Builders of Cosplay

On today’s show, we dive into all the wonderful announcements from this past San Diego Comic-Con, chat about some of the amazing cosplay that was all over the news, and kick ourselves for not going this year. We also announce that we are taking a break from shows for the month of August, so Anthony can work on his Kratos cosplay for TwitchCon. Neither of us really knew how much time it took to do a radio show during con season, and we hate taking breaks like this, but it can’t be helped. So anyway, enjoy the show, good luck with your builds, and we’ll see you in September!

This month is all about safety at cons, as we come off a crazy couple of months.  After a con-goer was arrested in Phoenix for making threats, more than one event has since banned the sale of prop weapons on the conference floor. To get a better take on what this might mean for the future of cosplay conventions, we talk to Bill Watters, who is the Director of programming for Silicon Valley ComicCon and the Director of Cosplay for SacAnime.  Bill has been on the scene for many years now, and has helped set up the rules and regulations that keep people safe and organized at these two big cons.  We chat about the Phenix incident, how they responded to it, and what other cons have changed as a result of this isolated incident.

Today on the show, Anthony takes us through what we need to start molding and casting our own props.  He wanted to start out small, so he had this idea for a hand-held fireball to help with the illusion of spellcasting during his cosplays.  We have some shots below, but for the full effect, check out the video, as he brought everything in that you’d need to replicate this build at home!

 

 

 

Continuing our quest to cover each material used by most cosplayers, we bring you the intro to leatherworking show!  Anthony brings some of his projects in and gives us a very thorough run-down of how best to get started working with leather, including what tools he uses most.  This show is our sixth show, and our first ever on Twitch, so if you are a Twitch user, check us out over there.  We did have some video syncing issues, so … forgive us.  The video is also posted below from YouTube if you don’t do the Twitch thing.

 

 

 

Or first in a series of introductions into the basic building materials for Cosplay, our foam show features the amazing work of Gary at Beer Money Props.  Gary has been on the cosplay scene for about 3 years now, and has quickly gained a reputation for crafting highly intricate and amazing costumes and props purely out of foam.  So naturally he’s the shoulder we tapped on to give is a more detailed rundown on the best ways to get started working with foam.

 

Happy Holidays, fellow cosplayers!  Today show is a short but timely one, because we are talking about presents.  Yes it’s that time of the year, when we are asked for our Christmas list and scramble to name something that’s not $200.

Anthony has come up with a decent-sized list of cool tools and equipment that is perfect for any cosplayer looking to start crafting their own costumes and/or props.  Everything here is linked to our Amazon affiliate link, so if you decide to buy something for yourself or the cosplayer in your life, we’d appreciate it if you grabbed it from the link here!

While going through this list, we talked about the Testors brand of spray paint, and how Anthony liked it so much better.  Here is an axe he painted with the Testors, and we included it here just to show the level of gradient you can achieve with just a (few) cans of spray paint.

 

 

In the leather-working section, we mention some gels and dyes that are great for getting the color of your leather just right.  Here is the Flareon helm, hand-stained and colored using the gels we discuss:

Thanks to you all for a great year, and we’ll see you in 2017 with more interviews, prop how-to’s, and jokes at Anthony’s expense!

* For Foam Work:

* EVA Foam mats – $30

* Heat Gun – $20

* For Painting

* Testors – Varies

* Plastidip – $9

* Gesso – $7

* For Worbla:

* Worbla Rolls – $60-100

* Black Worbla – $30-100

* Cutting Refining Tools

* Box Cutters 16$

* Xacto Set 20$

*

When it comes to cosplay, the materials to choose in order to build your outfit are fairly straightforward, right?  Your props, on the other hand, are much less certain. Today on the show, Anthony and Jason give a rundown on a few of the major materials that are typically used in most cosplay prop builds, as well as the pros and cons of each.  The goal here is to help you first-timers break into the wonderful world of prop building without too much trouble.  Moving forward, we plan on doing full shows on each of these methods, complete with photos and maybe even a video – who knows?!

As our example prop, we used Soldier 76’s gun from Overwatch as a great example of just how complex your prop build could potentially get.

 

Save

Save

Save

We welcome two amazing cosplayers to the BoC studio – Jess (AKA: MaidofMight) and Luc (AKA: BboySpiderman)!  These folks have been cosplaying for awhile now, and have ramped their game up a lot over the years.  From making costumes and props to buying bits and pieces when they need to, Luc and Jess bring us in to their world and hold nothing back. Luc talks about his Spiderman and Deadpool suits and how he is more screen-accurate with his cosplays, and Jess talks about how she gets inspiration for her amazing character mash-ups.

It’s a great show, and we hope you dig it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Our first show!  Today, we talk about cosplay in general – what it is (and what it isn’t), and how anyone can get started with their first cosplay!

We also go over what you can expect from the Builders of Cosplay shows in the future.  Our goal here is to provide you access to some of the best cosplayers out there, and hopefully give you some tips and pointers to make your cosplay the best it can be.

Thanks a lot for joining us!

 

Save

Save