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CEGrant

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Everything posted by CEGrant

  1. Welcome! A couple of us just finished making Concept Ventresses. Check out the Asajj Ventress section of the forum. It's an awesome costume. You'll love it.
  2. And I thought I had it tough with just a bald cap and painting my head. Wowza. I can only imagine how much that cost you for all the ink. I also use Reel Creations, but on 1/10 the surface area that you do...
  3. Thanks ionicdesign! Yes, it was a blast. I love wearing the costume. Really the only down side is the 3 hour prep time. Ventress definitely got more attention than my Leia does. smartgirl...that's so nice, thank-you! I see you just finished one as well. Nicely done. I'd be happy to share all the info I have. I'll shoot you a pm with my email address. Send me yours and I can email you a bunch of links and pictures. (I have links to several good tutorials, both written and verbal, on bald caps. I also a file that allows you to print templates for applying the triangle tattoos--that's courtesy of Lady B.) In the meantime, check out page one of this thread. In post #3 I detail what materials I used, and in post #10 there are some photos of my first bald-cap try. But to answer your question, I use Graftobian bald caps. I tried Glatzan, but like the Graftobian much better.
  4. Also requesting to join to detachment. DS-51503 Great Lakes Garrison http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=18765 Thanks
  5. It's been a busy May! But at last it's done and approved. So this is me.... And so is this.... I got approved on the first try, for which I have all of you to thank. Without your constant feedback and support throughout the process, it would never have gone so smoothly. I've worn it twice now, once to a small Star Wars themed run event the same day I took approval pics, and once to the Cherry Capital ComiCon in Traverse City, MI. The Con was a blast...quite a few people recognized me, which is neat. Plus we got to kill off a red-shirted Ensign, which is always cool. So again, thank you all.
  6. Wow April was such a busy month. C7 was a blast though. Anyway....here we go! More pictures. Kate is pretty much done, though she is going to alter the belt to hide the middle bar on the buckle. She used herself as a model for these photos and she's about 7 inches shorter than me. We love the way the wraps came out once she added the strap to create the wrapped look. Some of the items look out of scale since she's shorter, and I can't wait to see it on me. Comments welcome!
  7. I've experimented with a couple of different make-up options. My first attempt was with Reel Creations airbrush ink and drugstore make-up over a Graftobian bald cap: I also tried out Ben Nye cake make-up: I only applied a small area. I dabbed on both with a sea sponge, dusted it with translucent powder and sprayed it with fixing spray: I was happy with the color, but it rubbed off rather easily. I think I prefer the alcohol based airbrush ink, but the Ben Nye is a good alternative for situations where using a airbrush isn't possible. It was also much easier to remove, lol. The first time I tried the Reel Creations airbrush ink, we used my husbands gravity-fed airbrush. It's a nice airbrush; he uses it for painting his Chewbacca masks. But the well was small enough that we were constantly stopping to refill it. So I ordered this side-fed airbrush: I also ordered a set of different sized bottles to attach to it. This way we won't have to refill during application. I do need to do a bit more research on portable options. We have a large air compressor at home, but I need something to take on the road. I want to look into smaller compressors, or maybe compressed air tanks. I plan on doing my second test run this weekend. I'll be trying a different bald cap (a Glatzan from Krylon). This cap is much tighter, and is a thinner material. I think I'll need a flesh-toned base layer under the Reel Creations, as my hair color shows through this bald cap. We'll see how it goes. This bald cap seems much less prone to wrinkling, so I'm hoping it works out. I'm accumulating quite the pile of make-up. I need to look into buying a case. I'd like to buy a wheeled make-up case with a combination of deep and shallow drawers/containers. Luckily there seem to be many options. I'll post again when I try the make-up this weekend.
  8. Hello again! All right, time for more pictures. Kate added zippers to the shirt for ease of donning. Ideally, I'd like to be able to put the shirt on AFTER applying the make up. So we have one small side zipper, which will be hidden the obi: And one zipper at the back of the neck, which will be hidden by the collar: We put a great deal of thought into the arrangement of the the arm wraps. As I mentioned in the last post, we decided to add long leather strips to the arms, which will the used as wraps around the existing leather gloves. (This will also allow us to cover the juncture between the sleeve and the glove, by laying the wrap over it.) So we had to figure out how to attach the gloves to the shirt. We wanted to make sure it was secure, and also make it sleek. So Kate came up with using this stuff, I think she called it snap tape? I can't remember. So the gloves will be hooking to the shirt: Kate also constructed the obi. We use a pattern we found online, that people use when making Jedi obi. It ties in the front, which can be hidden by the belt. I really love how it came out: So here it is all put together, as we have it so far: Work still to be done includes the belt, and adding the leather straps for the wrapping. I'll do a post in a bit about where I am with the make-up.
  9. Hope everyone had a great Spring Break/Easter! So, in regards to the wrapped look of the wraps, we decided to add actual wraps! The current gloves will act as the base and long leather straps will wrap around them almost like an ace bandage. We had to order more leather for this, so pics will be coming hopefully next week. But much progress was made in other areas. First off the belt buckle. A prop maker friend of mine helped me out on this (translation: made it cheap; I owe him beer). Here are some photos of the work in progress and the finished piece: It's no intended to be functional; it will be seen in place in the metal belt. Next post will have pics of the soft parts progress.
  10. As far as the belt, we are going with the wider single belt with the side straps that have rings for hooking the sabers. On the wraps, thanks for pointing that out. We'll have to figure out a solution.
  11. Thanks Kate finished the skirt this week. It's hard to see when it's not on a real person, but it does have two slits--one over each thigh. She also made the leather forearm wraps. They are lined with the same fabric used on the sides of the top, which is pretty darn cute. They have a discrete zipper on the underside of the forearm. So we still need to construct the obi, the belt buckle and the belt. Also I need to make and attach the straps and buckles for the boots. It's coming along!
  12. Be sure. A little tacking down on all sides is probably a good idea. How does it feel, is it reasonably comfortable to wear? So far Kate's been trying it on herself; I haven't worn it yet. As far as the tacking, we can see how it goes. There are horizontal stays running through the leather that keep it from flapping up. This is what she had to say about putting it on herself: "And voila! Amazing right? I hope you think so, too! It will not even need snaps in the front; it is very flush against the body in front and doesn't try to move at all. I can move my arms freely, even over my head, though of course there is a bit of resistance, just like trying to bend over in a loose corset. It pops out a bit in back, but 3 snaps to the shirt back will solve that problem, if the pins on my dressform are any indication." Snaps are something we can add to the front later, if it becomes necessary. She's been spending time on the gloves this week, so I should have update photos of those in the next day or two.
  13. Hello everyone. With the shirt mostly done, Kate moved on to the collar. She started with the lining, which is reinforced with vertical boning: Then she started adding horizontal strips of leather: Her first attempt used four tiers of leather, but we weren't super happy with the way it came out. It's a little too Christmas tree in shape: So she redid it with five tiers. Much better: Due to the boning, Kate says it lays very flat and immobile in the front, so we should only need hidden attachments in the back to keep it from flapping up. Kate is now starting on the gloves. We are putting a hidden zipper on the under arm to allow for getting them on and off. Kate is putting in a liner so the zipper won't rub my arm. I found some pleather that matched the boots I got so now it's time to figure out how to make the straps! Luckily another 501st member in Michigan is very knowledgable about leather working and she'll be giving me advice.
  14. Cool, thanks for the clarification.
  15. Unfortunately I live in the middle of rural Michigan. It's fine, I'll order them and try them out; I was just double checking that I had the correct ones. And thanks for thanks for the warning about the white! Kate got a bunch of work done on the shirt this weekend! It just needs to be hemmed. Here it is on her: Her shoulders are narrower than mine. Here it is on my duct tape shoulder form. I am so happy with how it looks so far.
  16. This arrived today, via USPS. I ordered it from Alcone, and chose the cheapest shipping. It arrived in two days, so a big thumbs up for that company. I applied a test patch of the adhesive to my neck and I'll wear it around today, make sure it doesn't react.
  17. Hey Lady B, can you take a peek at this link for me please? It's the Ben Nye foundation and it has the colors you mentioned, but they look more pinkish white than greyish white. I don't know if the colors changed or if the online pictures aren't doing it justice. http://www.alconeco.com/ben-nye-creme-foundation-proscenium-series To me, it looks like P-1 White and P-15 Cadaver Grey would be a fit. What do you think?
  18. I was wondering about that too. I was thinking maybe a hidden zipper on the underside of the wrist, just enough to allow the narrow wrist section to open up enough for my hand to get through. My wrists are pretty small, so I could see that being an issue. Thanks for confirming this. What type of closure did you use?
  19. Progress continues! Kate has cut the fabric for the top and is working on designing the collar. She plans to use both vertical and horizontal boning, though only the horizontal boning will be visible, to give the collar the ribbed look in the art piece above. Since we are two crazy girls, and decided to use leather for all of the non-cloth pieces, there isn't much room for error on the fit. (Kate reports that the .7mm leather does have a bit of give to it though, thank goodness.) So I decided to do another custom duct tape pattern. As you can see in the next picture, I have scrawny T-Rex forearms. Hopefully this mock-up will help Kate make the leather wraps accurately.
  20. I admire the heck out of seamstresses. (I am NOT one. ) Good luck! I look forward to watching your build! I'll be at C7 too, but it's highly unlikely my AOTC Asajj will be done by then. I'll be slumming it on the rebel side.
  21. More fabric fun! Sunburst pleat fabric is hard to come by. Most of it was either chiffon or made for window drapes. Kate is a digger though, and she found this vintage skirt: She said it's a rather full skirt so we'll have plenty of fabric to work with. It's exciting to see it in context with the other fabrics: Kate also made a mock-up of the shirt to test it out, since she made the pattern from scratch by cobbling together several patterns from past costumes. Here it is on the dress-form (which is a bit smaller than me ). This isn't the fabric the actual shirt will be made of. We got into a rather lengthy conversation about the neck collar, after Lady B made the point about shoulder movement and real leather. We decided we'd like to try to make the collar out of real leather, with horizontal boning stitched in to give it a firm, fitted, armor-like look. In light of that, we are going to model the contours on this concept art piece: This will keep it up away from the shoulders a bit more. If that idea crashes and burns, I may still get in touch with you about purchasing that fabric Lady B. I thank you VERY much for the kind offer. We'll see how this goes, lol. I think we might have to move the shoulder seam on the shirt though, if it won't be covered by the mantle. I'm gonna talk to Kate about this.
  22. Your post is oddly well timed, as Kate and I were just today discussing the seams on the grey shirt! We had talked about piping but noticed that your shirt wasn't exactly "piped" (is that a word?). I'll pass along the shoelace info. I see your point about the leather neck. The duct tape was rather awkward to move in, and I imagine leather would be the same. We're using .7mm leather for the leather parts. I might be interested in that fabric, I'll double check with Kate and get back to you. Thanks for the info on the make-up! I'm impressed you pulled off that look without airbrushing! I'll have to try the Ben Nye stuff and see what I think. I do have some translucent setting powder to use, and some fixing spray from Kryolan. I got into the Kryolan order last night. I think this stuff will be MUCH easier to work with than the drugstore brands I was trying before (for the lips, eyes, etc). I can't tell you how much I appreciate all your input. I'm learning some hard lessons the easy way, from you.
  23. Oh thank heavens, spring seems to be here. Highs in the 50s this week, so I'm ordering the pros-aide tonight. I was sick this weekend, stupid cold, so I didn't get as much done as I would've liked. I had hoped to get a preliminary design for the belt straps/buckles done, but that didn't happen. I did however get a duct tape collar made. Thanks to Lady B's WIP thread, I decided to adopt the brilliant suggestion of making a duct tape mock-up of the leather neck piece. This is really useful, since Kate (seamstress) and I aren't in the same place. Also, this piece has no stretch to it, so proper fit is essential. I took an old shirt, some saran wrap and a willing husband and went nuts. In related news, RIP epic purple shirt from BlizzCon 2011. Your sacrifice will live on.
  24. Very cool on the shoes! I can't wait to see how it all comes out!!
  25. Cool, thanks! Kate received the leather and the striped fabric today, so here's what we have so far. Meanwhile a fellow 501st member who does a prop business on the side is working up a belt buckle plan for me. And I got my Kryolan order today! Woot. I may order the pros-aide Monday. Apparently I have to be a little cautious on the timing since if it gets too cold it solidifies and becomes useless. But Michigan is supposed to warm up here soon, so hopefully next week it'll be safe to order. Ill do overnight or two day shipping to be safe.
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