Ayacon 2011 (Posted 28th August 2011)

I wore this costume again for ayacon. Made quite a few modifications for it:

1) The torso part is now pleather with a new bodysuit underneath,
2) pendant is different, I now wear the long riding boots with it,
3) i've included the belt section of the costume which is made from moulded and latex painted plastazote,
4) Lefthand is completely redone, much greater likeness to the actual character now
5) sword has been reshaped and symbol on the hilt has added (plaster sculpture).
it's shorter than what D's sword should be (because it snapped back in expo), but it looks better in the scabbard.

This one actually took a lot more effort to do than i envisioned, as I was only 'updating' an old cosplay. How wrong I was. I lost one of my shoulder pieces in the ayacon disco; so if I ever wear this again (unlikely) I would need to remake those.

Finished - sort of (Posted 29th October 2009)

Well, I decided to make the cloak myself rather than buy one. I bought some velvet-silk mix which costs twice as much as their regular velvet fabric, but I thought it looked and felt a lot better. I cut it into a semi-circle. But didn't have time to join it with the lining I made for it.

I didn't cover the hat with the stretch satin like I intended, but the judges at the masquerade said that it's better without it anyway.

Sword broke during the event, so a full repair is on the cards.

I intend to wear this costume at least one more time, for the cosplay ball.
I hope to make some improvements. Namely: Remake Lefthand, recover gauntlets with latex, try to control the hair more and tuck it into the outer collar, add lining to the cloak, and try to seal all the white paint better.

Progress so far (Posted 12th October 2009)

Ok, well I've done quite a bit more since my last journal post.
-Loose sword shape has been cut out of the mdf, but now needs a hell of a lot of planing and carving.
-Lefthand symbiote is finished. This was produced by first making a sculpture out of plasticine, then creating a mould out of papier mache, then filling the mould with latex, and finally painting it.
-one and a half of the other of the gauntlets has been shaped with plastazote, but not coloured/covered yet.
-I have the jewels I intend to wear.
-shoulder armor has been made, but the spikes haven't been added
-Cloak hasn't been bought yet, prices seem to rise around this time of year which is frustrating. Worst case scenario I buy some velvet fabric and produce it myself (though the lining wont be as good)

Things I still need to do: boot covers, skull badges, satin hat covering, but most of all, the sword

Cat in the hat (Posted 9th July 2009)

This was originally a woman's hat with a feather in it.
I've dented it in certain places to shape it away from the original bowler hat style, ironed the brim down, and I think it looks pretty decent now, although I'm not sure if I want the brim to be wider. If so, I'll just attach a plastazote brim.
I'm still going to to have to glue the gold disc on it.

The wig I'm wearing isn't the one I'll be wearing (this is just my crow one). Also the coat I'm wearing isn't what I'll be wearing as D either (It's actually probably going to be for my Neo coat).

I got wood (Posted 9th July 2009)

I decided to make my Vampire Hunter D sword out of wood. MDF to be precise.
I went to homebase and picked up an 'off cut' for a fiver that's the same height as me, and it's wide enough for me to be able to put a curve in the blade.

I also bought a saw, sandpaper and metalic silver paint. I wanted to buy a chizzel, but they didn't have any curved ones for carving. I'm going to have find one.

I've never sculpted/carved wood before, so this will probably be quite a feat.