Mercy Roulette

From the 'Credit Where Credit Is Due' Department...

I give you... Mercy Roulette!

"A singer/pianist, writer, model, costumer, designer, and media fan girl!"

This songstress is quite a talent in both the costuming and performance categories with a voice rich and sultry in an 'Amy Lee' kind of way... and a talent (and a keen eye for detail) in the costuming department.
It doesn't hurt that she looks gorgeous in a Jessica Rabbit dress... ;)

Check her out here:
http://www.facebook.com/mercyroulette

"Why is the respawn point so far away?"

Anyone who plays video games will appreciate that statement... basically (for the uninitiated) where a player 'respawns' (after being taken out of the fight) is often a fair distance from where they fell... so the odds (at times) of catching up to your teammates/compatriots and helping THEM before THEY get beaten down are often pretty slim.
Why am I such a 'doom and gloom'-ist today?
Partially because I haven't had the opportunity to post on the blog until now... partly because I've been overthinking a few things on the armor... and the effort I've already put into it has basically been an 'object lesson'... and won't amount to much else. I've inadvertently set myself back some time in my efforts to accomplish my 'clever' tricks...
What am I talking about?
The codpiece/ribs/lumbar plates. I went to great effort to rivet each piece to the other it's supposed to articulate to - in an effort to improve range of motion in the torso and to make the armor feel a little more 'organic' - and the end result was a mish-mash of elastic bits, resined parts and a fair chunk of effort... for very little result.
Not only did I waste a chunk of time trying to accomplish that feat (see my rivets post earlier in the month)... but when it came down to it... I was having a tremendously difficult time trying to get everything assembled... trying to figure out how I was going to get INTO the armor... and how I was going to get it to stay on when I got into it...
... let me assure you... there were WAY too many straps.
So... against my better judgement (or perhaps BECAUSE of it) I've redone the codpiece and ribs and lumbar plates from scratch. Reprinted them, glue them together (and glued the PIECES together) and will proceed to resin the ENTIRE structure as one big piece... Bondo it, then surgically alter it (hinge at the crotch as before, slats cut into the sides all the way up the rib cage so I can get INTO the torso).
The plus side? I'm hyper-efficient with the cut-and-paste process now... I've got them all assembled already, and I only printed them yesterday.  =)

Don't get me wrong... I think my rib-elastic-articulation idea is a good one... and with more refinement, I think I could make it work better... but for now, I'm going to go with a solid torso unit (the articulation didn't provide THAT much extra range of motion ANYway) and put my 'thinking cap emphasis' into the exposed shoulder/armpit, crotch and elbow/knee areas (see my 'armadillo/pill bug post for the solution there).
With five final exams coming up with ball-breaking speed, I have to focus my time a lot more efficiently... and nit picking the little minor things with eighty-bazillion rivets isn't a good use of my time. =)

It's crunch time... no more futzing around.
Pics tomorrow... err... I guess later today (Sunday)!

1K Pageviews? (Plus a Progress Update)

I'm honestly not sure... is 1k views a landmark?
Should I hand out presents or something?

Can I get to 2000?
What's the next landmark, anyway? 5000? 10,000?
"Over 9000?!?"

... and yes I appreciate the irony of posting this update on Facebook causing me to exceed the aforementioned landmark...

Progress:
- I've re-assembled one of the boots and have purposely left the other boot's toe cover and heel tread DISassembled... the better to landmark specific sizes of sheet metal to cut (twice, obviously...) and then form over the treads of the already-cut boot.
Worry not, there's like 10 pieces per section and only two sections... at THIS point in my papercrafting career, I must at least be level 6 and more than capable of cranking these off in the span of a single episode of 'Must-Watch TV' (pick your poison LOL)

I'll be printing a few extra bits for the boots... to allow the back portion of the 'shoe' area of the boot to articulate at the ball of the foot with the toe area - via the disc (you can see it in the pic here)... probably add a smaller disc on the inside with a stabilizing piece to mirror the piece on the toe plate... then slice the circle out of the current disc area and insert... or solidify them both and use a Chicago screw or rivet them together.
I'll also have to slice across the 'bridge' of the boot just behind the toe plate and figure out a way to allow the bend at the ball of the boot (disc area) without the two pieces coming apart... I'm thinking a small ridge that I will Bondo into a solid barrier, which will (hopefully) act as a stopper to limit the plantar flexion (pointing) of the toe plate past the point where it needs to go.
Maybe I'm overthinking it, I dunno... I'll cut all the sheet metal plates and assemble the 'innards' (and outer plates) of the treads first, then worry about the extra stuff.

I have still (also) to cut and paste the right hand finger plates... but there's nothing else left to do on THAT front (cutting and pasting of full pieces).
- The right shin is mostly resined and the 'extra' pieces (15% larger knee discs, 15% larger hip pods backings, and extra elbow discs) are also resined inside and out. I'll be fussing with the elbow discs in the next day or two so I can get them properly resin-attached to their respective pieces (forearm and bicep respectively). Trust me... it's kinda important... I'll try to take pics in the next day or so to show why.
- Most of the pieces - especially the larger ones - have had their first layer of automobile filler (Bondo) applied to them... and I have to say it's deceptive. It's tough-ish when you're mixing the filler with the cementing agent, it LOOKS like it's runny and tries desperately to dribble off your spatula... but don't be fooled. It spreads - if thick enough - like really thick cake icing. Make sure your spatula doesn't pick up any extra bits of whatever (dirt, dried Bondo, whatever)... 'cause if it does, this will show as chunks and tracks and divets in your smooth line when you try to spread the body filler on your current piece...
This weekend coming I hope to have most if not all the relevant pieces Bondo'd and to commence the sanding so I can get to applying the second Bondo layer by the end of the weekend.
I THINK I'm still on schedule for getting the body filling done by April 1st.

- Going to take a shot at assembling the chest and back together, as well... it's just about time to start riveting the connecting strap clips down in the pieces and to assemble the harness... so I'll be turning my attention over the next day or so to figuring out the brace assembly and neck.

More to come!

Popcorn Munching - The Hulk

Yeah... it's Soap Box time!
Well not really... but as a tried-and-true comic book fan from further back than you think... I am constantly a little disappointed when I hear people panning comic book movies.

Case in point, Ang Lee's "Hulk" from 2003.

Yes, it took almost 40 minutes for us to SEE the big green monstrosity... yes, his size seemed to fluctuate more than the Sean Connery dragon in Dragonheart... and people claim 'there was no plot... and no point' to the movie.

See... you're not understanding.

That IS the point.

The Hulk is a seething gamma-irradiated ball of angry.

ALL. THE. TIME.

(And... for those who didn't know... in the comics, the Hulk was written as being almost ten feet tall... so a lot of the size proportions in Lee's film were pretty accurate...)

The direction Lee took The Hulk might not have been the best, nor was it completely in 'canon', but it made sense from a 'flow' standpoint... here we have a child that grew up knowing abuse... and then experiments... a bad accident literally unleashes the 'Hyde' from our meek Doctor Jeckyl... and much thrashing and thunderous fist-trashing (of a military base, San Francisco, and Nick Nolte in that order) ensued. If anyone has ever known a victim of abuse, they will recognize the non-assertive, passive-aggressive nature that Bana tried to portray in Bruce Banner.

There is also the 'victim of abuse turning into the abuser themselves' metaphor that literally, PHYSICALLY manifests. This is the worst fears of the victim come to life - a very big, very green and very angry life.

People saw the Hulk tearing the turret off the top of a tank and wondered 'What was the point? How did that add to the movie?"

What they don't know is that THAT is what the Hulk comics were all about.

"In Brightest Day..." Part I

So I figured I'd toss in a few older cosplay things in to shake things up...

To wit: Green Lantern

This one is my first costume since getting back into the fray... and quite frankly it came about as myself and AV sitting around wondering if we were going to do anything for Hallowe'en that year...

Parallel to this, I had been re-engaging with people I had not interacted with in a long time since I moved from Toronto more than a decade ago (see? Facebook has its uses!)
To draw the timeline, I started connecting with Liana K, who had comments on her feed from (or commented on, I honestly cannot remember) a number of other cosplayers... to whom I sent tentative "Err, um... could I ask a question?" messages with regards to advice on starting and/or purchasing costumes...
Which sent me to Norman at Heroes In Tights.

Long story short, I had my Green Lantern duds... now... what about the ring?
I'm not one to do things half-assed... and I wanted a ring that lit up... but not just light up and be all blinky-blinky... I wanted a ring I could light ON COMMAND.

So... I got myself a couple of those 'Brightest Day' Green Lantern promo rings they were giving out a few years back and set to work.

I read online about a few people who rigged existing rings to carry a larger battery output... and decided to go at it from that angle.
But *I* wasn't going to have to take my ring off to light it up.

What I did was take one of the 'Darkest Night' promo rings and cast it in Oomoo in order to make a 'master' mold of it... then colour-dyed some ClearCast and made this ring...

Now... the thing with Oomoo is that it's a flexible rubber-type compound... so it's good for small objects... but you will need to allow for gas escape. The bubbles created with the SmoothCast compound mixture are (to the best of my knowledge) carbon dioxide... which means that they will need to escape... the PROBLEM is that the resin that forms hardens rather quickly, so the odds of you getting ALL of the bubbles out is almost nil, unless you have a compressor-type setup... which I don't. But that's okay.

Make a mold of the ring and what are called 'vent sprues' (the channels that will help to allow some gas to escape). What I did was take some wax and glued it (temporarily) to the ring bottom and had a small plug leading off from the side of the ring down by the ring face... if you look at some of the cheaper versions of ring-like toys, you can see a small section (along a seam probably) where there's an area of bumpy roughness... that is probably where a vent sprue was connected to the ring.

To save on Oomoo, make the mold 'box' as small as you can (I used an old vitamin pill bottle sliced in half)... the 'box' needs to have one solid bottom and solid sides all around... and enough room that the Oomoo can completely cover the ring... don't worry about the vent sprues, they will get covered because they are glued to the bottom of the 'box'.

Pour the Oomoo slowly... but not TOO slowly... but slowly enough so that it doesn't bubble. None of my molds did, and I practiced a few times with varying sizes of vent sprues... be sure to fill all the way up to over the top of the ring face.

Once your mold sets, you can pop it out of the 'box' as best you can and start the VERY CAREFUL slicing of the mold. Small cuts with an exacto blade, slow and careful all the way down to the ring.
Don't forget that you have a chunk of Oomoo on the inside of the ring band to deal with as well... the object of this cutting is to NOT cut the mold completely in half, but to slice JUST ENOUGH to be able to pop the ring out... so about 1/2 of the mold or so.
If you do well, you should be able to slip the mold back into the 'box' and it will sit flush with itself with little to no evidence of any cutting having happened at all!
(I'll see if I can dig up some photos of cutting... I'll be doing another set of molds in the days to come, so I'll eventually have an example to share)

So now you have a mold. Slip it back into the 'box'... but put it in UPSIDE DOWN. Trust me.
You see the holes (from the vent sprues you glued to the bottom of the box before?) that's where you will be pouring your resin into the mold.
NOW you make your resin mixture. SmoothCast is the stuff I used... it's (relatively) inexpensive and didn't take a lot of effort to use. Shake each canister and then mix them (50/50 mix, just like the Oomoo) and pour slowly together... you WILL make bubbles, so don't fret about that... try to mix slowly with a popsicle stick or similar to minimize the extra bubbles you make... and you can TRY (valiantly) to remove/pop some of the bubbles... but you will frustrate yourself if you can't get them all... so do your best. For coloring, you can get a dye that colours plastics (at the same place you got your SmoothCast and Oomoo)... two drops will do you.
Yes, it's a colossal waste... and theoretically you will be able to make hundreds of rings from one bottle of dye. That is unavoidable.

Mix your resin and dye, and pour slowly into the vent sprue that was closest to the ring band. It can also help if you tilt the mold one way or another to help the resin slide down to the bottom where it needs to be... but don't take too long with this part. You have maybe a 5 minute window before the resin solidifies.

(And don't worry about screwing it up... some times the resin mix simply will not take and it ends up being a tacky blechy mess... scrape it out as best you can from the mold and try again)

If/When you are successful, you will have a ring that is translucent green!

Yay!

... now drill a hole out of the middle of the lantern.

There's method to my madness.

I also used a dremel tool to chisel out a groove on the inside of the band of the ring, connecting all the way to the hole... and I also poked/drilled two small holes in the band near the opening at the base... the reason for which will be clear later.

Stay tuned!

Abby Dark-Star!

From the "Credit Where Credit is Due" Department:

I give you - Abby Dark-Star.

http://www.facebook.com/abbydarkstar

Yes, she's real. Yes, she seems to be a fun-loving geek-fan nerd-girl dork with a fantastic body.
No, I'm not making this up.
And yes, she is a tremendously great person all around, not only friendly, but warm and vivacious (it means 'lively and animated' ya pervert) and dedicated not only to her craft of Cosplay, but to the world around her.
If you look around, there are pics out there of her and her guy (Keith Zen Dragon) visiting people in the hospital in their cosplay gear.

These people are great people... and a treasure in the Cosplay community.

Check her out!

Progress shots and Riveting pictures!

I have come to love rivets.
Don't ask me how this came to be... but holy heck I have been able to move quite a bit faster now that I've gotten the hang of it...
It basically takes a certain level of 'willingness to sacrifice' a piece or three in order to accomplish your goal.
Which is why I started with the ribs and lumbar pieces... they're small, few cuttings to assemble them (if things went wrong, which they didn't - WOO!) and the results are pretty rapid to see.

So... here was the problem:
Three rib plates per side, which articulate with the lumbar plates, and also with the back and the cod-piece at the sides and rear.
But HOW? How much range of motion do I want to have versus how much restriction of motion do I want to force myself to endure? I figure I should be able to move a LITTLE bit... if nothing else that will allow my core muscles to engage enough to not fatigue my back while wearing the armor.
Trust me... that part is more important than you think.

Moving on... I figured I didn't want TOO much movement, but if 'push came to shove', I wanted to be able to have some side-bending and flexion/extension through my abdominals/obliques/lumbar extensors... so a small amount of articulation would be enough.
My original thought was a tough-yet-elastic fabric to go underneath all the pieces... but that would a) require articulation with the pieces anyway... and b) require me to FIND a fabric like that.
Good luck, by the way... I challenge anyone to find that fabric before I tame this Pegasus over here.
The problem is... the rib plates aren't exactly a large mass of terrain to attach things to, plus they will need to be Bondo'd like everything else... so bolt-and-nut assembly was out.

The answer?
Rivets.
Flat, reasonably flush with the outside and secure enough to attach straps!
(More on that as progress continues!)
For now, though... elastic strapping will serve my purposes nicely. I sliced some segments (2-3" long) and riveted them along one side of a rib section... then, with a little bit of elbow grease, pulled them to the other rib section and fastened them down... not tight enough to strain the elastic overly (else it might very likely have torn the hole away) but enough to make it 'snug'.

On the OUTside of the ribs, I tried to keep the rivet holes as evenly spaced and uniform as possible... and the end-result seems to be okay. Keep in mind that these will ALL be covered completely with Bondo... so any external evidence will be hidden completely from view.
That will happen some time this week as well. I find there is just enough play in the elastics between the ribs to pry them apart a little... but if it proves to be too difficult, I will slather right along the cracks between the rib sections and then slice them apart and smooth the Bondo in-between with a putty knife or similar small tool.

Also... a bit of 'learning as I go' here... the top panel of the lumbar pieces seems to not fit well with the rest... and the entire apparatus is WAY too large (the back plus four lumbar panels plus the cod) and it appears I'd have to be a lot taller to fit into the set-up.
I think I solved that problem, though... the top panel of the lumbar seems to fit underneath the bottom-most articulation point of the back piece... so when I slice apart the cod (into front and back halves) I will have three visible lumbar panels (the topmost 'hiding' under the back piece).
Stay tuned, for that, though... it may not work. LOL

As it stands, though, the rib panels connected to the lumbar panels quite nicely... once they're perma-connected to the back and codpieces, then I'll have a decent starting-point to go from... and the entire set-up will be ready for the Bondo treatment!

Stop starin' at my butt!

Arm-adillo articulation! (Hur hur!)

More pics on the elbow bands...
I decided that 7.5" was a bit large for the space, so I scaled the pieces down a bit... 6.5" and 1.5" wide per band... and it seems to work quite well!

These first two pics are a view from the outside looking into the crook of the elbow... the new (smaller) pieces I cut out of the plastic 4L icecream tub lids... AV's grandmother was a sculptor and kept tons of them as paint palletes. The end result is more flexible than the harder plastic I used for the larger pieces and able to not only articulate within the elbow and the significant degree of flexion required, but due to the smaller amount of space I needed to work with (inside), the thinner plates seem to be able to conform to the space a little easier.

Ice cream! Mmm!

The next two pics are looking at the pieces and plates from the inside... and seeing how tightly the plates are able to conform to the inside of the arm pieces. This week sometime I will be riveting the elbow 'banding joint' to the arm pieces, then covering it and Bondo-ing the arm pieces for their second layer. I'll also be re-configuring some bands for the back of the elbow and the front of the knee joints... as they have a bend 'away' and increase their angle in respect to each other, I have to make the pieces a little fancier so as to allow them to stay articulated without 'gapping' and pulling apart and (let's face it) looking sloppy.

Stay tuned!

A week of craziness!

Yeah yeah... no excuse, I know... but I have had a couple major midterms and a term paper get in the way of my armor project...
... not so much that I haven't been puttering away at it, but enough that I haven't had the time to sit and muse about it in quiet contemplation...

So sit tight... things are coming... and I'll take a bunch of progress pictures tonight as an interim set... it just feels weird to take photos with not tricks or hints to add to them...

... ah well.

It's Bondo time!