Articles

Here on Cosplay Island as we're hoping to bring you the best, most interesting and useful coverage of the UK cosplay scene. If we don't quite manage that we'll probably at least manage a passable approximation.

So here in the articles section we've got written and video reports of all the recent major UK cosplay events. We've also got a selection of tutorials written by some fantastically skilled costume makers.

If you've learned something interesting while working on your latest masterpiece and would like to share it with the community or have some other cosplay related articles you're burning to write contact us and we'll be happy to consider your article for inclusion.

Latest Articles
Tutorials
Reports
Videos

15 Latest Articles

Included below are the 15 latest articles uploaded to the site. Use the tabs above to view the archives of specific article types.

Type	Title	Author	Added
Tutorial	Guide - Buying and Working with Wigs	Angelphie	5 years 32 weeks ago
Tutorial	Walkthrough - Making a fursuit head with a movable jaw	Fatkraken	5 years 41 weeks ago
Tutorial	Walkthrough - Steampunk Fascinator Hat	GunstarVixen	4 years 8 weeks ago
Tutorial	Guide - Essential Glue Review	Ilpala	1 year 48 weeks ago
Tutorial	Walkthrough - How to make skin tight gloves	KhaosKreator	18 weeks 4 days ago
Report	Video Games Live 2007	nert	5 years 31 weeks ago
Report	MinamiCon 14 2008	nert	5 years 13 weeks ago
Report	Video Games Live 2008	nert	4 years 27 weeks ago
Report	MinamiCon 15 2009	nert	4 years 8 weeks ago
Report	London MCM Expo - October 2009	nert	2 years 49 weeks ago
Tutorial	Walkthrough - Making a latex character mask	nert	5 years 41 weeks ago
Report	AmeCon 2007	nert	5 years 31 weeks ago
Report	AmeCon 2008	nert	4 years 27 weeks ago
Report	The Grand International Cosplay Ball	nert	4 years 27 weeks ago
Report	London MCM Expo - May 2009	nert	3 years 42 weeks ago

Tutorials

Guide - Buying and Working with Wigs

Tutorial by Angela Hacket (Angelphie) posted Sunday 4th November 2007

by Angela Hacket

Wigs are often useful for costumes. They save you from cutting, dying or styling your own hair, allow you to create insane styles, and you can put one on and be ready to go instantly – it only ever needs styling once! Furthermore, you can sew, glue, and do all sorts of things to wigs which aren’t possible with real hair.

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Walkthrough - Making a fursuit head with a movable jaw

Tutorial by Karen Dawson (Fatkraken) posted Monday 3rd September 2007

by Karen Dawson

When I made this head for once I got a pretty good series of progress pictures, especially through the early stages. So what follows is a "How Fatkraken makes a fursuit, with movable jaw" type...thing. There are some missing stages; I don't go into the eyes, or much of the detailing, since that's specific to the suit being made. However for the basic construction, I've not seen other tutorials that are quite like this, so this is a process you can use, abuse and alter as you see fit.

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Walkthrough - Steampunk Fascinator Hat

Tutorial by Louise Collis (GunstarVixen) posted Sunday 19th April 2009

I was recently asked how I made my fascinator hat for my Lady Gunstar costume, as they can be incredibly expensive to buy, and often come adorned with feathers etc, which as any steampunker will agree, just doesn’t work!! (most of the time anyway!)

This can be adapted to any size hat (potentially a full size hat, but I have to try that) the only limitations are your imagination (and well, your budget!) My version cost less than £5 – not including the watch parts.

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Guide - Essential Glue Review

Tutorial by James Funnell (Ilpala) posted Friday 15th July 2011

It’s pretty common to look on cosplay forums and see people asking basic questions about what glue to use for what. If you pop into a DIY store you will find a bewildering array of glues but really there’s only a few that you need in your cosplay toolbox and often they can be used for more than just sticking stuff together.

So here’s a rundown of your essential glues and what you should be using them for!

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Walkthrough - How to make skin tight gloves

Tutorial by Tab Kimpton (KhaosKreator) posted Friday 8th February 2013

I hate gloves. Every costume maker does, they’re fiddily and a bad fitting glove will show up far more than a bad fitting jacket will.

Here’s how I make lycra gloves, with a helping hand from my friend- freezer paper!

How to make skin tight gloves (Hosted by Khaos Kostumes)

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Walkthrough - Making a latex character mask

Tutorial by Jonathan Cullinane (nert) posted Monday 3rd September 2007

by Jonathan Cullinane

I thought I'd throw together this walkthrough of Kimura from Azumanga Dioh, or "The making of a Slackjaw Schoolteacher". This is mostly photos with very little explanation but you should get a pretty good idea of the process that went into making the mask.

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Technique - Cosplay Photography: Think before you shoot

Tutorial by Nic Walker (nic0) posted Wednesday 14th November 2007

by Nic Walker

With the ubiquity of cheap digital cameras today, any given anime convention is awash with people photographing the costumes on display. Traipsing through the aftermath of conventions on forums and photo sharing websites one would be perhaps forgiven for being a little disappointed at the thought that goes into some of the photos on display. They can often be hurriedly composed, one-shot affairs taken more as a record of the event - a reminder of a costume - than an honest effort to record the quality of it.

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Technique - Female to Male Crossplay

Tutorial by Annette Wilkinson (Odangochan) posted Thursday 12th June 2008

There are a number of things to consider when attempting an effective female-to-male crossplay. No matter how androgynous both you and the character you intend to cosplay may be, it is always important to make an effort if you wish to pull off a truly convincing crossplay. This tutorial will discuss a number of the things that should be taken into account to effectively masculinise yourself.

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Walkthrough - Budget Prop Making - Zabimaru

Tutorial by Pheebs Wouldn't you like to know my surname? (Odd-One-Out) posted Wednesday 11th June 2008

Hello all! I am sure that some of you do not have access to proper metal or wood tools, and that some of you simply don’t have the money to build props after an exhausting day at Fabric Warehouse. I enjoy constructing things out of cheap or even free materials such as cardboard and newspaper. Never underestimate the power of these materials!

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Walkthrough - Classic Tutu

Tutorial by Stephen Pryce (Ranma1-2) posted Wednesday 7th July 2010

Quite a few people ask me how I made my tutu for Princess Kraehe and what pattern I used so I have made this tutorial to help anyone with the same questions.

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Reports

Video Games Live 2007

Report by Jonathan Cullinane (nert) posted Wednesday 14th November 2007

The annual live video game music event now includes cosplay, so of course Cosplay Island was in attendance to see what happened.

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MinamiCon 14 2008

Report by Jonathan Cullinane (nert) posted Thursday 20th March 2008

The UK's longest running anime convention returns in full swing for its 14th birthday, the Cosplay Island team decide to investigate whether or not it can pilot mecha yet.

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Video Games Live 2008

Report by Jonathan Cullinane (nert) posted Tuesday 9th December 2008

Video Games Live returns for its third London trip, and we were waiting for it...

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MinamiCon 15 2009

Report by Jonathan Cullinane (nert) posted Tuesday 21st April 2009

15 years old, the big brother of UK anime conventions celebrated in sentai style!

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London MCM Expo - October 2009

Report by Jonathan Cullinane (nert) posted Wednesday 7th July 2010

Never failing our Capital's geek fandoms, the MCM Expo was back in full swing with more space than ever before!

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AmeCon 2007

Report by Jonathan Cullinane (nert) posted Wednesday 14th November 2007

Nert takes a look back at the year's biggest anime convention. What were the cosplay trends? What the hell is Chair-chan? Find out here.

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AmeCon 2008

Report by Jonathan Cullinane (nert) posted Tuesday 9th December 2008

The UK's largest dedicated anime convention was back in town; bigger and badder than ever for its fourth run totalling nearly 1,500 people! We figured we should probably be there, so we were.

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The Grand International Cosplay Ball

Report by Jonathan Cullinane (nert) posted Wednesday 10th December 2008

An unsuspecting newly refurbished ballroom in London lay unaware of a slightly different clientèle heading its way on a Sunday evening, as the most.. fashionable cosplay event of the year took place in the Clapham Grand.

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London MCM Expo - May 2009

Report by Jonathan Cullinane (nert) posted Wednesday 26th August 2009

Bright sunshine, little breeze or cloud cover, and a distinct lack of working transport links. A recipe for a very quiet MCM Expo? Evidence proves otherwise!

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London MCM Expo - October 2007

Report by Jonathan Cullinane (nert) posted Wednesday 14th November 2007

Two days, thousands of attendees and hundreds of cosplayers, London MCM Expo is one of the biggest UK cosplay events and we were there to find out why.

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