Australia Post apparently dicked HF around a bit and they had to jack up their shipping a bit; although I think it's still pretty comparable. For most things, worbla and Wonderflex are pretty much interchangeable - the one thing worbla does better is stretching over a curve without wrinkling, which makes it ideal for breastplates in particular. Tools-wise: you can use a hairdrier on it, but I do recommend picking up a heatgun just to allow you more control over the temperature and to get a higher temp. As with all power tools, exercise your common sense, and work in a safe, well-ventilated environment. You can shock thermoplastics with cold water, which is good to help set a shape quickly, and the best tutorial I have ever read is written by Volpin Props and deals with Wonderflex specifically - but many of the same principles will apply to worbla as well. For worbla-specific tips and tricks (and progress images!) KamuiCosplay and Lightning Cosplay are amazing to look at on facebook. Go forth and create some cool stuff!

Volpin's tut: http://www.instructables.com/id/Creating-Costume-Armor-with-Wonderflex/

Kamui on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KamuiCos?fref=ts

Lightning: http://www.facebook.com/LightningCos?fref=ts

NB I just got home and am a little drunk, sorry if typos.

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

Hey Sylvie, Maddi here! You mentioned to Alex before something about softening leather with iso+vaseline-- what is iso (is it isopropyl)? And could you elaborate further about how that works? I bought some leather today for pockets and holsters all over Commander Shepard's uniform and it feels maybe a little too stiff right now, so tips would be appreciated. : D

Yup! Iso is isopropyl alcohol, or rubbing alcohol. You just slosh some onto a clean rag, rub it over the leather, then smear on some vaseline and buff. I am fairly confident that this WILL NOT work on faux leather though! You can try, but I doubt it'll do anything on not-real-leather. Good luck with your Shep! :D

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

On the leather dyeing note! Remember that when using a paint-on dye or finish, you can mix them. I did this when I was making my Veatrice belt from Granado Espada - I bought a mahogany dye, which was too dark, and a red dye, which was too bright. I ended up doing a couple of coats of the red, and one of dilute mahogany. These were all water-based dyes, so mixed well, and diluted with water. Some photos to illustrate - these also illustrate how easy it is to get a very streaky finish. Which is obviously really not ideal...I applied this with a wool dauber, and I really needed to use a larger applicator I think. I need to practise more! It did look a bit better than this in the end, honest :/

Like so:

Still not perfect, but a little less yuck!

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

You've been dying leather lately right? Is it especially hard in a domestic setting? Any basic advice you can give would be great. :)

Not hard at all - but there are a few things to keep in mind!

As with any dyeing, you want a separate vessel that won't be used for food ever again. You also need an acid dye rather than a fibre reactive one - acid dyes are used on protein fibres like wool or silk, and also leather (or so logic tells me, and I've learned from experimenting).

HOWEVER - acid dyes also require heat! Leather does not like heat. I've done a little bit of experimenting on swatches of leather, and I didn't let the dye boil, so I haven't damaged the leather..but if it gets too hot, the leather will harden. Boiled leather armour was once a thing, and not generally a thing you want when dyeing leather now.

I haven't played with it much, but in my experiments I tried to get a black dyed colour. I used a fibre reactive dye rather than an acid - you can use FR dye pigments on other protein fibres, and also on leather, but the colour shifts. My "black" ended up a very attractive shade of indigo! I've just ordered some black acid dye to play with, so I'll let you know how that goes :)

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

Neck corsets/gorgets YEAH!

Uploading this everywherrrrre and I don’t carrrre because I made a thing and it is gorgeous. Got a shoot planned with a MUA friend of mine, and there will be bosoms and chains and some awesome serpentine makeup. Pattern was modified from one I found online (found here) and is a single layer of this gorgeous reptilian textured vinyl. There’s a single bone each side at the back to support the eyelets, but the rest is just the stiffness of the fabric. Reeeally pleased with the shape - and man, it makes your neck look LONG.

Ahem. Yeah, so this is what I do at work when we’re quiet! :) This was technically a prototype for a gorget I’m making for an upcoming costume (Dark Eldar kabalite warrior) but hey, now my work has a sweet new swanky thing. Win-win!

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

There is heeeeaps of new stock listed as well, hooray! I haven't bought leather from Lapco before, just dyes/buckles/etc, but I am looking forward to ordering a whole bunch of stuff to play with :D

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

Hey Sylvie! I was looking into leather stiffening methods for Kili's vambraces and was wondering if you have any experience with it/could recommend a method?

...I answered this on my phone hours ago! Tumblr, what are you doing?

Anyway - I have never stiffened leather before, only softened it (iso+vaseline = works a treat) but I would recommend just starting with a stiff leather and wet forming it to shape. Tooling leather forms really well and takes colour and finishes well too, though you should be able to wet-form leather that's already been finished. At least as far as I know.

If that's not possible, there are a few options you could try. You could use the leather as a covering over a more rigid shape - Wonderflex, sintra, EVA foam or cardboard would all work. I wouldn't use interfacing (at least not fusible stuff), but you could try flatlining it with a heavier fabric if you want to maintain a little bit of flex/softness. Heavy denim, maybe a couple of layers, for example. Boning is another option, though you would either have to bone some lining and wrap the leather over the top (to avoid visible stitching where the channels are) or just have stitches visible. It depends what you want for the final look, and what properties you want the finished pieces to have :)

[fizzygoodcosplay-blog]

I am not quite finished with this costume, but nearly! Here's some info on how it was made.

This write-up outlines how I made my Aela the Huntress/ancient Nord armour costume, from Skyrim. I learned a whole lot making this costume, first and foremost how it pays off to actually take your time and use more than one colour paint when weathering a prop. Finally took on board all the advice from tutorials I’ve read over the years! Read on for details.

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