Tandy leather factory was having an early morning sale the day after Xmas,
So to break up the learning with doing something that I'm (very slightly) more familiar with, I laid out some armor since i needed to figure out how much I'd need to buy. tossed a tshirt over the doublet and laid it out with a sharpie (put a layer of press seal over it first, so i don't accidently mark it up)
after laying it out, I began making a mock up out of craft foam.
A friend of mine managed to snag a black edition figure of Ezio off Ebay (*shakesfist* ), so will be get plenty of photos next time i see him. this'l be set aside as i get to work on the left bracer and finishing the tunic :)
Been pretty quiet on this blog, but rest assured, things *have* been happening
Did a lot of work on the tunic,
And on AC2's midnight release, thought it would be fun to bring my gear along..
...buuuut wound up hating it with a passion. The fabrics all wrong, and the lacy trim, ugh...
So I started over, choosing a different fabric this time, and being extra careful with the stitching.. I know very little about sewing, but did what i could to correct mistakes the second time around (ie., uneven stitching ) . Also dyed fabric for the first time, thought it turned out a bit lighter than i had expected after i dried it :)
magic, fairy dust, and a loooot of needle stabbings in the hands later, here's what I got: (AC1 parts used as placeholders til the AC2 counterparts are completed...
Well, the belts been done, just in time for AC2's release (i threw on what was done and ran out to the midnight release for the fun of it, though i couldn't pick it up til the next morning (ordered from another store duh me)
here's the completed belt, with sash underneath, and leather straps and all that fun jazz. Just remembered i need to add a couple bits onto the right side of the red undersash thinger though.. that'll cover up the hook n loop setup that makes it muuuuch easier to put it on :3
Click post title for how this was done :)
Yesterday I somewhat completed the shoulder strap that crosses under the pauldron. I didn't use a straight piece of leather since it would dig into my ribs, and had to make it out of two pieces to save on leather. I can't say i like how the splice turned out and went and used rivets to secure it to save time, but I'll be aiming to replace that strap and properly sew it on. But this'll have to do for the time being, cuz Dragon*con's in 5 days and i still have to finish a painting.
It would be nice to have a machine to sew this.
While at a day convention, I worked a little more on the belt sculpt, not a massive difference, but refined the left "hook" more. It has a much closer curve to the design, though I need to make sure they sit at the right height, so the plate on the top doesn't sit too high and make the thing look weird.
Also noticed that a couple refs of the cape have it terminating a lil differently in the front (its a lil higher up in some refs). Since it looks so big on the side view, I'm thinking of nipping a a lil off the front edge to help reduce its mass. the back looks right though. I'll also be changing the top edge of the cape :)
pauldron clips are coming along slowly, I have a press mold of the clip, and am finishing a press mold of the engravings, so i'll press one out, and be able to press in the engravings without having to fear messing the whole thing up (in which case i'll just try again.)
Attempt to cord up the rings turned out reasonably well, though I'll have to try again, because they came out a little too long.
I don't know if the entire cape assembly will be done by D*con, because I still need to nail out a commish, but whatever state its in, I'll most likely wear anyways. Because i wanna run aroond with a cape on my gear.
This thing was actually a bit more of a pain than expected, but here's the result.
I added a cord for times when a breakaway cape isn't necessary, and will go and change out the velcro to industrial strength velcro. (the standard stuff isn't quite strong enough). Will bring the velcro closer to my neck on the pauldron, so when i flip the cape back, it'll be more likely to stay.
This is made from 2 pieces of tooling leather (6 or 8 oz i think) and foam padding interior to give it a squishy feel and some weight. I sanded off some of the thickness of the leather with my belt sander so it would be easier to get a padded look. Though its not as padded in the refs, but i wanted to have it look padded anyways :)
I wasn't aware that there was stuff that I could apply to mask off the scrollwork (so when dying the thing it would stay light), so when it dyed, the color actually wound up a lil darker than the untooled areas..
As mentioned in the last journal, works been a good bit underway on this project.
I've pretty much decided that instead of Here's whats going on so far!
Reference gathering!
First off (of course, I googled around and found a bunch images of Ezio (usually his "jazzhands" pose though) , as well as the E3 trailer, developer diaries, Game Informer magazine, and whatever else I could scrounge up. Some of them are in the links list to the left.
Gametrailers.com had some quicktime movies that I could screencap, so i capped just about anything that could be of use :)
A bunch of places i regularly check are on the linklist to the left.
Its been a challenge to basically figure out and piece everything together with guaranteed accuracy, since new images are trickling out bit by bit, and theres a ton of new upgrades, weapons, and things that Ezio can change out n game (i saw 3 different bracers in the dev diary alone), and of course, even with a single design, Ubisoft never keeps things 100% consistent (ie. the belt, XD)
Planning!
Because planning is really important, I've gone and brainstormed (a LOT), done sketches, and stared at refs so much I'm surprised they haven't been burned into mah retinas. . Usually by the time I get physically started on a part, I'll have already spent the same amount of time (if not more) drawing up plans and/or building it in my mind than it actually does to make it. It helps reduce the amount of errors when actually constructing it, which is a really really GOOD thing when it comes to leather or other expensive materials.
With Ubi's constant variations, I'll try to work out any kinks then (ie the posts on the belt bluckles face a direction that won't hold the belt on), and get to take advantage of the differences to "pick n' choose" from variants that I like the most (and sneak in personal touches if I feel like it) :)
Despite the resources out there that some have made or done, this project will still be done strictly based on Official references, as others will have a tendency to put their own personal touches into their work, and it just won't be the same as my visions for it. Ubisoft already gives us more than enough leeway to add them personal bits!
Why this journal?
I enjoyed making the last cosplay project (Altair, go fig), and quite a number of folks have been asking questions and such about it. I've been finding that notes, wips, and such have been scattering all over (much like the last project), and there isn't one specific place to refer to, for both folks that ask, and for personal reference :)
Well, cosplay.com's journal isn't working for me, and this Livejournal account has been gathering a thick coat of dust since 2006, so I thought I'd clean it out, give it a fresh lick o' paint, and set up a journal dedicated specifically to an Ezio cosplay I'm working on.
I actually began gathering info and planning and such as soon as the announcement for ACII came out, and began actual making components in mid July, so the first couple journals or so will be pretty much a round of "catch up".
From there, this will be updated as i get things worked on, along with general notes and such. It'll be a long project, there's a LOT to do, but eh, Gotta start somewhere!
-!fev