Ryudo - Grandia II
Worn at:
World Cosplay Summit 2018 - Nagoya, Japan
Otakuthon 2017 - Montreal
Inspiration:
Grandia II is one of my favourite video games EVER. Like, so much that one time I played for three days straight - 10, 12 and 9 hours, something like that. I LOVE the characters, I LOVE the battle system, I LOVE the plot and twists, I LOVE the music. Dang. I think it's been one my dream costumes since I began cosplaying but I never found the perfect time to do it. And I also didn't want to do it alone, because a group would be so badass (and it's kind of an obscure classic). Then appeared the World Cosplay Summit preliminaries in Canada, and after the third year I decided I wanted to take a shot at it. It was the PERFECT time for this. I urged my partner Mathi to play the game, she did and she agreed to do it with me. AT LONG LAST. And little did we know, we even ended up winning the qualifications and would be the 2018 Canada representatives at the WCS in Japan! YAY!
Description:
Wig: Magnum Long in Dark Brown (CL-076) from Arda Wigs with one pack of wefts. This was classic teasing and spiking! The challenge with spikes is always to make the wig look good at every angle and not from the front point of view only.
Headpiece: The orange jems were cast in resin in a handmade mold. The rest was made with Worbla and fabric. It clips onto the wig for stability.
Boots: The boots were painted with Angelus leather paint, the top part was added with leather. The square and triangle rings were spraypainted gold. All the leather straps/belts (from everywhere else in the costume as well) were cut, perforated, dyded and assembled with rivets. Studs were pinned in the soles, and the silver panel was made of Worbla. Adjusting the straps was a very long process, they are all unique to fit perfectly around the boot.
"Skirt": The base shape was made with rigid interfacing, metal wires and padding. All the belts were cut, painted and adjusted. I added eyelets and rivets. The skirt holds in place with snaps inside the pants.
Bird: The base shape was made with expanding foa and cut with an X-acto. The claws, beak, horn and spiky tails were made with Worbla. The armor was made with craftfoam and EVA foam, primed and handpainted. All the feathers were trimmed to get the desired look. The tail is removable to facilitate transportation. It can stay on my arm with 2 powerful magnets, for this I have to wear two magnets under my sleeve.
Muscle suit: Each ab was cut from fiberform and shaped with scissors, then covered with stretch fabric to get a smooth surface. Bra cups were sewn on the shoulders, and the abs were sewn on the white undersuit. The blue onepiece was made very tight to see the shapes, I also applied a little makeup directly on the fabric to make more shadows.
Butterfly: The plastic base was digitaly cut in Sintra and painted gold. The "jewels" are friendly plastic that I shaped by hand and gradient painted with nail polish and a little sponge (like you do with nails!).
Sword: The pommel was made with expanding foam, the blade with EVA foam, both covered with 2 layers of papermache and paperclay. The paperclay was sanded and filled many many times to have the smoothest finish. The white and silver colors were spraypainted (painter's tape to make the shapes), other colors were painted by hand and I added a little weathering. The small red gems were cast with resin, the big gems are plastic domes painted with stained glass paint and a aluminum back. The sword can be divided in two pieces to facilitate transportation.
Millenia's wig: This wig is a beast!! I'm so proud of the results. I worked so hard on it to be perfect! In there is a base wig, 1 clip-on extension, 1 pack of short wefts and 2 packs of long wefts. I used the super understructure and stubbing method for support of the heavy ponytail. Toupee clips were sewn inside for a better hold on the hair. Shapes were made with expanding foam and cardboard, cut with an X-acto. The wefts were glued on the shapes with adhesive caulking, the bottom of the ponytail was curled with a hot steamer.
World Cosplay Summit 2018 - Nagoya, Japan
Otakuthon 2017 - Montreal
Inspiration:
Grandia II is one of my favourite video games EVER. Like, so much that one time I played for three days straight - 10, 12 and 9 hours, something like that. I LOVE the characters, I LOVE the battle system, I LOVE the plot and twists, I LOVE the music. Dang. I think it's been one my dream costumes since I began cosplaying but I never found the perfect time to do it. And I also didn't want to do it alone, because a group would be so badass (and it's kind of an obscure classic). Then appeared the World Cosplay Summit preliminaries in Canada, and after the third year I decided I wanted to take a shot at it. It was the PERFECT time for this. I urged my partner Mathi to play the game, she did and she agreed to do it with me. AT LONG LAST. And little did we know, we even ended up winning the qualifications and would be the 2018 Canada representatives at the WCS in Japan! YAY!
Description:
Wig: Magnum Long in Dark Brown (CL-076) from Arda Wigs with one pack of wefts. This was classic teasing and spiking! The challenge with spikes is always to make the wig look good at every angle and not from the front point of view only.
Headpiece: The orange jems were cast in resin in a handmade mold. The rest was made with Worbla and fabric. It clips onto the wig for stability.
Boots: The boots were painted with Angelus leather paint, the top part was added with leather. The square and triangle rings were spraypainted gold. All the leather straps/belts (from everywhere else in the costume as well) were cut, perforated, dyded and assembled with rivets. Studs were pinned in the soles, and the silver panel was made of Worbla. Adjusting the straps was a very long process, they are all unique to fit perfectly around the boot.
"Skirt": The base shape was made with rigid interfacing, metal wires and padding. All the belts were cut, painted and adjusted. I added eyelets and rivets. The skirt holds in place with snaps inside the pants.
Bird: The base shape was made with expanding foa and cut with an X-acto. The claws, beak, horn and spiky tails were made with Worbla. The armor was made with craftfoam and EVA foam, primed and handpainted. All the feathers were trimmed to get the desired look. The tail is removable to facilitate transportation. It can stay on my arm with 2 powerful magnets, for this I have to wear two magnets under my sleeve.
Muscle suit: Each ab was cut from fiberform and shaped with scissors, then covered with stretch fabric to get a smooth surface. Bra cups were sewn on the shoulders, and the abs were sewn on the white undersuit. The blue onepiece was made very tight to see the shapes, I also applied a little makeup directly on the fabric to make more shadows.
Butterfly: The plastic base was digitaly cut in Sintra and painted gold. The "jewels" are friendly plastic that I shaped by hand and gradient painted with nail polish and a little sponge (like you do with nails!).
Sword: The pommel was made with expanding foam, the blade with EVA foam, both covered with 2 layers of papermache and paperclay. The paperclay was sanded and filled many many times to have the smoothest finish. The white and silver colors were spraypainted (painter's tape to make the shapes), other colors were painted by hand and I added a little weathering. The small red gems were cast with resin, the big gems are plastic domes painted with stained glass paint and a aluminum back. The sword can be divided in two pieces to facilitate transportation.
Millenia's wig: This wig is a beast!! I'm so proud of the results. I worked so hard on it to be perfect! In there is a base wig, 1 clip-on extension, 1 pack of short wefts and 2 packs of long wefts. I used the super understructure and stubbing method for support of the heavy ponytail. Toupee clips were sewn inside for a better hold on the hair. Shapes were made with expanding foam and cardboard, cut with an X-acto. The wefts were glued on the shapes with adhesive caulking, the bottom of the ponytail was curled with a hot steamer.
