Packing the costumes

Darth Malgus packed up in one big duffel bag

Headless Horseman divided between a garment bag and a smaller duffel bag

You know, I don't recall reading much about other cosplayers packing costumes for travel. I didn't think about this until I was packing the car for Comic-Con, so I'm only showing my already packed bags, but in the future I'll show how the costumes are folded and packed.

The Darth Malgus duffel bag is new. I like looking through the bags at rummage sales, and I recently found a couple of duffel bags in a different sizes. Perfect for storing armor, or unusually shaped pieces. All of the Malgus armor, including boots, headgear, and makeup kit (!) fit into one big duffel bag. That's an improvement over the TWO bags I had to use previously. The only thing that didn't fit into the new bag was the light saber. I still haven't found a good container for something that long. To keep it somewhat safe, I wrap it in a towel. I'll probably need to make a travel case.

The Headless Horseman costume is divided into two bags. I use a garment bag for the coat, pants, vest, and miscellaneous clothing. Since they aren't armored, those pieces are kept relatively wrinkle free on hangers in the garment bag. All of the other weapons, holsters, body suit (with shoulder extensions), boots, and the neck accessory (hat) all pack into a smaller duffel bag. Unfortunately, the ax doesn't fit into either bag, so it goes separately with the ax head protected by a pillow case.

Oh, and by the way, COMIC-CON!

Darth Malgus: Makeup

It's time to try and reproduce that face with makeup.

Darth Malgus' face reflects his violent life. You can see the throbbing veins on his head through his pasty white skin. There are large areas of scaring and deep wrinkles, and his eyes are shaded and glowing yellow.

For all the times I've played Malgus, I have never tried to put on makeup in order to more closely match his face. Frankly, I have never put on makeup. Well, I may have worn makeup in the high school plays, but I'm sure I didn't put it on and I don't remember a thing about that.

So, makeup is a huge barrier for me. And it's a barrier I need to break down. Tonight I made my first pass at putting on Malgus makeup. This is NOT a tutorial. I'm just trying to record my attempts at makeup so that I can observe my progress and maybe get some feedback.

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The items in the skeleton makeup kit along with the collodion I bought separately for creating scar effects.

Since I have never done makeup, I don't have any of the stuff. Harriet very infrequently puts on makeup and isn't a big help. So I did what I often do when starting a new hobby, buy a kit that has all the tools and ingredients I need to get started along with instructions. Later I can buy the specific things I need more of, or find alternatives for the things I don't like.

I know Mehron is one of the major makeup suppliers for theater and film. So I bought a kit they make for people doing skeleton makeup. The skeleton effect closely matches the white, lined face I need for Malgus. I also bought a bottle of collodion for creating scar effects. 

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You can just make out the cheek scars I created, although in real life they stand out more.

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The scars and wrinkles show up well, and my eyebrow and beard are less noticeable behind the breather.

I'm pretty pleased with my results. These pictures I took using the bathroom mirror are really poor and don't capture the detail of the makeup work. It took me a few tries, and I only worked on part of my forehead, one eye, and the one cheek. But that was enough to learn the scarring technique and how to deepen existing wrinkles as well as add some new ones. I'm also able to cover over my eyebrows and beard so they don't stand out as much.

Now that I've used the kit, I realize I need a better container for the cover up powder and a few more application sponges as well as makeup remover wipes. I should have plenty of everything else. Guess I'll be making my first trip to a makeup counter.

I do have contact lenses for making my eyes glow, but frankly, I'm a bit afraid to use them. I don't wear contacts, so that would be my first challenge, and the two host over at Cospod (which i listen to regularly) scared me with tales of eye cooties and blindness (thanks a lot Val and Amber!) I'll look at adding contact lenses to my costume next year.

Ithorian: Miscellaneous improvements

This would have been a great reference shot if it were bigger. Still, it gives a good sense of proportion and another view of the hands & feet

During my head movement tests, I found that the side to side axis (the azimuth movement) was binding. I stopped by the hardware store to find a bearing, but nothing was appropriate. So, time to build my own.

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I found this patio door roller with bearings that's the perfect size. Add in a couple of flat end caps that fit the PVC bones of the neck, and I'm ready to put together a smoother joint.

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Drill and countersink the outer ring which will screw into the larger end cap

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End cap gets pilot holes and a large clearance hole for the inner ring. Rough the surface for epoxy

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The final set of parts for the joint. A clearance hole for the bolt has been drilled into the smaller end cap

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I decided to epoxy the outer ring to the large end cap for additional support

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Apply epoxy just to the edges, not the bearing

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Screws and epoxy should hold these two securely 

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The smaller end cap will be bolted to the inner bearing ring

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The fender washer adds support to the assembled joint with very little friction

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A short section of PVC connects the new azimuth joint (left /right rotation) to the elevation joint made by the PVC x joint (up/down rotation).

I'd been having some problems with the springs and the S connectors slipping off when moving to the limits of motion. I decided to add some washers to the bolts holding the springs, and crimp down the openings on the S connectors.

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Washer added to the bolt and the loop on the spring crushed down smaller

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The S connector openings were crushed smaller or completely closed onto their components

I also decided to glue together several of the PVC pieces that make up the neck to keep them from slipping and provide some additional support. Bring out the PVC adhesive!

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A short section of PVC was glued to the large end cap of the new joint. Next, the pieces of the neck are laid out to be glues

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The PVC glued is applied to each end of the tube and then then pressed into the joint. Keeping the joints flat on the table insured they were aligned properly.

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The neck and new joint are installed back onto the base structure along with all of the other improvements. You can see that the steering bar on the new joint is now higher, making the push rods and the horizontal support tube farther apart.

I put the costume back on to see how all of these little improvements affected the movement. It was much smoother and more "solid". By that I mean the springs didn't rattle around, but maintained a level of tension that kept the pieces firmly attached to the joints. However, the new joint raised the steering bar higher up from the base support, and that had the effect of reducing the range of motion, as well as making the horizontal part of the neck thicker. I'm pretty sure some lever arms added added between the steering bar and the cross piece at the end of the base structure would solve both problems, but I'll wait to tackle that improvement until the next time I work on this costume. I'll also try to illustrate the geometry of the mechanism a bit better so that it's clear how I can reduce the neck thickness and get a bigger range of motion mechanically.

A profile shot to get a sense of the proportions. The hump covering my head is perfect relative to the eyes and the rest of the neck. However, the thickness of the horizontal part of the neck needs to be reduced. Plus, I now have to go outside to get a full body picture!

Today I received the silicone rubber I'll be using for eyelids and the overall skin coat. But, there's a lot more foam work to do, as well as the eye movement and blink actuators. I'll be taking a break on this cosplay until after San Diego Comic-Con in order to get things ready for that show.

Because, you know, it's COMIC-CON!