And it is indeed epic! Fantasy con really brought out some crazy talented cosplayers. Without further ado, check out all the fun costumes!!! All non bold text is the costumer's own words and information they sent me.
First up we have Diane in her original character Kalias Sondrie (Pronounced Kal-ee-us Sawn-dry) Her costume is commissioned but the thought process and imagination put into making this character real is amazing. Plus this girl can fight in this! No seriously, she knows how to fight.
Background Of Character Creation: Kalias Sondrie is an original character who was created approximately four years ago. She is the heroine of a book series that Diane is in the process of writing. The character has been worn at a number of conventions, renaissance fairs, and other public events. Kalias was a special invited guest and the ‘champion of light’ at the 2013 Otherworlds Festival in Phoenix, Arizona. Diane does not consider herself a furry (though she is friend to many furs), but rather considers herself a costumed performer.
About The Character: Kalias is an ocelot who is a spirit warrior that belongs to a race of angelic beings who watch over and protect the human race. Kalias was too rash for her clan and her hot-headed nature caused her to fail a mission, the result of which the elders of her tribe clipped her wings and sent her straight to Earth to protect mankind on its own turf. Kalias has since learned to calm her fiery temper and now proudly roams freely, seeking out battles with demons and evil spirits. She has control over both the elements of fire and water, though she rarely uses the fire element as it is too destructive. She is rarely seen without her protective armor and wields a sword crafted of light magic.
About The Costume Itself: The character and her design and background were created solely by Diane Shreve. The base suit was commissioned and created by the artist “Beastcub”. The armor is real, twenty gauge stainless steel lamellar armor with tassets and attached pauldrons. The armor has been used in actual hand-to-hand fully armored combat (Diane knows how to actually fight). There is always a minimum of three layers being worn at a single time when the suit is fully assembled. The suit in total, with the armor, weighs approximately 80 lbs. (give or take). Vision is seen through a very small strip of mesh beneath the eyes, which creates extremely limited vision. The jaw and head piece are separate pieces that allow not only for the jaw to move (Kalias is not a mute character!) but for easy ability to get food, water, and air (extremely important, as the costume is very hot, especially outdoors!). The eyes do light up with hidden LEDs. The paws were carefully constructed with silicon pawpads for a cushion-like, realistic paw look and feel. Many of her markings were airbrushed, so cleaning of the suit is a strenuous process as water can dilute and bleed the ocelot spots and stripes. While the suit is extremely hot and heavy (and hard to even sit down in), Diane has worn the suit for up to 14 hours at a time for special events.
Next we have Alexandre in her Medusa Cosplay. When I saw her I just ahd to know how she made that hair! Fantastic! There are over 130 snakes on her head!
The Medusa cosplay took about two months (including work, sleep and other activities) to complete. The dress and sandals were the easiest to make, the headpiece took the bulk of that time.
The headpiece was made with the following parts: baseball cap with the bill removed, cyber lox, hot glue, pipe cleaners, liquid latex, spray paint, and puff paint. The cyber lox were cut to size and attached with hot glue, and the heads were shaped by hot glue as well. The front snakes as well as hairline were covered/made with liquid latex (and toilet paper in paper mâché fashion).
Finally it was spray painted with a white/primer base, and four colors, three green and one yellow.The body paint was Ben nye make-up, with a scaling effect under specific areas created by liquid latex.
Tune in tomorrow for one more epic post!! Thank you for reading (And I apologize again for the late update... yay busy weeks... I will post another tomorrow. Thank you!!)
First up we have Diane in her original character Kalias Sondrie (Pronounced Kal-ee-us Sawn-dry) Her costume is commissioned but the thought process and imagination put into making this character real is amazing. Plus this girl can fight in this! No seriously, she knows how to fight.
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| Diane as Kalias Sondrie Photo by VFire |
About The Character: Kalias is an ocelot who is a spirit warrior that belongs to a race of angelic beings who watch over and protect the human race. Kalias was too rash for her clan and her hot-headed nature caused her to fail a mission, the result of which the elders of her tribe clipped her wings and sent her straight to Earth to protect mankind on its own turf. Kalias has since learned to calm her fiery temper and now proudly roams freely, seeking out battles with demons and evil spirits. She has control over both the elements of fire and water, though she rarely uses the fire element as it is too destructive. She is rarely seen without her protective armor and wields a sword crafted of light magic.
About The Costume Itself: The character and her design and background were created solely by Diane Shreve. The base suit was commissioned and created by the artist “Beastcub”. The armor is real, twenty gauge stainless steel lamellar armor with tassets and attached pauldrons. The armor has been used in actual hand-to-hand fully armored combat (Diane knows how to actually fight). There is always a minimum of three layers being worn at a single time when the suit is fully assembled. The suit in total, with the armor, weighs approximately 80 lbs. (give or take). Vision is seen through a very small strip of mesh beneath the eyes, which creates extremely limited vision. The jaw and head piece are separate pieces that allow not only for the jaw to move (Kalias is not a mute character!) but for easy ability to get food, water, and air (extremely important, as the costume is very hot, especially outdoors!). The eyes do light up with hidden LEDs. The paws were carefully constructed with silicon pawpads for a cushion-like, realistic paw look and feel. Many of her markings were airbrushed, so cleaning of the suit is a strenuous process as water can dilute and bleed the ocelot spots and stripes. While the suit is extremely hot and heavy (and hard to even sit down in), Diane has worn the suit for up to 14 hours at a time for special events.
Next we have Alexandre in her Medusa Cosplay. When I saw her I just ahd to know how she made that hair! Fantastic! There are over 130 snakes on her head!
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| Alexandre Angelos as Medusa Photo by VFire |
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| Work in progress Photo courtesy of Alexandre |
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| Work in progress photo courtesy of Alexandre |
Tune in tomorrow for one more epic post!! Thank you for reading (And I apologize again for the late update... yay busy weeks... I will post another tomorrow. Thank you!!)