1000 Crane Cosplay

I was going through some old pictures and I realized that I had forgotten that I had taken several progress pictures of horns that I had made a while ago. So, if you’ve ever wondered how I make mine, maybe this provides a little more detail?

Smush aluminum foil in a vaguely horn shape, keep it straight, otherwise if you try to bend it, it might just rip. Also keep it a bit smaller than you’d like the finished product to be.

Wrap it up in painters tape. I haven’t tried duct tape or scotch tape, but I would think painter’s tape would work best since it’s easy to tear off small pieces.

Bend it into the desired shape and throw on more painters tape to reinforce it.

Knead your Apoxie Sculpt A and B into a consistent color and throw it on the base, piece by piece. Make sure it’s a relatively thin coat, because this stuff can get heavy.

This is just one method of decoration, but it’s my favorite. It’s literally just dragging a line tool over the clay before it cures in uneven lines, more at the bottom, less at the top. I usually then slap the horns on an alice band. First I figure out their position by fiddling with them in the mirror and putting a spot of tape on the band where I want them and then hot gluing those suckers on. To further reinforce that, I’ll make little snakes of Apoxie sculpt and wrap that around the horn base to connect to the band. I also wrap a thin layer around the alice band where the horns sit for extra security. BAM horns. You can paint them with acrylic paint or spray paint and decorate with purdy flowers or MORE HORNS. Yay. Mini tutorial. If you have any questions, just shout at me.

PICTURES OF FINISHED HORNS WOOOO

Cosplay pro tip: the RIT people have all the formulas for literally any color you could ever need to dye your fabric, here.

Heat Transfer Vinyl

Okay dudes I wanna teach you some magic today.  I get a LOT of questions about what I use for designs on my Zelda costume as well as on my Matt Miller jacket.  You can buy it on eBay pretty easily.  I get mine here.

This stuff looks amazing and it’s SO CLEAN when you apply it.  It also isn’t overly shiny, so it looks pretty great on most fabrics, which is why I prefer it to painting fabric.  SO here is how the stuff works:

Heat transfer vinyl has two sides—a glossy and a matte side.  You’re going to want to draw your design on the matte side, as that’s where it has the adhesive.

Draw your design and cut it out.

Place it matte side down, glossy side up on the fabric you’re using.

Iron!  I put my iron on the highest setting just to be sure it sticks but some times this can warp the vinyl if you’re not careful.  You’ll want to go over it a few times.

Fabric Choice for Cosplay panel. This is just the bare bones and the examples, since I talked about and explained things in person.

(One thing I’d like to add right here though, since I was asked about it in person — I don’t go into enough detail about the difference between dupioni and shantung. Dupioni is stiffer and more crinkly [it makes a rustling noise] as well as having a more pronounced surface texture; shantung is softer and suitable for draping [where dupioni isn’t] and has a smoother surface texture.)

Nothing in this panel is definitive, and the examples given (even of the different fabric types) are just that — examples. You will encounter many, many more types of fabric than this out in the wild, but this is meant to give you a general overview so you can hopefully find your way.

This information is for personal reference only, and not meant to be used for your own panel. You can share this/reblog this; just don’t re-present it as your own.

Here is a link to the pdf file of the presentation, in case this photoset is difficult to read. It’s slightly confusing but all I could get my computer to do, so here’s how you read it: the 4-slide pictures read left to right, top to bottom. The 2-slide pictures read top to bottom. The 4-slide pictures have to be read across first. I couldn’t get that to switch in the version of Reader I’m using, so sorry for any confusion. The pdf file should read correctly, with one slide per page.

I said I’d write up a tutorial on how to make these wings. It’ll be terrible So, here goes. XD

Have one or two friends to help you out. It’s easier with more hands. Materials:

Thin poster board. (For small wings you will need 3 pieces. For wings like this you will need 6)

Opal cellophane. (two rolls to be safe)

Adhesive glue.

Scissors.

Wire cutters.

Exacto knife. (I recommended using this for cutting out the poster board)

Hot glue gun.

3 Hanger wires (it’s super sturdy)

Pencil, and eraser.

Iron.

GLITTER!!!!!!!!!

Step one:

Find a reference photo! These wings are meant for a Periwinkle cosplay but since her and Tinkerbell have the same wings we used Tink as a reference.

Step Two:

Since we made our wings super large we had to glue two pieces of poster board together. This is why I said 6 pieces for large wings. Reason why is because of their size just one piece would make it droop. So before drawing the design on you spray one piece with adhesive and put the other piece on top of it. Making it as even as possible.

If you’re making smaller wings just go to step three!

Step Three:

Draw your design on the poster board. We drew ours on from corner to corner (diagonally) If you want smaller wings I recommend drawing it from corner to the the middle of the board.

Step four:

This is the most tedious of all the steps to making wings. Take your exact o knife and start cutting. You cut around the design but make sure to cut half an inch away from the line. You can go back later to make it thinner if you want. Using one poster board will take less time then two since it isn’t as thick.

Make sure there is something underneath the board so you don’t damage your floor.

Step Five: (not necessary but who says no to glitter)

We’re obsessed with glitter. So naturally we coated both sides of the design with white glitter. We used adhesive for this as well.

Step Six: (Smaller wings don’t need this but if you want to add it then go ahead!)

Take your wire hanger and bend it out so it’s the same shape of the wing that will be the closest to your back. Glue the wire down about 7 inches down from the tip of the wing. Most of the support is needed in the middle, and bottom of the wing.

Let some of the wire hang out of the bottom about four inches so you can connect the harness.

Step Seven

Roll out the cellophane to go over the wings. One piece for each side. Spray adhesive to the wing first and then gently place the cellophane over it. I recommend having someone help you with this part because adhesive is a pain when something goes wrong.

Do this for both the big wing, and the smaller one. Make sure the cellophane is over the wing evenly. Pat out any bubbles it may have.

Step Eight:

When both sides have cellophane on it take your iron and make sure it’s on a low setting. You don’t want it to burn or melt the cellophane. Gently go over the wing, and even it out as much as possible. There will be some bubbles, and such but think of it being more realistic.

Step Nine:

Cut off any excessive cellophane but leave some near the veins and by the wire. If it’s to short the cellophane will come apart. We left little less then half an inch.

Step Nine:

Take the adhesive to glue the little wing to the bigger one. You want to make sure you glue it on the inside.

Step Ten:

Use another wire hanger and bend it into a rectangle. Wire hanger is tough to bend so you’re going to have to use your inner strength. Cut off any excess wire with a wire cutter. Cover it with electrical tape so it becomes sturdier.

Step Eleven:

Line up the wing wire with the harness wire at the spot where it’s needed. Take the wing and connect it to the harness. Using electrical tape to keep the two of them together. Cut off an excess wire so it doesn’t dig into the wearers back.

Alas you have fairy wings!! I hope this helps a bit T-T Have fun!