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[StarsCASSiOPEiA]

Hello all,

A friend and I have planned to cosplay the Alfheim Online versions of Asuna and Kirito (pictured below). We have a couple of ideas about how to approach the wings, but we'd love some feedback!





(Another reference for approximate wingspan)

Here are the ideas we've come up with:

A-- Wire and organza.
Cheap and light, but prone to bending. We're not sure how well these will hold up to a whole lot of wear and tear, especially since we'll probably be running about/ faking some sword fights for photoshoot purposes. The wings also appear to be more glassy, and the material just doesn't seem to have quite the right feel for that.

B-- Plexiglass
While it achieves the look we want, plexiglass is a lot heavier, and thus I'm worried about how to rig it under Asuna's shirt (since there's not much we can do to hide any large supports). I have plexiglass on hand already, so that lowers the cost factor, but neither of us (despite lots of prop experience) have actually used plexiglass before.

C-- Vinyl laminate?
This artist used vinyl laminate and cellophane to make her wings, which strengthened them a lot and gave them that shiny effect. The things I'm worried about with that are finding enough cellophane in black for Kirito and figuring out where to get enough vinyl laminate (does it even come in giant sheets? The veins on the Tink wings might also be used to hide edges of small pieces), as well as the wrinkling on the wings pictured. It's not perfectly smooth, and I'm not sure whether the materials would hold up to having the wrinkles combed out.

In summary, the major problems are these:
1. How can we get that hard, glassy look/feel to the wings?
2. How light can we possibly get the wings, for comfort/mobility reasons?
3. How do we hide the rig for Asuna's wings, given the cropped shirt?
4. The added bonus-- could we possibly rig the wings to raise/lower into an up and down position to help mobility in more crowded areas?

Thank you very much!

[Penlowe]

hmm.... those are quite large.

Black organza is easy enough to get a hold of, whereas black celophane probably isn't. I'd probably experiment small scale with spray painting the organza with a high gloss clear something, see how much shine it imparts to the fabric and how rigid it makes it.

[DarkCloudInc]

I'm thinking that you can use plastic similar to the cones they put on dogs in the vet. You maybe able to use it as boning to give it enough rigidity for pictures while allowing for ease of moving through crowds without causing any harm. You can use it as either boning for structure or there maybe black plastic but it may flop if not used correctly.

[ambientvoid]

How much black cellophane would you be needing? A quick Google search turned up 5m and 10m x 80cm rolls of black tinted florists grade cellophane on amazon and ebay...

[StarsCASSiOPEiA]

DarkCloud-- OOOOH that's a really good idea! I'm sure we could use that for the back supports, if not for the wings themselves too.

AmbientVoid-- If we end up going with the cellophane route, one or two of those rolls might do the trick.

[DarkCloudInc]

Originally Posted by StarsCASSiOPEiA

DarkCloud-- OOOOH that's a really good idea! I'm sure we could use that for the back supports, if not for the wings themselves too.

AmbientVoid-- If we end up going with the cellophane route, one or two of those rolls might do the trick.

Sure thing. Glad it made sense to use it as either support or the body of the wings itself. Reading back what I wrote, it was just jumbles, XD.

[Millions_Knives]

ok so normaly id say 1mm. acrylic
then look in a home, craft, or frameing store for a thin flexible sheet of clear plastic
its used for storm windows, painting protection, model craft windows, and so on
to set ya on the track
but its PETG to be correct is ya want to google it
vids of me using it here
light durable and clear

all youd have to do is cut it out with scissors
hit it with some frost spray paint
and hang them form a clear bra strap

[DarkCloudInc]

Originally Posted by Millions_Knives

ok so normaly id say 1mm. acrylic
then look in a home, craft, or frameing store for a thin flexible sheet of clear plastic
its used for storm windows, painting protection, model craft windows, and so on
to set ya on the track
but its PETG to be correct is ya want to google it
vids of me using it here
light durable and clear

all youd have to do is cut it out with scissors
hit it with some frost spray paint
and hang them form a clear bra strap

Thanks, I'll have to keep that in mind for future projects when I do decide to do clear wings.

[animenerd93]

im attempting to do these too, except my character has a nearly full open back design... any ideas on a harness if i make them using the cellophane?