Sunday, March 04, 2012

Building a Better "Bug" Costume, Part 1: Inspiration

Reposted from d-Infinity blog.


Being a seamstress for many years, I typically address all of my costuming needs with a sewing machine. I can transform fabric into just about anything I need. However, as I become more deeply involved in sci-fi and fantasy costuming, I find that mere fabric is not quite enough to create the effects that I'm going for. Specifically, I want to build a better "bug" costume - an alien with insect-like exoskeleton or armor - without spending a fortune on new tools and materials. It also needs to fit a range of human sizes: Medium to 2XL.

As I set about my task, I will share what I learn with you here, in this multi-part series. Suggestions and comments are welcome! Now let's begin.

So What Does it Look Like?
I want my design to suggest something that my audience will be familiar with, but still be original. So I am mining the Interwebs for photos for inspiration.
Our old friend

Our other old friend
Check out this collection. I will be adding more photos to it as the project rolls along. I have found that Pinterest is a great way to save and organize photos like this for your projects.

What would you use for inspiration? Feel free to share your thoughts and comments here.

I am now working on some rough sketches for what I want my "bug" to look like. When I figure out how to scan these sketches into the computer, that will be the subject of Part 2 in this series! Stay tuned.

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Recent adventures in Orlando, FL

Even though I was in Orlando all week, I wouldn't call it a vacation. It's more like a job that I love.

MegaCon had it's moments. I rocked the "Mad Men"-inspired dress that I made, and got lots of compliments. I like being recognized for my mad sewing skillz.

Me with Space Marine from Warhammer 40k, I think?

Otherwise, I helped run registration for the USMSC event, and on Saturday, I put on a monster suit and played "alien" for a few rounds, to give some of the other NPCs break. Playing "monster" is a physically demanding job, maybe more so than playing marine. I really enjoyed doing it at my first MegaCon, and that's kinda what got me hooked into playing this game, but after I got banged up pretty I good, I went back to the registration table. I didn't get to see much else of the con. I walked around the exhibit hall for maybe 20 mins., ogled the Star Wars stuff, and that was it. I saw lots of very young Doctor Who's, a few good-looking super heroes, and TONS of kids in bad wigs and mediocre anime costumes.

So MegaCon, was MegaCon. It was a good team-building experience for our crew, if not a great success for Mindgame Productions.

The following week in Orlando was like any old work week, except that I was sitting on someone else's couch, and I had a really bad cold. It seemed that lots of people had gotten sick that week. "Patient Zero" was probably at MegaCon. I am still hacking up the remnants of said virus. The only marginally interesting thing that I did was go to Skycraft - a candy store for tech nerds. This is the place where junk from old data centers and Radio Shack stores goes to die. This is the place where you go to find parts for building your robot, props for filming a science fiction movie, etc.

We picked up what Stefan calls a missile case, for $40. This is a big plastic "Pelican"-style shipping case that was probably used to ship servers or large electronic equipment. I can't imagine what it would cost to buy new. They had stacks of these cases there.

Last Saturday was the Amerika airsoft milsim event at Wayne's World of Paintball in Ocala. Now that was hella fun times. After helping out with registration in the early morning,

Check-in at Wayne's World. Photo by Brian Gilbert.

I actually got to go out and play!!! It had been a long time since I had that kind of fun. My gear performed well. I managed to stay in the game a lot longer than I thought I could. The nice weather was an extra added bonus.

Here, I am holding another player's rifle while he is "interrogated," while my own M177 dangles from it's sling. Photo by Chantal Jost. I'm wearing black, because I was playing a "bad guy," LOL.

...and then it was a long drive back home.
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