Silverbrooke's Talon Quest

[silverbrooke]

Hey guys

 

I've been slowly working towards getting a better and approvable Talon since about 2010 when I first got the idea and the reading material.  I'll start the slow progress log here, going back towards the beginning.  I'm not there yet, but I'm so much closer than when I first started.

 

 

It started with Pam's Lekku which were fabulous and already crafted latex lekku.  I knew it would be less expensive for me to outsource this job than to try and fail multiple times, so I bit the bullet and she was nothing but wonderful.

 

 

Yay, halloween fun!

 

After that I got down to working on armor for Dragoncon 2012.  I'd never worked with EVA before, as I've always been a seamstress.  So I got down to sizing the parts with paper and then tracing them onto foam.

 

 

I then shaped them, sealed them with plastidip, and painted them more of a silver.  At the time, I was basing my model off the statue which had much more silver in her artwork.  I liked the contrast with the red and black.

 

 

Then I had to figure out the hilt.  I didn't have a proper lightsaber yet (I do now), so I just kind of took a dowel rod, moulded some air soft foam on it, painted it, and wondered if it looked too strangely phallic.  At this phase, my roomates all made fun of me, but they didn't have the end game vision

 

 

So D*con came, and my lovely friend Rachael Wagner of FaceOff fame painted me up.  I was pretty happy with the overall costume, other than my headpiece which was last minute in the hotel (y'all know what I'm talking about, right?  Nope, I neeeeeeeever have last minute fixes to my costume...)  But we did great, and my fiancee (now husband) did a good job at his first convention as my handler.  That time we used PAX paint, and a glaztan bald cap to conceal my massive amount of hair.  I had fastened the bra foam to a Vicky S's super push up bombshell bra (which still to my dismay can only do so much with my limited resources) and wasn't really happy with the dimple marks from where it had attached.  

 

 

I bumped into Thomas Spanos, who told me to come over here and check you guys out as you handle the EU characters.  He said I was on the way  And I'm finally doing that, after giving the costume a bit of a needed re-work.  I now own some of the Legacy Era comics that have her artwork, and have been referencing them for her rework.

 

 

So what I've done in part of my unfinished rework is cast her armor in worbla to make it more like plate and solid.  I know the document says leather, but in my heart it feels like she's wearing plate mail and I just had to go with it, as leather wouldn't hold up in lightsaber battles at all in my mind.  I've given it a plate on the back that has the red cutouts painted (because who makes a strapless bra with like, no back?  For reals, Ms. Duursema).  I also recast the headpiece, and now the ugly white foam is covered and it fits snugly.  

 

I still have to;

-cover one boot to make it not look like a stiletto

-do my saber hilt on my red ultrasaber

-make sure the bra-back cut out armor piece is sized perfectly with the front.

-make sure that all the fastening attachments are really Convention ready and not just photoshoot ready so I don't fall apart

-get some Global Body art paint instead of PAX to see if it holds up without yanking my skin

-finish some detail painting on the armor to give it more dimension in photos

-do the hand bits

-think about tattoo paper with my printer to make applying the details easier if alone or without husband who can draw

-get some Cine-Wax or something to make the head seam look flawless

-find some better bands than black elastic.  It doesn't look bad, but it doesn't wow me either

-debate with self if switching to spandex leg covers would be more seamless and better looking than actual thigh high boots while moving

-find a way to not have boob paint stick to armor and restrict movement

-find a way to better colour armpits without constant re-application of paint

-perfect resting lady face

 

 But, I'm closer than I was before.

 

 

We did a Dark Side photo shoot with Horrify Me UK this month, which was the catalyst for getting my butt in gear and re-vamping most of the costume.  I'll post more of those shots later once I get the high res, as they are pretty rad.  In the mean time, I'll need plenty of help with tweaking my saber hilt!

 

Thanks for reading guys.  Costuming is an ever evolving journey to better yourself, and hopefully with your brains I can get there!

 

[blackrock]

Looks great IMO, but I'm not a Talon expert by any means.  When you do submit your photos, make sure that it's in a well lit room, since in the 2016 picture above, it is a little tough to see the scaring that should be on the armor.

 

I'm sure the Talon experts will be by soon to give you some feedback.  In the mean time, check out the CRL for Talon at http://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:SL_talon. While there are no pictures for this CRL yet, the descriptions are filled out pretty good to give you an idea of what will be looked for.