| AnimeIowa - Panels - Difficult
Costumes |
 Elizabeth
Sloan made an amazing Debonair costume that did everything but win an award
at the AnimeIowa costume contest in 2000. Returning to the convention in
2001, she spoke about the challenges of creating that costume. Its most
prominent feature was a metal crown. Sloan said that was made from a sheet
of scrap metal that she had found and hammered into shape. That piece of
what most likely was marine bronze weighed 12 pounds, and the elaborate
wig weighed another three pounds; the entire headpiece was around 25 pounds
with the other details. Much of the challenge in this case was being able
to walk around with that additional weight on her head and neck (now we
know why she moved so slowly during the 2000 contest). |
 Many costumers
find working with cloth to be easier than making elaborate, solid, three-dimensional
shapes, but it can be done, Sloan said. As an example she presented the
first phase of a mask that will eventually become a Ryo-ohki costume. Her
husband, a sculptor, make the Ryo-ohki head, which was used to create a
mould that then was the basis for a vacuformed piece of plastic. For those
who don't have a sculptor or vacuforming equipment handy, Sloan said there
are alternatives. Paper-mache is a good material, she said, noting that
most people haven't tried to use that beyond making things in kindergarten.
The trick is to make sure the paper-mache is absolutely, completely dry;
then it can be sanded smooth and painted in a way that makes it look solid,
she said. |
 Another good
material, available from a company called "Unnatural Resources," is a gauze-impregnated
plastic that can be formed into shapes when it's softened in 180-degree
(F) water. That material was used to make the centurions' helmet shown
here, but some forms of the material are as much as one-quarter-inch thick
and make good armor and body forms, said Sloan. There's another trick to
that helmet: what look like studs are ordinary paper fasteners found in
an office supply store. "In a pinch you can put your whole costume together
with them," she said. |
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