Manifest 2012
So, Manifest happened! Some of you may remember my cosplay freakouts in the lead up to it.
In the end, I was about two weeks short on the time I needed, and started shortcutting like MAD. Sanding and smoothing and edge reinforcement and extra coats of paint/sealant went out the window. Cut back on the detailing, and abandoned weathering on everything except the lance. Paint job was also pretty sloppy. Have to say, this was the most down-to-the-wire cosplay I've done. I was horribly worried about paint cracking or everything just coming apart on me on the day since I didn't actually get to do a test wear when it was finished, it was pretty much *finished-drying-pack-getonplane*
Luckily, the costume made the trip without too much damage - there was some paint sticking that required a patch job, and one of the spikes on the spear broke off but was easily hotglued back on. The tip and bottom of the spear both wound up a little misshapen too. But more about that later.
Let me get all the feel good shout outs out of the way instead - thanks to both the Perth crew and the Melbourne crew for all the great company and tour guiding and other hijinks! Manifest is pretty cool and all, but I definitely come for the company. And it's always awesome to see agentlerain in person particularly~
It was a good trip, if tiring! I developed an uncanny ability to run into people unexpectedly over the weekend - silver_lined in Melbourne Central after I'd parted ways with kaorismash (thanks for the unplanned hangout, it was fun!) and akinofujiko in Daiso doing last minute cosplay-supply shopping. <3 I actually want to go and thank everybody individually, but most of the Perth crew and so many of the Melbourne crew aren't active on LJ anymore. :( (You guys know who you are anyway).
Flew solo for the first day and then caught up with the Perth crew and we shared an unexpectedly amazing apartment. It was actually a massive shame that we didn't think to do a photo shoot in there until far too late.
A lot of aimless wandering/shopping/eating ensued. P-chan and I became hopelessly addicted to Tutti Frutti at some point, while everyone else fell in love with Dessert Story. I am quite sure Dessert Story is excellent, but it was difficult to have eyes for anything other than my new love.
SO DELICIOUS. I have to console myself with Roc Candy. :< How does Perth have one of these and Brisbane doesn't?
We also stumbled upon this nifty sight while making a Lincraft run for cosplay repair supplies:
There was something oddly mesmerising about it.
Anyhow, I could talk on and on about random Melbourne adventures, but let's be honest, all anyone cares about is cosplay!
...Unfortunately, due to the difficulty of seeing/moving in my cosplay, I took almost no photos. D: Luckily, about a hundred other people took photos, and some of them were nice enough to upload theirs onto the internet.
(Credit to Daniel Jq)
So there's Kain and Onion Knight! Extra special thanks to P-chan for being my cosplay companion on the day! <3 Onion Knight.
As for the cosplay itself, it turned out both better and worse than I thought. Better in that it's probably one of my best efforts yet, worse in that I was still unhappy with it and yeah, as predicted it barely lasted until the end of the day.
Despite getting up super early, we wound up running quite late for the con, and wound up having to navigate the tram and walk a lot further instead of just taking the train. The weather was miserable, too - freezing cold and raining, it was actually pretty lucky that my costume lasted the journey there, although by the time I got there my boots were already cracking. I was kinda of worried that would happen and was thus not at all surprised!
The velcro on my kneeguards was a bit temperamental, Onion Knight was sent scurrying after them more than once as they made truly valiant efforts to not just fall off my knees but stage an epic escape across the showgrounds. In retrospect I should have just glued them to the thigh armour and left them to flap over the knee. Also the bike pants I was using kept shifting down, which wouldn't have been a problem if not for the Adidas logo I'd been hiding under the codpiece. Double-sided sticky tape didn't do the job in keeping it hidden, by the end of the day I'd given up fixing it and decided that Adidas could just be sponsors of the high jump or something. You can see it in this one:
(Credit to James Katakis)
Kain Highwind: Sponsored by Adidas. Leap Higher
Had to check in my spear almost as soon as I got there, so those two are about the only photos of it. Considering the spear in total took about four hours to make (which was probably less than any other single piece of the damn cosplay) and was an incredibly pain to lug around, this did not terribly upset me.
Right thigh armour also kept falling down ALL THE TIME, it was a little too loose, so I had a bunch of awful poses which were me trying to not-so-subtly hold it up. Luckily when I got a chance to borrow some double-sided sticky tape that DID do the job of keeping it up and it held for the rest of the con. Just as well, because it was not long after that the torso armour decided to start giving up the ghost. I'd double-velcroed, but there wasn't a lot of give in the torso, probably exacerbated by my increasing slump as I grew tired, so the velcro started to tear off, and attempted patch jobs didn't really hold it.
Amazingly, helmet held up wonderfully!! There were no problems with the helmet, only with the hair underneath it continually trying to migrate into my face - I'd pinned it back, for all the ten minutes that lasted. Arm guards too lasted without any drama. And despite the fact that it didn't hold up for the torso, velcro for everything was a good idea as the inevitable breakages were for the most part easily rectified! (such as with the shoulder pauldrons and aforementioned escapee kneeguards.)
It's probably the most uncomfortable cosplay I've ever worn, yay! I was horribly sore for the next two days.
To break from all my post-mortem whinging, here's an adorable picture of Onion Knight grabbing some field rations.
Anyhow, there were a LOT of amazing cosplays at Manifest, almost none of which I managed to get a photo of but I feel a bit weird stealing other people's photos when I'm not actually in them. Here's a compromise, we accidentally photobombed the amazing DW group Perth and Melbourne crew made up:
NOT OUR FAULT, WE WERE MAKING REPAIRS. Aren't they all amazing and shiny though? So pro! So much bling.
And yeah, that's about it, sorry! You'll have scour the internet for more con photos, odds are they would be a great deal more awesome than any of mine would have been anyway~! I hear there was a pretty fantastic Magikarp roaming the floor? Also an insanely awesome Garrus from ME3. And a trio of fabulous Lokis. ;) We also took some photos with a really awesome Squall and a pair of Lightnings!
In terms of merchandise, I restrained myself from buying anything, though had they not already been sold out of Iron Man perfume I might not have been able to resist~
We trudged home at the end of the day thoroughly exhausted. Cosplay is workout. I do not think I am fit enough for it anymore. Have sudden sympathy for costume actors.
Shoes just barely lasted the journey home before entirely ripping off at the base. Yet miraculously, not a single spike was lost.
I'm not really sure whether I should remake/repair to wear to a different con or just shelve Kain entirely. :/
We only went to Manifest on the Saturday, and that was quite enough. After the con was over, the rest of the trip was a great deal more relaxing! Though I have noticed that there's a direct relationship between the number of people involved and our ability to be punctual/plan anything. But hey, we did buy some incredibly fancy tea at Lupicia and a lot of cool $2.80 junk from Daiso. SUCCESS! We also trooped out to stickybeak around St Kilda. The markets were cool, Luna Park was interesting for a brief stroll, but the highlight was definitely the very awesome kiosk at the end of the pier, their chips and desserts were unusually fantastic for a place that's a ten minute walk from dry land.
An alarming number of people have since succumbed to the con plague, though, which has made the post-con blues unusually more severe. :(
Anyhow, that's con/cosplay report enough. Thanks again to P-chan for being Onion Knight buddy to my Kain cosplay, we'll overlook that part of canon where I technically betray you to save your life, okay? :D
EDIT:
Oh man forget all that, anyone wants to see a bunch of incredible Manifest cosplay WATCH THIS REALLY GOOD VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYi9yx5kXW8&feature=youtu.be
It kind of summarises the convention better than I could anyway.
...Also kind of alarmed at how many people I recognise in this. Australian convention scene is starting to feel small.
In the end, I was about two weeks short on the time I needed, and started shortcutting like MAD. Sanding and smoothing and edge reinforcement and extra coats of paint/sealant went out the window. Cut back on the detailing, and abandoned weathering on everything except the lance. Paint job was also pretty sloppy. Have to say, this was the most down-to-the-wire cosplay I've done. I was horribly worried about paint cracking or everything just coming apart on me on the day since I didn't actually get to do a test wear when it was finished, it was pretty much *finished-drying-pack-getonplane*
Luckily, the costume made the trip without too much damage - there was some paint sticking that required a patch job, and one of the spikes on the spear broke off but was easily hotglued back on. The tip and bottom of the spear both wound up a little misshapen too. But more about that later.
Let me get all the feel good shout outs out of the way instead - thanks to both the Perth crew and the Melbourne crew for all the great company and tour guiding and other hijinks! Manifest is pretty cool and all, but I definitely come for the company. And it's always awesome to see agentlerain in person particularly~
It was a good trip, if tiring! I developed an uncanny ability to run into people unexpectedly over the weekend - silver_lined in Melbourne Central after I'd parted ways with kaorismash (thanks for the unplanned hangout, it was fun!) and akinofujiko in Daiso doing last minute cosplay-supply shopping. <3 I actually want to go and thank everybody individually, but most of the Perth crew and so many of the Melbourne crew aren't active on LJ anymore. :( (You guys know who you are anyway).
Flew solo for the first day and then caught up with the Perth crew and we shared an unexpectedly amazing apartment. It was actually a massive shame that we didn't think to do a photo shoot in there until far too late.
A lot of aimless wandering/shopping/eating ensued. P-chan and I became hopelessly addicted to Tutti Frutti at some point, while everyone else fell in love with Dessert Story. I am quite sure Dessert Story is excellent, but it was difficult to have eyes for anything other than my new love.
SO DELICIOUS. I have to console myself with Roc Candy. :< How does Perth have one of these and Brisbane doesn't?
We also stumbled upon this nifty sight while making a Lincraft run for cosplay repair supplies:
There was something oddly mesmerising about it.
Anyhow, I could talk on and on about random Melbourne adventures, but let's be honest, all anyone cares about is cosplay!
...Unfortunately, due to the difficulty of seeing/moving in my cosplay, I took almost no photos. D: Luckily, about a hundred other people took photos, and some of them were nice enough to upload theirs onto the internet.
(Credit to Daniel Jq)
So there's Kain and Onion Knight! Extra special thanks to P-chan for being my cosplay companion on the day! <3 Onion Knight.
As for the cosplay itself, it turned out both better and worse than I thought. Better in that it's probably one of my best efforts yet, worse in that I was still unhappy with it and yeah, as predicted it barely lasted until the end of the day.
Despite getting up super early, we wound up running quite late for the con, and wound up having to navigate the tram and walk a lot further instead of just taking the train. The weather was miserable, too - freezing cold and raining, it was actually pretty lucky that my costume lasted the journey there, although by the time I got there my boots were already cracking. I was kinda of worried that would happen and was thus not at all surprised!
The velcro on my kneeguards was a bit temperamental, Onion Knight was sent scurrying after them more than once as they made truly valiant efforts to not just fall off my knees but stage an epic escape across the showgrounds. In retrospect I should have just glued them to the thigh armour and left them to flap over the knee. Also the bike pants I was using kept shifting down, which wouldn't have been a problem if not for the Adidas logo I'd been hiding under the codpiece. Double-sided sticky tape didn't do the job in keeping it hidden, by the end of the day I'd given up fixing it and decided that Adidas could just be sponsors of the high jump or something. You can see it in this one:
(Credit to James Katakis)
Kain Highwind: Sponsored by Adidas. Leap Higher
Had to check in my spear almost as soon as I got there, so those two are about the only photos of it. Considering the spear in total took about four hours to make (which was probably less than any other single piece of the damn cosplay) and was an incredibly pain to lug around, this did not terribly upset me.
Right thigh armour also kept falling down ALL THE TIME, it was a little too loose, so I had a bunch of awful poses which were me trying to not-so-subtly hold it up. Luckily when I got a chance to borrow some double-sided sticky tape that DID do the job of keeping it up and it held for the rest of the con. Just as well, because it was not long after that the torso armour decided to start giving up the ghost. I'd double-velcroed, but there wasn't a lot of give in the torso, probably exacerbated by my increasing slump as I grew tired, so the velcro started to tear off, and attempted patch jobs didn't really hold it.
Amazingly, helmet held up wonderfully!! There were no problems with the helmet, only with the hair underneath it continually trying to migrate into my face - I'd pinned it back, for all the ten minutes that lasted. Arm guards too lasted without any drama. And despite the fact that it didn't hold up for the torso, velcro for everything was a good idea as the inevitable breakages were for the most part easily rectified! (such as with the shoulder pauldrons and aforementioned escapee kneeguards.)
It's probably the most uncomfortable cosplay I've ever worn, yay! I was horribly sore for the next two days.
To break from all my post-mortem whinging, here's an adorable picture of Onion Knight grabbing some field rations.
Anyhow, there were a LOT of amazing cosplays at Manifest, almost none of which I managed to get a photo of but I feel a bit weird stealing other people's photos when I'm not actually in them. Here's a compromise, we accidentally photobombed the amazing DW group Perth and Melbourne crew made up:
NOT OUR FAULT, WE WERE MAKING REPAIRS. Aren't they all amazing and shiny though? So pro! So much bling.
And yeah, that's about it, sorry! You'll have scour the internet for more con photos, odds are they would be a great deal more awesome than any of mine would have been anyway~! I hear there was a pretty fantastic Magikarp roaming the floor? Also an insanely awesome Garrus from ME3. And a trio of fabulous Lokis. ;) We also took some photos with a really awesome Squall and a pair of Lightnings!
In terms of merchandise, I restrained myself from buying anything, though had they not already been sold out of Iron Man perfume I might not have been able to resist~
We trudged home at the end of the day thoroughly exhausted. Cosplay is workout. I do not think I am fit enough for it anymore. Have sudden sympathy for costume actors.
Shoes just barely lasted the journey home before entirely ripping off at the base. Yet miraculously, not a single spike was lost.
I'm not really sure whether I should remake/repair to wear to a different con or just shelve Kain entirely. :/
We only went to Manifest on the Saturday, and that was quite enough. After the con was over, the rest of the trip was a great deal more relaxing! Though I have noticed that there's a direct relationship between the number of people involved and our ability to be punctual/plan anything. But hey, we did buy some incredibly fancy tea at Lupicia and a lot of cool $2.80 junk from Daiso. SUCCESS! We also trooped out to stickybeak around St Kilda. The markets were cool, Luna Park was interesting for a brief stroll, but the highlight was definitely the very awesome kiosk at the end of the pier, their chips and desserts were unusually fantastic for a place that's a ten minute walk from dry land.
An alarming number of people have since succumbed to the con plague, though, which has made the post-con blues unusually more severe. :(
Anyhow, that's con/cosplay report enough. Thanks again to P-chan for being Onion Knight buddy to my Kain cosplay, we'll overlook that part of canon where I technically betray you to save your life, okay? :D
EDIT:
Oh man forget all that, anyone wants to see a bunch of incredible Manifest cosplay WATCH THIS REALLY GOOD VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYi9yx5kXW8&feature=youtu.be
It kind of summarises the convention better than I could anyway.
...Also kind of alarmed at how many people I recognise in this. Australian convention scene is starting to feel small.