Costume put on hold (Posted 23rd March 2012)

Due to too much going on in my life outside of cosplay I have decided with regret to put this costume on hold until a future date. I am proud of what I have done so far but feel that to make a good job to the rest of the costume I need to devote more time and money which I do not have at the moment with a wedding to plan and now a move of house.

Dreads of Doom (Posted 13th November 2011)

Progress is coming along slowly but surely which is good as I roughly 8 days off before Christmas as I now have to work Sundays. The only good thing is the over time will partly pay for more cosplay supplies because early next year I want to make a start on my COG armour.
The two sleeveless t-shirts I bought from E-bay arrived the other day and so along with two metres of pale cotton fabric I dyed everything dull grey. I am not too sure on the colour as I was expecting all that fabric to dye a shade lighter and the t-shirts haven't dyed too well but I am sure everything will come together in the end. I am going to throw the combat trousers once I have made them into the machine everytime I wash the towels to fade them a bit more as they look newly dyed at the moment. I am not too worried about the t-shirts as they are just really something to wear under the armour although I still want to add the surname and COG logo so I can get a few shots of the costume without the chest armour.
I have started a few tests with staining using tea, coffee and brown dye to age and darken the fabric for Bernie's scarf but still awaiting the scraps of fabric to dry out before I decide.
I have made a start on making Bernie's dreadlocks, it is amazing how much hair it takes to make only a few dreadlocks. I will post up the method I used to make them and better photos once I have begun to add them to the wig cap but so far I am pretty pleased with the results. I have sealed the ends with fabric glue as I was worried that in time the ends might unhurl but the glue seems to be holding and I will add a dash of grey paint once they are finsihed to hide the glue.

Bernadette Mataki signing in (Posted 6th November 2011)

Okay there has been a change of plans since I started writing this journal, mainly that I am now able to attend the MCM May Expo next year so 'Bernie' is a go.
I am now a very happy Gears Girl especially as I have had the honour of being asked to join an ever growing Gears of War group. I am so excited about this project as not only will I have fellow Gears to share the GOW love with but everyone in the group is so friendly and f**king awesome, I don't know you guys well yet but I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with for the group.
Anyway I have gathered quite a few reference pictures and been forcing my hubby to be to play Horde as Bernie so I can take notes, he doesn't seem to mind and since he didn't know anything about Bernie he's growing to love the aging sniper as much as I do.
Progress has been slow as I have been pretty busy at work (someone was let go) and so have been too tired to do much but play Gears (all three clocked in co-op so I had a lot of Dom action he he) and read the novels. But as I need to get my ass in the gear as I so want to make a good go of this costume I have finally got myself into my workroom to make a start.
So far I have bought myself some COG Tags, not sure if Bernie still wears hers but I have wanted some for ages so it was a great excuse to get them. I have also got myself a 'Chainsaw' lancer (which my guy very kindly decided to give me for Christmas as I don't want anything else and he knows how much I have wanted one) it only took four attempts on ebay as due to Gears 3 coming out a lot of people were bidding on them. I like the Retro lancers as well but to me the weapon that sums up Gears is the chainsaw lancer and after reading the scene when Berine first gets to use one on the battle field I knew I had to go for that style of lancer. I am pretty impressived with how it looks even in the gold state and they are so big and heavy, by that I mean a good weight not cheap nasty plastic but I guess after several hours carrying it about it WILL feel heavy. I am not sure how I am going to paint the lancer up yet as being the most expenive thing I have had as a prop I am a little scared but I feel it needs something so I will have to research that before I get out the paints. I am looking into maybe having a Longshot as well because Bernie is a sniper after all but that will all depend on time, money and getting my lancer, COG armour and myself from Cornwall to the docklands on my own (there is never a Raven around when you want one he he)as I don't want to ruin anything.
On the actually costume front I have purchased fabric for her combat trousers and two sleeveless t-shirts (from ebay) I just need to decide what I am going to make her 'under the Cog armour' corset from before I dye everything dull grey. I love the dirty, grudgy colour palette in Gears but it is a bitch to match colours even with high res pictures.
As money is tight on this costume (wedding are sooo expensive) I have been searching through my pile of stuff bought for costumes yet made and I have been lucky with finding fabric and some fake leather that I hope will be useful for Bernie's costume. I have dyed a piece of cheap flood damaged fabric I picked up at the start of the year and as it was white cotton I was able to dye it a rusty red colour. This will be the basis for Bernie's scarf and hair ties, the colour isn't too bad but will be better once I have aged it and added weathering.
Lastly I spent the afternoon scalping an old grey wig to use as a base for Bernie's dreadlocks. I hope to make a start on those tomorrow, pretty excited about her wig as it is one of my favourite parts of her character design.

Research (Posted 3rd October 2011)

Due to getting married next year I am not intending to wear this costume until 2013 (unless I give it a test run with a photoshoot somewhere near home) so I hope there are still some fellow COGS about to help'Granny' kick some locus butt. Anyway as I have wanted to do a Gears of War costume for so long (kisses all the Epic Team for finally putting Girl Gears in the game)I want to take my time with this cosplay as I have a feeling as with any awesome, crazy costume this is going to be hard work.
Already I have started to collect up any reference art I can find on Bernie, there are a few nice shots but I am counting the day until she gets released a DLC cause then I not only get to play as her but I get to study the costume from the back. I am hoping that she gets a figure released but if not I will get the Anya one if only to keep my Marcus one company on the shelf lol
It really sucks not having a printer at the moment (roll on xmas) as I want to print off not only Bernie pictures but the weapons too. I might have to go on a artbook hunt cause I need a good picture of her weapons as I have a feeling they are going to have to be built from scratch which should be fun.
I have also ordered the Gears novels that feature Bernie as it is about time I read them and it will be good to learn more about her character and background.