Construction Details:

THE SUIT; 2 days
The fabric for the suit was the hardest fabric I ever had to track down. I didn't want to paint strips for the costumes and I wanted a really nice suit fabric. I ended up finding fabric that was lightly striped (so it unfortunately doesn't come up for pictures) but in certain light it shines. It had a different feel to it that I really enjoyed so I opted to use it. I used an unaltered pattern for the shorts and jacket. The collar was hand embroidered all around which took 8 hours (which was the most pleasant 8 hours I ever had in making a costume) and the jacket was fully lined.

BELT AND HARNESS; 2 weeks
The second most ANNOYING part of making the costume. I had a deadline of 3 weeks so I decided to go the cheaper route. I sewed the harness together using a nice, light pleather which I also used for the belt. Craft foam was used as a base for the belts pockets (none of which work since I was going for apperance accuracy, not usability) then covered with craft foam and fake sew lines were painted on which made the belt pop out more. The flaps of the belts have velcro attached to the end so they have some functionality to them but only the top is attached to the belt so that when I move, the pockets move with me. Craft googly eyes were painted silver and glued on to make it look as if the belt was attached in various parts.

KALINA ANN VERSION 1; 1 week
Before making this costume, I thought 'I'll just make the gun easy peasy.' NO. NONONO. I went in with only a little idea of what I was going to do. I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I made a quick draft of what I wanted to do and bought two 2" mailing tubes that would be the base and main part of the gun. The bottom of the gun as well as the top were made ouf of cardboard and craft foam was put on for details. Aluminium piping was attached to the bottom of the mailing tube which also attached to the cardboard boxes. The boxes were held up by small dowels which weren't the greatest. The edges of the boxes were caulked so the cardboard wouldn't show. The top part of the gun was also done in the same method but attached to the tube with craftfoam and glue. The sword was made out of foam board and attached to a PVC pipe. A toy gun was bought, dismantled and placed into the gun rather than making it.

The first version had many problems. Not only did it come in two parts but the gun had to be held right and straight in order to appear straight. The bottom of the boxes also came apart often because the glue couldn't withstand Arizona heat. I really loved the costume but after the third convention of toting the gun around, I was done.

Personal Thoughts:

LET ME JUST.

I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE EASY.

NO.

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