CosPlay * コスプレ * 角色扮演

My New Blog

2008-03-01T01:08:00.001+08:00

My New Blog -- J仔的地盘
http://jzai86.blogspot.com/

my 2nd cos - RO Magician

2007-10-03T00:02:00.000+08:00

Magician glove

2007-09-29T18:50:00.000+08:00

my new weapon

2007-09-20T19:46:00.000+08:00

RO Swordman's sword

RO Magician's wand

Bleach Kenpachi's katana

naruto clock

2007-09-05T23:11:00.000+08:00

Lolita Shoes

2007-09-03T23:34:00.000+08:00

Material

-Shoes (I used shoes I found from a thrift store)

-Design Master Colortool Floral Spray* (of desired color)

-Ribbon (in same color)

-Thread (in same color)

-2 sizes of flat lace

-Spray on craft glaze/sealer

-Hot glue

-Sand paper

-Needle

-Masking tape

-Newspaper or other undesired paper

Steps

1. Sand shoes with sand paper to give the paint something to hold on to.

2. Cover all of the parts of the shoes you don't want painted with the masking tape; crumple up the newspaper and put it inside of the shoes.

3. Spray on a couple of layers of paint (giving each layer time to dry) until you get the desired color. Then after letting the paint dry, spray on a layer or so of the craft glaze.

4. Remove and throw away the masking tape. Then hot glue the lace onto the shoes (not all of it!).

5. Make the ribbon into bows and hot glue them on as disired. You could also apply the ribbon onto the back of the shoes so when you put on the shoes the ribbon would criss-cross up your legs.

6. Stitch on the other lace that you didn't use onto the strap of the shoes, or wherever. Tadaa! Your shoes are finished.

Best Mask of The Night

2007-08-31T18:28:00.000+08:00

Fin Head Gear from RO

Anthy's crown

2007-08-29T22:08:00.000+08:00

Materials
-A metal hairband (Alice band style)
-A sheet of thin brass
-Some tiny gold-colored beads (optional but recommended)

Tools
-Sandpaper
-A pair of medium-size scissors that your mum won't execute you for blunting
-A pair of pliers (and if physical strength isn't your forte, you might need to seek assistance in places with this one. The thinner the brass, the easier it'll be to work with)

Procedure

Step 1
Somebody asked me for a tutorial on this one, but honestly there's nothing to it! This was an emergency commission - I had four days to make and ship it, so there wasn't time to mess around. I just went down to my local tools outlet (y'know, the kind that you always find on industrial estates and are mostly mail-order for builders and modellers - they have a small shop at one end which is invariably run by a dirty-minded middle-aged man who thinks it's hilarious that there's a girl on his premises). Alternatively, a model shop might have what you need.
I bought a sheet of the thinnest brass they had - even then it was thicker than I wanted, but my local model shop only had small sheets and I reckoned I needed about two feet by one foot.

Step 2
I looked at a whole bunch of Anthy pics until I had a good idea of what the crown should look like, and then I drew a template freehand on a big sheet of paper. I cut it out and played around with it and the hairband, until I got it exactly the right size and it sat right on my head.
Note: Don't forget that Anthy's crown isn't flat, each of the curved sections bends back and then comes forward to a 'fold' going down from each point towards her head. See below? Make sure you fold and bend your paper so it looks right. Then I cut out another paper template matching that one, but with three inch-long tabs coming off the bottom. This means when you cut out the brass version, it will have metal tabs you can use to attach it to the hairband. The idea is to attach the crown securely but flexibly to the hairband, so that you can still bend the hairband to fit your head comfortably.

Step 3
I drew around the paper template with a thin marker pen to put the outline on the brass, then I cut it out with scissors.
Two warnings:
a) When you cut brass sheet with scissors, the edges are VERY VERY SHARP, especially at the points of the crown. Please be extremely careful as you're using a lot of force and it's easy to accidentally cut yourself. I was working in a hurry and ended up with lots of little scratches on my hands...
b) Your scissors will go blunt and you may get slightly achy hands as it takes considerable force to cut metal.

Step 4
Once I had the brass cut, the first thing I did was sand the edges down so they weren't sharp, and blunt the points of the crown a little. Then I used a ruler to make a 'fold' in the brass starting at each of the points so that it made the crown shape. This all took about five minutes.

Step 5
Then I took the pliers and attached the crown to the hairband by bending the brass 'tabs' around the hairband and squeezing them tight. This was the hardest bit because it's fiddly *and* requires force, which is a really difficult combination. I'm not ashamed to say that I enlisted the help of the owner of the pliers for this bit ^_^ I also put a little glue on the hairband underneath the tabs to stop them from sliding along the hairband.

Step 6
Finally, it looked great but I still wasn't happy with how sharp the points were, so I took my smallest gold beads and glued one onto each point with epoxy.

Garnet's pendant

2007-08-29T22:01:00.000+08:00

Materials
-A bloody great crystal. I strongly recommend a Swarovski 60mm octagon in either clear or AB (Aurora Borealis, a green iridescent coating that's very accurate to the one in the game). It's a suncatcher so comes with a convincing steel loop to hang it from - very convenient. If you need a hint for sourcing, I get mine from Ebay.
-Polymer clay
-A heavy-ish chain to hang it from - ideally from a jewelry supplies seller, or from a hardware store in a pinch.
-A small length of strong wire, I recommend beading wire if you're doing it my way
-A couple of crimp beads (if you're using beading wire)
-A decent-size jumpring or splitring, say 8mm

Tools
-Super glue
-A thin metal rod, or round kebab skewer, ballpen refill, whatever. A long thin round thing.
-A scalpel or Exacto knife is handy
-A can of metallic silver ACRYLIC (this is important!) Spraypaint. Non-acrylic paint won't dry on polymer clay because of the plasticizers in it, so don't be tempted to use anything else. ^_^
-A pair of pliers, the smaller the better.

Procedure

Step 1
C'mon, you must know the routine by now... find tons of reference photos of the item you're making. This one is actually really difficult because you have to find stills of the FFIX ending vid.
Before I start the actual instructions, there's a basic engineering principle you need to understand about this piece. Polymer clay is NOT STRONG ENOUGH to support the weight of a piece of crystal this big. Therefore, we're not really going to make a crown cap which has a crystal attached to the bottom and a chain attached to the top, like the pendant in the game, because it will break. What we're going to do is attach the chain directly to the crystal through a hole in the crown cap, and make it look like the pendant in the game.

Step 2
OK. If you look closely at the crown you'll see it's made up of several components. There's a little dome in the middle with ridges and stars on it, a ring around the dome at the bottom with studs and a cross on it, a tall bit that rises up from the top of the dome, and two arched pieces that start from the ring and end at the tall bit. So that's how I'm going to refer to the components; the dome, the ring, the top bit and the arches. Got it? ^_^
We're going to start by making the dome. Take a piece of clay big enough and form it into a dome shape with a flat bottom. Press the clay dome into the top of the crystal so that the dome sits in the right way on the crystal and the steel loop is inside the dome. (I hope this is clear - you're trying to make a top-of-crystal shaped indentation in the bottom of the dome, so that when it's baked it will fit over the crystal perfectly) Use your thin rod to poke a hole right through the center of the dome from top to bottom.
Doing all this is actually quite difficult - pushing the dome onto the crystal tends to mess up its dome-shape, poking a hole through the dome tends to make it go splat a little, and so on, so you have to keep repeating steps. Persevere and get it right in shape and size, it's important.
When you're ready, bake the dome. DO NOT COOK THE CRYSTAL. Let me say that again. DO NOT COOK THE CRYSTAL. If you need me to tell you why, your basic physics ain't what it oughta be. ^_^

Step 3
Hopefully you've now got a baked dome that fits fairly neatly over the top of your crystal and has a hole through its middle. (If you haven't, do it again!) The next bit is the fun bit where you add the silly little decorations. You can really do this any way you like, but here's how I did it:
Firstly, the ring around the bottom of the crown. Roll out a thin strip of clay and wrap it around the bottom, then another slightly wider and thicker strip and wrap it around that. This gives you a strip around the bottom of the dome which has a sort of groove in it (it's higher on the outside than the inside). Add the stars to the dome, the little blobs to the ring, and the Maltese Cross to the front.
(NB. I actually found it downright impossible to do the stars and the cross in one go. I cut the stars out of clay with a craft knife and baked them, then glued them on. I couldn't even do that with the Maltese Cross so I baked a flat piece of clay and *then* cut the shape out and glued it on. If you're doing this, remember you'll have to wait to glue them on till you've finished baking the crown - you can't bake glue, it de-stickies.)
Next, the top bit and the arches. Make the top bit, except for the topmost piece (remember the top bit needs to have a hole through it that continues from the one through the dome). Make the arches and attach them too. DO NOT attach the very top piece of the top bit yet! (The bit that sticks out) Make it, bake it, keep it separate. You're going to need it in a minute.

Step 4
Right. You're done with clay, now we just need to paint the crown and make the attachment for the chain. Make a space, cover it with newspaper, spray-paint the crown silver. You may need a couple of coats to get it all. Try to paint all the bits that are going to be visible, but try not to paint the bits that will actually be touching the crystal if you can help it (doesn't matter too much though). You don't need to use too much paint, but make sure you spray from all angles, especially on the front, so that all the cracks and crevices get paint in them. Leave it to dry overnight.

Step 5
Now for the rather fiddly bit. I use professional jewellers' techniques to make the jewellery bits of my cosplay pieces. You're going to use crimp beads to secure the beading wire, so unless you already know how to do this check out this handy tutorial by Rock Garden. (If you can do it another way go ahead, just remember that it MUST be secure, or else the crystal could drop off and smash.)
Take a piece of the beading wire and loop it through the steel ring at the top of the crystal. Crimp the loop closed, leaving the two loose ends sticking up at least a few inches.
Now poke the loose ends up through the hole in the crown and use superglue to carefully fix the crown to the crystal, so that the whole pendant hangs from the pieces of wire which are sticking up through the crown cap.
The next bit is a little tricky. Use crimp beads to attach the loose ends to the jumpring, as close to the top of the crown cap as you can. Then take the top piece of the top bit (the ring-shaped piece you made separately, remember?), cut it in half with a craft knife and glue it back together around the bottom of the jumpring. The idea is that it hides the crimp beads and makes it look like the jumpring is attached to the crown.

Step 6
And that's pretty much it! Use the pliers to make your chain into a loop the length you want. I put a clasp on mine so that I could remove the chain from the pendant but it's so long you don't need to, you can just pull it over your head.

CosWorld's LATEST VIDEO - Hero Come Back MV

2007-08-28T23:49:00.000+08:00

CosWorld's LATEST VIDEO - Hero Come Back MV
For more video: http://www.cosworld.net

Tensa Zangetsu

2007-08-28T20:06:00.000+08:00

Materials
-8" (minimum) charm bracelet chain $ Varies (to make 'charm')
-2 jars of Liquid leaf, 1 silver, 1 chrome tone $5 roughly each (for guard stopper, and blade -optional-)
-3 rolls of red braided ribbon 1/8-1/4 inch wide (for handle)
-3 rolls of black, slightly ribbed ribbon 3/4-1 inch wide (for handle)
-Gorilla glue
-1 to 3 cans of spraypaint - Gloss Black (Testors I found works best)
-1 to 2 cans of laquer clear gloss/overcoat/primer (same as other paint)
-1 guitar pick, a simple basic plastic tri-edge pick (if you know someone with a guitar, then ask to bum one off of them used to make 'charm')
-A roll of Duct tape
-1 capsule of Silly putty (yes I said Silly Putty)
-2 strips of Balsa wood (to create guard) - At least 3-5 feet long and 8 inch wide
-Popsicle stick or something else for stirring the Liquid leaf
-Cardboard (to paste the template to so its more sturdy)
-A little vegtable oil (for final assembly, if needed)
-Some paper to draw out templates if needed

Tools
-Foam brushes
-Sandpaper, various grits
-Hand sanding block, or just a small block of wood
-Ruler
-Scissors
-Needle nose pliers
-A very lightly damp rag
-small disposable bowl
-Pencil or other marking tool, that won't do major damage
-A small punch (or flat chisel, small) and hammer (for helping make a small hole/notch to put the chain in)
-Disposible latex gloves (in case you don't wanna have the fun of cleaning the stuff off your hands)

Procedure

Step 1. Ok one you got all the goodies together lay out and set up your area to best suit your work method.

Sword

Step 2. First thing you will do is take the bokkun and the sandpaper and sand the whole bokkun down, first with the rougher grit, then with each subsequent grit till you finalize it with the finest grit. Pay attention around the handle are and the sword edge. The time it takes to sand depends on fast you work. You are basically roughing the wood and removing the light glaze on the bokkun to prep it for painting.

Step 3. Once you finish sanding the bokkun, then take the very lightly damp rag and wipe the whole bokkun with it to help remove the residual sawdust from sanding. Use this opportunity to also check over for any other imperfections you may need to remove to make sure the sword is smooth before going to the next step. If you do need to sand a little more, make sure you wipe down again before the next step.

Step 4. Give the sword a few moments to dry a little from the wipe down before taking the bokkun and either holding it or finding another way to secure it (such as tying it up by a piece of string around the handle, and hanging from the ceiling or something) so you can do the first run with the painting. Make sure you have tacked up paper and laid down paper where you plan to spray the paint. Once ready, take the gloss coat/primer and spray it all over the blade part of the bokkun. It will take a lightly clear sheen with a little bit of white foaming during the initial spray. Let the sword sit to dry for about 30 minutes or more depending on the temperature of the room and other factors. A fan aimed at it on low will help speed the drying time, not to mention, make you not fall over from paint fumes by helping circulating the air.

Step 5. One the first coat is finished; check it for any imperfections to the gloss coat/primer. Buff with fine grit sandpaper if needed. Once your ready, you can now take the can of Gloss Black paint and repeat what you did with the gloss coat/primer and spray the black paint over the handle. Let dry. Repeat this up to two more times. After each coat of paint check for and lightly buff any imperfections off and wipe with rag before applying new coat.

Step 6. The next part is up to the individual, but if you choose to, open the Liquid Leaf and following the directions, put a little of each of the Liquid Leaf colors, into the bowl and stir together to create a kind of liquid metal color. Take the foam brush and very lightly and sparingly brush it across the blade along roughly on what would be the 'sharp' edge of the sword, just enough to give it that faint shimmer, when the light catches it. Let it dry and set aside for the moment.

Guard/Guard Stopper

Step 7. The guard is probably the funniest, yet most annoying part of the sword. Using the Bankai 2 Picture as a guide (though I shall add the template piccy I made, once I find the bugger), will draw the design onto the balsa wood a few times, using a ruler to make sure you make each piece of the guard the same size. You will use the guard piece you received with the bokkun's purchase to help as the guide for the size of the opening in the center, so you may make the hole large enough to allow for the guard piece to slide onto the sword. I suggest making at least three pieces of the guard with the balsa wood, to stack together to increase the durability of the guard. I also suggest each arm be at least 1/2 inch to 3/4 wide. Once you draw out the design on the wood, use the sharp hobby knife to cut the wood slowly and carefully. Do the center first, since this will make it much easier. Once you finish cutting the pieces out, you will use the Gorilla glue and carefully stack the three pieces together to make a sort of sandwich that will become the finished guard, prior to it's final work. Let the guard dry for a little while.

Step 8. Once the guard piece is dry, sand it lightly just to smooth it a little on the edges and prep it for painting. Once that is finished, take the gloss coat/primer and spray the one side, and let dry. Repeat with the other side. You will then repeat the process twice for each side with the gloss black paint, and then a final coat of the gloss coat/primer. You may wish to sand the inner portion of the guard when finished to remove some of the paint from the central hole inside, so when you go to slip it on during the final construction, it won't try sticking as you slide it on the sword.

Step 9. Once you’re done with that, you can take the rubber ring piece they also give you, which holds the guard in place, and work with that. If it isn't already a sort of darkish gray silver black, you will need to take the Liquid Leaf and mix some of each together to make a dark liquid metal color. If you feel the need to do so, spray a small amount of the gloss black paint into a rag and rub the color on the outside of the ring. Just enough to darken the tone lightly. After you do that, take the foam brush and lightly apply the Liquid Leaf to the rubber piece and then let it set aside to dry. Just the outer side of the ring only!

The Chain/Handle Adournment

Step 10. Ohhh...the chain thing that dangles off the end of the sword. For a little while I had fun trying to decide what would be the easiest way to do a simple adaptation of it, and it ended with a guitar pick, that gets a small hole punched in the top, and a ring threaded through it, and attached to a chain.
So first off take the charm bracelet chain, and remove the claw piece/clasp off the one end, using the needle nose to open the jump ring, but keep the other end on. Next you will take the guitar pick and punch a hole in it along the top of the pick with a small punch. Don't need to big a hole, just enough to get the jump ring through. Next take the charm chain and on the end where you removed the claw, use the pliers to open the jump ring on the end just enough so you can them thread the punched guitar pick onto it. Once the pick is on, close the jump ring. Next you will take the gloss black and spray the chain and the pick black. You may want to thread a piece of string though the other end and hang it on something to make it easier to spray the paint on. Make sure you cover the area you use to spray the charm. Let it sit aside and dry.

Handle Wrapping

Step 11. The fun, oh the fun. The wrapping of the handle is probably the least fun of the whole thing, as it takes some time and your wits. First off, get the sword portion of the prop and take a small punch and hammer, and make a small indent in the base of the hilt, to be where the charm piece will go.

Step 12. Once you make an indent, push the charm chain into the indent, pushing the side that has the other half of the clasp that wasn’t removed. Place some glue to secure the charm in place. Next take the silly putty and break pieces off and mold around the charm imbedded in the handle. Mold it around handle and just slightly over to secure the charm well. Once you secure it, place a few pieces of duct tape on the end, and a strip around the base.

Step 13. Now the fun part. Your going to take your sword and settle on the floor and stuff with your rolls of ribbon, some scissors and that bottle of Gorilla Glue. First step will be to take the rolls of the red braided ribbon and slowly glue and wrap the ribbon all around the handle all the way down to the end. Wrap as tightly and close as you can without over lapping the ribbon. Once you finish the red inner handle wrapping set it aside for a short time to allow to dry and set.

Step 14. Once the red layer is set, you will next take the black ribbon and tack down one side (blade side end) and do two sets of twists (see pictures for idea) before removing the excess and taking down the other end. It takes a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, it’s not quite such a pain in the butt. Do this all the way down the handle, till you have about a ½” left (Where the duct tape is). Once you finish this grueling part. Let it s it aside for a short time to dry and set.

The Final Assembly

Step 15. Now for the grand finale! You will take the sword, the guard, the guard stopper, and assemble it all together. The guard slides on first, followed by the guard stopper. You may need to rub a small amount of vegetable oil on the blade part of the sword to help make the stuff slide easily. Wipe it off once your done though. Lastly, if you so desire to do so, do one final gloss coat finish over the fully assembled sword and let dry. Viola! You now have Tensa Zangetsu.

Naruto headband

2007-08-28T20:01:00.000+08:00

Materials
-1 soda can - cleaned and washed out
-black acrylic paint
-6 metal brads
-piece of cloth long enough to go around your head, wide enough to hold the plate and be folded
-over multiple times

Tools
-box cutter
-fine tipped paintbrush

Procedure

Step 1: Cutting the shape
You start with a soda can. Yeah, a soda can. Make sure it's clean and had light colored soda inside. Cut off the top and bottom, then cut it long ways, so that you're able to take it and roll it out into one big strip. Outline the size and shape you want your headband to have on a piece of paper. It helps to have a store bought headband to trace or to find the dimensions on a website. Place it on the strip of metal, and take a box cutter and cut along the lines that you drew on the paper, cutting through the paper, and metal can underneath. Make sure that the shape on the paper is a bit bigger than your headband should be, in case you make mistakes, or need to trim edges.

Step 2: The symbol
So, you have the general shape on the nice shiny metallic back(inside) of the old soda can. Now what about the symbol?... You can actually draw on the metal with pencil, which helps when trying to get the symbol perfect. Once the symbol is drawn to your satisfaction , take the box cutter, and using one bladed edge of the box cutter very slowly and lightly trace the symbol so that you make a gash in the metal, but don't cut all the way through - DO NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH FOR THE SYMBOL. This takes a while because you're literally scratching away at the metal, you have to keep going over the same part, smoothing it out for visual appeal, but not cutting through. Don't worry, it's worth it later. A
After you have a nicely smoothed out design etched into the metal, take your box cutter again, and do that same slow, tedious etching for the slashing across the symbol. You want it to look like it messed up the symbol a bit, but don't destroy you work!! If you want, you can sketch out the slashing too beforehand. Then get some black acrylic paint, and a really small tipped paint brush, and paint into the indentation you made for the symbol. (All the store-bought headbands have this black paint effect). For the slashing, once etched in, add a tiny bit of paint, so little that it almost blends into the metal. It makes the slashing noticeable, but not stupid looking.

Step 3: The headband
Buy a shiny piece of black cloth, long enough to fit around your head with a bit of excess, and wide enough so that you can fold it over three times equally, and still have your metal piece fit nicely on it with excess on top and bottom (like Naruto headbands look...). Also buy some brass fasteners- if you can find them in metal color, great!! I couldn't, so had to buy brass, and paint them as close as I could to the metal headband color. But they do come in metal.
You've seen how in the upper and lower corners of Naruto headbands, as well as at the center area of each side, there's a little round nail or screw like thing, probably used for attachment, right? Well, draw little circles on your headband in the corners, and far centers, where those round metal pieces should be. Measure for evenness. Then, make small cuts through the metal where you've drawn those circles, these are the holes for the brads, but don't cut into the edge of the metal or your headband wont hold to the cloth and will fall off. Take the bottoms of those metal or brass fasteners, cut them a little shorter, and shove the prongs 1 through each of those 6 cuts you made, so that the round part holds nicely to the front of your headband.
If your cloth is folded into 3 equal parts, so that the part without an edge is facing forward, and the 1st fold is underneath it, the 3rd fold over that one in the back(helps with aesthetics), cut six holes to 2 layers of the cloth, and shove the prongs of the fasteners through or just shove it through the material. Fold them over, and your metal is now attached to the cloth, without glue, and won't come off. The last piece of cloth fold, that you didn't stick them through, is to protect your head in case those metal prongs ram into your skin- ha, now they can't! Sew the 3 pieces of cloth along their entire tops and along their entire bottom, to keep things together- and you can sew at the back edges that will tie around you too if you'd like. I did because I cut that in a triangle sort of shape.

ANBU Mask

2007-08-27T19:32:00.000+08:00

Materials
-Plastic Mask of a full human face.

-At least 2 packages of White Crayola Model magic.
-Black Elastic Band 1/2 inch wide.
-Super glue.

Tools
-A rolling pin.

Procedure
1. Lay out all of your materials in front of you.

2. Take the white molding substance out of the TWO packages of Crayola Model Magic and form both rectangles into ONE big ball.

3. Find a clean flat surface and lightly apply pressure to the ball. Press the ball down until it is flat enough to roll.

4. Roll the clay until it is about one centimeter thick or until the clay "sheet" is large enough to fit completely over the mask.

5. Place the clay "sheet" over the mask (make sure that the clay covers the entire front part of the mask) and lightly press/stretch the material to give a seamless appearance to the mask.

6. GENTLY poke/push around the eye area to show the mask's eye holes.

7. IMPORTANT: Pull/Cut off the excess molding clay that is jutting out from the back of the mask.

8. Take the excess clay that you pulled off from the back of the mask and make two small balls from it. Then mold those balls into an ear shape.

9. DO NOT ATTACH THE EARS TO THE MASK YET. Now you should have three parts formed. (Throw any excess clay away because it will dry out and be unusable.)
Get up from wherever you are and leave the mask and ears alone. Go back to your workstation in a few hours.

10. Super glue the now dry items together.

11. Cut a piece of black elastic so that it is about fifteen inches long without being stretched. Super glue the elastic band to the inside of the mask.

12. Congratulations!!! You have made the base to your very own Naruto mask!

ANBU Leggings

2007-08-27T19:19:00.000+08:00

Materials
3 pairs of socks

Tools
fabric scissors

Procedure
1) take 3 socks and cut the toes off each

2) take 1 of the socks, straighten the edge that goes on top of your foot. then cut out the heel in a triangle.

3) cut a series of triangles on opposite sides of the sock you cut the heel out of. the amount of triangles you cut depends on how big or small your legs are.for bigger/musclyer legs cut fewer triangles, leaving bigger gaps. for smaller/thiner legs you can afford to cut more triangles, leaving smaller gaps.

4) Take one toe-less sock, pull it up to the crook of your knee.

5) Take the second toe-less sock and pull it up so that it overlaps the first

6) Bunch up the sock you cut the triangles out of.

7) Pull it over your foot, leaving 1 of the "wrungs" in the arch of your foot, then spread the rest of the "wrungs" out.

8) Don your ninja sandals.

Zabuza's Sword

2007-08-26T23:40:00.000+08:00

Materials
-Pink Insulation Foam
-Fiberglass cloth
-Epoxy
-Wooden Dowels
-Spraypaint
-Duct tape
-Sand Paper

Tools
-Hand saw
-Power sander
-Drill - Power drill, or a han drill. You'll need a big bit

Procedure

Step 1: Preparing the area
I recommend you do your work in a place which is well ventilated (like a garage). The steps to epoxy and spray paint will require this for your own health. Get your materials together. Refer to the quick guide above for materials. This building process will take a week or more, because of drying times for the epoxy, so you don't need the paints right away. But you do at least need your rigid insulation foam. Decide how large your item will be. Few cases will require you to bind multiple pieces together. You can see that my board was pretty large.

Step 2: Shaping/Cutting
Trace out the outmost edges of your sword. If there are any other cuts you're going to need to make (like the hole in the middle for this sword), draw those lines out as well. Using a saw, make your cuts, leaving about 1/4"-1/2" extra outside the lines. This is incase of any chipping/breaking. You will be sanding this down, which will be smoother and more precise.

Step 3: Sanding/shaping
Time to use the powersander (or sandpaper, if you don't have one). I recommend wearing goggles, or you'll end up with bits of foam in your eyes. As is, don't wear nice clothing--it will be covered with foam dust. As you can see in the picture to the right, I'm carving away the edge of the blade. This is pretty straight forward--once you get the hang of using the sander, you'll be able to work quickly. Don't press too hard, or you'll "dig" an unwanted deep mark or curve into the foam. When you've got the sword to the final shap you want it should be pretty smooth. If it's not, take some fine sand paper and lightly go over it. This is not overly important, but will help with the fiberglass cloth and epoxy.

Step 4: Additional Pieces
For my sword, there was an added section near the handle. I had another section of the rigid insulation foam, so I cut and sanded two of those. I attached them to either side with super glue. Don't worry if the edges where the foam comes together aren't 100% smooth--the epoxy will cover that up. You can make these shapes as you see fit--mine weren't quite accurate to Zabuza's sword.

Step 5: The handle
I used a long dowel of 1" diameter. The length is up to you, depending on how long you want it to be. A second dowel, of 7/16" was also used. I believe it was about 20" long. Using a drill, make a 7/16" hole into the center of the larger dowel, 8" deep. Fit and glue the smaller dowel inside this hole securely, so that the longer end is sticking out. Now, drill a 7/16" hole into the base of the sword where you want the handle to be. This hole should be 12" deep (the remaining length of the smaller dowel). It may be difficult to make this deep of a hole, and may require some improvising. It doesn't have to be too precise, but you don't want it any bigger (diameter wise) than the dowel or it won't hold, but you need to get the material out of the space all the way down. If you try to jam the dowel down in, you risk cracking or buckling the insulation foam.

Step 6: Applying the cloth and the epoxy
Read the instructions for your epoxy. Remember to be in a well ventilated space. Keep in mind that once you combine the resin and the hardener, it will only stay fluid for a short time before it is unworkable. So layout your cloth first on the surface of the sword, mix the epoxy, and apply it. You can work in stages. You may want to practice first on an extra piece of material so that you have an idea how it will work. When the epoxy is applied, the fiberglass cloth with go clear, though it might have a colored tint to it (mine looked yellowish--you may notice that in the image for the preceding step). I used three coats of epoxy, to make sure it would be strong enough and not chip off. Give the epoxy enough time to dry between each coat, probably overnight. Also, a little epoxy around the base of the handle wouldn't hurt as a bit of security to hold it in place.

Step 7: Post-epoxy sanding
The epoxy job is probably not going to be perfect, so we're going to sand it down next. I used the powersander, but you can use regular sandpaper as well. The idea is just to smooth down the bumps, not remove the whole coat. Using some black spray paint, I've demonstrated what I needed to do on my sword to smooth it out. Areas that were bumps before were sanded down, and so no longer have the black paint on them. You don't need to use paint for doing this on your own sword, as it should be visible enough if you look closely.

Step 8: Painting
This is pretty easy to do, if you've gotten yourself some decent spray paint. Read the instructions on the can for the best spray technique. I've forgotten what the pattern is, but the instructions will prevent you from leaving clumps of paint in spots. I used a silver-metallic paint for most of the sword, and gave it a second coat after the first one dried. I then used a chrome spray paint for the blade edge, which made it shinier than the rest of the sword. The effect is a bit subtle, but a nice touch I think. After it's dry, if you want, you can take a bit of sand paper and scuff the sword up for "battle damage". Just a few cris-crossing marks is all--you don't want to take all the paint off.

Step 9: Finishing the handle
The Zabuza sword actually has handle grips, but I didn't apply those. I was attempting to look for some sort of plastic/pvc piping that I could fit on the handle, but didn't find anything. It's an addition I will make if I do find something that works right. What I did do was wrap black duct tape all the way around the handle. I started at the base, near the sword, and worked outward towards the end, making only small advances each time around. This prevented the tape from bunching up (which would happen if you try to stretch it out). I also like the look of the close wrapping.
There you have it, that's how I made my sword. It stands at 7'1", a good bit taller than me. Good luck making your own sword.

Cat Ear

2007-08-26T23:24:00.000+08:00

Materials
-Needle and Thread or a sewing machine (if you have one) and if you're bad at threading a
-needle, get a needle threader or have your friends do it for you
-1/2 a yard of polar fleece or any other thick and warm fabric, in any style or color
-1/4 a yard in a lighter color of the same fabric

Tools
-Scissors
-Safety pins
-Tape measure

Procedure

Step 1: Measure your head
Start from the widest part of your head, which is about two inches above your ear. Measure to the nearest 1/8th of an inch. Call that measurement A. Then, measure from the top of your ear to the top of your head. Call that measurement B.

Step 2: Cutting the fabric
Next measure A horizontally, plus and inch on the edge of the fabric. Measure four EQUAL pieces and make them as tall, plus an inch as measurement B. At the base they should be 1/4th of whatever measurement A is. Give them a slight curve at the top. For the hat's rim cut a 2 inch high strip, the same length as measurement A - put that aside for later.

Step 3: Sewing
Now you're going to start sewing. Use whatever stitch you prefer, though the most simple stitch is the fastest and works perfectly. Double up your thread to make it extra stable, or use a sewing machine. Make sure you aren’t sewing on the side you want to show because you'll be turning it inside out after you are done.
Take two leaves and start at the base; sew up to the top and then down the other side. Now do the same with the other leaves.
You should have something that looks a bit like a hat! Turn it inside out so the seams dont show. Now it's time for the rim. Take the strip and place it upside down on the side of the hat 1/2 of an inch from the bottom. Sew all around the base of the hat rim. Then fold it down.

Step 4: Making the ears
Now its finally time for the ears, are you excited? ("yes, yes we are, mistress!") I'm doing cat ears but you can do any type of ear you like. Some suggestions are Arthur, teddy or bunny type ears.
For cat ears, simply cut two large triangles of the darker material and two large triagles of the same material of the lighter material. Sew both sides together, and then turn them inside out.

Step 5: Attaching the ears
Next you need a severed head. Or... er.. someone to volunteer or a wig head. Now position your ears however you like, take care to make them symmetrical and to line up the hat in the way you want it to show. For example, no seams straight down the middle. Pin them in with three safety pins.
Start sewing using a loop stitch. Sew both sides of the fabric onto the hat. If the fabric is good, it should stay up on its own.

CONGRATULATIONS!
And now you're done! You can add ears-flaps if you choose; to do that, simply make large rectangles of fabric, sew them together on three sides, then turn them inside out, and find out where your ears are (Don't Guess!!). The rest is pretty much common sense, right? There you go, you have a nice warm polar hat to wear.

3 in 1 head gear sell 1,000,000z

2007-08-25T21:18:00.000+08:00

swordman head gear

for my ro swordman cos

i think i will make 1 more

bcos tis 1 not very good

Cardboard katana

2007-08-25T12:52:00.000+08:00

Materials
Cardboard
Hot glue sticks
3/4" dowel rod (length of katana)

Tools
Hotglue gun
Exacto Knife

Procedure

Cardboard shuriken

2007-08-25T12:31:00.000+08:00

Materials
-Cardboard
-hot glue sticks

Tools
-Hotglue gun
-Exacto knife

Procedure

1. Print out the 2 stars and the circle.
2. Cut out each of the patterns. Make sure to cut out the holes in the center.

3. On a piece of corrugated cardboard, trace 1 of the large, 2 of the small and 1 of the circle

4. Cut out the pieces out of cardboard

5. Glue the pieces together using hotglue

6. Using the hotglue gun, smooth the edge from the circle to the layer below it. Add hotglue around the edges an then smooth it out using the tip of the hot-glue gun
7. Repeat between the smaller shuriken and the larger, using the hotglue to build up the edge so that it flows from one piece to the other

8. Take your glue gun and cover the edges of the shuriken with hotglue, using the glue gun to smooth the edges out.

9. Using an exacto knife, carefully trim the excess hotglue from the edges if there is any.

10. Paint your shuriken and then use a fine tip sharpie to detail.

my 1st cos

2007-08-24T17:23:00.000+08:00

tis is my 1st cos
isshin
dunno who is isshin ???

isshin is ichigo's dad from bleach

next time i will cos tis 1

magician from RO

wif poring hat
haha

Waraji(Shinigani sandals)

2007-08-24T14:26:00.000+08:00

Materials
-about 70 feet if the rope of your choice

Tools
-a board: about 5 or so inches wide x 1.5 times the length of your foot
-6 nails
-hammer

Procedure

Step 1: make sure you have your board, nails, and hammer. nail them into the shape as seen in the picture

Step 2: Wrap your rope around the nails as shown, making sure to leave a little bit of extra at the end.

Step 3: Bring in a second piece of rope(this is where most of your rope will be used). lay it next to one of the ends of the rope as shown in the diagram.

Step 4: wrap the second rope around the first, along the side with the extra length of rope

Step 5: Start to weave. make sure to go: Over, Under, Over, Under... and so on.. it'll take you a while..

Step 6: Weave! WEAVE!!!! WEAVE!!!!!!!

Step 7: you can take your "waraji" off your board now.. if you havent already

Step 8: remember how you started this off? well you're pretty much gonna finish it the same way. wrap around and stick the extra inside the wrap you're making now..

Step 9: this is the strap that will hold your foot into the waraji. Get your third length of rope(you can make this thinner if you want), and poke it through the sandle. sorta Looping one of the base pieces

Step 10: twist this rope acouple times,
Step 11: Poke each side of the rope into one of the sides of the waraji.

Step 12: poke each end of the rope through the botom corners. and tie one off

Step 13: Bring the side thats not tied around the back end of the waraji. poking it into the front Looping around and poking through again.

Naruto Sandals

2007-08-24T11:43:00.000+08:00

Materials
-1/2 yard of cotton duck cloth in the color of your choice. Though, if your feet are bigger, it's a good idea to go ahead and buy 3/4 yard of fabric to allow for extra room.
-Thread to match
-High-temp Hot glue
-Cheap pair of flip-flops
-Upholstery tacks to use while assembling the shoe

Optional Materials
-Fabric paint to change the color of the flip-flops
-Upholstery Tacks painted the same color as your fabric for anchoring the shoe to the sole

Tools
-Sharp pair of scissors
-Sewing machine with a heavy-duty needle
-High-temperature Hotglue Gun
-Fabric pencil or colored pencil to mark cloth
-Sewing pins

Procedure

Step 1: The first step is to cut the thong off your flip-flops and paint them the right color if needed.

Step 2: Cut your piece of fabric in half, parallel to the short sides. Take one piece of your fabric and fold it in half, making a rectangle and place it on a solid surface. Put your foot on the fabric as shown, so that your ankle bone rests roughly in the center and your foot is parallel to the longer side of the fabric.
When you cut the length of fabric in half each piece should be 24" long by 30" wide. Then, you fold the pieces in half to get two layers for the two halves of each shoe. The final rectangles, when folded in half, should measure 24" long by 15" wide.

Step 3: Keeping your foot at 90 degree angle as much as possible, use your pencil to trace the top of your foot from your toes back to about 3-4" up your ankle.

Step 4: Smooth and darken the line as needed and make two marks, one where your toes meet the rest of your foot, and the other at your ankle where your foot meets your leg.

Step 5: Extend your line straight out to the edges of the fabric.

Step 6: I have labeled the toe point "A" and the ankle point "B."

Step 7: Using a straight stitch of medium-short length, stitch along your line between points A and B.

Step 8: With your scissors, cut along approximately 1/2" outside your line.

Step 9: Use your scissors to cut nicks into the edge of the fabric along your seam. Make sure your cuts do not cut too far and go through your stitching!!!

Step 10: Turn your shoe inside-out. Admire your seam. Smooth out the unsewn parts of the top edge, matching them up and pinning, if needed.

Step 11: Stitch along the top edge of your sandal from where point A is to the edge of the fabric, and from point B to the edge. Make sure to leave a 1/2" seam allowance.

Step 12: Admire your handiwork.

Step 13: Turn the whole thing inside-out again.

Step 14: Put the shoe over your foot, making sure to place the top seam a little off-center, so the the seam traces a line back across your foot, running along the toe next to your big toe.

Step 15: Pull the fabric back, but not too tightly, and center the fabric so that the two pieces meet at the middle of your heel. Pin the fabric together at the soon-to-be seam.

Step 16: Trace a line where the heal-seam should go.

Step 17: Slip your foot out of the shoe. Sew halfway up the line, from the bottom edges of the fabric up to your ankle forming the heal-seam.

Step 18: Trim the fabric 1/2" outside your heal-seam line. Turn the shoe inside-out. Sew the rest of the heal seam, leaving a 1/2" allowance..

Step 19: Notch along the upper part of the heal seam that you just stitched,like you did with the main part of the top seam.

Step 20: Put your shoe back on and adjust the seams so that they are placed correctly.

Step 21 i: Roll back the front of the shoe to form the toe-cuff. You'll probably want the front edge of the cuff to hit at the middle of your big toe. Make sure the cuff is straight and even, and pin.
Step 21 ii: View of pinned toe cuff.

Step 22: Roll down the top cuff.

Step 23: Place the flip-flop sole on the ground and put your foot on the sole. Making sure the shoe stays tight over your toes, push an upholstery tack through the toe cuff on each side of the shoe into the flip-flop.

Step 24: Pulling the shoe down TIGHT, stick in more upholstery tacks at intervals around the sole. The tighter you make sure the shoe is pulled down against the sole, the more snugly your sandal will fit in the end.

Step 25: Pull your shoe off.

Step 26: Cut through the fabric 1/2" below the bottom of the sole.

Step 27: Fold the bottom edge of the shoe over 1/2" and stitch.

Step 28: Put the shoe back on the sole and tack in place.

Step 29: You could start gluing at this point, but for complete accuracy, I like to add the heel cuff. If you don't care, just skip ahead to the gluing part.

Step 30: Cut out a piece of fabric 5"x4" wide and fold in half lengthwise.

Step 31: Stitch the short sides closed, leaving a 1/2" allowance. Turn the rectangle inside-out.

Step 32: Center the rectangle on the bottom of the heel of your shoe, leaving approximately 1/2" of the open side of the rectangle hanging over the edge of the shoe. Stitch around the top 3 edges of the rectangle, then fold the bottom edge over the bottom of the shoe and stitch. It may be difficult to stitch this part due to the thickness of the fabric. Just hang in there, turn the presser foot to the lowest pressure and make sure you don't push the machine faster than it wants to go, or you'll break needles. Voila! Easy heal-cuff. Pin your shoe back onto the sole.

Step 33: Now to gluing! Pull out an upholstery tack or two and lift up the edge of the shoe. Lay down a line of hot glue along the sole where the bottom of the shoe lies.

Step 34: Press the shoe edge down into the hot glue and hold until the glue cools. Be careful not to burn your fingers!

Step 35: Continue untacking, lifting and gluing sections of the bottom of the shoe until you've gone all the way around.

Step 36: The finished product. At this point, you can opt to secure the shoe to the sole further by pushing matching-color upholstery tacks into the side of the sole, but I find it really isn't necessary.

Step 37: Put it on your foot and show it off. Now all you have to do is repeat the whole process for the other foot!

什么是CosPlay?

2007-08-24T11:28:00.000+08:00

COSPLAY是英文Costume Play的简略写法，其动词为COS，而玩COSPLAY的人则一般被称为COSPLAYER。从一般意义上来说的COSPLAY最早的中文译名是出自台湾，意思是指角色扮演。但因为这种译法与游戏中的Role Play Game(RPG)同为角色扮演之意，所以为免雷同，笔者更倾向于另一种译法--服饰装扮。以现今的COSPLAY而言，其形式及内容一般是指利用服装、小饰品、道具以及化装来扮演ACG(anime、comic、game)中的角色或是一些日本视觉系乐队以及电影中的某些人物，从这里可以看出在定位上COSPLAY包含了相当广阔的发挥空间，甚至可以说只要是有COSPLAYER在的地方，这一领域便绝对就是当今青少年流行文化的主流。

What is CosPlay?

2007-08-24T11:19:00.000+08:00

Cosplay (コスプレ, kosupure) is a term that originated in Japan but is based on the English words “Costume Play,” essentially play-acting in costumes. In Japan, CosPlay is not limited to anime/manga, but also a staple of many other entertainment industries such as science fiction and horror. In North America, the term CosPlay is reserved for anime/manga related costuming.

CosPlaying can be divided into two categories: basic cosplay and Masquerade. While basic cosplay only involves an attempt to look like a particular character, either in the halls of a convention or on stage, Masquerade is much more involved. When masquerading, CosPlayers attempt to act as the character would. They often have prepared skits with memorized lines, and the more advanced masqueraders can easily ad-lib their character’s personality.

Anime/manga CosPlay has become very popular amongst fans in Japan and North America. Some CosPlayers make their own costumes, investing large amounts of time and money in the process, while others buy their costumes from professional costume designers. The end products are generally shown off at Anime conventions. Many Anime conventions hold contests for Cosplay and for Masquerade. Some successful cosplayers have become very popular and are considered celebrities in their own right.