Byakuya test + Kenseikan tutorial v.2.0

A few days ago I modified my kenseikans for my Byakuya cosplay and now they sit much better and are easier to attach.. although I could use a friend's help to fasten them.
Here's a tutorial how I made them: Kenseikan tutorial

I took some more test photos yesterday and I'm actually pleased with how they turned out, even though I'm not quite done yet; I'm surprised how disturbingly easy it seems for me to pull of his typical facial expression... even though he has as many expressions as a potato...

I don't have so much more to say more than I can't wait for Chibicon!

Chibicon cosplay plans changed...

 Sup!

Remember I said I was going to bring Ichigo back? Well, plans changed.
I'll do haoriless!Byakuya to acccompany Jäärä as Rukia instead. I'm too scared of doing Ichigo and bringing huge-ass Zangetsu with me because it might end up collecting dust all con day in the... eh, "narikka" (that place you leave huge props and other stuff in during the con) and that would be kinda uncool. Actually, very uncool, Ichigo just isn't Ichigo without his oversized butcher knife. Chibicon's rules don't like big props it seems... so I figured to hell with it and play a safe card and do Byakuya instead; I only need to make the kenseikan and the scarf and voilá - first appearance version done. I don't have time to do the haori because the con is less than a month away and a captain's haori is a pain in the ass to make.

I made those kenseikans, or as I like to call them, "hair bananas", today as soon as we had discussed the change and agreed. lol And oh god how troublesome they were to attach, I guess I'll need to modify them and maybe shorten them too so they fit better... afghdgsdhag.  The scarf is just a random scarf, I need to make a proper one too.

Here's a WIP photo. Yes, I'm holding my hand to keep it in place. lol

Tested out some make-up and yeah... I think it is decent enough... considering how much I suck at make-up, ahaha...

See ya!

Next con – Chibicon á la Oulu

 Hi guys!

Yeah, the next con I'm planning to attend is Chibicon. It's held at Oulu 7th April.
Good for me Oulu is not far away from my hometown (100 km maybe?) so it won't take a day to get there and cost my ass to travel. According to what I checked up the train tickets from Kemi would only cost me about 8 € one way and the same amount back again. OMG CHEAP. Well, compared to the 140+ € my train tickets to Lahti and back went on... Oh, and one of my mom's sisters lives there so maybe I could sleep over at her place. Hopefully. I don't know if the con has an entrance fee.. I guess it will...

I'm thinking about bringing my first (or second, depending on what you count, Ichigo was the first I started making but second I debuted) cosplay back to life after... err, a 2 years pause? I think my Ichigo Kurosaki cosplay last time saw daylight in December 2010. Oh booya that's some time ago man!
You know, getting that 150 centimeters huge butcher knife from place A to place B isn't the most easy and convenient thing to do, especially not when the destination is at the other end of the country. -.-" That's why Ichigo has been forever alone in my closet, waiting for his time to shine, his huge-ass sword severely limits what cons I can take him to...
But yeah, now when Oulu for the first time gets a con –although temporarily, I guess, because Chibicon seems to move from town to town now– I think I can bring him out. It will be interesting to travel with that sword though; I think I'll put it in my kendo sword carrying bag while at the train but it's a bit too short for it so the handle will stick out though, but as long as it doesn't look overly suspicious I think it'll do. I can't carry that thing open in public without getting stares you know, need to hide it. xD Oh, and Jäärä will hopefully accompany me as Rukia Kuchiki from Bleach.

Nothing else to say, final cosplay plans coming soon. See ya!

Kitacon 4 summary

 Sup!

Ah, Kitacon in Kemi is now over. It's the world's most northern con (what I've heard) and only maybe a 25 km drive from my home.. heh, the only con in Finland that can be considered close to me. Normally I have to travel to the other end of the country for cons...

Oh well, my friend Jäärä visited me during the weekend so we could go to the con together. She cosplayed Retsu Unohana in her Turn Back the Pendulum version to match my Jushiro Ukitake cosplay, both characters from Bleach. We both had shikai versions too, meaning I had my twin swords and Unohana had her Minazuki plush... it had a zipper in the mouth so we could carry our money and camera and stuff in it. Very handy. But Minazuki's face kept derping. xD
The con was small-ish but comfy and the atmosphere was right. We just walked around the con and had fun and all that jazz. At one time one of the cosplay competition judges saw us and went "Hey guys, you two should seriously consider entering the cosplay competition!" (or something like that) and first we were unsure but then we signed up anyway. They had actually just closed the registration but they made an exception for us. We competed as a duo by the way, if it was not clear. I was so nervous and me and Unohana were the last ones (number 22) to go up to scene. I'm not really the one to stand on a scene normally and I was so nervous back-stage even though I've competed at two small events before too but I somehow relaxed as soon as we entered the stage together and the audience cheered loudly. We actually got 2nd place together, it felt awesome. Yay we got cosplay medals~

I won't tell so much more about the con but if anyone is interested to read more about the weekend there's some more information in my journal at deviantArt. Now I'm waiting for the studio photos taken of us. I hope I'm not doing stupid faces...

Oh, and we got into the Pohjolan Sanomat newspaper... so there's a big photo of us two in costume. Oh gawd. x)

That's it. See ya!

Kitacon drawing closer

Yay free day from school today, and mom worked until very late and stepdad had evening shift... house for myself most of the day... and that can only mean one thing.. cosplaaaaay~
Heck, I needed to test ponytail!Ukitake (aka Turn Back the Pendulum version) again because that's my Kitacon cosplay and err, maybe it's just me but I find I look totally durp with hair tied back. Oh well, I've considered cosplaying all canon variations of Ukitake so yeah, should do that version at least once too, no matter how silly I look... or not. People say it looks alright though so maybe I'm just being a self-critic again... *shrugs*

Preview photo!

See ya at the con!

Weekend's cosplay photos

Hiya!

During last weekend I tried to ease my depression by taking some cosplay photos... it actually works; I won't be telling any details about said depression but yeah, I think I got some pretty okay photos of my Jushiro Ukitake and Soujun Kuchiki costumes... both from the series Bleach. I will post a few photos here for now.

Jushiro Ukitake

Weird angles wuhuuu! No but really, normally my face ends up looking ridiculous in more extreme angles but this one was kinda cool. Besides it shows off my tsukamaki (read: handle wrapping) really well. I should have taken more outside photos but the sun set so fast it became too dark... *shrugs*

 

Jushiro Ukitake, Captain of the 13th Division... aka Captain Tuberculosis by fans of the series/him. OTL Yeah, he occasionally coughs up blood... end of story. ;_; Love him anyway, he is so gentle and the kindest captain of them all.

Soujun Kuchiki

Soujun Kuchiki, late Lieutenant of Division 6.

The Kuchikis are one of the four great noble families in Soul Society and even though he smiled more than his son Byakuya Kuchiki, at least according to that only official reference (yes, he is so obscure I wonder if I'm the first person outside Japan to cosplay him...) picture there is of him: ref.

Oh well, about this photo, he is a Kuchiki after all... and we all know that a Kuchiki needs to do the I'm-better-than-you face at least once.. hey, they are nobles after all! xD

That's it for now. Bye.

Kenseikan

Yeah, said to myself I would finish them before this weekend earlier and today I got the thumb out from my ass and made them. It didn't take so long actually and was pretty easy to make. Here's some in progress photos (excuse me for bad lighting..) and short descriptions.

 

First I just took these hard paper (poster board?) whatever and cut out pieces that seemed an okay size. I cut out two similar so I could layer them over one another for strenght. I also marked the middle...

Then I just bent the middle to get that V-shape. After that I glued them on top of each other and proceeded to repeat the steps and make one kenseikan more...

When I had both kenseikan pieces cut out and glued together I just used duct tape in the inside to get the two separate pieces to be one whole...

Then I glued some scrap pieces to the ends to create some dimension.
And when I was done I went and took some WIP photos of one of my coming cosplays because now it's done. Yes, done. The kenseikan was pretty much the only thing I needed for it. XD Mhmm lazy budget cosplaying, I had everything else already.

derp

I'm herpderpin' around. lol I need white pins to hold kenseikan in place, black ones are too visible I think... and no, IT'S NOT BYAKUYA. It's Byakuya's dad, Soujun. Aww yeah, obscure character from a popular show. <3 There's only like... one official artwork of him and it's only showing his face from the front, heheh the rest is up to my imagination, woo. I will debut this cosplay during the summer first so yeah, I finished early. Although I need to test character make-up...

Bye bye!