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| Photo by: Girl with the Blue Hair |
Technically I started when I was 14. I fell in love with Star Trek: The Next Generation thanks to
some VHS tapes my dad left me when he died and I had a command jumpsuit custom made and I made a phaser out of cardboard using the Technical Manual as a blueprint. It was the first costume I wore to a convention. I got made fun of for it back then and stopped. Fast forward 20 years and I wore my first cosplay that started me on my current path - my son and I did ECCC 2014 together as Endor Luke and Wicket the Ewok. That was what really started me on the path to really getting into cosplay and prop making.
What was the first cosplay you ever did?
Oops, I sort of answered this above :D
What’s your approach to building a cosplay?
Step one is to find all the reference photos or screenshots I can. And then take some of my own. If it’s from animation (which I do a lot of), the next step is to figure out my interpretation of how something would look in reality. And then I decide on materials, what type of fabric, do I need to 3D model and print something, mold and cast something, etc.
Once I have all of my references and parts and materials list, then things get a little chaotic. I tend not to focus on just one piece until it’s done because there is often so much down time (waiting for a print, waiting for something to cure, waiting for Barge, etc.) that I flit between pieces of a cosplay (or even pieces of multiple cosplays). Which of course means I always have several in progress, not finished costumes or props at any given time :)
I also tend to be pretty methodical and iterative on the things I’m making. Unless I find a perfect pattern for a piece of clothing, I’m almost always either modifying a pattern or drafting one from scratch which means at least 1 or 2 mockups out of muslin before I get my final pattern. The same thing applies to making prototypes out of cheap foam before making a final piece, or printing a low resolution prototype or 3 before finalizing a model.
It’s really hard to pick just one favorite cosplay, and I know for me it depends a lot on the situation, so I have a few different categories:
What is your favorite cosplay to wear to cons?
Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke for two reasons. First, I get to wear a mask. Wearing a mask is the easiest way for me to disappear into a character when I want to. Secondly, although its not as popular as some of my other cosplays, the people who do recognize it absolutely love it and the character.
What is your favorite cosplay to wear for photoshoots?
Azkaban Sirius Black. I’ve actually not done many actual photoshoots in general and I’ve only done one with this, but I feel like I have more pose and expression options with this cosplay than any other. In the one shoot I did with Kyla, we got 24 amazing photos. If I get 4-6 from a shoot, I consider it a success and we got 24! It probably helps that I also work really well with her.
What was your favorite cosplay to make?
This is a hard question. I always try to challenge myself when choosing my next costume, so there is always something I’m learning or doing with each build, but I’m going to go with Ashitaka again. It was my first ‘real’ cosplay that I made head to toe from scratch. I’d never touched a sewing machine, sculpted clay, carved wood, made a mold or cast a piece, 3D printed a prop, or used thermoplastic before I started that cosplay and I had to learn and do all of those things to make it happen. There is not a single thing on that costume that I didn’t make myself and so I’m super proud of it. (Loki is a very close second though).
If you can choose, what is your favorite cosplay in general?
Right now it’s Loki. This one will probably vary a lot over time, but even after spending 12 hours as Loki at SDCC, I can easily say it’s my favorite overall right now. I’ve never taken more pictures with more people than I have as Loki and I’ve only worn Loki twice to cons! When people not only love the character but also your cosplay, it makes it hard not to enjoy wearing it no matter how miserable you might get in it.
Favorite fandom to cosplay from?
This is also very hard to answer, but I’m going to go with Voltron. I have 2.5 cosplays from Voltron (Keith, Old Man Keith, and Hipster Lotor) and I always enjoy wearing them and hanging out with other Voltron fans. Sirius is a close second because, like Voltron, it’s hard to not find other cosplayers from the same fandom who want you to hang out and take photos together.
Favorite con/cosplay moment?
I was wearing Sirius Black at RenCon last year and as I was walking down the street a little boy yelled out ‘Sirius!’ I turned around and his face was pure joy and shock. He threw out his arms and ran over to me and hugged me. He didn’t say a word. Then ran back to his mom and we went our separate ways. A few days later his mom found me and messaged me to say that he had been sad about Sirius’s death ever since watching the movies and when he saw me he was so happy to find out that Sirius was actually still alive.
What is your dream cosplay (or cosplays plural, if there’s more than one)?
I have 2 dream cosplays - and they are both big robot builds. I really want to do an Optimus Prime and there is a really cool Art Nouveau take on him that is just gorgeous. I also really want to do Roy’s VF-1J from Macross/Robotech, but I want to do it so that I can get out of it and be wearing Roy’s flight suit and helmet inside.
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E-Mail: billythebrickcosplay@gmail.com
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