Sunday, November 17, 2013

The Patient Warrior - Costuming the Training Dummy

Hi all! A week ago today I was in recovery from Blizzcon. I'm sure a lot of exciting things happened, but I could hardly tell because I was in costume. But that was pretty awesome on it's own, truth be told. I went as a Training Dummy, which in World of Warcraft is an inanimate combat partner for you to test yourself against in-game. The concept came up at a post-Blizzcon dinner a couple years ago and I immediately wanted to do it. So here's a few pictures and words to show what I got myself into...


Here is the Training Dummy in the game. It will wear a different colored banner depending which faction it belongs to, Alliance or Horde. My dummy wears a blue alliance banner since my friends and I play Horde. While this thing is built like a telephone pole, I wanted to be mobile, so the project quickly evolved into a sort of dummy-themed suit of armor.

An early resource I used was Bill Doran's N7 armor project, which uses EVA foam mats and transforms them into armor pieces from Mass Effect. The templates gave me a perspective on how big individual pieces needed to be, and how I should change the shaping for my purposes. This was my first time working with EVA, and while I made plenty of mistakes, I still learned a lot and quickly grew to love the material.


Here is an early heat-shaping test with the foam. The upper piece was shaped with a heat gun, which I found difficult to get an even spread on large pieces. I much preferred an oven, set to 250 degrees F for 5-10 minutes. The foam gets very pliable, and you can still shape it with your hands. When it cools, it gets very rigid, but you can still cut and even re-shape it. You have to use a piece smaller than your oven, because if the piece is too big it will trap all the heat and burn. The good thing is burnt EVA is still really easy to clean off an oven grate.


Turns out raccoons love EVA foam. Watch out if you leave stuff outside overnight.


Here are some shaped and glued arm pieces. I wanted to have ones that go all the way around, but I measured wrong. Instead of doing a new piece, I put in a spacer and covered up the gap with masking tape. Really slapdash work, but it held at least.



The Dremel sander really rips through this stuff, a bit more than needed. I had better results on edge work with a power sander. The Dremel is pretty awesome at making pokes and gashes that look like weapon damage.


Here are some pieces with their first coat of paint on a drying rack I made. The wood graining technique uses two colors of paint, a base and a darker detail. The detail coat goes on thick and wet, and you scrape bits of it away with paint combs and a rocker comb. I found these combs in Home Depot under the Martha Stewart line. I also found a really helpful tutorial.


The game dummy has a bit of broom stuck on his head, but I wanted a mowhawk. I took a broom and cut the straws off, then I poked holes in a strip of foam and stuffed the straws in like hair plugs. That all got locked down with hot glue. I lined the bottom with fleece, and that served as a structural member for my hood.



Here's a paint test where you can see the various effects of different combs and the rocker. The rocker takes some finesse to get used to, but it produces a great effect when you do it properly. Also, wood grain isn't perfect, so I remembered not to be too precious about how it looked. The amount of imperfection that served to improve this build was quite liberating. Here are some finished armor pieces...




Here is my sword progress. I used a 2-foot PVC pipe as the core, and surrounded it with pink insulation foam. Once the spray glue had everything together, I sat in the driveway with my sander and whittled out a sword. Again, where there were imperfections, I cut them out with a drywall saw and made it look like weapon damage.




Finished shield and breastplate, with silver paint. I thought the pentagonal shield on the model was boring, so I made mine to look like a section from a wine barrel. Wine barrels served as a major design touchstone on this build.


My shield handle: a metal gate handle from Home Depot. I stuck on perfectly with Gorilla Glue, and the screws even went into the foam to complete the detail.


This rope collar was stressful. I wrapped manilla rope around a cardboard shipping tube using a spiral hitch, then covered it with silicone sealant. When it's all together, the wrapping slips off and holds shape. You can even peel off layers if you made too much. I then sliced it lengthwise with a razor, and thankfully it still held. I mounted it to some elastic and Velcro and patched some of the holes with hot glue. This may have been my most rugged piece.


Here's a test wear of the burlap hood. Besides eye holes, some trimming is needed so I don't look like a BDSM kitty cat.


The banner cape, made by Tina, grommeted and held by some more rope work. I thought I would need Velcro to hold this in place, but it actually stayed in place very well.

                                      



Finished and painted hood. I used a plastic mask from Michael's to align the hood's eyeholes with my eyes.


Full armor test wear. This turned out to be critical, as areas where I had glued Velcro to paint quickly failed. After some re-gluing, things were better.


Things still weren't perfect, though. The Velcro on my pack piece failed at Blizzcon and I had to do emergency repair. I nixed the back armor since it was one of my worst pieces and nobody could see it anyway. I superglued my chest and torso together and held them up with scrap burlap, which I actually think looks better. The costume was a little easier now to sit in, but I couldn't bend over. But it held.


And here's the whole thing!



And here's one from Eurobeat Kasumi Photography. Thank you so much!




What I've Been Playing:
  • Main Campaign: Pokémon Y
  • Side Quest: Resogun, Contrast


Sunday, September 8, 2013

EVA Heat Shaping Test

I've just cut some of the major pieces for an EVA foam armor project, and I wanted to get a feel for different methods for how to heat-shape the material. Here are my results:


The wavy piece was under a heat gun at high settings, and the round piece came from a 250*F oven after ten minutes. The oven piece seemed to warp a little on the corners from gravity, but for my project that might actually be an advantage. The oven piece gets even heat, and this bends very evenly. It comes out warm, but manageable even with bare hands; after some shaping, it cools quickly and gets quite rigid. I think both pieces are actually more rigid after heating; I wouldn't be surprised if this also shrinks them very slightly. I can see using the heat gun for fine points and touch-up, but I prefer the oven for large pieces. I wonder if the heat gun scorch marks could also be avoided by using a lower setting or trying for a more gradual, even heat. 

What I'm Playing:

-Main Campaign: Shin Megami Tensei IV
-Side Quest: 3DS Mii Plaza games

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Get Equipped with Mighty No. 9

When I was a kid, I played a lot of Mega Man. I had a dark blue winter jacket with ribbed sleeves, and sometimes at recess I would subtly tuck my left hand in the sleeve and that would be my Mega Buster, and I'd play Mega Man on the school playground. With everything else on Nintendo, I think I connected with Mega Man the most. Something about the character designs throughout the series immediately grabbed me.

Today at PAX Prime, Mega Man's creator, Keiji Inafune, announced a new game, funded through Kickstarter, that carries his classic game's legacy: Mighty No. 9. I could barely contain my excitement at the announcement; that's not true, I screamed and flailed my arms like an idiot. It was as if this project was not being presented to me, but to my inner child directly.


The project promotion video begins clearly intended to touch on nostalgia, opening with an upward pan of a glossy skyscraper. The camera finds Mr. Inafune, dressed in blue, ready to make his pitch. Continue with a discussion over classic Famicom games in a Super Potato game store; fans voicing their desire for a game that feels like what they know, but still offers something new and fresh. It is the tender/flaky pie crust of the video game culture. The video continues with images of a girl in a red dress walking a fluffy pink poodle, a visual study of humanity's relation to machines, metal, concrete, and electricity. Finally, a reveal of the main character, Beck, going from clay sculpture and pencil sketch to full-color digital art.

Mega Man fans have endured hard times, their old favorite getting watered down by bland annualized sequels and spin offs. Mr. Inafune knows this, and he knows that he carries the fans' passion and goodwill. By letting Mega Man go and presenting a new, very similar character, I hope this represents him retaking control of the vision. Mighty No. 9, as a fan-focused outreach, carries the hallmark of a passion project. I believe in Keiji Inafune when he has a passion project. I believe he can be Mighty.

What I'm playing:
-Main Campaign: Mega Man 2, Divekick!
-Side Quest: Don't Starve, Secret Ponchos, Incognita

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Guys, Let's Go To PAX!

I'm nearly ready to head out to my fourth trip to PAX in Seattle. Yeah,

exciting, I know. If it helps anyone out there, here are a few things

I've learned for how to have a successful PAX.


-Plan ahead. Guidebook is a great app for iPhone and Android that gives

tons of useful information. Many major events use it and PAX does so

very well: all of the convention hall maps are available, detailing

which booths are where, as well as theatres and gaming areas. There's a

full schedule for every panel, tournament, and concert, and you can

check off anything you're interested in to create a custom calendar with

alerts. It's great for panning out an efficient schedule so you can do

as much as you want during the convention, which addresses my next

item...


-You can't do everything. PAX is huge and busy and has long lines (but

some really cool stuff has short lines) and there's just too much going

on to do it all. Seriously, it's not possible. I know I have panels I

want to see happening during tournaments I want to participate in. Be

ready to make some hard choices about what your priorities are.


-Hug an Enforcer. Not literally, unless you ask permission. Enforcers

are amazing people. They're the all-volunteer staff in blue shirts that

makes sure people are safe, not breaking the rules, and are having a

good time. They know about everything that's going on and they're happy

to share that info with you. Enforcers are awesome people.


-Get into some games. PAX is all about games! They're everywhere! Video

games are a huge draw, but there's a ton of tabletop RPGs, board games,

card games, retro games...even the convention hall treasure hunt makes

PAX a game! All sorts of game publishers and developers big and small

bring their stuff to PAX; a lot of the big booths show stuff I know is

coming out in six months, so I love to find the indie games that I've

never even heard of before. Whatever game you're into, somebody else at

PAX probably is too, and they want to play. Bring your portable; PAX is

3DS StreetPass heaven.


-Eat something. I don't know about you, but sometimes I forget to eat

when I'm busy, and at PAX I'm very busy. There are a couple cafes in the

convention center, plus a Subway, a pretty good burrito joint, and there

are loads of restaurants nearby. You're going to be doing a lot of

walking and standing, so get some lunch and maybe carry a snack.


-Wash your hands. With all the humanity in the hall, germs are easy to

spread. Do everyone and yourself a solid by keeping clean and watching

where you sneeze and cough. Elbow bumps are appropriate as a friendly

greeting.


-Your badge is everything. Your badge is not backed up by any kind of

identification, so try not to lose it. And don't be one of those people

who scalps badges at an inflated price. Those people are dicks, and they

deprive someone who passionately wants to be at PAX from doing so. Don't

be a dick.


-Meet people. Big gaming celebrities go to PAX and they're usually

friendly. Sometimes they'll sign autographs. I like to find out who will

be on the floor and bring my copy of their game to autograph. My first

PAX I took a picture with Ed Boon at the Mortal Kombat booth. Be cool

and people will be cool back.


-Bring a bag. Lots of stuff is being sold and given away at PAX, and you

need something to help you haul it around. For a special experience,

just bring one t-shirt with you, and then complete your wardrobe with

free shirts from the show floor. Do not attempt this with underwear.


Hope to see you there!


What I'm Playing:


Main Campaign: Super Mario 3D Land

Side Quest: Super Mario Bros. 2

Monday, August 26, 2013

Cutting Some New Shapes

BlizzCon 2013 is coming up, and I'm preparing a costume that I've been wanting to do for some time. I don't want to reveal it yet, in case this whole thing falls apart, but I would like to put up some progress blogs.

Basically I'm making an EVA foam armor set, similar to the Mass Effect suits that can be seen on Punished Props. I downloaded the templates and the instructions for how to use them, and after much futzing around with Gimp and having no idea how to print them, I decided that the best part of the package was the example images and the instructions on how to take and modify your body measurements. Other than that, this is a custom job...


The first step was Molly helping me to trace my body outline on brown wrapping paper. I then plotted out my heigh and width measurements for my chest and back. I laid tracing paper over that and tried to do a decent freehand that came close to the example template...


I cut out that drawing and laid it over some sturdy cardboard and traced the outline. This is free hand, so instead of tracing it in full, I picked the better side and flipped it over to make it symmetrical. I cut out the cardboard with a razor knife (safety, kids!) That will be my template for cutting the EVA foam. I'm taking a break from the back piece to bang out this blog.

So far in the build process I've hit several fail points and redesigns, and its been valuable to remember that this is part of the process. I appreciate Adam Savage's advice to give yourself more time and supplies than you think you need, and expect to fail and waste materials. It's just part of the build. I'm also staying open to modifying tools and techniques to suit my build; after all, them end result is going to be more of a reference rather than a duplication of the source concept. Once it's done, I think I'll have enough call-outs to the source that it'll look really good. Keep an eye out for some updates after PAX Prime!

What I'm Playing
  • Main Campaign: Dragon's Crown
  • Side Quest: Divekick!, Animal Crossing New Leaf



Saturday, May 25, 2013

Press B To Run

Had a bunch of fun last weekend at Bay To Breakers, and we had such a great costume team! Next year will be even better.






What I'm Playing:

  • Main Campaign: Tokyo Jungle
  • Side Quest: Mega Man 2

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Billy Kane (progress)

I've been working on a Billy Kane costume for a while. I was going to wear it last year at San Diego Comic Con but didn't get around to it. Now I plan to wear it at LA Anime Expo. I've been trying to bulk up a bit for the part. Here are a few progress shots. I know I forgot to put on the belt. Special thanks to my stepmother Tina for sewing the headband. Check out her Etsy store!




What I'm Playing:
  • Main Campaign: Bioshock Infinite
  • Side Quest: Super Mario 3D Land, Fez


Sunday, March 17, 2013

On Skyhooks and Peeing In The Closet

So I could get my NECA Skyhook replica off the desk and display it properly, I decided to make a wall-mount. The box dimensions for the Skyhook are 26 by 11, and I had a spare piece of MDF that was 24 by 9...close enough. I bought a yard of dark patent leather, a 3/4 inch dowel, and copper end caps from Home Depot's plumbing section. I used a hot glue gun, Gorilla Glue, and a stapler to put it together. Check it out:






All in all, not bad. I could have been more careful about a few things, but it worked! During this project I came to a personal realization about my learning style. When working with new materials and techniques, I often have to make my own mistakes, even if better information is available. I consider this different from trial-and-error. I like to call it "peeing in the closet with confidence" (origin at 0:13). It means going forward with a plan with the foreknowledge that the results might not be perfect, possibly very messy, but that they stand a good chance of solving the problem. Neither random nor systematic, it's decisive, and means accepting the consequences, good and bad. I'm not saying that's a good thing, it's just something I now know about myself.

What I'm Playing:
  • Main Campaign: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
  • Side Quest: Ridiculous Fishing



Saturday, January 19, 2013

!: 3A Toys MGS Rex Unboxing and Assembly

He's here! This is the 3A Toys MGS Rex, special edition with scale Old Snake pilot. Observe...

























Thank you 3A Toys and Konami, he's a beaut!

What I'm Playing:
  • Main Campaign: Saint's Row The Third, The Witcher
  • Side Quest: Spaceteam