31st May 2010: FINISHED! Finished and debuted at London MCM Expo, May 2010.
26th May 2010: The Final Furlong What's finished?
* Upper arm guards
* Leg/thigh guards
* Pauldrons
* Skirt
* Gauntlets
* Helmet
* Halberd
* Sword
* Breastplate front and back
* Foot armour
* Scabbard
Just needing to be varnished...
* Greaves
22nd May 2010: The Final Stages What's finished so far...
* Upper arm guards
* Leg/thigh guards
* Pauldrons
* Skirt
What's nearly finished....
* Gauntlets
* Helmet
* Halberd
* Sword
* Breastplate front and back
What needs the most work....
* Greaves
* Foot armour
* Scabbard
Almost there!
17th May 2010: The pressure is on! I'm going to have to do some earlier mornings and some later nights now.
It's coming together bit by bit, but heck it's frustrating me so much and actually making me angry. It'll all be worth it in the end - I hope.
6th May 2010: The leg guard dangley things are done, as shown... And there's still a lot more to do on the rest of it with the decoration!
30th April 2010: The Armour is MADE Yes, that's right. It has all been constructed now.
It's just a case of decorating it all (and doing the skirt, painting the halberd, and making the sword and scabbard).
29th April 2010: The End of the Construction is Nigh! I am almost finished with making the armour. Then! It's mainly all the cosmetic work on everything to do/finish, and the sword scabbard to make (the sword is half made currently).
20th April 2010: Fed up This costume is taking it's toll on me and has turned out to be very expensive in the long run. I've spent too much on it to not get it done now, so I'm working on this like MAD!
26th February 2010: In the middle of things Ok, so the main bulk of the work is under way. The helmet is almost ready to be painted, the skirt detailing is coming along, and the making of the armour is gradually beginning to show results.
9th November 2009: Gathering materials 1 Wonderflex sheet (jumbo) - check.
I've also bought a white skirt to modify, a telescopic landing net handle for the spear, a pack of balloons to get rounded armour effects with, and some spray paint for the spear handle.
I also need to get golden eyelets, gold and purple fabric paint, purple, black, silver and gold acrylic paint, a large batch of funky foam...and an array of other things too...oh yeah, and a HUGE amount of that rare but priceless thing called patience. x_x'
26th October 2009: Planning Stages I am currently working on the preparations for this costume.
After the difficulties in making Rose's standard costume from The Legend of Dragoon, I am considering my options for creating this armour which will prove more challenging.
sjbonnar - 13th May 2009 Reminds me so much of Rose from Legend of Dragoon!
M.Kesaiyn - 13th May 2009 Might be able to use the same wig. Hrist may not happen for a while depending on time and more importantly, money.
1000014 - 4th June 2009 Very cool :D. Partner is currently playing Valkyrie Profile now xD
Sephirayne - 4th July 2009 Awesome cosplay choice. Can't wait to see progress.
JakeX - 18th November 2009
Well you know how i already feel about this :P
I really really cant wait to see the finished product in May :D
Zelda - 23rd November 2009 Your progress is really looking great ^__^
M.Kesaiyn - 24th November 2009 Thanks.
Sephirayne - 26th November 2009 The progress is looking great
leumas - 20th December 2009 you're realy talented at making armour :)
xblackravenx - 20th December 2009 Looking great so far
M.Kesaiyn - 20th December 2009 Thanks. I'm thinking about what to coat the Wonderflex in as a surface prep. I was going to use the Gesso, but I've read a couple of FAQs that say Gesso will crack under pressure.
FusionRose - 8th January 2010 Your progress is looking amazing hun =]
JakeX - 8th January 2010 omfgigjrigjrgrg Love the progress :P
Ilpala - 8th January 2010
Looking good so far. I love the VP character and armour designs but they do not get enough love!
Looking foreward to seeing the finished costume :)
nanahara - 8th January 2010 the progress on this is looking great XD
M.Kesaiyn - 8th January 2010 Many thanks people.
Anonymous - 2nd February 2010 Looking great :) can't wait to see it finished.
Anonymous - 5th February 2010 Wow! That is looking totally cool!
M.Kesaiyn - 5th February 2010 Thanks to suggestions by you and Venom on the spear's axe head which gave me inspiration. ^_^
FairyPorchQueen - 16th February 2010 looking very good! armor is wonderflex you say. Did u find it at a decent price anywhere???
M.Kesaiyn - 16th February 2010
Thanks!
The armour is Wonderflex yeah (the helmet isn't though).
I got it from Flints. They're a UK stockist, but the big sheets are about £70.
They do two sizes. The smallest size is about.......A2 sized (at a guess) and is about £11 including VAT.
FairyPorchQueen - 16th February 2010 Wow thats really good! Good luck with the rest of your costume :)
Kacela - 9th March 2010 Progress is looking really good, I really like the helmet so far! Good luck finishing it ^^
M.Kesaiyn - 14th March 2010 Thanks Kacela. I'm just praying I get it done on time!
Lady Bahamut - 14th March 2010 Progress is looking awesome :) You put such care into it! o.o
Sephirayne - 19th March 2010 The progress is looking great. I can't wait to see it all finished.
M.Kesaiyn - 19th March 2010
It better get finished for May!
Thank you everyone for all the comments.
Sephirayne - 26th March 2010
Wow! The breastplate is coming along nicely.
Oh, for FairyPorchQueen. The small sheets of Wonderflex that Flints do are A3 size and are about £11 each. I can't remember the postage as I got four in one go.
M.Kesaiyn - 26th March 2010 Thanks Sephy. It's just the shaping of the rest of the armour that's going to make me tear my hair out! Heh.
Ranma1-2 - 27th March 2010
Wow, impressive progress. How did you form the shapes for the breastplate armour? You mention balloons, but your breastplate looks nicely anatomical to me and not like balloons. Is there a fair amount of sculpting involved?
I love seeing these difficult costumes develop and I need to do something similar.
Great work. :)
M.Kesaiyn - 28th March 2010
I was going to use balloons for the pauldrons only - but never did.
The breastplate armour is all done by moulding by hand. I don't even have a mannequin.
It's mostly Wonderflex, but I'll probably not use it for a while after this one. It's effective, but shaping it is really tedious. I've pretty much just cut out shapes to the sizes that look right, head them up and stick the bits together as they show on the reference artwork.
And thanks. ^_^'
Ranma1-2 - 28th March 2010
Ah wonderflex..the price of that stuff has so far put me off :S. Think I will have to experiment with plaster bandages, paper mache, etc.
You did a great job forming the shapes by hand.
I hope I spot you wearing this at May Expo. :)
M.Kesaiyn - 29th March 2010
^_^'
I am determined to get it done by then! Tara Platt should be attending the expo, and she's Hrist's voice actress!
We're staying in a hotel, so should be around the Friday evening and depending on when you're planning on doing certain things I'm sure you'll probably come across me at some point.
FusionRose - 5th April 2010
Hun the progress is looking absolutely amazing =O
I'm so excited for expo, prepare to have loads of pictures taken of you ^_^
FairyPorchQueen - 5th April 2010 everytime i see progress on this i cant wait to see more! looking amazing!
M.Kesaiyn - 6th April 2010 More incentive to get it done! Nyargh! So much work still to do. x_x'
Zelda - 16th April 2010 Everytime i look at this, it justs gets better and better hehe, it's just amazing! Your so talented huh ^^ i can't wait to see it finished!!!
M.Kesaiyn - 16th April 2010 Heh, thanks Kara. I can't wait to see it finished either, purely because I have 6 weeks to get it done in for expo!
Odd-One-Out - 12th May 2010 Looking smart so far, nice!
M.Kesaiyn - 12th May 2010 Thank you!
Raye-chan - 15th May 2010 Not long now this is going to be sooooo amazing! Want to see tonnes of pictures XD you are doing excellent with this - hope your supplies arrive so you can finish!
k4tt - 17th May 2010 This is looking GREAT!! ^__^
M.Kesaiyn - 17th May 2010 Thanks! ^_^ Just over a week for me to get it done though!
Kacela - 18th May 2010 Looks incredible!
nanahara - 18th May 2010 this is sertainly coming along awsome XD
M.Kesaiyn - 18th May 2010
^_^' Thanks.
It's just the painting and repainting the SAME pieces that's really doing my head in now. It'll get there... x_x
FairyPorchQueen - 31st May 2010 You looked amazing!!
Lady Bahamut - 31st May 2010 I saw you around! You looked fantastic! :D
M.Kesaiyn - 31st May 2010
Thanks! I'm really proud of it. ^_^'
I'll add more photos when I get some.
k4tt - 31st May 2010 Was great to see your costume in the flesh. I couldn't take any pictures at all on Saturday, so it's really nice to see people uploading stuff. ^__^
infinitydragon - 1st June 2010
Spotted you several times.
It is a lovely looking costume and you looked fantastic.
Jenangel - 1st June 2010 Wow your Hrist looks amazing! *_*
M.Kesaiyn - 1st June 2010 Thank you very much everyone! ^_^'
FusionRose - 3rd June 2010 turned out amazing hun =D x
M.Kesaiyn - 4th June 2010 Thanks Fusion. I'm actually been thinking since expo..."I WANT TO WEAR IT AGAIN NOW!" then thought "why do I want to suffer that again so soon?" heh.
VividLeviathan - 5th June 2010 Really really sweet, can see the effort been put into :)
M.Kesaiyn - 6th June 2010 ^_^' Much appreciated Vivid. 7 months it took in total. Whew!
Ino - 14th June 2010 This is the best VP costume I've seen! :O I saw you from a distance at Expo and thought 'WOW!!'. Absolutely stunning~~ :D
M.Kesaiyn - 15th June 2010 ^_^ *embarrassed* Thank you Ino! I didn't think I'd get it finished when it was about two weeks away from expo, and it took 7 months. I'm glad I got her finished.
sjbonnar - 27th June 2010 You did an AMAZING job hun O_O I was so impressed by this!
M.Kesaiyn - 27th June 2010
Thanks Sj! ^_^ All the hard work really paid off didn't it?
I can't believe what I spent on it though.
My__RoadOfBlood - 17th August 2010 This looks amazing! :D
M.Kesaiyn - 17th August 2010
Thanks. ^_^
I'm already looking at doing the repairs soon so she'll be ready to wear again any time. Only a little bit of touching up to do and a bit of acrylic paint and grubbiness to get out of the skirt.
DuskatNight - 24th August 2010 You done a fantastic job on this! Looks so perfect1
M.Kesaiyn - 24th August 2010
Thank you Dusk. Means a lot. ^_^'
I'm already making plans for re-wearing her. I just need to make a bunch of minor repairs.
Berserk667 - 12th October 2010 ok i'm really loving the armour :p
M.Kesaiyn - 12th October 2010 Thanks. It was a nightmare, but I am proud of the end result. :-)
Solarista - 5th November 2010 This must have taken you such a long time to make. Lovely craftsmanship though.
M.Kesaiyn - 5th November 2010
Yeah, around 7 months. x_x
Thank you. ^_^
Natsumi - 28th July 2011 O_O wow. (again!) You can see the progression of your skills, looks fabulous. I can't even begin to imagine how much work went into this. Amazing.
M.Kesaiyn - 28th July 2011 About 7 months of work on this one. ^^'
Anonymous - 26th September 2011 OMG BREATH-TAKING!!!
M.Kesaiyn - 26th September 2011 Thanks. ^_^'
Nomes - 25th January 2013 :3 Love it! If you ever wear this again please do let me know in case I can meet up with you as Alcia. All the photos!
M.Kesaiyn - 26th January 2013 Thank you! I do plan on re-wearing her soon. Not sure about October Expo, but I can ask others if they're interested. She needs some repair work done though.
Nomes - 30th January 2013
I'm fully booked for October Expo 2013, I'm afraid. Perhaps we could arrange a shoot if you and your friends live in the South East?
I've dropped you a PM so we don't end up with a stream of conversationy comments :P
Darkheart - 9th April 2013 your armor cosplays are simply amazing hope i can get this good at them :)