SOLDER IRON ART

What could you do with a roll of receipt paper and a soldering iron? Make art!

The finished piece!

Receipt paper is usually 'thermal paper', which means one side of it is coated with a chemical (including the dye) that reacts to heat, providing a way to print text and images without ink.

Taking a heat gun with the right setting...

Finding the right heat setting to make the strokes I wanted took a few tries...

And then taking a soldering iron on the right setting...

Higher temperatures create thicker lines, lower temperatures create thin lines...

And voila! A drawing made without a pencil, pen, brush, etc, but with applied heat!

I also made a quick rose for Charles, hehe, in return for the 3D printed rose (using the Form 1) he gave me. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ Happy belated Valentines Day!

And then here's some random things I carved into leftover pieces of foam from work:

This was just a quick interlude post- I'll be back to more RWBY updates in a few days!

CELTY + ANIME BOSTON 2013

At Anime Boston this year (2013), I cosplayed as the character Celty Sturluson, the modern take on a Dullahan from the anime "Durarara!!" (exclamations points included). Boy was this an adventure, from decision to materials to construction and then to actual physical cosplay. Let me break this down - what I did, what I would do next time, how it all went, etc. And hopefully, my documented experiences here would help inspire any future Celty cosplayers!

In truth, this isn't so much an instruction blog for how to make a Celty helmet and scythe, but more of a trial and error log, tips and advice column, and experimentation report from an amateur cosplayer. But I digress-

LET'S START!

WARNING: This is a VERY LONG and PHOTO HEAVY POST! Read on after the break!

TL;DR points:

• Start early! If you decide to make your own helmet and scythe, make sure you have the materials well ahead of time!
• Plan ahead! Working with Bondo requires an extraordinarily and painstakingly tedious amount of sanding, and any sort of paintwork needs time to dry!
• Have plenty of sleep and rest! It was interesting to note that most of my freehanding work did come in the late hours of the night and while they still managed to come out quite well, I do NOT recommend this method to others. Sleep is important, especially when working with tools and details!

(Read on!)

ROSES, SHAVINGS, AND CURLS

I thought I would continue my rose-theme from last Valentine's Day, which was a fruit and veggie salad made from tomato and strawberry roses (post found here: [Valentine Roses]), and make something rose-themed for this year's Valentine's Day as well.

The idea for this year - a rose made with wood shavings. I, with the help of Charles and some other MITERS people (Bailey, Heidi, Steve), shaved off curly wood shavings from a piece of wood, which I arranged into rose-like shapes. This was my first experience using the shaving-wood-tool, and it turned out to be really fun! A bit late in the making (though the idea was formulated a few days before V-day), but here it is. Happy super-belated Valentine's Day!

Above: Roses made from wood shavings!

Above: Man strength! Thanks for the help, guys!

Above: From this...

Above: ...to this!

(Closer shot of the big rose)

Above: The rose-arrangement with Spray-on Adhesive.

Looks like snow!

OMG RWBY

RWBY - Red White Black Yellow

I've been a fan of Monty Oum's work since I discovered his Dead Fantasy series a few years ago, and was thrilled to hear of his new work with Roosterteeth - RWBY. After watching the trailer, I have to say...

It was like love at first sight. The music caught my breath, the fighting choreo and animation blew me away, and that weapon the main character uses, the Crescent Rose... I fell for it. So hard. If you haven't seen the Red trailer for his new webseries premiering 2013, check that out below before reading further: 

You see that gunscythe? I want to build that gunscythe.

No, wait.

I will build that gunscythe. A full-size model that would pack and unfold as the animation suggests (or as closely as I can replicate it). First, a paper model to visualize the shapes and use the dimensions to scale to a possible CAD model, then a small-scale model to test out any details, then, the final large-scale model.

After brainstorming and sketching out possible ways to make this thing work in real life, I paused to make a static version of the fully-extended head of the gunscythe from computer paper.

Above: The paper Crescent Rose head on a backdrop of my sketchbook.

Read more...

OTAKON 2012

Warning: Long post ahead!
TL;DR - The Otakon 2012 trip was overall very successful!

This past weekend I went to Otakon 2012 as Shiina Mayuri (Mayushii) from Stein's Gate, and had a blast! There were definitely a lot more Okabe's (the main male character) than any of the girl characters, but I'm glad we managed to find all but one character from the cast!

Above: Julia (as Christina) and me (as Mayuri) with Okabe #2.

Above: So many Okabe's! This was perhaps less than half of the total

number of Okabe's we encountered over the weekend.

In addition to the Black Rock Shooter canvas, I also submitted 3 chinese-styled wallscrolls and 2 sketches to the Otakon 2012 Art show.

Above: BRS canvas (this has its own post - check it out! ^_^ )

Above: Wall scrolls submitted to Otakon 2012!

Above: Sketch of gender-bender Legend of Korra cast.

(The finished version had some breezy leaves floating throughout the pic as well.)

Above: Working photo of the Mako-Bolin sketch - I don't have a pic

of the finished version unfortunately!

To read more about my trip and submitted art, click below to read more!

OTAKON PREP (2) - MAYUSHI

One of my good friends Julia introduced Stein's Gate to me, in hopes that I would cosplay with her as one of the main girl characters in the anime. And so, after watching a few episodes and becoming a fan, I've agreed to cosplay Mayuri Shiina, or Mayushi for short.

Above: Mayushi pic from Stein's Gate Wiki.

I started on the hat first, but after making two versions, I quickly discovered that I wasn't satisfied with the results so I won't go too into too much detail here.

Above: [LEFT] Hat V.1

[RIGHT] Hat V.2

Hat V.1:

Procedure: Circle top sewed onto a donut-shaped outer ring. White band tied around like a headband

Verdict: Too small, unstable. Doesn't have the desired shape.

Above: Using my pencil as a thread unraveler.

Hat V.2:

Procedure: Divided the hat into 3 parts - the top, the sides of the hat, and the rim. I made sure to give a bit more room to my measurements, used a hat I had as a model, and sewed on rigid paper to help mold the desired hat shape.

Verdict: Too wide at the back, unstable. Closer to the desired shape, but not to my satisfaction.

Above: Sewing the paper onto the insides of the Hat V.2.

Conclusion: For Hat V.3, I'm buying/making a hat mold first, on which I will just cover with fabric.

~~~

For Mayushi's top, I also made two versions, and decided that Top V.2 will be the working version I will shape into the final product.

Top V.1:

Procedure: I used newspapers to pattern out the top design.

Verdict: Waist too wide, sleeves too puffy.

Above: Newspaper patterning.

Above: Sleeves turned out too puffy.

Top V.2:

Procedure: I divided the dress part with the top, and used a smaller t-shirt as a model. I left the sleeves not sewn for now.

Verdict: Somewhat satisfactory. There are a few modifications I'd still like to do, like hem the dress and fix the alignment of the ruffles.

Above: Working more modularly.

Above: Sewing the lace on.

Above: Current product, as of now.

Conclusion: Fairly satisfactory. After sewing the sleeves and making minor adjustments, Top V.2 will be finished.

~~~

So after all this, I ended up using nearly 4x1 yards of light blue fabric and several colors of thread. Since I hand sewed everything, I ran out of thread fairly regularly and substituted all sorts of differently colored thread. I also got really good at tying knots and threading needles, haha. Next Otakon prep update: arts for the Art Show!

Above: Notice the empty spools to the right - time to buy new thread!

OTAKON PREP (1) AND TOTEM

(AKA - One way to make a wall scroll, part 1.)

There are 4 asian-styled wall scrolls I'll be creating for Otakon 2012, and I'll be detailing how everything goes here. Since my ink cartridges arrived in the mail today, I thought I'd test out my transfer paper and spray-on adhesive. So I printed a dummy picture onto a sheet of the Lazertron "Iron on Inkjet Transfer Paper for White or Light coloured [sic] Textiles" and took it to MITERS to iron it onto some fabric.

Above: Transfer sheets, sharp scissors, fabric. Iron not shown.

Above: (Left) Original image on regular computer paper.

(Right) Image ironed onto off-white fabric.

As you could probably tell by the above pics, I did a botch job of ironing. Be sure to (1) have a clean iron, (2) iron the corners of the sheet as well, and (3) wait for the fabric to cool before trying to remove the back of the transfer paper! Note: The colors on the fabric are truer to the colors on my computer screen.

Next, I wanted to test out my two adhesive methods - spray on and fabric tape. Except, don't be like me - read all the instructions before starting. My major mistake? My transfer paper instructions told me, "DO NOT USE STEAM." On the other hand, my fabric tape instructions told me, "DO USE STEAM." But I didn't read that. Until I started wondering why my picture was bubbling and yellowing and the transfer sheen was starting to come off. Hmm.

So then I just applied my spray-on adhesive (after reading the full instructions), and things stuck.

Above: Adhesives and the dummy red fabric backing for testing.

Above: After applying the spray on adhesive.

Not the greatest job in the world, haha, but for a test run, it'll suffice.

Add some round dowels at the top and bottom, and voila - final prototype:

Above: Wrinkled and rough-edged, but still feasible.

So all in all, the effort was educational. I've tweaked my wall scrolls plan a bit and will try again after my final images are completed. If I get it right the next time around, maybe I'll write an Instructable on it.

~~~

In other news, I got to see Totem, the newest show by Cirque Du Soleil, a few days ago. And it was amaziiiiing! :D The stage mechanics, the acrobats and performers, the music, the costumes - they were all awesome. (But if I had to choose, my favorite act involved the duo on a single trapeze...)

Above: The Cirque Du Soleil tent. I came outside during intermission with some friends to try

and figure out where the performers went when they disappeared into the ceiling... MAGIC.

Above: Inside the tent before the show. The giant turtle shell structure actually

blocks the coolest part of the stage, in my opinion.

Check out their official website (CIRQUE DU SOLEIL - TOTEM) for more pics, videos and info! If you get the chance and are interested, do go and see it! :)

VALENTINE ROSES

Tomato and cherry tomato roses, strawberry roses, cucumber leaves and a carrot garnish, topped over a salad of cherry tomatoes, strawberries and clementine supremes. For this year's Valentines Day, I created this meant-to-be-desert dish after being inspired by some online food art. I call it, "Bouquet" - Happy Valentines Day!

Above: Bouquet! Freshly delivered to you!

The salad underneath was just a mix of strawberries cut to be heart shaped, mixed with cherry tomatoes and clementines cut supreme-style. A little bit of mashed up strawberry and squeezed clementine juice was added, and then topped with the fruit roses and vegetable leaves. All in all, this took longer than I thought - this was my first time making fruit roses! Here are some preparation pics:

Above: In the process of cutting some fruit roses!

(Notice the tomato carnage behind?)

Above: My super messy desk space used for making the 'Bouquet'.

And lastly, another shot of the 'Bouquet' - Enjoy!

Above: Happy Valentines Day!

After it was all done and made, I removed the roses and ate about half the salad - not bad for an improv dish. I'll be saving the other half for the actual Valentines Day tomorrow. :)

BELATED BDAY + SWEETS

Last Sunday, I turned one year older!

The Saturday before my actual birth date, Vivian ([VENERABILITY]), Jocelyn and some other friends took me out to Karaoke and then presented me with this sumptuous looking cookie cake at midnight:

Above: Karaoke cookie birthday cake!

I sang a few songs with them and then retreated back to MITERS with Charles ([etotheipiplusone]) where I got in some flying practice with Tinycopter, Charles' little quadrotor (Me flying [YT LINK]: Him and Shane flying [BLOG LINK]). Then, on the day of, Julia, Chris and Emily (still name-throwing!) surprised me with another cake at MITERS. And yes, Charles had to blowtorch the candles...

Above: Charles blowtorching my birthday candles.

Above: Before and after shots of the MITERS cake! It survived somehow.

Above: What I did with the ribbon around the bday cake -

Drive a screw and attach a nut at the junction point and create an impromptu ribbon!

ALSO, BRANDI GOT ME THAT CUTE FEDORA! :D

Above: Bday present from Jocelyn! I can draw on my mug now?! :D

All in all, my friends definitely made my birthday into something special. Thank you all! <3

Just an update on RGBeta, my adapter arrived last week! Though, I accidentally hooked up the 12V adapter to the 5V rail and killed my first Arduino. :( BUT! On the upside, I installed SOLIDWORKS today, so I'm planning on updating again pretty soon with the CAD designs!

ALSO! I never realized CANDY LEGO's existed?! Charles got me some candies, and I was super amused with the candy Lego's inside! I had so much fun with them, I ended up not wanting to eat them, haha. Maybe I should actually buy a real set again - building with Lego's brings back lots of memories. :)

Above: Random candy LEGO structure!

Above: Candy Lego heart! There weren't enough pieces to make

a fully red heart, sadly.

On a side note, the Musical Theater Guild's original MIT production, "Hack, Punt, Tool" that I was a part of this January period started its showings yesterday! So exciting - if you're in the area and have a chance, come and see!