This costume is the culmination of a prop-making class that I took in my final semester of a special effects makeup program. Everything in the photos (except the model XD) was either crafted or altered by me for this project. The idea behind the character is similar to the game Fallout, where the inevitable breakdown of society has occured, probably along w/ nuclear catastrophe. Our lady here is a warrior in a tribe of people that has formed out of the rubble, surviving by scavenging for remnants of the old world and attempting to relearn lost technologies.
The costume consists of:
- armor: breast plates & shoulder guards made of vacuformed styrene plastic and carved foam, painted w/ spray paint & acrylics; pieces held together with a harness made from repurposed leather belts and chain
- arm guards: purchased from Goodwill, textured w/ latex, painted w/ spray paint & acrylics
- gloves: purchased from Dollar General, embellished w/ hand-cut plastic pieces which were molded to the hand shape w/ a heat gun, then painted w/ spray paint & acrylics
- boots: old boots donated by my dad, embellished w/ plastic pieces which were shaped to the boot w/ a heat gun, then painted w/ spray paint & acrylics
- leather skirt: purchased from thrift store, cut w/ scissors, distressed w/ watered-down acrylic paint
- fur wrap: faux fur from fabric store remnant bin, cut to shape & tied in back w/ string
Now, on to the photos...
Full body shot:
Not my favorite photo, but it shows the whole costume w/ all the pieces I made.
Another full body shot:
Fighting stance:
She's a beautiful model, but it was so hard to get her to to action poses! This is probably my favorite pic from the whole set, but I can't put it in my portfolio 'cause unfortunately it doesn't really show off the stuff I made. At least I can show it to y'all here.
Bad ass mama:
Mmm, blood:
Again, not a portfolio-worthy shot, but I think it's kinda hilarious and I love it.
Detail shots:
I'm still more used to making things for the human eye rather than a camera. I did a whole bunch of distressing on the armor - cuts and rust and worn edges... and you can't even tell in most of the photos.
The left breast plate probably had the most distressing and detail, but I didn't realize until too late that it was her larger breast, and you can totally see the wrinkly duct tape in pretty much every photo that shows that particular armor piece.
Lesson: always try the outfit on the model *before* the day of the photo shoot and take test pics.
Pic of the costume displayed on the duct tape body form (yet another thing I made for this project), at my "portfolio review" table on graduation day:
And finally, some photos of the individual components...
Boots:
Long sword:
I had a more fantasy-themed thing in mind when I made this, but I thought it worked ok for this photo shoot.
Chopper:
Originally, I was intending to make her an orc warrior, and created this weapon with that in mind. It was the first thing I made in props class, and I posted it here on craftster(
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=399094) back when I first finished it.
Sorry for posting so many photos, but this was a huge project that took all semester to finish and I'm pretty proud of it!
