Anime North 2012

So it's been a couple of weeks since Anime North, but I'm finally getting down to writing my after con report.  I had a slightly different experience this year in that I focused far more on cosplay than ever before.

Friday was a bit hectic.  Because of the sheer amount of pre-registrations the lineup to get in was crazy long.  It was also really really hot out.  Hopefully next year they increase the amount of people at the check in desk or something.

Friday I wore my King Kazma cosplay from the anime film Summer Wars. Mad props go out to Jen for taking awesome photos of my cosplay!

Friday evening was mainly walking around and exploring the con layout.  Then the Nominoichi which is possibly my favourite thing to go to at AN.  I bought a lot for really cheap.  We actually crashed pretty late Friday after eating the usual coffee pot noodles.

Saturday I put on my Falco Lombardi cosplay, which I also wore to the masquerade.  It was a new experience for me full of lots of waiting and anticipation, a quick rush, but I'm still planning to participate next year.  Met lots of new people in the green room and saw some pretty amazing stuff.  The caliber of costuming at AN has really picked up.  Here's some photos of the costume and a couple with a Fox McCloud I ran into.

 

I ended up winning best Novice props in the masquerade!  I'm pretty proud since I put a lot of work into my gun, holster, and reflector shield.  I was in the same den as the winner of the whole competition - the Cheshire cat.  Really awesome work all around.

Here's some photos I took of other cosplayers at the con, mostly from Sunday.

 

Good job everyone!  Some great costumes this year, though not as many walking around while I was.  Thanks to everyone for letting me take their photo (especially if I didn't ask due to my mask).

Next stop Fan Expo Canada!

Falco Cosplay Progress 2.0: The Sewing

In my last post I only showed finished props, but in this everything is still in progress!  I'm not a big fan of sewing, and as such almost all of this is either incomplete or needs some adjustments.  The following image shows some of the other materials I have including the fabrics for Falco's scarf and mask ties, the leathery fabric I'm using for his gun holster as well as the straps, and a simple brown belt I picked up at Talize.

Next up is his jacket.  It's very incomplete.  Still needs the collar and sleeves which involve quite a lot of pattern changes and interfacing etc.  I love the white fabric.  It's leather like in appearance but silky to the touch and lightweight.  The lining fabric is a nice pale smooth grey, which matches the dark grey fabric I'll be putting on the front/back exterior.

 

The jumpsuit is almost complete but I'm unhappy with much of it so I'll be changing a few things around.  It needs some tweaking in the sides, length and so on. I do like the fabric, it changes with the light!

And I tend to sprawl with my mess when I'm working on something.  This photo only shows a fraction of my mess...I'm sure it will only get worse!

 

When my King Kazma wig arrives in the mail I'll take photos of that as well as the vest I've purchased in laziness for that cosplay!  May approaches ever so quickly, wish me luck!

Countdown to AN Begins!

And with that countdown comes cosplay crunch time.  I've not worked on Falco in a while, but yesterday I decided to finish the reflector shield he wears.  Pretty pleased with the outcome, though it is different from the original design.

I never posted the completed gun on here either, here's an image of that:

I'm planning an additional cosplay for AN, King Kazma from Summer wars!  Ordered a wig online for it today.  Here's to hoping I can finish both of these on time!  In other news, Guild Wars 2 prepurchase opens tomorrow!  I'm having some issues finding an EB that knows anything about this, but hopefully tomorrow all will go well.  I'm aiming for the Collector's Edition :D.

Falco Cosplay Progress

So I've been once again struck with the inspiration that is cosplay.  I'm completely obsessed with my current project, Falco Lombardi, from Star Fox fame.  If you're not familiar with the Star Fox series then you've probably seen him in Smash Bros.

Mostly I've been working on the mask I'm going to use for the head.  I'm taking a decorative approach with this costume, as working that way just seems to interest me more.

 

I've worked on it more since, and it's closer to finished!  More photos will be on there way as I get closer to the finish line.  I also decided to give the blaster/pistol a go tonight.  With cardboard, foam, straws, and lots and lots of hot glue this is the result:

I'm pretty satisfied with how it's turned out.  I'm not too experienced with using cardboard to build things, but it seems to be fairly simple to grasp.  Hopefully with a paint job it'll look even better!

Halloween just around the corner, and some art!

I've been working on a costume for Halloween lately.  After a little bit of thought I chose to go as Rupert the Bear.  I grew up watching this show, and every so often the theme pops into my head to this day.  On top of that, his outfit is rather simplistic, and stylish to boot!  If you don't know who Rupert is, check out the TV intro here:

If it still isn't ringing a bell, go watch the show, because it's great.  Thus far I've finished the cowl, purchased the sweater and the pants are on their way.  I think it's pretty managable before the big day :).

Other stuff in the works: 

Falco Cosplay - 5% done

Rei Ayanami Cosplay - 60% done (some alterations left and minor costume additions)

Thor Cosplay - 0% planned (for the Avengers movie)

Sewer Urchin (the Tick) - 0% planned (for FanExpo 2012)

I recently purchased two new wigs for my falco and rei cosplays, can't wait to wear them to an event!

And last night I randomly got the urge to draw, so I put it to use on a contest entry for Con-G!  They were looking for an image of their mascot, Kon, and I can never resist drawing a dragon.  Here's both versions, with and without the logo.  The winner gets a free con pass and artist alley table.  As my only other selling experience was at FanExpo, I'd like to see what a smaller con is like!

I've got some other art pieces in the works as well, hopefully the next couple weeks prove to be productive!

Fan Expo 2011

Luckily I was able to make it down to FanExpo this past Sunday.  It was a pretty swell time.  I mainly went to get Tom Felton's autograph, but in the end got a photo op with him and also went to the Q&A.  He's a pretty nice chap.  I didn't take too many photos at the convention as my hands were almost always full and I spent most of the day standing in lines, but here are some of the ones I did manage to get!

 Here's the cosplay I chose to wear down.  I picked it simply because it's my most comfortable to walk around in.  However it did prove to be quite warm when I was in the tight packed crowds.  I think I may also have scared a kid or two purely by looking their way, oh and Tom Felton probably thought I was a total weirdo as well, but oh well.  Gotta be yourself right?

These are some of the robots from the upcoming Real Steel.  Unfortunately the trailer for this movie pretty much tells the whole story, and makes me cringe to boot.  Despite this I still have an urge to watch some robots kick the crap out of each other so I may just have to see it...not in theatres though :P.

I really enjoy this model of Abin Sur.  The Green Lantern movie was kind eeeegh, but I did feel the aliens in it looked pretty well done.  Especially Sinestro, he was pro. 

Couldn't resist snapping a shot of this giant Lego Hagrid.  Super props go out to whoever put this together.

I thought this costume of Hawkman was really well done.  I don't particularly enjoy the character, but I can appreciate a good costume all the same.  I would absolutely die to see a well done Martian Manhunter, but that'll probably never happen.

 And I had to ask this Rufio for a photo, just because, it's Rufio, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen something so cool before. 

And last but not least, the swag.  My lovely autograph from Tom Felton.  It was really cool meeting him, unfortunately though so many people were there to see him that everything was really rushed.  The photo op especially.  I can't blame them really, wanting to get through everyone quicker, but I don't feel like I really met him!  Not to mention the fact that I'm not terribly social with people I don't know.  All the same it was nice to be there, he was very kind.  It must have been a very tiring three days for him, I imagine resulting in some serious hand cramps.  Someday I'd love to be able to actually sit down and have a real chat with some of the Potter cast.

I guess the next events on the way are Dot-con in November, D-Tac, and Con-G.  Hopefully I can make it to at least one of those.

Cheers!

Potterfest

Just this past Saturday was Potterfest here in London.  I had a good time, and dressed up in my Slytherin cosplay.   The turnout was a lot greater than expected.  Props go out to Robert Watson for organizing the event, I hope you keep it going in the years to follow.  I've got lots of photos of various things like cosplay progress and swag and so on.  

 The first 100 attendees got a copy of this letter signed by JK Rowling!

 A chocolate frog!  These were really tasty...my first one melted a lot before I could nibble on it, and it still tasted fantastic!

 Zack won this for his Lupin costume, a time turner!  I stole it because I love it and I made his costume :)  (he actually gave it to me, but I would have stolen it otherwise :P)

 A hand knit Slytherin bow I purchased!

 A wand pouch I bought so I can carry my wand around in style.

 The ticket!

 A complete photo of my swag, without the letter and chocolate frog.  There's some bubbles, playing cards, a sticker, a plastic frog toy, and the narnia book was given out to all adult participants in the costume contest.  All around a good haul.  Nothing better than free stuff from an event! :)  Now onto cosplay...

 My two snake rings!  I bought one at the Folk Festival and the other at Sunfest.  Together they made my hand quite slytherin.

 Some robe detailing...I sewed the entire robe myself, the cording was the most annoying part by far.  I used a satin for the lining and a simple black cotton for the exterior.  I think my favourite part is the fastener.  The patch was purchased from Patch Palace ages ago, and is no longer available unfortunately.

My scarf, as well as the tie I made on the left, and the one I purchased from ebay on the right.

 My wand.  Completely handmade by me using a curtain rod, leather scraps, buttons, ribbon, some chain, my trusty glue gun and a dragon heartstring of course.  I fashioned it loosely after Draco Malfoy's wand from the films, with the dark handle and dark brown wand. 

Our costumes!

This was the smallest event I think I've been to like this, and it was really fun.  Potter fans are certainly a tight knit group.  I hope the fandom never dies.  Next weekend is FanExpo!  I'll be going on the Sunday and wearing an old lolita outfit.  My main plan of action is getting Tom Felton's autograph.  Hope to see some of you cool dudes there.