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!)

M'LADY

Quick sketch post of another mechanical lady done in pencil - mouse-over for color!

Above: M(echanical)'Lady

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!

ARTSING UPDATE

I've been commissioned for a few projects lately but I haven't been updating much on any of them, sadly. But when things start rolling out with them, I'll blog more about them here! In the meantime though, here are a few practice sketches I'd made sometime in the past month!

Above: Duck ship!

Air-based, but mobile in water too- I'm thinking

possibly used for cargo or construction...

Above: More animal-inspired designs!

Scout ships, and a floating island of rock and water..

Above: Character designs for a rodent-based species.

Skilled in scavenging and metallurgy, they built a culture dependent

on craftsmanship and trade. Though their small form is undermined by many,

they hold their own in battles and political alliances.

Above: A Persona design, based on the Shishi (Chinese Guardian Lions)

(This was for a comic)

Above: (Top) Color practice using a photo ref. (Bottom) Photo ref of a cosplayer.

(No color-picking involved!)

I've been trying to expand my portfolio, so I'll be posting some more WIPs and practice sketches on my blog and tumblr.

ARDUINO MUSIC GLOVE + MOTORAMA 2013

In the fall 2012 semester, I was part of a Media Lab (MAS) class that introduced Electronic Musical Interfaces. We went over a wide array of controllers and instruments - from sticks to handhelds to clothing to classical instruments to mixed and new breeds, using light, circuit noise, physical objects. As a final project for the class, we had to make a working musical controller, for which I decided to utilize the Arduino.

Above: Left glove to the left, and right glove to the right.

And yes, those are purple surgical gloves.

Above: Looks like I'm about to do some surgery!

Additionally! In February, just this past weekend (2/16-17), I attended the Motorama 2013 event in Harrodsburg, PA, for the sole purpose of Robot Conflicts - a Robot competition held there. I road-tripped down with 4 other guys, 3 of whom brought robots to compete. From what I've gathered, Motorama was a showcase of pimped out dirt bikes, go karts, and other wheeled vehicles that race for some prizes. It worked like a convention + fair + vehicle show, with tents of sponsored racers, 100+ vendors, a really really big carnival-style food court, and other such rooms and events. I only stuck around the Robot arena, so I didn't fully experience the event, but I didn't mind- The robot event alone was awesome enough!

Above: Charles, Dane, and Adam working on last minute adjustments on their robots.

Above: View of the audience from behind the robot combat stage.

There's another stand on the other side of the stage, but this side was always more populated.

Above: One of the highlights of my robot weekend - Charles' robot "Uberclocker Advance"

picking up other robots to bash against other robots.

Read more by clicking the link below!

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...

D*CON AND KURONEKO-BOT

Aug 31-Sep 4, 2012 - My very first Dragon*Con, and Robot Battle. Belated as it is, let me share a few of the things I learned about building my first antweight robot.

TL;DR:

Don't use motors encased in plastic for your competition robots.
Don't skimp on good wheels.
Learn to drive.

You can't beat real-time combat experience in improving your robot design skills.

Above: Before leaving for Atlanta, GA.

Above: Final design.

Read more...