Cosplay: Then and now

[Catapharact]

Cosplaying is one of those arts that definately requires a lot of Effort; From nailing down the right combination of Practicality and astetics the body type right.

And like everything else in life, the more time and effort you put into it, the better the results.

I am in the process of preparing a costume for the upcoming Anime North meetup this May and I personally took inspiration from something I cooked up for a Zombie Walk event all the way back in 2013:

https://www.tombraiderforums.com/sho...d.php?t=202780

And that gave me an idea for this topic. We have a lot of creative individuals on the forum. I would love to see how you as a cosplayer have progressed over the years.

For myself, well this picture was taken from 2013 during the "Enforcer" portion of the event during the Zombie Walk:



It was as basic as they came, which made sense as I was in no mood to put a lot of effort into it.

For this year though, I decided to put in that extra effort.



There are still things missing from the cotume that are a work in progress, including a Combat Knife and Unit Patches. But overall, this is going to be the look.



Kinda going with my own rendition of HUNK / Mr. Death from Resident Evil .

So I am curious about you guys. Let your creativity flow and show us just how far have you progressed.

[deadmando9]

Cool outfits.

[Dennis's Mom]

I would have loved to cosplay in my youth, but that wasn't a thing till I had kids and other things that needed the money.

Nice outfits. I would love to see others' costumes as well, because I'm always amazed at how good they are.

[Catapharact]

Thanks for the feedback guys . Glad you like the costume.

And like I said before, its not finished yet. There are a few things pending on the costume, including Custom Unit Patches (like the Medic on on the left Pec,) blood and scarring on the eye, etc. But overall, the costume will pretty much be what you see.

I got my custom Combat Knife yesterday along with the Sheath. I also will be replacing the "custom" made 12 Gauge Shells on the Shoulder Caddy with my dummy .410 Rounds that I use for Dry Fire Practice. Will need 6 more them for all the Caddy Slots:



And IMO guys, its never too late to get into a Hobby (within reasonable parameters of course.) One of the best Cosplays that I have seen was of Granny from the Tweety Cartoons.

I mean look at this legend:

https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/commen...rld/?rdt=53905

Just puts a smile on everyone's face . Like I said before, Cosplay is an art that works best when you encompass every facet of a character, including key physical characteristics and the aforementioned cosplay encompasses everything.

[Catapharact]

So, updates:



The knife has been added and I decided to remove the .410s with 12 Gauge Dummy Rounds; You only need Six of them and they look better .

Futhermore, with the help of the MOLLE webbing that was attached to the back of the vest, I could add a multiplex Bag:



Why? Well for one thing, doesn't it bother you that a character just seems to keep storing **** without any logical Area to store that **** in ?

Futhermore, on the practical side, I will actually be carrying essentials like water, First Aid Kit, documentation, etc. in that bag when we hit Anime North. I like practical things, I can seriously just use this vest for so many other things than just cosplay.

[deadmando9]

Nice!

[Catapharact]

So, we made it to Anime North with a full Costume . Had to replace a few props with safer Alternatives including changing the knife to a Training Knife due to requirements presented by the Convention (for obvious reasons.)

The costume was a hit! Got a lot of pictures taken:



I gotta tell ya, its so hard to navigate the crowd with an eye patch on since you need the peripheral vision that your other eye offers . However, it was a fun endeavor. Had a surprisingly large amount of female cosplayers curious about the costume. Pictures tend of be a bit awkward with female cosplayers because I am a tall guy and you need to strike a look that says "cool" for both parties involved in the Picture .

Male Cosplayers loved the costume but more than that, they are curious about getting their Bodies shaped up to better portray their characters. I had no other advice for them other than you gotta go to the Gym and put in the work.

All in all, it was a good time. Got more pictures from Anime North posted in the Anime Thread for those who are curious.

[Catapharact]

So... Time to reveal what I have been upto for the last few weeks .

We are going to need the right music to set the mood:

*Insert "Vode An."



MAKE MANDALORIANS GREAT AGAIN! No longer bound to Disney's version of being glorified Babysitters.

So this is my modern "tactical" take on the Mandalorian Bekar Armor and Helmet. The Armor itself is 3D Printed (found the STL files on the internet and had an industrial 3D Printer Print them; Painting and battle damage were done by me) while the Helmet is my personal "FAST Helmet" with a modified custom Mandalorian Visor attachment. The Armor will be paired with a tactical chest rig that will contain Ammunition Pouches, Radio, First Aid Kit, etc. (Hence the straps.)









The best part about the Costume is that I have attached LED strips with a battery pack in the Helmet which allows the visor of the helmet to glow just like the Night Vision option of the Republic Commandos .



The Costume is far from done; There is the making and painting of the Blaster rifle as well as a few more add ons for the helmet and the Armor but thus far, this is turning out to be a good and fun project .

[Cat Woman]

^. Lots of work put in for all those costumes. Congrats - very authentic.

[Catapharact]

Thank you. Its has been and will continue to be a lot of work but its all going to be worth it in the end .