Very late Ayacon update - complete with Garrus

So, Ayacon 2013 (the final Ayacon ever) was last month. It was my first time going to an Ayacon event, and it was great fun. It was also my first time entering the cosplay masqurade, and I have to thank everyone that cheered and had nice things to say - it made the whole thing enjoyable rather than terrifying. It was also great fun getting to natter to some people in the waiting room for the masq, so thanks for all being so friendly.

I also managed to wander round for part of the day in my Garrus, though it was warm and quite akward to move in. My partner had to act as my bag-carrier in the battle dress Shepard I made.

For the other days I was lazy and wore May from Pokemon and Naoto from Persona 4, but didn't get any new photos as I was too busy enjoying the convention.

As always, especially as this update is so late, take a look at https://www.facebook.com/Zelvyne for more regular updates, including tutorials and progress pictures.

Commissions open

I've suddenly found myself with more time to make things, so I've deiceded to consider any and all commissions.
Below are a couple of examples of commissions I've done, though feel free to browser through my DeviantArt, CosplayIsland and Facebook pages (linked on the right) to see more, and contact me at zelvyne@googlemail.com for more information.

Elesa from Pokemon

Resident Evil STARS blanket and umbrella cushions

Facebook page

As I've been struggling with using a blog for the past year or so, I've decided that for the immidiate future I will instead try using a Facebook page to cover all my makingness:

https://www.facebook.com/Zelvyne

if that works better, I'll eventually get rid of this blog and just use that.

Oops - long time no see

Hey folks (if anyone reads this). I just realised how long it's been since I last put up a post (hint: aaages), but I have a good excuse - my health has been all over the place with lung trouble, tooth trouble, and general poor health (no doubt aided by the first two). Still, I intend to keep this up this time, if only to have somewhere to throw my thoughts.

Since then, I've redone my NCR ranger with a better helmet (actually a helmet liner, but it works quite well).
Unfortunately 'till furhter notice it's out of action as the chestplate has become a nightmare - the straps are pinging off, showing that hot glue won't hold if your chestplate isn't shaped to your body (I chose to have it flat for ease of storage) and the neck actually grazes my neck too much, so the patterns I used before clearly need yet more room for the neck (as well as the arms, really).

I've also finally delved into Assassin's Creed cosplays, with my own novice outfit, which will be going into its third iteration soon. If any of you want to do a Creed costume but are daunted, don't be - baggy clothes, a big hood (which this tutorial proves is easy) and a sash make the basics, and it's great fun - highly recommended for first time cosplayers or more seasoned costume enthusiasts ;)











Other than that, I've been experimenting with resin dyes (with humerous results), fabric painting, wig dying (with frustrating results) and playing around with beading, all of which I will mention soon, possibly along with a lot of cosplay-related rants (as such matters are topical at the moment).

Build: Fallout New Vegas: Maria pistol

I've been a big fan of Fallout for a while now, and while I do want to make some of the iconic weapons from the newer games - the plasma rifle, for example - I'm going to start with an easier one - Benny's pistol 'Maria' from Fallout New Vegas.

As the reference picture (right) shows, it's a lovely gun - a highly ornate unique 9mm pistol, golden with engraving and pearl grips.

For a fun little project, I'm using a base gun and making the alterations. Unfortunately, living in the UK, it can be hard to get hold of fake copies of real firearms. The Fallout 9mm is based of the Browning Hi-Power pistol, so I jumped when I saw this for sale for a fiver (bottom right):

OK, so it's not the exact right gun - the Fallout one is a different version of this, but it's only that the grip is slightly more shaped, the groves on the slide are slightly further along, and the trigger is different. The main obvious problem is the grips, but they can be removed easilly enough.
When I bought this, an airsoft-prop-modifier by the name of Lycaneyes had already changed it for soemone's costume prop - mimicing the lovely brown and black colourscheme of Claire's Browning from a Resident Evil game. Unfortunately when I recieved it, the gun was so coated in paint by the ownder that it no longer works, and you can quite clearly see the brushstrokes etc. So stage one of this build is stripping down all the paint to try and get the surface smooth again and to hopefully get it working - it's a spring-powered toy pistol so if I can unclog is, the slide will pull back and the magazine will come out, etc.
Hopefully in a week or so I'll have some progress, as it's currently sat in a bucket of white spirit.