AD Police cosplay.
Dartz
formatting.
So anyway, I was at Eirtakon(http://www.eirtakon.com) about a week
ago, and the topic of cosplay variety came up. While quality was
pretty good, there were a lot of variants on Bleach, FMA, and a few
other popular recent things.
I commented that I thought I could do a half decent ADPolice job next
year, mentioning that most people would have no idea what ADPolice was
(cue the 5 people in the immediate vacinity going 'I know that').
Anyway, I'm sort of committed to doing it, or I'll look like a fool.
It's also just about the only cosplay I can do. I'm not.....bishounen
enough for most popular animé characters.
Anyway, how I'm thinking of doing this:
The basic costume-
--Fatigues: I can probably get these at a local airsoft retailer for
a decent price. Either grey or navy blue will do the job. Might have
trouble finding something in my own size however.
--Body armour: Hoping to get some replica equipment at the same place
as fatigues. I might also try a sports-shop if that fails. Anything
that's not the right grey colour can be painted. Some parts like
kneepads and shoulders might probably be plated with metal roofing
flashing. It's lead/aluminium, so it's flexible. I may have to
fabricate shoulder pads..
--Helmet: Definitely can get this sort of stuff at an airsoft store.
Cheap, cheerful. It'll be painted, probably modified, and has to be
comfortable. This is a no-problem item.
--Goggles and gasmasks: I can get safety glasses at a hardware shop,
and some form of gasmask/dustmask to. It'll need to be one with one/
two conspicuous filters, I need space to put things. Goggles will be
tinted red with either a red lighting gel, or something else.
--Unit markings: Unit markings and badges can be moddeled using
plasticard + gold lacquer + paints. I'd love to be able to have proper
embroidered stuff aswell, but it's expensive in short runs, so I might
just print it off, or use cut fabrics. I have a sketch of a my own
design for an ADP badge, and I think I could make it out of brass and
glue in a few hours. (since there's no images of the actual thing I
can find)
Anything that's the wrong colour can be blasted with spraypaint, dyed
or whatever.
I need to carry a weapon of some sort... I'm looking again at a cheap
airsoft gun, probably a plastic shotgun, hopefully a nice weighty
metal AEG. I checked this with the committee already, and so long as
it's incapable of shooting anything, they didn't care. (The con has
rules against live airsoft replica weapons, after an incident at
another Irish con involving a LARP'ing SWAT team with airsoft M16's
and the US ambassador to Ireland)
That's the basics, and it's actually pretty easy. All it involves is
money and shopping around a little. I have until next August (the
deadling I've set) and it should be doable. Everything up there I know
what to do and can do. It's basic, but the effect will be good.
-----------------------------------
Now then, to pitch it over into something awesome..... I'm going to
add some engineering to it. This is an engineer's cosplay
Firstly a 12Volt 6Ah battery borrowed from a Kawasaki. Should be light
enough to carry around all day, and hold enough of a charge to run
stuff for 12-13 hours or more. I have the battery already. It's a
sealed Lead-acid type. So long as I don't fall and crack it, it'll do
well. This is something I already have to hand. It'll have to be
fused to prevents short circuits causing explosions of sulphuric acid
over crowded attendee's.
--Goggles: I;m going to fit a series of red LED's for thge glow in the
dark effect. I won't be able to see out, but for a few seconds I'm
running them at the masquerade, it'll look cool.
-Gasmask: Filters will be removed. One will be replaced by a PC fan
blowing cold air onto my face, the other with a mic, 1w amp and
lightweight speaker so I can be heard clearly. I'm a staffer, I'll
have to be. I'm going to need cool air, it'll be a long day, and this
hear will be heavy.
--Gun: Some sort of bright torchlight, and maybe a laser sight, hooked
up via a breakable link.
--And just for the lulz, I'm going to get a regulated 12v-5v power
supply and use it to power my old Zen MP3 player via a USB, and a
switchbox to control all this stuff on my belt or wrist.
If I can do all of that. It'll be epic. What do all of ye think? Is it
doable in ten months, or too much? The electronics I know how to do. I
know where to buy. I know how to solder. I don't have to stitch or
sew, and everything else can be had off some shelf.
Budget looks at being 200-250 euro not including boots.... which are
expensive, but aren't con-only items. I'lll have them for months or
more.
I'll be posting pics somewhere as I get to work on this, probably here.
antagonist
<snip>
Well, you know which boots I'd favor :P
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Kampfstiefel-Bundeswehr.JPG
Whee :D
I wub mine. They're so comfortable. ;)
Antagonist
Dartz
> Am 23.11.2009, 17:01 Uhr, schrieb Dartz <dartz....@gmail.com>:
>
> <snip>
>
> Well, you know which boots I'd favor :P
>
>
> Whee :D
>
> I wub mine. They're so comfortable. ;)
>
> Antagonist
Boots'll be whatever I can find that are cheap, brutish, size 13 and
have steel caps.
Actually having a hell of a time figuring out how to do the patches.
Noone will do once-off's for a reasonable price. So I'll have to do it
myself. I know someone who can sew, maybe they'll show me how to do it
properly. I have a sketch of a design, so I can probably do it.
So, on paper, everything looks doable.
It's just a matter of effort and time.
-Dartz
I have sketches for
Dustin Kopplin
Its still an awesome idea no matter what, but definetly show picks.
Dartz
Yeah, I'll have pictures up and on the way. I won't actually be
starting until February, I'm doing all design work and stuff now.
Planning, budgeting
It won't be *exactly* like the ADP...(Then again, there's
inconsistencies in the show) but it'll be close enough, and sure
there's always artistic licenses. It's like fanfic, if it looks cool
and sort of fits the etho's... do it. I'm not quite sure how to do the
patches still. I might end up making them myself, since I have a
relative who knows how do stitch and sew properly.
And quite frankly, handmade patches will be so much more awesome than
laminated printouts from Inkscape
-Ian.