Cosplay In 20 Days Or Less: Day 18
THE LAST DAY!!!!!
We survived!!!!!!!
Barely. I have been up since 6 AM and have only eaten one meal and its safe to say I am already dehydrated.
Today was a day... I ended up not doing the tie (that was the one thing I was forgetting) but guess what! I finished the sword.
That's right, I finished the flipping sword ^_^
Anyways, my day started with layers and layers of gesso.
While waiting for the gesso to dry I decided to go ahead and pin the sword bag.
It took me forever to find my nylon cord/rope thingy...
Once the bag was pinned it made me feel productive which helped my headache ease off.
After I sanded the sword (And my leg accidentally) I decided it was time to take the leap and plastidip it.
I held my breath and pretty much freaked out internally.
Once it was done all I could think was,
"Hot... darn... (O.o) That looks epic!!!@#!#@%$"
I mean I seriously love that.
I have decided to make another sword in the future and make it black with red veins.
It will look super cool and I cannot wait to try it...
Well actually I can.
This one almost killed me.
One more glory shot...
Kurkara actually has a very slight wave like imprint along the blunt edge so the plan was to tape that off and spray the first metallic layer then remove the tape and keep spraying.
I didn't do that.
I left the tape on for the entire metallic coating process.
Just wait and see why ;)
Mikata had an awesome idea about how I could set the sword to dry.
It became a kitchen ornament XD
LOOK AT THAT BLACK EDGE!
Its so beautiful I could die.
This is just glorious.
Anyways, I weathered all the metal pieces.
I glued on the eel skin wrapping for the handle and then I wrapped the handle.
It isn't official wrapping and it wasn't done with any technique so I will redo it in the future, just
not tonight.
A bad pic of the final thing.
A closer picture of the tip of the blade.
You can actually see the weathered bits from this close.
Tomorrow is the con and it has been a wonderful adventure.
I am glad that I got to share this experience with you all. I hope we get to do it again in the future because you are great company ;)
I will post a convention review sometime in the coming week, I also have a few other articles written up that I will post next month so be sure to come back and see! :D
Wish me luck that I am not dead tired tomorrow!
See ya!
~Aki Ame Okami
Cosplay In 20 Days Or Less: Day 17
Friday is the last day... Something tells me my sword wont be ready in time. As it is right now (covered in Gesso and drying) I will have to stay up through the night applying Gesso then Plasti-Dipping it.
Today has been a day...
I got a TON done. So lets go!
I cut this shape out in craft foam and it is ready for heat shaping.... I am terrified because I have never done this before so wish me luck!
This is the fabric that I got for the sword bag.
It is seriously just soooo perfect and that thrills me because I don't think I can take too many more problems...
It is going to be almost the perfect length.
The folds wont be entirely proportionate to the show but I am not concerned about it.
The folds are still 2 inches at least so that is good enough for me.
I still have to make/add the straps on tomorrow and I don't know how I am going to do that but I do know that means I have to fix the sewing machine. -_-
I started doing the Gesso coats. I think I am dying inside slowly because this is taking forever and I don't have that kind of time!
I have about 2-3 coats on each side and I need 7-8. Good thing I have all day off tomorrow
because I am gonna need it. After the gesso comes primer (plasti-dip) then paint, then details (pommel, tsuba, etc) and finally weathering and sealing.
Something tells me that I am screwed.
Mikata loves me and bought me 300 safety pins because I was down to about 20.
I am a convention angel, someones costume breaks? I gotcha. I am prepared for anything and I don't charge! I give supplies away all
the time.
The blazer received its final liquid stitching.
Something about the perfect distances between the bobby pins made my soul feel a little bit better.
I weathered the pendant.
By that I mean, I practiced on the Pendant so that I don't majorly screw up the sword, which I will manage anyways. ;)
This is the tail with the LED's turned on.
I am not gonna bother with the LED's at this con because it will be too light for them to be visible. I still wanted you guys to see how awesome they look :)
Practicing cutting out the Tsuba and I realize that I need to practice my drawing skills.....
It looks a lot like the bat signal..
I am going to keep trying.
The jacket dried so I took a few quick pictures for you guys.
Forgive my casual shorts, I enjoy being comfortable sometimes.
A better picture of the jacket.
It looks better because it isn't on me XD
I know it isn't identical to the one from the show but... Creative liberties?
Stitch Witchery.
I think this stuff is just tiny strings of hot glue that you re-melt in between layers of fabric.
Wait, maybe its magic!
Witchery implies magic... Guys, I AM MAGIC! If only I
could find some Ab Witchery
Mikata being her awesome self and helping me iron the sword bag.
The iron scares me.
It puffed out some steam and I jumped and whispered "You made it mad..."
She laughed at me.
My attempt to cut the Tsuba out of poster board didn't go so well but I think that's because I was tired and cut corners. Literally.
Tomorrow I have to finish the sword, attach straps to the sword bag and concoct a tsuba and pommel! Someone save me?
I am gonna go get a few hours of sleep, hopefully.
See ya tomorrow!
~Aki Ame Okami
Cosplay In 20 Days Or Less: Day 16
First, I would just like to apologize about not posting this sooner. My crappy internet was down when I got home last night so I couldn't post. I harassed Mikata until 1AM trying to get her to go in town with me to sit at a McDonalds so I could write the post but she wouldn't go...
However, because of the lack of internet I got a lot done!
I sealed the pendant, then it occurred to me that I never showed you the clip that I put on the back of the pendant.
So ta-da!
This is just a sacrificial safety pin.
Then I beveled the handle, or I guess I just trimmed it..
Either way I made a huge mess and smoothed out the handle so that it not only looks like a handle but also fits comfortably.
Mikata is a miracle working and hooked me up with some liquid stitch since the sewing machine is not cooperating atm.
Don't you love my unique way of keeping the trim down?
Heiwa flipped when she saw I stole all of her bobby pins.
I just don't own those kinds of things xd
This glue didn't seem any different than the white glue they give you in kindergarten but whatever. If it works then I wont complain about a thing.
I sketched out some things on paper and played around with different ideas. I think I am going to make the Kashire (look below) out of craft foam and paint it once its heat sealed. This was the concept that I had tested
on the paper.
The things I plan on making out of foam are,
The Kashira and Tsuba.
I will actually make the Tsuba out of poster board then do the top coat of foam because I really like the smooth look of it.
Shhhh. I am not picky!
wait, yeah I am.
The first rough draft of the Tsuba pattern.
This is just to give you an idea of what I am going for.
This is the second rough draft and that was as far as I got with that.
I need to lengthen the wing things and sharpen the peaks.(?)
This is the fabric that I got for the sword bag but it is folded in half. It is perfect! I wish I had known how perfect it would be because I wouldn't have put it off for so long.
I also used E6000 glue to glue down the Habaki but I didn't take any pictures because that was the first time I used E6000 and I was slightly terrified I would glue myself to it because we all know I have a hard time with that....
I will be posting TWICE today because I today is technically Day 17 but the internet hates me soo yeah. I am sorry about that :/
See ya later!!!
~Aki Ame Okami
Cosplay In 20 Days Or Less: Day 15
This is the 145h day but the con is on the 30th. That means my cosplay must be completed in 3 more days making the total days 18. Ahh I am INSANE! Who let me do this?!
Psshtt. I got this.
Before we get started I want to apologize for exposing you guys to my sadness/ borderline depression these past few days. I usually wouldn't do that but this specific project is documenting the cosplay process and that includes my mental state while I am doing this. A persons mental state can severely alter progress. If you are happy then you might get a lot done, if you are depressed you are likely to get very little done. That is what happened to me and boy am I feeling the deadline today xd
Onwards to the progress!!!
This is my solution for the joint that accidently got broke during the weekend cleaning spree...
Those are crafting popsicle sticks. They wont be taped on for the final result, I just haven't decided how to
attach them yet.
This is a picture of the break. If you look just below my pointer you see a tiny tear in the tan color? That goes almost all the way through the board. -_-
Time to start the party!
I was/am still terrified of this part :P
Beveling!
Most swords (if not all) have that sharp edge and then the rest of it is thick. This is beveling.
Three layers of poster board can get pretty thick. I have very little room to bevel but I am gonna do my best....
Excuse the fan in the background. We are too cheap for AC :P Oh, and the WII too. I like playing COD till 2 A.M.
After beveling it looks like this. This wasn't the final photo. I made the bevel a lot deeper and smoothed out my lines and edges.
See how long that is?!!
After this I am sort of proud that I have come this far. I mean that thing actually, almost, looks like a sword!
Loooonnggggg Katana.
I think in total it is 40 inches, maybe only 38.
I came up with that measurement based on how that length would look against my back, in my hand, strung from my waist, etc.
Well that and the fact that the sword bag measurements are 48 inches, but they have the fold over parts soo...
Anyways, it actually went pretty decent today!
Thank you for putting up with my petty life problems. I have enjoyed the comfort and release that you guys have offered. With only three days left I am a little sad a relieved. This isn't the time for good byes though, I still have stuff to make!!!
A sword bag, I have to arrange the belts for Yukio and do a dry run for his cosplay. I still have to get more sewing needles so I can finish the trim on my coat, I have to do a clear coat on all of the things! and there is something else that I have to do that I know I am forgetting....
Oh well, it will come to me!
Thanks for the read!
~Aki Ame Okami
Cosplay In 20 Days Or Less: Day 14
Alright, this post is early! That's not a good thing though -_-Today I managed to break 2 sewing needles (one of which almost took my eye out), lost the tie I bought, set off the alarm on my car on accident, spilt my drink all over some fabric and reburn my finger... I think I am just going to call it quits for today before anything else gets hurt. I will start out fresh tomorrow with a better attitude... I hope.
I started by cleaning up my work station, mainly because Mikata threatened to trash it all if I didn't clean it......
She loves me ;)
Pinned it all.
I pin with safety pins because I find them easier to use. I know this isn't the same collar as Rin has but its as close as I could get for now.
I had to cut little V's in the fabric so that the buttons showed properly. It worked better that I thought it would...
Full Length picture, sort of. After this I tried to sew it. Yeah...
Today is not my day.
The needle tip is the thing to the left. It almost hit me in the eye.
I was ticked, well I am still ticked.
I am going to step back and take a breath. Go for a run and clear my head then I will try again.
One of my best qualities? I bounce back.
Sorry that I couldn't deliver good news today but at least you know I am human and have bad days too :P
~Aki Ame Okami
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