Dragon*Con 2011 Day -1

 

Day –1 of Dragon*Con 2011.

We made it to the Ellis with no major incidents around 5:30.  Traffic was traffic, but not horrid.

When we pulled up to the valet station, Melinda got the valet and told him we may need 2 luggage carts.  When I opened the Santa Fe’s tailgate the  conversation went something like this:
Valet: WHOOO!
Me: Yeah, it’s a big box.

Valet : You here for the Dragon*Con?
Me: How could you tell?
Both laugh.

Even checking in, the lady at the counter looked at our luggage cart and asked “You here for the Dragon*Con?” 

So they’re a little surprised to see people staying here attending Dragon*Con, but they are prepared for it.

After we unpacked I checked the big box to see how much damage the Subject Delta helmet and others had suffered had suffered.  All in all its not too bad.  A tube has broken off the helmet. A couple of wing nuts off of Melinda’s Eleanor piece. And a bit of chipped paint that will have to be touched up.

And that is why you travel with a costume repair kit that includes: a hot glue gun and glue, paints and brushes, duct tape, zippy ties, Velcro, scissors, etc..

Our Tentative Schedule 
Wednesday – 9PM – “Hatchling” meet-up at the Marriott Pulse bar.  On Mondays they have the Dead Dragon parties for the survivors. Some thought that a Hatchling get together would be a good idea.

Thursday – registration opens at 10AM.  Hopefully have badges by lunch.
7:30PM – Celtic Block at the Hyatt. Celtic bands.
8:30PM – Yellow Ribbon Party at the Marriott. Party for showing support to service men, women, family and friends at Dragon*Con

Friday – Morning to Evening – Panels for True Blood, Star Wars Clone Wars, Costuming and Prop Making. No costumes being worn at this time.
9PM – Bioshock costuming meet up at the Marriott Fountain.

Saturday –  10AM Dragon*Con Parade
Morning to Evening – Prop making workshop, people watching.  Melinda will be dressed as Alice from Resident Evil : Apocalypse and I will be a Sandman from Logan’s Run.
7PM – 11PM – Bioshock photo shoot at the Georgia Aquarium with Irrational Games!!!!!

Sunday – Morning to Evening – Panels and workshops all over the place.  Costumes to be determined.

Monday – 10AM Top Gear Panel as part of the British media track, and then 11:30 – 3:30 ROBOT BATTLES 2011!  Then back to the hotel to pack.

Tuesday – check out, drive home.

I’ll try to post as the weekend goes, but as you can see, its going to be busy and all kinds of fun!!!

July and August–Dragon*Con Is Near

 

All right, July sucked.  I am really far behind (feeling it anyway) so I don’t have a lot of step by step pictures, but several done and done pictures or in progress pictures.  Plus as of this writing, Dragon*Con is 24 days away!!!!  Once again my poor time management, and life in general kick me around the block.  So sit back and enjoy…

Eleanor Lamb’s Big Sister Syringe

This one is complete.  I got the arm piece mounted, the gauges and eve tube added.

Subject Delta Helmet – Repaired and Aged

I hate gravity.  While getting the helmet ready to move into the basement workshop, it fell.  Cracked in several places.  Had to be patched, primed, re-painted, re-sealed with resin, and aged all over again.

 

Now though, it is finally done.  I aged it as well with some dry brushing to take some of the sparkle off it.

 

Subject Delta’s Tanks

The original air tanks and pack I made were too heavy and bulky.  Something went off with my scaling on this and the whole thing is huge, but the bulky pack only made it worse.  Plus after the fall, I was worried about the strength of the helmet to hold the weight. New cardboard tanks have been made and mounted.  The tanks still hold all the batteries, speaker, and iPod that the other did. I know they may not be perfect, but they work for me.  The fabric strips are there as a padding and will be cleaned up before much longer.

Subject Delta’s Suit and Glove

The jumpsuit/dive suit is nearly complete.  Just a little hand sewing and we’re ready to go.  The one exposed glove is also complete.  This is the glove that the Plasmid powers would be projected through.  I made both gloves, but only completely this one since I will be wearing the drill on the other arm.

 

Splicer Hooks

I did finish the commission I got for a pair of Splicer hooks, and I must say, I loved these.  They were a bigger challenge than I expected, but it all worked out and I have a very happy customer.

The slick trick with these that I struggled with was finding a way to ship and store them flat.  This is what I came up with.

Worked out well I think.

Other costumes

We’re not just going to take Eleanor and Delta to Dragon*Con.  We’ve got at least one other set we will be taking.  Still only two costumes is a low count for Dragon*Con, trust me.

We bounced around with a lot of ideas.  Upgrades to the Destro and Baroness from last year – OUT. Upgrade Baroness and build Cobra Commander – OUT. Rinse, wash, repeat.  We finally decided that to do everything in time for Dragon*Con, they had to be simple costumes with little prop work and minimal sewing.  I can do a lot of sewing in an afternoon, but the more complete we can find the garments to begin with, the better.

Melinda will be going as Alice from Resident Evil: Extinction

She has the shorts, top and boots, just have to make the belts, holsters and knives.  A quick Google search and I found all I needed on the knives and made a set from wood in just an afternoon.

Still have to stain the handles, but overall, I love these.

I’ll be doing a Sandman from the 1976 movie Logan’s Run.

I love this movie and I’ve actually had the Deep Sleep gun prop for a long time, so just need the tunic.  Here is my 2 hour, $8 Sandman tunic.

 

So, July was rough.  We went through a lot.  Personal life, family life, work life, all just seemed to act up on us.  One thing that did come out of July that I would like to draw more attention to is that we did rescue 7 kittens from a dangerous situation and are now trying to adopt them out.  They were in a place where they faced being tortured and killed.  They are now living quite happily in my basement work shop.  Having kittens does both improve my time in the workshop, because, face it, kittens improve everything, but they also slow me down and limit what I can do there.  So, if you are reading this, and want or know someone that wants a kitten, head over to The Romeo Memorial Rescue blog for more information.