Neglectful blogger has been neglectful. But busy.

Talleg is supposed to be done for Rose City Comic Con, which is here in a couple of weeks. I do not think I will get the spoon maille done. But everything else is progessing nicely.

Mainly done, I suppose. The vambraces need leather straps and buckles. I am waiting for leather strapping to come in from Amazon. I am also going to replace the belt strap with leather before I attach that belt buckle. I am working on the thigh armor, which will look exactly like the vambraces only thigh sized. And I will rivet it in the middle as well as the edges. That too will need straps. Then I will just need to decide how to do the upper arms and torso. Cause those will eventually be the spoon maille. I may just try doing some kind of intirim maille look thing for now. I also need to get my +1 mace done. I am making it light up and it will be a flange mace with angry waves as the flanges. I am kind of excited.

But seriously...I am really really happy with how the gorget turned out. That is the last pic in that bunch of pics. I had a few false starts, but it got there in the end. I used a SCA leather gorget pattern and modified it. The first one I did out of 2mm foam. It looked great, except the trim looked like it had been done by a drunk person and it felt like it was too flimsy to last long.

I opted to use real rivets. They are cheap leather rivets, meant for decoration only not real work, but they will do. For $8 I got a set that had a hole cutter, 30 rivets and caps, an anvil and a setter. Amazon has those cheap buckles for 50 for $10. They are all different sizes, which is what I needed. I intend to use them for the vambraces, leg armor, etc.

OK this is getting long, so I am going to leave it here. One day soon I will do a post talking about the silver gilders wax I used to make the armor shiney. But for now, I need to get back to it.

Ok....so I really ahven't done much this week. I have been playing around little with photography, though.

I really want to be able to do cosplay photography. I have been working at learning what I can when I can. I have not had a ton of opportunities to practice, though, so I find my skills lacking still.

I took my camera with me to VersusCon. I had some issues, and it was clear I did not have the best equipment. And it was clear I am still struggling to remember all the technical stuffs. I think the more I do it, the easier it will be to remember.

So here are a few of the pictures I took. They are....ok. My lens decided half way through the day that it did not want to focus. I also was having issues getting it to be unmushy. I don't have a light. I need a light. I am aware of this. I look at my pics and can tell where it could use a fill light. Also...going full automatic did not improve the pics any, so I think overall my camera was unhappy and just crapping the bed.

I tried to edit where I could. There are still several I think I may be able to salvage.


So I was talking with a friend of mine, who suggested a speedflash with a triggering system. I found some cheap online and ordered them. A bunch of other people online suggested I invest in a 50mm 1.8/f lens. Found one of those cheap too in a bundle deal with the speedflash.

Turns out the triggering system, though it says it is compatible with Canon, is not actually compatible with Canon. After some frustrating stops and starts, a friend helped me figure this out. The speedflash works, though, if I use the on board flash to trigger it. The issue with that is the onboard flash leaves wierd shadows from the long lens or lens hood, depending. I would rather just be able to use the external flash by itself. but I chose to get a Canon so unless I have the money to invest in a Canon brand triggering system it isn't going to happen.

I tested it out with the puppers. These are with the kit lens (18mm-55mm, 3.5/f).

Still not great, but I think I am moving in the right direction.

So Friday I got the lens and did some testing. I really like the 50mm 1.8/f lens. I need to play with it more.

I think I am starting to get it. I do need to get more people to let me take thier picture though. As I practice and get better, I think it will be apparent.

One thing is certain, though. This is MUCH MUCH MUCH better than a point n shoot. I don't think I can go back to a point n shoot. And I have a Nikon point n shoot.

That should be the epitaph of my life. :(

So.....

Everything was going OK. The mop didn't work. Mostly because the orange bit at the top started crumbling apart, and the more I tried to glue it the more it crumbled until it was more glue than orange bit. Looked really really bad.

I was like oh well. I will just deal with it. I got the rest of it done. I adjusted the gloves so the white stripes were less wrinkly.

Then this happened:

You see, I live with a family who has a 5 month old puppy. I very chewy, rambunctious puppy. She is a love, but she has had a predeliction towards my foam for a while now.

Up until now if I said no and put it up, she would leave it.

But this time...

She has grown enough that she can now just grab things off my desk. I love that puppy, but damn girl. She also chewed up the belt stuff. This made everything I have been working so hard on this week all moot. I no longer had a cosplay. The mop and the accessories is what makes it VCD Janitor, as opposed to a random construction worker or janitor. This happened the NIGHT BEFORE the con. :/

After I was done crying in the corner, I considered what I could do. Because I already paid for this con, I was damn well still going to go.

I still have my Aoifa stuff. Sort of. I have lost 45 pounds since I made her, so her bodice no longer works. You can read about that build by going to October 2017 in the archives. There are several posts about it. I was going to link one, but I can't decide which one as all of them apply. I think I also have them all tagged Cosplay as well.

Anyway...So Aoifa's breastplate is waaaay too big now. The fabric bits are all in tatters. All that works really is the front bit and the horned circlet.

So looking at it, I decided if I had something to cover the back like a cloak, I could just tie the breastplate on directly around the back. It now wraps several inches into the back when tied that way.

So I needed fabric or something. And I would need a skirt and shoes. So I talked to a friend, who generously drove with me to Goodwill. There I found a furry vest with a giant collar, a tweed curtain, huge ass earrings, and a couple of pairs of knee length boots.

Photo vomit:

I first cut the collar off the vest. I included part of the body so I had a foundation. Then I cut the curtain to length. It was already finished on all the edges and was the perfect width.

I....am not proud of the next step, but it was a desperate situation. I then hot glued the curtain to the foundation bit I left on the collar. It worked waaaay better than I thought it would. I like the cloak. I think eventually I will sew it firmly.

These were earrings. Huge ass earrings. I removed the earring part, which was just french hooks held on by a jump ring, and attached 2 safety pins with black chain maille rings.

Then I painted them with some oil based paint pens I had. Obviously they didn't work well, as most of it chipped off quickly. And the safety pins were shite. They were in a $5 sewing kit, and they kept bending and popping open. They did look good though. I think I will try to find some more permanent enamel paint for these and better broach clasps.

Boots!! So I have to wear footwear that supports my ankles. I have joint hypermobility syndrome, and my ankles and hips are the 2 most effected sets of joints. I found this out when I started randomly face planting and spraining shoulders and wrists over and over again. According to the rheumatologist, this is permanent. It is a consequence of this degenerative condition. No more going barefoot, me. :( That means I have to find footwear that 1. fits my short, wide feet and 2. will go around my disproportionatly shaped calves. Up till now the best I could do is ill fitting ankle length construction boots. But these.....ah these...HEAVEN! They are comfortable. They fit my odd shaped feet. They have enough support for my ankles. And they have the two stretch panels in the back so they fit my calves!! And they are SOOOOOO comfortable. And they take 2 seconds to get on and off. I long ago gave up the idea of the quick on/off process of the footware. I wore these all day around the con yesterday, and they were still so confortable I didn't want to take them off. No rubbing spots. No too tight spots. They supported my ankles enough I could still walk without faceplanting after hours of cement walking. If nothing else, this is the best possible outcome of this frustrating situation. I ended up with footwear I CAN WEAR. Sigh. And they were $5. And hardly worn. I AM SO HAPPY I COULD CRY.

Ahem...

So I had a long black skirt with slits up the sides, so I decided that would work with this outfit. And the horns were still serviceable. So VOILA!! New iteration of Aoifa!

By the end of the day, tired cosplayer was tired. We did a photoshoot out in the sun. My chest is soooo sunburned right now. Fortunately I had on sunscreen, so it doesn't hurt. And it will go away soon and be blaringly pale again in no time. (I do not tan. And yes, I burn THROUGH sunscreen.)

So overall I am kind of impressed with how it turned out. For pulling it out of my ass last minute.

Sadly it is not the last iteration ever. The boob parts partially tore away from the base part. The grommets are pretty much toast. So I just need to reinforce the rest of the boob parts, attach them to a different breastplate, and figure out a better way of attaching it to my body.

So the con is Saturday. I am pretty much done except for the mop. That mop is hard, man. It does not look like a normal mop. Of course it is way complicated. 

I have the mop head with the orange bits done. I found a hose. Now I just have to figure out the middle bit. That is the hardest part.

The middle bit is throwing me. And the actual moppy things on the end. Like the parts that actually mop. They are white clumps, which is difficult to figure out. I tried buying a regular cotton mop replacement piece. I was going to try sewing a bunch of them together to make the clumps. That...sort of worked, except it is way too stiff.

So now I have to rethink it. I have no idea how to make it work. :/

I need to get back to work, but here are pics of the bits.

I accidentally cut the pantlegs of the overalls too short. My calves are too big and don't allow room for tucking the legs into the boots. I thought I would cut them down and just tuck them into the top inch. Yeah. So I had this girdle I bought for $5 that is too long for me to wear comfortably, so I just cut it into pieces and removed the stays. Sewed them onto the ends of the legs to keep them together and looking like they are tucked in. Sort of works, but sometimes you see a flash of black.

Not to waste anything, I used the stays to clip the pieces onto the belt.

Note to everyone: You cannot cut woven steel lightweight stays with wire snippers.

I think the belt stuff worked great. I still need to remake some of the stuff, but it will have to be good enough for now.

The bib on the overalls was way too tall, so I cut it off and glued down the top, and then glued the buckle buttons on lower. Then I read an interview with the devs of Viscera Cleanup Detail, and they said the shoulder clippy thingy was not a walkie talkie as I thought, but a bar of soap in a leather case. :/ SO I ended up having to remove the pretty lights I put on the front. You can sort of thell they were there, but it looks alright.

Last thing was the santa hat. I don't celebrate christmas. I just don't care about it. But in the Santa's Rampage map, either the Janitor has a red hard hat or a santa hat on top of thier regular color hard hat. It is July, but for some reason they don't have christmas stuff out in the stores yet. So getting my hands on a santa hat wasn't going to happen before the con. I have some red fabric left over from Talleg's tabard. So I made one. It is really crappy looking, but it is just a placeholder till I can find one to buy.

So the cert test came and went. I passed, but barely. A big chunk of the test was on cloud computering, and there was nothing in the study materials regarding cloud computing. Whatever. It is done, over, now I have several others to face. :P

Anyway.....

So for the moment Talleg is on hold. I am going to Versus Con in Seaside, OR July 21st, and I am going with my cosplay group so I need something completed. There is no way I will get her done in time, and I have lost enough wieght I can't use Aoifa, so I am going to work hard in the next 3 weeks to try to get the Janitor from Viscera Cleanup Detail completed.

Here is an example of one of the iterations of the Janitor:

There are several different color schemes, and what is clipped to the belt depends on the map and point of view, I guess. I opted for the Santa's Rampage version, so my gloves are red with white stripes, and the boots are red, and the hardhat will have a blood splattered santa's hat if I can get one.

I am still struggling with how to make the bib of the overalls look right. But I have the belt now.

I made a version of the thing clipped to the shoulder strap, which I am assuming is a walkie talkie of some sort. It turned out OK, though I put the lights on the wrong side and there is a gap at the bottom.

I learned that if you just iron 2mm EVA foam it takes on a leathery sheen. Looks kind of cool.

I also glued a magnet on the back to attach it to the strap. We shall see if that works.

Then last Saturday my cosplay group had a crafting day. I was able to get another clippy thing done and part of another.

They look....ok....

I am not really happy with how they turned out, but I think they are close. I don't like how poorly they are cut out. I don't like how much slop there was with the paint and the gilders wax. If I don't have time to redo them before Versus Con they will do. but I would prefer them looking....better.

Now to figure out the bib.

One of the cosplay members said they have voltimeters that are thrown out all the time and he would grab one for me if I wanted. I hope he really does come through. I will just hut it so it isn't too heavy for the belt.

So this week I go take the Comptia A+ exam, so not much is happening until after that is done.

I did try to assemble my scale maille, but there was too much of a curve so I had to cut them further. I haven't had time to try to assemble again, and I won't until after the exam on Friday.

I am also making rings as I have time. When I need a break from studying I will make 20 or so more rings. I have to get back to studying so I am going to just do a photo dump and come back later to explain.

So...update on the scales.

Do you know how long it takes to cut and melt a hole in 400 spoons? Apparently 10 fricken hours. I sat at a table outside from 1pm until 11pm. Fricken hell that was painful. My joints are still feeling it.

I decided to change the design of the scales a little bit. I was having issues getting the lacing down, so I decided to do them scale maille style instead. That involves one giant hole in the middle instead of several small holes.

Image borrowed from Khelgar HERE

Looks simple, right? Not as simple as I thought.

So I did look into how much it would cost to buy metal scales, just to see. SO for 800 spoons I paid $12. For 1 giant spool of wire I spent $7. For metal snips to cut rings I paid $5. So total, assuming I only need 800 scales, it has cost me $24. Plus the time I put in.

Metal scales all have a pointed tip, and I need them rounded to look like fish scales instead of dragon scales. So the cheapest I found them, pointed not rounded, are $7 for 100. So scales alone, with no rings and not exactly what I want, would be $56. If I wanted to get them rounded I could, but that would be considered custom, so I would be looking at $5 for 10. Yeah, that is completely out of price range. Not even doing the math n that one.

And then rings. Rings are mainly 7mm. After playing around I learned I need 12mm rings. I could not find 12mm rings anywhere. In fact, it was difficult most places to determine the size of the ring sold. They tell you the guage of wire, but not the size of the actual ring. That is extremely frustrating. It might be ok if I were to pay for prefabbed metal scales, but as I can't afford that, I get to make my own rings as well. Fortunately that is not that difficult.

So...as I said, last Friday I spent all fricken afternoon and evening cutting spoons. And I only got halfway through all I needed. I still have 400 left to cut.

That thing I am using to cut the spoons is a woodburning tool with an exacto knife tip screwed in. It worked really well. That part went really quickly, actually. Once I figured out to use a template and draw the lines with a Sharpie it went pretty fast.

The part that was tedious was the hole. I swapped out the knife tip for a punch tip. The punch tip was way too small, so I also used the large end to melt the hole. The biggest issue was the melted material. When I was cutting, I was removing unmelted material. That was easy. When punching the holes, I had a ton of melted material. And it just didn't easily scrape off the tool. I had to sit and wait for it to drip off it. And if I didn't wait long enough, it would deposit the excess plastic onto the next spoon. It was so fricken difficult. I did not get any pictures of that part of the process.


But the next phase was to prime them. A while back I was gifted an air brush unit. One of the small ones used for painting minis. I had a 3 oz bottle of black air brush primer, so I used that. I got through all of the front, and the majority of the backs. I need more primer.

The next step is to rub them all down with silver gilders wax. That part takes forever but is worth it. I will then put a light irridescent coat of powder on the top to make them look more like fish scales and less like plain metal. Here is how they look now.

Will update when I get more progress.

So I am still working on Talleg. I have a few pieces in the works, but I decided to talk about the scale armor today. I am also almost done with her tabard. The belt is shaping up. I will post about those when theya re closer to done.

So I have been trying to decide how to do the fish scale armor. I wanted it to look like shark scales. I just don't think I have the level to do those yet. I love what I started, but it is not practical at this moment. So I found a partial package of plastic spoons I got from the dollar store, and it started me thinking. They sort of look like fish scales. If I want to put some time into it I might be able to get them to look like shark scales.

So I pulled them out and cut off the handles. Then I pulled out my soldering iron/wood burning tool and turned it on. I used it to punch 3 holes in the spoons.

The idea being the 3 holes are used to tie them together like lamelar. Looks like it will work pretty good. I need to figure out how to get the rows to attach properly so they are offset and not lined up, but otherwise I kind of like how they look.

So next I need to make them a different color than white. It is currently dark so instead of wasting Plasti-dip I opted to use my new air brush to spray them with black primer. I was really surprised. A little goes a loooong way.

They look alright. I think this will work. I next tried out the gilders wax I bought earlier so see if the primer will take the wax. Looks like it might work ok. All I have is silver and emerald. I did a test with them. They are ok. I think I need to see if I can find a light metalic blue instead.

But this will work and I am kind of excited. I ordered 800 spoons off Amazon, and as soon as they get here I will work on getting the fish scale armor done.

Still working on Talleg. It is a very looooong work in progress. :/ This is way harder than it looks. Or seems like it should be. Or whatever.

This week I am going to talk about scales. I had decided I was going to put fish scales on her breastplate and upper arms. Fish scales seem so....boring. But they are simple enough.

I was still unsure how I was going to implement that part. Last time I did scales, the leaf scales tore the shit out of the rest of the outfit. I need to fix Aoifa's top before I can ever wear her again.

So I thought about other ways to get the scale look. The first thing I tried was cutting scales on the foam and throwing the heat gun on it. It looked....kind of cheesy. Might work for something else, but this? Nah. Besides which, it wouldn't work for the sleeves.

A friend of mine was going to 3d print a fish scale cookie cutter so I could use it as a pattern, but his printer stopped working and doesn't seem fixable. For a while there I was in a quandry. I guess I was just going to have to cut out 500 fish scales and go with that.

Then I went to a meeting. Here in Portland there is an active cosplay community. I have struggled to find anyone who wants to help me or work with me. But I found a group on Meetup.com. It is called the Portland Cosplay Crafter's Association. I went to my first meeting, and it was AWESOME! The people were nice. They are maybe more serious about cosplay than I am. I love to do it, and working with others, but I don'tknow that I would ever want to make a business out of it. But they are talking a cosplay co-op kind of situation. Which I think is a WONDERFUL idea! We can buy supplies bulk for cheaper. We can get together a communal space. We can help each other, fill in gaps in our specialities. This is good. I am all in. And one of them said they have a 3d printer, and if I get something scanable they would print out scales for me.

Eureka! That is awesome and totally waht I need. So I decided instead of going plain fish scale, I would go shark scale. Shark scales are different from fish scales. Shark skin itself feels like sandpaper. That is because shark scales are smaller than fish scales, and pointier.

That looks so badass. After looking at tns and tons of pictures on the interwebtubes, I decided to make then kind of like the one on the left in the picture on the right. So I got to sculpting.

So now I just gotta get them printed. It is going to take a lot of work, but I think it will be worth it in the end.

So this week I worked on elbow and knee armor. I am still having issues getting rid of the fricken seem. One day I will be triumphant. Today is not that day. Sigh.

I started by making a mock up of what I wanted to see how it would turn out. It doesn't look bad, but the stupid obvious seem is still there.

I need to get on with the other parts of the armor, so I decided to try one more time. If the seem was still obvious I would just put a strip and spikes on it. I had black plastic spikes I got at target around Halloween that I haven't used, so I thought those would be a good idea. Um, nope. They refuse to stay put. I tried to glue them twice. Argh sigh. So now I am going to go get googly eyes and try to glue those on. I don't know if the glue will stick now that I have the gilder wax down. But as I said, I need to get moving on the other parts of this outfit.

After I finish the googly eyes, or whatever I finally decide to do with them, I will glue velcro dots inside the corners, so I can attach them to my leggings. Before I work on the leg armor I need to figure out where to place the velcro so I leave that patch open.