Hopefully this works...

I'm really not sure what to do with the helmet.  After fighting with the metal mesh stuff and my bowl (and losing said fight), I'm trying a new approach.  I covered the curve part of the mesh (for the popped collar) with duct tape and then with siran wrap to prep for paper mache and then covered both it and the bowl with paper mache.  I'm hoping this works well enough I can just attach the two pieces somehow and then I'll use that as a base to work from.  /crossesfingers

They're currently drying...........

In other news though, I got some more paint and the colours are a bit better...although I'm not entirely satisfied.  In some light I like it, in others I don't.  Not sure if I want to like it in dark lighting (like what the majority of Blizzcon will be) or bright lighting (like on stage if I enter the contest).

Wrong Colours =(

I started painting my shoulders today and I'm fairly pleased with how the grey parts turned out and the accompanying shading.  I used a light grey, medium grey, and black and lots and lots of mixing and blending.

It seems though that I didn't pick good colours for the maroon part. 

Needs more reddish tones =(

Oh, and don't worry - all those whitish marks still visible will be taken care of....they're no where near done =P

7 Bandaids Later

So, today was frustrating.  I decided to tackle the helmet since I'd like to get most of the construction of my costume done before I have to go back to work next week.

After batting around several ideas, I decided to tackle trying to create the shape using a bowl I found at Dollarama

and some mesh type stuff from Home Depot.  Apparently it's the stuff that gets used under stucco and whatnot to keep it's shape.  It was 10 bucks for a big sheet and bendable, but still relatively sturdy so seemed like a good idea.

However, I'm beyond frustrated trying to get the bowl to attach to the wire mesh.  I've tried variations of bending it to fit, duct tape, etc, but nothing's seeming to work well. 

Did I also mention that this stuff is incredibly sharp?!?!!?  I used thick rubber gloves...but it's not enough >.<  Six of my fingers have bandaids on them, as well as my wrist, hence my title of this entry.

I can get access to a drill tomorrow night, so I'll try screwing the mesh to the bowl.  If that doesn't work I'm not sure what to do =(

For now I'll paint my shoulders... le sigh

Weapon of Choice

So, I think I'm getting to a point I need to decide which weapon to go with.

In game, when I'm holy specced I use the heroic Mag'hari Chieftain's Staff (from 10 man) because heroic Dying Light (25 man) has gone to a pug priest that conned it away from our regular resto druid the first time it dropped, and a mage the second time it dropped..... I'm not bitter >.>

I also regularly use heroic Trauma with either the offhand from Princes or Sindragosa, depending on if I'm holy or discipline.  I generally use trauma when I'm holy on fights when we're clumped, or when I'm disc for the extra spell power.

However, I'm thinking I'd rather go with a staff to blizzcon, rather than the mace (trauma).  Staves just seem more epic...and besides, I'd rather carry one larger thing, than two smaller things.

In addition to Mag'hari Chieftain's Staff and Dying Light, I'm also considering the staff that drops off Lich King (Archus, Greatstaff of Antonidas), even though I would still rather use heroic Dying Light in game =P  Although I don't have this staff, since I've killed Lich King (normal 25 and heroic 10....That's right:  Moldycheese, Bane of the Fallen King), I don't feel like a poser using this one at Blizzcon =P

Sorry about that nerdiness, especially to my non wow-playing friends.  So, without further adieu, here are some pictures I'm stealing from Wowhead of each of these choices.

Mag'hari Chieftain's Staff

Dying Light

Archus, Greatstaff of Antonidas

Trauma (an offhand would need to go with this)

I'm leaning towards Archus.  I think it goes best with the colour scheme of my robe, which conveniently the priest in the picture is wearing.  Now, how to make it... I have no clue...but heck, I've figured out the shoulders, I can figure this out too ^.^d

Thoughts?  I think I'll make a poll.... if I can figure out how =P

Levelling Jewelcrafting, IRL (sorta)

While in the dollar store today looking for cheap LED lights, I stumbled across some flexible, translucent/smokey, plastic binders, and thought to myself, "Self, THOSE WOULD BE AWESOME FOR MY SHOULDER GLOWY PARTS!!!!"

So, today I  learned how to jewelcraft, in real life.  Who says what you learn in WoW doesn't help you in the real world >.>

After fiddling with paper and a trial one, I got the shape I wanted!  I think I at least made it to 30/450

I bore a hole through my shoulders for the light to be inserted underneath, as you can see in the resulting above image.  Also, I'll be lining the inside of that with slightly crumpled tin foil to diffuse the light a bit and make it more glowy, and less spotlighty.

Smoke

My shoulders and helm are both supposed to have smoke.

I've kind of researched into fog machines, dry ice techniques, etc....but I'm not sure if any of this is doable.  Also, I'm not sure if they'll even let me in with that stuff.

I think I'm giving up on the smoke -_-

However, if anyone has any bright ideas, let me know ASAP!

Progress so far...

The first part of my costume I started working on was the robe...well, rather a "trial robe".  I haven't sewn since I was 12 (that's right folks, 14 years ago) so I wanted to practice on cheap fabric instead of the stuff I'm actually using.  Also, I wanted to practice robe to fiddle with any needed alterations.  So, I found some hideously delicious fabric at 99c/metre and went from there.  This was the result:

I sent a pic to a friend of me wearing it, and he laughed at me for several minutes and said I looked like a "home-school kid."  So I'm sparing the embarrassment and put it on my dummy I created using a bra stuffed with towels around couch pillows in a sleeping bag case taped to a camera tripod, approximately in my dimensions.  All in all, I think it turned out okay =P  The white is the beginning of the patterning I did of the panels on the robe.  There are more, but this gives an idea.

Sadly, my purple fabric hasn't come in yet (I have the gold and maroon), so I was forced to start on my shoulders, which I was putting off since that scares me more than the robe creation.

The plan was to glue (via spray adhesive) several sheets insulation foam together, trace my shoulders on the top, and then carve from there.  However, I quickly realized this foam is quite dense and without an actual foam carver (those heat up knife thingies), I would have a lot of difficultly, so I chose the route of tracing and cutting each one out before I glued them together for further carving.

12 sheets later...

Carving....

 

                                           

I'm fairly pleased with how the carving process turned out.  I had such difficulty starting it though.  I honestly stared at the hunk of styrofoam for like an hour just feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.  In retrospect, I should have chosen a less dense foam.  I went with this stuff because it appeared to be the most cost effective route, but without proper tools (I used a utility knife, a wood file, and a 10 dollar electric meat cutter) I should have shelled out for the craft foam or something.  Also, I should have done it in two pieces, perhaps even shaping the top piece out of cardboard and stiffening/thickening with papier mache or something.  Oh well, live and learn!  It was very fun though, even though it left my dining room and living room an absolute mess!  Next step will be figuring out the lighting and covering with paperclay so I can paint these bad boys =D

Beginnings

I suppose as an introductory blog, I should write why I'm doing this (although I suspect most of the people reading this already know).  I wanted a place where I could share about where my real world and my gaming world overlap, without fear of being judged by either.  I'm an avid World of Warcraft player, but I tend to keep that in the closet because of the stigma wrapped around declaring that.  Also, as a female gamer, I tend to keep my real identity private from the majority of people I play with.

The creation of this blog is primarily sparked by my current project - t.10 (ilvl 264) priest costume (note though, I'm going as a female troll, not a human male):

Now, I wouldn't identify myself as a "cosplayer".  This is the first time I've ever done anything like this, but hey I guess there's a first time for everything, amirite?  I'm attending Blizzcon 2010 this upcoming October, which is what the costume in question is being created for.  I remember once saying, "Making a costume sounds cool, but I could never wear it out in public."  Oh, the irony.

So, why am I even doing this?  I once wrote in a guild forum "get-to-know-you" type thread, under hobbies, that WoW has pretty much consumed my other hobbies, but if it weren't for it I'd be doing more crafts and hugging more trees.  I love creating things - anything from painting ornaments, crocheting, simple sewing projects, etc.  It just happens that my creations have turned more and more geeky the older I get.  I haven't done anything since my Christmas break (where I was visiting people without the capabilities to play WoW) where I went on a crocheting binge, but that was 8 months ago so now I've been itching for a new and challenging project.  Also, conveniently I have two weeks off of work at the end of August, so instead of finishing my Loremaster achievement, I'm making a costume.

As for hugging more trees....maybe I'll eat some organic granola as I work.

Hope you enjoy the updates on my costume and see you at Blizzcon! =)