Posted by Yui on 03-01-2009 - 10:06 AM
Updates to my current version of Lloyd, as of February 2009, documented at the Cosplay Photo Party at Sushi Samba in Chicago.
Issues that have been recently addressed =
- The tunic has been pulled in even further (this time in the front darts) so it's finally tight enough on me all around. (I love SYfabric's garment vinyl...you can just keep editing it so long as you're moving inward.)
- The belt is 99% as I would have it now. I completely remade it when I was stuck up in Toronto for a while...and because I didn't have many other diversions at the time, I was forced into making it correctly. ^_^;
I've added extra real ridges and faux-painted dimension and matched the paint and gloss treatment to his hooded armor cape (which I -will- actually get shots up of someday.) I've also edged the circles to make them visually smoother, and permanently strung them with tube beads as spacers so they still have a swaying movement without risking them ever being too out of place. The top belt's back snap closure is visually accurate to his design and easy enough for me to get into myself plus more sturdy than I was even expecting at first. The side belts are actually super-thick foamies, which was the only thing I trusted to both hold up without being too heavy and stick out at that silly curved angle just right.
- The wig is markedly better from any of the super ugly old ones from when I didn't understand styling (and also when there simply was not a lot of choices in cosplay wigs) ^_^; This was the wig I bought accidentally and then Saeru kept stealing to wear around normal-like all the time. Thus, the first time I actually got to use it (at Youma 08) the back of the neck was flipped out and greatly kinked. Which is why I didn't really get a lot of photos of Lloyd at Youma. So I've trimmed it down pretty respectably now to look way more guy-ish.
- I also figured out a good way to do lip make-up! Dude, I hate having make-up on my lips - it just feels so gross, but I have to cancel them out most times because my lips are just way too naturally vibrant.
Known issues I still intend to fix =
- The only thing I want to still add to the belt is the scalloped swirly design at the ends of the lower curved belt (which you can only see in his character art anyway.)
- The wig, while a ton better, may yet still be replaced, or at least slightly tinted blueish-lavender...which is closer to his artwork bio and also would help me out since I don't look too healthy in straight-up white wigs. ^_^;
- I used to have accurate boots for him, stupid silver foot straps and all, but they died some time ago. I don't mind using my all-purpose ones instead (especially since they make me taller) but I may actually aim to get an accurate style if/when the LoD group happens.
- Also, I should swap my power source on the sword if possible for a higher voltage, smaller battery or two. The weight and size of smashing 8 AA's into my knuckles isn't my favorite thing.
Known issues I intend to ignore =
- Lloyd actually has frog closures on his tunic, but not enough to actually hold it together. I used to have hook-and-eyes employed in an earlier version, but when I switched over to a zipper, it was not feasible to include both.
And I switched to a zip because it's way easier to get into and I think looks very appropriate to his overall design. I don't feel too bad about doing this, since Winglies -are- a little more technologically advanced afterall. XD
- The side-lacing -should- be a lot thicker, but if I went up tot he next gauge of grommets, I would not have nearly enough there. (Lloyd has a much longer torso than I do apparently.) I rather the tunic was falling in the appropriate proportion for me, so that's just as thick a lacing as I can do.
- The top collar piece is (slightly) too wide/big in the back, but this is due to me just not having shoulders/muscle mass. I wanted to keep each piece of his very specific silver design work in fairly close scale to each other more than anything else, so, I had to fudge the outline on me a bit. This is one of those details that I think looks just fine in the finished piece unless you were directly comparing it to his artwork.
: Version History :
Version 1.0 (my very first cosplay ever) : ACen 2001
Version 1.2 : Otakon 2001
Version 2.0 : A-kon 2004, Anime Expo 2004
Version 2.1 : Anime Sound & Vision 2004
Version 2.2 : random cosplay gathering 2004
Version 3.0 : (experiments, eventually aborted without usage)
Version 4.0 : Youmacon 2008
CURRENT VERSION
Version 4.2 : Feb 2009 Photo Party Chicago #1
Issues that have been recently addressed =
- The tunic has been pulled in even further (this time in the front darts) so it's finally tight enough on me all around. (I love SYfabric's garment vinyl...you can just keep editing it so long as you're moving inward.)
- The belt is 99% as I would have it now. I completely remade it when I was stuck up in Toronto for a while...and because I didn't have many other diversions at the time, I was forced into making it correctly. ^_^;
I've added extra real ridges and faux-painted dimension and matched the paint and gloss treatment to his hooded armor cape (which I -will- actually get shots up of someday.) I've also edged the circles to make them visually smoother, and permanently strung them with tube beads as spacers so they still have a swaying movement without risking them ever being too out of place. The top belt's back snap closure is visually accurate to his design and easy enough for me to get into myself plus more sturdy than I was even expecting at first. The side belts are actually super-thick foamies, which was the only thing I trusted to both hold up without being too heavy and stick out at that silly curved angle just right.
- The wig is markedly better from any of the super ugly old ones from when I didn't understand styling (and also when there simply was not a lot of choices in cosplay wigs) ^_^; This was the wig I bought accidentally and then Saeru kept stealing to wear around normal-like all the time. Thus, the first time I actually got to use it (at Youma 08) the back of the neck was flipped out and greatly kinked. Which is why I didn't really get a lot of photos of Lloyd at Youma. So I've trimmed it down pretty respectably now to look way more guy-ish.
- I also figured out a good way to do lip make-up! Dude, I hate having make-up on my lips - it just feels so gross, but I have to cancel them out most times because my lips are just way too naturally vibrant.
Known issues I still intend to fix =
- The only thing I want to still add to the belt is the scalloped swirly design at the ends of the lower curved belt (which you can only see in his character art anyway.)
- The wig, while a ton better, may yet still be replaced, or at least slightly tinted blueish-lavender...which is closer to his artwork bio and also would help me out since I don't look too healthy in straight-up white wigs. ^_^;
- I used to have accurate boots for him, stupid silver foot straps and all, but they died some time ago. I don't mind using my all-purpose ones instead (especially since they make me taller) but I may actually aim to get an accurate style if/when the LoD group happens.
- Also, I should swap my power source on the sword if possible for a higher voltage, smaller battery or two. The weight and size of smashing 8 AA's into my knuckles isn't my favorite thing.
Known issues I intend to ignore =
- Lloyd actually has frog closures on his tunic, but not enough to actually hold it together. I used to have hook-and-eyes employed in an earlier version, but when I switched over to a zipper, it was not feasible to include both.
And I switched to a zip because it's way easier to get into and I think looks very appropriate to his overall design. I don't feel too bad about doing this, since Winglies -are- a little more technologically advanced afterall. XD
- The side-lacing -should- be a lot thicker, but if I went up tot he next gauge of grommets, I would not have nearly enough there. (Lloyd has a much longer torso than I do apparently.) I rather the tunic was falling in the appropriate proportion for me, so that's just as thick a lacing as I can do.
- The top collar piece is (slightly) too wide/big in the back, but this is due to me just not having shoulders/muscle mass. I wanted to keep each piece of his very specific silver design work in fairly close scale to each other more than anything else, so, I had to fudge the outline on me a bit. This is one of those details that I think looks just fine in the finished piece unless you were directly comparing it to his artwork.
: Version History :
Version 1.0 (my very first cosplay ever) : ACen 2001
Version 1.2 : Otakon 2001
Version 2.0 : A-kon 2004, Anime Expo 2004
Version 2.1 : Anime Sound & Vision 2004
Version 2.2 : random cosplay gathering 2004
Version 3.0 : (experiments, eventually aborted without usage)
Version 4.0 : Youmacon 2008
CURRENT VERSION
Version 4.2 : Feb 2009 Photo Party Chicago #1
United States