February Catch Up

 

So, I completely blew my once a month update schedule last month.  My bad.  I just don’t know what happened.

Actually I do know what happened.  There just wasn’t much to write about.  Sometimes that happens.  Weather and real life events kept me away from doing a lot of work.

However, between January and February I have managed to get a lot of work done.  Some equal parts planning and design and actual building.

Costume Updates!

For 2012, I am sorry to announce that Bioshock will not be making a return.  I have managed to do something to my right arm, I have no idea what, but it causes me a lot of pain and muscle fatigue.  I cannot see any way for me to be able to carry another Subject Delta drill around for hours.  Even typing after a while becomes painful at the elbow and shoulder, so lugging around over five pounds of drill is right out.
Along with that, Eleanor is also out.  Melinda just doesn’t want to do the Eleanor costume if I’m not doing the Delta costume. So no Bioshock this year, but with Bioshock Infinite coming out, maybe we’ll get a revisit next year.  I keep hearing a song bird in my future.

Portal is still on track, if I can ever get the boots I ordered for Chell’s long fall boots.  Shop.Cosplay.com worked really well and quickly for wig orders, but the footwear is taking forever.  Over 25 days and no updates or replies to emails.
We did get the jumpsuit and my lab coat from Amazon, Chell’s tank top, Aperture Science labels, and PotatOS from Thinkgeek, and some acrylic rods for the core from TAP Plastics.
The ASHPDs did get some more sculpting and a nice coat of primer too.

The acrylic rods from TAP Plastics.

So now that Bioshock is out, does that mean we’re only doing one costume at Dragon*Con this year?  You should know better than that.

If you haven’t figured it out from earlier posts, Melinda and I are big fans of the cartoon My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic.  We thought it would be fun to do a costume from the show.  Now, when I say costume from the show, I do not mean full on fur suit character recreations.  While I admire the sewing skills of the people that create these, honestly, they just creep me out. A lot like clowns.  Just creepy.

No, what we will be going for is along the lines of a more humanized pony form like this.

This is one of the best MLP cosplays I’ve come across and it is the main reference for what will be Melinda’s Twilight Sparkle costume.
I have all the pieces for the wig now.  A main “base” wig with several hair extension wefts that I will be weaving into the wig to created the tri-colored effect.
I haven’t decided how to create the ears just yet, but the horn is going to be special.  In the show, whenever Twilight uses her magic, her horn will glow.  Naturally, I wanted to create this effect.  Why?  Why not? 
The order of acrylic rods from TAP Plastics did not just have the ASHPD cores, but it also contained what would become a Unicorn horn.

Original 2 inch x 12 inch rod
            
Shaped to a very dangerous missile shape
 

Grooved

All lit up

Post flame polishing

All lit up after flame polishing

The entire horn will next be dyed to the correct shade of purple, cut to length, and wired with a simple LED and switch that Melinda can activate whenever she wants to do magic.

Admittedly, the show does not have a lot of male characters for me to choose from.  I could have gone the route others have taken and just made a male version of a female character, but again, the creepy scale started to tip on that idea.  So I decided to take on creating one of the Royal Guards’ costumes.  Not just any mind you, but one of the Royal Guards assigned to Princess Luna.

Why?  Look at him.  He is totally awesome, that’s why.  Based off the reference image above, I have made this drawing of the design I am going to build.

Yup, wings, tail and all.

We are also planning on using the Twilight Sparkle costume with the Chell costume to make a crossover costume one night just for kicks and giggles.  There may even be a “ponified” version of Doug Rattmann wandering around.  Why?  Because it is freaking fun to do. 

Speaking of ponies

What in the world was I thinking?  No, really, I think I totally lost my mind there for a while.  Deciding to build seven additional pony launchers like the Pinkie Pie Launcher and Tank Launcher from November, I must have been nuts.

Still, I’m pushing through my insanity, and completing the job.  What will I do with all these?  Well, a few will make it down to Dragon*Con, others will be kept, some may end up as gifts to friends, and some may turn up on eBay.

December Year End Update

Well, it’s the end of another year.  2011 has been a good one, but a pretty rough one too.  I’m glad to put it in the rearview mirror.
Once again, I was able to take an extended vacation during the holidays and I’ve been able to get a lot of projects in progress, but nothing really completed. 
So here is your December 31st, 2011 Works in Progress Post.

Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device

Melinda will be rocking a Chell costume from Portal 2 at Dragon*Con and she has to have a ASHPD for the costume.  Really, this thing is just a bunch of PVC pipes glued together.

A couple of 4” PVC couplers, a 4” piece cut to shape and a 3” piece nested inside the 4”.  The rings on the end are just 3” couplings cut and sanded.  I’m getting really close to needed the lights.

I got a new table top sander for Christmas, so I was able to get the angle sanded onto the nose piece a lot easier.

I made this detail using my favorite new material, epoxy sculpt.  The B is because this is the B model.

Here is the A model with a different technique for the same detailing.  Yes, I am building two at the same time.  Why?  Why not?

Better view of the angle on the nose.

Belle Approves.
I nearly paid $300 for a ready to assemble kit, and now I’m glad I didn’t.  It isn’t that hard of a build, yet, as long as I take my time and follow the blueprints.  Oh, did I forget to mention I have scale accurate blueprints? 

Special Thank You Surprise Build

Wait, I’m building a special surprise project and I’m writing about it?  Eeeyup.  It’s OK.  I don’t thing Flamingo1986 reads my blog, but Flamingo1986, if you are reading, stop now.
Flamingo1986 is the gentleman that designed the original Pinkie Pie Launcher that I built and posted last month.  Well, after picking up the pieces of my blog after it exploded from the traffic, I felt I owed Flamingo1986 a bit of thanks.  He recently released another set of weapon designs, so I am building one to send to him.
                                  

I’ll throw in more details later.
Speaking of the Pinkie Pie Launcher from last month…

PONIES PONIES PONIES OMG THE PONIES

Last month my blog got more hits from that one post than anything else.  In one week, I got nearly double an average month’s traffic.  Now, I’m not the brightest bulb out there, but I can recognize when something works.  Apparently pony launchers work really well.  In fact, I now have seven more that I am building.  Yes, I said seven.  Three are based off designs from MaximillianVeers and his variations on the original, the other four are custom design ideas/requests from other fans and Melinda.

Originally, I was only going to do four, but then some other friends just gave me too many good ideas not to build them.        

One with all three sections assembled.
 
Five with the first two sections assembled.

The remaining six back sections.
After this, I think I’ll be done with pony launchers for a while.
What am I going to do with nine complete pony launchers?  Well, some are going to make it to Dragon*Con in September, some will be kept just because they are my favorites, and the rest will be put up on eBay for someone else to enjoy.

OK.  That’s it.  Everything is very much in progress.  Hopefully, next month I’ll have some completed pieces to show.