#Ultimate Huntress Cosplay 1.0

[shamelessnerd]

Huntress Cosplay 1.0

Yup, this post is definitely late and it’s totally my fault. I apologize, guys. I had a serious bout of con crunch (I swear upon my soul, never again will I endure that, not ever again) and afterward I was totally dead for a good five days. After that, it was time to start planting my vegetable garden and some insurance issues cropped up as well.

So, this is just pretty late and I apologize for that (computer kept crashing when I tried to download my pictures, so after cursing and an email shuffle later, I finally got them) and I hope the mad progress updates to come will make up for it!

Alright, so on May 19th, 2018 at Motor City Comic Con, I marched into the halls as the only Huntress of the show.

(Sorry, my photographer forgot I has feet.)

So, things wrong with this: The belt. *SHUDDERS* By far. I did not have near enough time to get the belt pouches done and so I had to quickly paint what I could in order to have something I could even carry stuff around in. =/ I didn’t even have time to practice posing (which is honestly, one of the worst things to not practice before a con.)

I also didn’t have time to get the white trim done along the bottom edge of the cape, but rest assured it will be there by the time New York Comic Con is around.

Additionally, I will have to make adjustments to the strapping on the mask to make it sit comfortably through hours of wear. It started out fine, but by the end of the day, I had a raging headache. I’ll cover that in a separate post, as I will with everything.

Here is my reference photo I was basing this off of:

I gotta say, I was very happy with how it turned out! (Except for the belt, dear God, that hideous thing....) and a lot of people were super excited to see Huntress! I can’t tell you how incredible it felt to be recognized as Huntress and how geeked people were to see her. All my Huntress fans out there, know this: She is not forgotten. Not by a LONG shot! They were so excited to see her at the con, to have her represented, and that honestly just put me over the moon! Seeing other people just as nerdy and fans of Huntress as I am made all the work, misery and tears getting this costume ready in time made it all so much worth it. One guy even stopped me for a picture AND a selfie with me and proudly showed off his collection of Birds of Prey Sideshow Collectible statues -- the Huntress one provides the lockscreen wallpaper for my phone.

And the thing I think I loved the most: 5 kids wanted to take pictures with me. Needless to say, Helena was grinning from ear to ear in my mind. Nothing could’ve made the day better.

Credit for things I did not make:

The mask is by TigerStoneFX

The belt buckles (which I will show in more detail in following posts) have been 3D printed and designed by my wonderful and brilliant friend, ThatWhichLurks, 

Crossbow by NXT Generation Toys.

Parachute buckles and sliders are from Strapworks.com. (Seriously, this should be on every cosplayer’s bookmark list.)

Cloth from Stylishfabric.com.

Combat boots from Volatile.

Additional shoutouts to those incredibly helpful people, and more to to come as I go:

Clarke Cosplay for his incredible patience and going above and beyond helping this newbie cosplayer wrap her brain around crafting bendy 3D objects from flat materials. He not only patiently answered all my questions, he even MADE a Huntress kneepad. Needless to say, I’m still BLOWN AWAY. All I can say is wow. And thank you, so, so much. This guy really knows what he’s talking about and if anyone needs help on the basics and getting started, definitely check out his YouTube channel. And please, let’s just admire his sheer expertise and faithful documentation of his process -- it’s cosplayers like him that really keep the hobby open and welcome to newcomers.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention Rianne Royale either. It was her help that got me into sewing and she also went above and beyond in helping me out with that maddening white trim on Huntress’s cape. Not only does she love a good challenge, but she loves helping others overcome their cosplay challenges as well, and without her down-to-earth advice, I would surely still be bent over that sewing  machine!

Additional thanks (even though he’s unlikely to see) is Angelegend for his videos on Plastidip and painting. They didn’t answer all my questions about paint but his videos are by far the most newbie-friendly that I found and gave me a very good handle on where to start when it came to painting foam -- especially the Plastidip! He also showed how to make the small things like padding the inside of the kneepad and how to make the piece of armor that goes on the back of the hand -- stuff that normally gets lost in so many pro cosplayer’s eyes, the simple stuff they don’t think twice about. He also has amazing builds for Halo and Mass Effect, so if that’s your cup of tea, definitely start there!

And of course, the wonderful woman behind Rainbow Curve Corsetry, a wonderful seamstress who is the reason why that cape looks as freaking fabulous as it does. Holy. Hell. Do I owe her a LOT. She’s in that vague group often called ‘a friend of the family’ but feels like she’s just a hell of a lot more than that. (Okay, she’s the daughter-in-law of my mother’s best friend, but that’s a mouthful to say.) She taught me the most important rule of sewing from scratch: Just dive in and do it.

Now, that definitely isn’t everyone, but it’s a few, and I’ll sing praises for everyone as I go through my process posts.

And many deep and heartfelt thanks to my incredible friend and sister-from-another-mister @slayerrelick​ for housing my miserable butt for a full month so I could even get started on this project. Her love and patience absolutely made this possible and I’ve no doubt she’s half the reason I’m still alive and/or not in jail for murdering someone ‘cleaning up’ my crafting table. This one is for you, hunny.

Additional notes!

Far as I could find, I’m the in the minority of Huntress cosplayer’s that went the full tamale with making the armor, including the kneepads, by hand from foam. So what do you all think? Does it work? Look good? Anything need changing? Hair, makeup not what they should be? Lemme hear your feedback! 

[shamelessnerd]

Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate Huntress Cosplay

Since my girl, hero, role model and spirit animal of Helena Rosa Bertinelli has been so badly treated and needs some serious, badass love, I’m making a cosplay. #Represent.

I know there’s other peeps out there that love Helena as much as I do (and if they don’t, they really should.) All my searching far and wide has turned up some great cosplays but not much really detailed steps for a total beginner. So, I’m here to provide that step-by-step walkthrough for a badass Huntress cosplay and no, I am not starting out simple or small! This is elbows-deep stuff with foam work to 3D printing, priming, painting, straps, sewing, you name it, I took classes and did the research and reached out to people for the help!

This series of posts will include aid, advice and insight from excellent cosplayers Rianne Royale and Clarke Cosplay and a HUGE shoutout of thanks and full credit to them. Seriously, these guys are so awesome and so sweet and generous and they were a massive help and encouragement. Go check out their stuff right now if you’re serious about cosplay. Really good people right there.

Speaking of good people I have fled to my besties’ place, @slayerrelick for a kind of costume-building FRENZY, so expect a stream of walkthrough stuff to filter in steady-like. All the love and admiration for my best friend and sister-from-another-mister slayerrelick for housing me and letting me escape from my chaotic house to get some real work done; without her, this also would not be possible so go give her some love and check out her artwork!

For all my Huntress peeps out there, this is the costume I’ll be recreating to the best of my ability!

Stay tuned! Razzy out~