Lawrence Cosplay Update Report 01
It still needs to be sanded and Rub'n'Buffed, but I made the brooch!
The brooch is a resin casting, with two pins embedded on the back (so it's not all wibbly-wobbly), and I inserted the pin that the beads are on while the casting was still soft so they're in there pretty well. The blue bead is actually purple on the other side, but I figured that as long as I keep the blue side out, it'll be perfect. (I had these on hand and didn't really feel like hunting down more blue beads considering that beads for Tasuki have been a pain in the butt.) I did the rectangular area and triangular area for simplicity's sake (and because with A.R.'s, we did it as two pieces and have found that the jump rings we used are too small and weak, and keep coming out. I really don't feel like dealing with that.) I definitely need to sand out some of the major imperfections that aren't really apparent here but are downright garish IRL, and I need to do a top-coat of gold. I added gold paint to the resin though so that if the top coat gets scratched or smudged off, there will still be a gold colour underneath so the damaged finish will be less noticeable. Nothing screams "LOOK I'M NOT REALLY METAL" more than white showing through the top coat. This way, a scuff will just look like an area that needs polishing.
Admittedly, I'm actually pretty unhappy with the mold; it turned out badly (air bubbles and a hole), but it's expensive stuff so for a one-off piece, I'm just making do with this. The master I sculpted also shattered when I went to de-mold it (I just used a very basic clay that can be re-hydrated since I figured I didn't really need to keep the master). If I were to re-do the master for a better casting, I would want to use some crafting plastic or wood for the basic shapes, then fill in the details with Apoxie Sculpt or another epoxy that doesn't shrink while curing. I wasn't happy with how this clay decided that being flat just wasn't a thing it wanted to do.
As for the rest of the costume, basically no progress has been made. I haven't found ideal purple fabric yet. Well, I did find a Japanese site that has BASICALLY PERFECT fabric (purple with gold birds all over it), but from what I understand, it would cost about $50 shipped for two yards, and I just can't justify spending that much for that amount of fabric at this point in my life. So I'm still on the hunt. .... Do you guys suppose that purple fabric with butterflies or dragon flies would be okay? I've seen some of that around for decent prices.
I also haven't made progress on his wig yet since I didn't get a lacefronting tool in until yesterday (and another character that needs lacefronting is ahead of him on my list now due to the fact that I actually have the fabric for him) - I had small crochet hooks that I wanted to try and see if they'd fit through the lace and they did not, and I tried checking some local wig shops to see if they had lacefronting tools.
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EDIT:
Oh, I also got a ring to use instead of my Philosopher's Stone ring for the silver/red ring since my Philosopher's Stone ring is too big for my ring finger. I found it at a flea market for $4, and the flea market was a charity drive for Good Mews, so not only did I find cosplay props (I also picked up a few brooches), but I helped out needy kitties. I also converted one of the shiny Burgur King display PokeBalls (my Mom was also into Pokemon, so we wound up with a bunch of the fancy ones to the point where we have duplicates and a couple have damaged boxes now) into a jewelry case. I stuck a chunk of foam in the top part so that Lawrence's rings and earring have a place to live, and my brooches for Morty and Lawrence now live in the bottom. I misplaced my badge for Morty, but if I find or re-make that, it'll also go in this somewhere.
