The Care and Feeding of Nerds: Gen Con

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Making Hawkgirl's Wings: Part 2

Posted by Kel

We're almost done with our series on the making of Steampunk Hawkgirl. If you're just tuning in now, we’ve talked about how the leggings, corset, wing harness, mace, the Worbla bits, and the supersized feathers came together, but let’s keep digging into the piece that makes this whole costume so challenging: the wings themselves.

After doing some initial research ~~when I was in the thrall of a post-convention rush~~ way back when, I decided that an extending arm configuration would be the best way to go for this particular costume (I definitely recommend reading about said investigations to see why I came to that conclusion and if the same setup will also work for your project). Initial tests with a cardboard mockup of the wings proved successful, so it then became a matter of how to translate the mockup into sturdier materials.

For all the details on how that initial translation was completed, check out this guest post by my cousin, Mel. She and her friend James were able to take the dimensions from my mockup and turn them into aluminum 'bones', which ended up being the rough draft/foundation for the finished wings.

While that rough draft was being completed, I was teaching myself to use the metal-shaping attachments on my model 4000 Dremel. Related aside: you will only need a handful of attachments for the Dremel and maybe a power drill for this portion of the project. Yes, really. Once I had the rough ‘bones’ in hand, I found that some additional cutting and sanding would be needed to get the overall shape and motion that I wanted. To do this, I used these cutting wheels for the Dremel and made several passes through the aluminum to get a nice, clean cut. If you're using these same methods to make your 'bones' it's definitely a good idea to get at least a five-pack of the wheels, as they will absorb heat and warp during your cuts.

Each wing consists of five ‘bones’: a larger pair that are perpendicular to one another and carry most of the stress (X and Y in the diagram below), a smaller pair that parallel and support the first pair (1 and 2 in the diagram below), and the gently curving ‘bone’ that ties all the others together and gives the wing its shape (Z in the diagram below). [bone dimensions] This diagram will give you the of each bone relative to the others.

Ok, so that’s how to make the bones, but how do they fit together?

In order to have the wings articulate, the bones need to be able to pivot or hinge relative to one another. Mel and James did an enormous amount of research about the best way to make this a reality. When the rough draft of the bones arrived, Mel and James had already drilled holes in the bones at certain points, which I needed to adjust these slightly by using a 1/8" (0.32 cm) bit in my power drill. Once those were all set, I inserted small rods of nickel, brass, and aluminum through the holes and secured them in place with these brass collars. To make these rods, I purchased one of each of these from various local hardware stores (you can also order similar items from Amazon). Because the bones are ½” (1.27 cm) thick, and the collars are 1/8” (0.32 cm) thick, the rods needed to be long enough to pass through two of each. (2*0.5)+(2*0.125)=1.125" (2.86 cm). Again using the cutting wheels for the Dremel, I sliced up each of the rods into pieces 1.125” in length. The articulation points are highlighted in gold in the diagram above.

There’s not a huge difference between using aluminum, brass, or nickel for the connection rods since the rods themselves are fairly small and don’t do much in terms of adding weight to your rig. It’s really a matter of what you prefer to work with and what’s available to you. The brass seemed to hold up best in this configuration, but your experiences may vary.

The same rod-and-collar technique is what holds the wings onto the ‘backpack’ that allows them to be worn. Using the drill attachments for the Dremel, I punched 1/8” inch holes at the top and bottom of each of the swinging plates that themselves are hinged to the backplate. I then threaded 1.375” (3.49 cm) rods through each of the holes: (2*0.5")+(2*0.125")+0.25” for the width of the wood. A brass collar on each end applied as snuggly as possible allows the wings to extend while remaining attached to the hinged plates. The snugness part can’t be overstated; you want as little wiggle room as possible at any of the articulation points not only for safety’s sake, but to minimize the amount of stress that you’re putting on those joints.

In terms of getting the wings to open and close, that involved pinpointing the best spot to put the drawstring. For an extending wing configuration, there are two points from whence you can draw: near the articulation point on the top horizontal bone or at an identical point on the bottom horizontal bone. I’m sure there are points on the vertical bones that you could draw from, but the way I planned on adding feathers to the bones would not have allowed for that. The idea of the drawstring is to pull the wings to an open position, then allow gravity to work its magic when you want them to close. To discern the best draw point, I tied paracord to one potential location on one wing, then did the same at the other potential point on the second. After threading the cord through both sets of pulleys in the rig, I tested to see which setup allowed for easier use and generally felt more secure. The draw point on the lower of the two horizontal bones won hands down. This wasn’t too surprising, as this point provides a shallower angle of ascent, which, in turn, puts less pressure on the pulleys and rope. The same may or may not be true of your wings, so it’s a good idea to test all possible draw points if you can.

We’ll go more into how to keep the wings open while you’re walking around or posing in a follow-up post wherein I’ll tell you how I made the utility belt for this costume.

The bones seemed to be ready to go after this point, so it was then a matter of getting the giant feathers onto them. The post about the giant feathers details how lengths of aluminum screening are what attaches each feather to the other. The screening also acted like a humongous sleeve that I could slip over the top join point of the bones (where Bone Y and Bone Z meet). Once the sleeves were in place on their respective wings, I clasped them in place by threading floral wire back and forth through the screening at a couple key junctures. The aluminum portion of the sleeves was concealed beneath another sleeve made out of painted foam that was edged with Worbla.

Connecting the feathers to Bone Z (so they fan out) involved drilling three holes along the length of the bone with a 1/16" (0.16 cm) bit in my power drill, then connecting metal and foam with some high tensile strength fishing line. The holes and Bone Z itself were covered up by two of the foam feathers: one on each side of the metal.

This is by no means an easy or straightforward project, but it’s more achievable than it’s made out to be. A bit of planning, some experience with power tools, and a pinch of willingness to take risks will give you your own set of deployable wings! Best of luck on your costuming adventures!

Cosplay: All About That Mace

Posted by Kel

So Gen Con 2015 descended upon us all before I could finish publishing the last few posts covering the making of Steampunk Hawkgirl. This is something that will be rectified post-haste! To recap if you're just joining us now, so far we’ve covered the corset, the leggings, the wing harness, a few Worbla bits, and the supersized feathers that cover the wings. On today’s docket is the Thanagarian’s weapon of choice: the mace.

I mentioned a while back that I can’t, for the life of me, draw in any appreciable or useful way, thus leaving me to take a costume from concept to physical reality in a single step. This made for a bit of a challenge when beginning work on a few components of Steampunk Hawkgirl, as there are no canonical reference images to provide guidance, and the mace, for whatever reason, proved difficult for me to put finite ideas to. Hawkgirl’s standard mace is pretty much your run-of-the mill smashy ball with spikes and a handle on it, but how do you go about making that look more steampunk?

After a lot of thought and a similar amount of research on the internets, I came up with the idea of having the ball part of the mace be a tesla coil/plasma sphere and replace the traditional spikes with arching tracts of gear teeth. While the concept was exciting, it would be a bit tricky to make real. There would be a handful of things that would need to be addressed in a hurry.

All tests went swimmingly

First on the list of Mace-Related Challenges was finding a tesla coil/plasma ball that was both sufficiently large and could be powered with batteries. There are lots of battery-powered plasma balls out there, but almost all of them have a diameter of 3” (7.62cm) or less, which is a bit too small in terms of proportionality to the rest of the costume. Conversely, there are also lots of larger plasma balls, but they are powered by AC only, making them less than feasible to walk around the convention halls with. Finally, I came across this guy which could be powered via a big pack of AA batteries. Win.

Once the plasma ball and battery pack had been procured it was a question of how they could be reasonably attached to some sort of handle, and it was pretty clear that a custom piece would be in order. To make the handle, I bought a 1/2" wide x 24" (1.27 x 60.96cm) long birch dowel and a small bit of 12" x 4" (30.48 x 10.16cm) birch board, then cut both with the cutting attachment of my Dremel into lengths that would match up to the dimensions of the battery pack and base of the plasma ball. From the remaining birch board I cut a series of trapezoids similar to the sides of the plasma ball that would ‘pinch’ the ball in place and stabilize it so I could carry it around.

The wooden bits, the battery pack, and the plastic sides of the plasma ball all got three coats of gesso. Since all three components are made of different materials, the gesso ended up being an important step in making all the surfaces similar enough when it came time to add paint.

It’s here that I should note that the wood that was used here came from Michael’s and not a hardware store. Why does this matter? Usually wood that’s being sold for crafting purposes has been pre-treated to a degree, so you don’t have to spend time sanding and prepping the fiber before you do things like prime or paint. So just a heads up, if you get your materials from a hardware store you may have to build in a bit of extra time to finish this portion of the costume.All the primed surfaces got a few coats of a brown-copper acrylic paint to give the impression that everything was wrought from a weathered sort of metal. After this, I cut a gear-teeth-like pattern of semi-circles out of Worbla, then gave these the same treatment as the wood/plastic bits.

Once everything had dried it was time to start assembling. Using the Dremel, I cut a 1/4" (0.64cm) hole in the center of the piece of wood that would serve as the primary base for the battery pack and plasma ball. After a quick test run to ensure that the dowel that serves as the handle would fit snuggly into this hole, I marked the very first point where said dowel emerges from beneath the board, then drilled a hole 1/8" (0.32cm) in diameter straight through. A 2" (5.08cm) long zinc eyelet screw was then twisted through the hole so the eyelet itself faced up and flush against the board, lending the latter some support. This arrangement was fixed in place first with a heavy layer of gorilla glue, then with a thinner layer of rubber cement.

For the grip on the handle I took some dark brown leather leftover from my Aayla Secura ‘vest’ (related aside: how on Earth was that costume from three years ago?) and cut it into 1” (2.54cm) wide strips, then wrapped these around the bottom of the handle and fixing the leather in place with hot glue. At the top of the grip, I wound the leather over itself a few times to create the look of a handle. Pretty much any sturdy fabric will work for this and the birch/acrylic paint takes hot glue fairly well.

The last part of the assembly process is a bit tricky and, quite honestly, should probably be left until the last few days before you leave for your convention. The battery pack gets filled (if your plasma ball ends up being the same as mine, the pack requires 20 AA batteries), then attached to the base of the handle with gorilla glue. The plasma ball is then affixed to the battery pack with hot glue so you can pull the former off if you need to replace batteries or make adjustments. Originally I’d intended to use some of the trapezoid wooden cutouts to help stabilize the mace, but they ended up being unnecessary. After that it was just a matter of hot gluing the gear teeth to the base of the plasma ball.

Not gonna lie, the mace is neither light nor is it super stable, but it lights up and presents well. This was one of the more ambitious ideas I’ve had for a prop and I’m really hoping it works out well on the convention floor. We’ll find out soon!

Post-Con Update: Oh this poor mace. My misgivings about its structural integrity ended up being at least semi-founded. Even though the weapon came together as it was supposed to, it stubbornly refused to function after arriving in Indianapolis. I still can't discern exactly what went wrong, but I'm willing to guess that the process of transporting the components of the mace ended up jostling or otherwise internally damaging either the battery pack, the plasma ball, or both. More than a few hours of the night before Cosplay Saturday were spent frantically trying to get the plasma ball to work, but to no avail. Given that the ball was a no-go (and the weapon just didn't look right all darkened), I decided to scrap the mace entirely and walk the convention halls without it.

That being said, if the plasma ball had cooperated/survived the trip out to Indy, the build described in this post would have produced a pretty nifty result. It was disappointing to have to give up on the mace at the last minute, but I'll definitely try to complete the build (or something similar to it) for a future iteration of the costume. Hawkgirl will eventually have her mace!

Round Up: Gen Con 2015

Posted by Kel

And just like that Gen Con 2015 is over. Seriously? It's already over? <> Sigh. Well, one of the good things about being back is that I can share all of the awesome that went down during the Best Four Days in Gaming. In keeping with all of our other convention round-ups, I'll present the convention news alphabetically by publisher, then give overarching impressions of the convention itself (and a little update on Steampunk Hawkgirl). For more pictures of all the goodness, check out our social pages, particularly our Instagram.

Fantasy Flight (FFG)

Perennial powerhouse Fantasy Flight occupied their customary spot right in front of the main doors of the dealer hall and their merchandise booth seemed to be permanently ringed by an endless parade of eager gamers. That commercial success, among other things, was confirmed during the annual In-Flight Review. After the powerhouse lineup of new games presented during last year's con, it was unsurprising that much of the 2015-2016 FFG pipeline consists largely of expansions and enhancements to their existing titles.

The publisher's two best-selling games, Armada and Imperial Assault (with the former actually outselling the latter in this calendar year), will both be getting new miniatures. Imperial Assault will also be bolstered by the addition of not one, but two expansion sets. The first such add-on, Twin Shadows, will focus largely on the fringe elements of the Star Wars universe, specifically bounty hunters and elements that were heavily featured in the Edge of the Empire RPG. Twin Shadows is set to be released sometime in September. The second expansion will be the very robust Return to Hoth, which will feature not only new miniatures and missions, but new mechanics for the core gameplay. Return to Hoth is forecasted to be available for purchase sometime during the fourth quarter of this year.

The insanely popular X-Wing will also get more miniatures and a few expansions. Wave 7 of these forthcoming miniatures will include an imperial raider (made with direct input from LucasFilm) and an imperial assault carrier from the animated series Star Wars: Rebels. Rebels will feature heavily in Wave 8, which will include a Mist Hunter and a Ghost.

One of the most highly sought-after games of the year, Forbidden Stars, remains completely sold out and is expected to be on back-order for much of the rest of 2015 as more copies are printed and distributed. More than a few con-goers were disappointed that FFG was not even offering demos of the Warhammer 40K-based title during Gen Con.

While we're in a Warhammer state of mind, FFG offered a bit more exposition on Warhammer Quest: the Card Game. The still-in-development title is said to be a challenging (potentially cooperative) campaign-based card game.

Descent will be getting an expansion, titled the Mists of Bilehall, late this year. Three new lieutenant packs are also in line to be released for the game in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Mission: Red Planet, a resource-management title inherited from Asmodee, has been updated and will be re-released under the FFG banner. You can pre-order copies of the game here. Interestingly enough, aside from a few high-level remarks concerning distribution at the incept of the In-Flight Review, this was the only explicit mention of FFG's blockbuster merger with Asmodee.

Fantasy Flight's single most-requested reprint, Runebound, is going to go beyond the printhouse and get a brand new incarnation. Aside from the title and a few core mechanics, this iteration of Runebound will bear no other resemblance to other games that have borne the same name. FFG has painstakingly re-imagined the title and is slated to bring it to market in time for the holiday season.

Speaking of releasing in time for a holiday, the third edition of the classic Fury of Dracula will hopefully be hitting the market just before Halloween.

The Lovecraftian Eldridge Horror will get a new expansion: Strange Remnants. The add-on was designed to effectively gameify the use of the expansions without the game itself taking up the entirety of your gaming table. The title will be available for purchase during the third quarter of 2015.

Fantasy Flight reiterated that its offerings in the Euro-style marketplace, such as Tigris and Samurai, will remain niche and not comprise a sizable portion of their pipeline.
The second edition of the A Game of Thrones: The Card Game was the single most successful Gen Con release ever in the history of Fantasy Flight.
Star Wars the RPG: Force and Destiny is now out and in its final form. There will be no omnibus offered to combine the three rulebooks.
Finally, the publisher did confirm that games based upon the Star Wars: Episode VII are already in development, but could provide no details as to what these would be.

Flying Frog Productions

One of the most sought-after demos of Gen Con 2014, Shadows of Brimstone, continued to be a powerful draw for Flying Frog. The publisher garnered additional attention via an intricately painted 3D board depicting the worldscape of the expansion Swamps of Death.

USAopoly

Some of the most sought-after badge swag at the con came from the demo table for Nefarious: the Mad Scientist Game. This fast-paced card game pits the sinister machinations of the world's most dastardly villains against one another. Players seek to out-invent, out-scheme, and out-maneuver one another as they attempt to take over the world. Nefarious can accommodate 2-6 gamers and is designated as being appropriate for ages 13 and up.

Wizards of the Coast (WotC)

The 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons continued to reign over much of the convention. WotC allowed gamers to partake in the first scripted adventures associated with the Rage of Demons Adventurers League season that will be available at your friendly local game store beginning this September.

Wizards also enjoyed a very strong showing at the annual ENnie awards, taking home the gold for Best Aid/Accessory, Best Cover Art (for Rise of Tiamat), Best Interior Art, Best Electronic Book, Best Family Game, Best Free Product, Best Game, Best Monster/Adversary, Best Production Values, Best Rules, Best Supplement, Best Publisher, and Product of the Year.

Independent Developers

As in previous years, the vast majority of my Gen Con trip was spent with small and independent game developers. Also akin to other years, those developers put forth some truly innovative and impressive offerings. The following titles definitely succeeded not not only providing a memorable playing experience, but lingered long after the dealer hall had closed.

Aetherium (Anvil 8 Games) - This was my very first demo of the con and it set the bar pretty darned high. Take many of the core mechanics from Imperial Assault, add in several fun tactical twists, and set it all in a phenomenally well-imagined cyberpunk universe. It was one of the most satisfying and fine-tuned miniatures games that I've had the pleasure to play. Do yourself a favor and check out the website.

Campaign Trail (Cosmic Wombat Games) - This clever game runs players through, as the name suggests, the run-up to a presidential election. Careful resource management will allow you to level up from basic grassroots campaigning to call upon a mighty war chest that will bring you to the Oval Office. The title can be played head-to-head or co-op with teammates taking on the role of Vice Presidential hopeful. This game will be the subject of its own Kickstarter beginning on September 14th.

Tesla vs Edison (Artana Games) - The end product of one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns of the year, Tesla vs Edison generated quite a bit of convention buzz despite being tucked away towards the back of the dealer hall. As the name suggests, Tesla vs Edison allows players to shape the course of electricity development in the United States via the invention of new technologies and ruthless business practices. It's marketed as a 'medium-level' strategy game, which is a pretty spot-on descriptor, and will appeal most to fans of euros and those gamers who can't get enough Power Grid. Fair warning, if you're a person who doesn't like stock market or bidding mechanics in your games, this title probably isn't for you. That being said, Tesla vs Edison does an admirable job with its theme and, if you're into its mechanics, is absolutely worth a try.

Zephyr (Portal Dragon) - This competitive tabletop game continually surprised throughout the course of the demo. Set in a beautifully crafted steampunk universe, Zephyr was as satisfying to play as it was on the eyes. Players captain, outfit, and equip their own airship in the hope of successfully resolving the missions set before them. Zephyr is a wholly modular experience that can appeal to both board game novices and seasoned veterans alike. The game is set to be featured in its own Kickstarter during the fourth quarter of this year.

Overarching Thoughts on Gen Con 2015

The Indianapolis Convention Center definitely seemed more crowded this year, and that sensation was validated when Gen Con released attendance figures. 61,423 unique con-goers graced the halls, a 8.49% increase over 2014's turnout. While that increase is markedly smaller than what we've seen in previous year-over-year periods, the fact that we're now dealing with over sixty thousand con-goers was palpable. It'll be very interesting to see what future years will look like given that the infrastructure in and around the ICC is already highly strained.

As for costume news, our steampunk take on the Justice League was very well received. It was the first time many of my friends had ever cosplayed and they all really seemed to enjoy the experience. Seeing them having so much fun gave me all sorts of happy feels. Maybe we'll make this whole group cosplay a regular thing for Gen Con. We costume up pretty nicely, don't you think?

I'll go into all the details about the individual components of Steampunk Hawkgirl via updates on the tutorial posts. On the whole, not gonna lie, it was simultaneously the most rewarding and most frustrating costume I've ever done. A lot of things went wrong at the last possible minute, resulting in a handful of components going unused. Similarly, a few of the functions of the costume weren't behaving as they were supposed to on Cosplay Saturday, so they were effectively shelved. That being said, the final product didn't turn out too badly.

Until next year Gen Con!

All Aboard for Gen Con 2015!

Posted by Kel

It’s finally happening guys! Gen Con 2015 is upon us! Our bags are packed, costume bits have been shipped, and our dice are itching to be rolled. This year is extra special, as it’s the very first time that we’ll be covering the Best Four Days in Gaming as a member of the official Gen Con press corps. It’s going to be a very busy and, hopefully, all-around awesome few days and we’ll be bringing as much to you live from the dealer hall as we possibly can.

Woot for live coverage! What can we expect while you guys are in Indy?

We’ll be arriving in Indianapolis on Wednesday evening and will be covering the entire four days of the convention. Aside from a few logistical/fun updates, our actual coverage from inside the convention center will begin at approximately 7am EST on Thursday, July 30^th.

Where can we find your newsfeed? Will it be here?

All of our live coverage will be on our social media pages only. We’re going to do our best to link all of them together so you don’t have to worry about one page containing more information than another. However, if you’d like to select one social media page to start with or use as a base of con-following operations, we recommend that that page be our Twitter account.

So, will any Gen Con information make it back here to this site?

Definitely. We’ll post a giant convention wrap-up within a week or so of us getting back from Indy similar to what we’ve done in previous years.

I'm going to be at Gen Con too! Can I find you and say hi during the con?

Sure thing. We'll be providing live updates on the social media pages. If you do happen to see us, by all means come say hi!

Can I stop by your panel?

We'd love it if you did! Our panel, "It Takes a Village to Make a Game" will be taking place on Thursday, July 30th at 8pm EST in Pennsylvania Station A of the Crowne Plaza hotel.

What day or days will you be cosplaying as Steampunk Hawkgirl?

Steampunk Hawkgirl will be making her big debut all day Saturday, August 1st. I'm planning on being in full costume for as long as possible that whole day and will be participating in the annual costume parade.

It's so soon! Ah!

<> We look forward to bringing you all the news from Indianapolis!

This Week in Geekdom

Posted by Kel

Happy weekend everyone! We're in the very last stages of preparations for Gen Con 2015, which itself is a little surreal. The countdown now somehow stands at single digits, costume pieces need to be shipped, and bags will soon need to be packed. At this point next week Steampunk Hawkgirl will be 100% complete and, hopefully, on her way out to Indianapolis. In the interim, there will be at least one or two more posts that speak to the making of that costume and probably one other post describing where you can find the GIR and I if you're going to be joining us out at Gen Con. In the meantime though, let's get down to the week in Geekdom.

Books

Star Wars: Aftermath, one of the first new canon novels in the Star Wars universe, depicts the tragic fallout after the destruction of the second Death Star. The book will be available on September 4th.

Comics

Did the concept for Spider-Man's costume come from a 1950s era child's Halloween costume?

Archie Comics will be bringing the Ramones into their paper-and-ink world in 2016.

10 actually comics-based announcements from San Diego Comic Con.

Games

The Escapist feels that these are the 8 worst video game villains of all time. Do you agree?

Movies/TV

We posted the trailer on our social media pages earlier this week but, in case you missed it, here's our first glimpse of the X-Files reboot.

Artificial Intelligence has been a recurring theme in movies for decades now, but which films treat this technology correctly?

The saga of Dr. Doom's struggle to break into the Marvel cinematic universe.

Science/Technology

One of the biggest science stories of the week was undoubtedly the first images of Pluto that were sent back to us from the New Horizons probe. Here are some of the incredible pictures from our most distant neighbor in this solar system.

Speaking of NASA-originated awesomeness, these are the ideas being bandied about for a post-Hubble deep space telescope.

The other headline-grabbing bit of science news we were treated to this week was this discovery out of CERN that researchers have discovered a new subatomic particle: pentaquarks.

It's nothing like the summer camp your parents may have been sent to: this is the NSA's cybersecurity summer camp.

Buckyballs, not just a fun desk toy that's been pulled off the US market, but a tool that is still helping researchers unravel long-standing mysteries concerning interstellar space.

Image Credit

The latest edition of Nature Communications includes this bit of research about a novel type of ceramic developed at the University of Tokyo that holds onto heat until the release of such is purposefully triggered.

Speaking of novel substances, scientists at Rice University have successfully combined titanium and gold to create the first itinerant antiferromagnetic metal.

We talk a lot on here about the sometimes-unsettling advances in the field of robotics. Well, researchers at the University of Hertfordshire are trying to allay our fears a bit with their efforts to teach robots to play soccer.

General Awesomeness/Feats of Nerdery

San Diego Comic Con, the Musical.

If you've been reading here for a little while, you're likely aware of just how much we love Mad Max around here. So we were extra giddy when we came across this fan-made, Doof Warrior inspired ukelele.

Adam Savage and Chris Hadfield went to Comic-Con incognito while cosplaying as astronauts. Jaime Lee Curtis did the same at EVO 2015 while cosplaying as a Rule 63 version of Vega from Street Fighter.

Cosplay: the Thing With Feathers

Posted by Kel

We are under two weeks out from Gen Con 2015! Holy mother of the Avatar. Aside from the flurry of preparations, the last-days-before-a-convention nightmares have started in earnest. You know the ones; you arrive at the convention woefully unprepared or having forgotten/lost/broken some critical component of your cosplay kit. Those are just going to be a regular feature of my sleep cycle for the next couple of weeks. Fortunately, the construction process is well in hand, so we can chat a bit more about Steampunk Hawkgirl and how she came together. If you’re just joining us now and would like to catch up, you can read about the corset, the leggings, the worbla bits, and the wing fundamentals using those links (though, honestly, the order in which these are read doesn’t matter especially much).

Today we’re going to cover how to make the feathers, how to attach them to the ‘bones’ of the wings, and how to get them to fan out like those on a real bird’s wing. Fair warning, there is a LOT of repetition in the building of this part of the costume, so your best bet is to line up a good TV series, movie marathon, or excellent song playlist to keep you company.

As you can imagine, keeping the feathers as light and mobile as possible is the name of the cosplaying game. There are a couple of ways you can accomplish this: making the wings out of canvas or similarly sturdy fabric, out of paper or cardstock, or out of foam. After some initial experimenting, I chose craft foam, as it was both lightweight and could hold a shape nearly of its own volition. What you end up selecting will likely depend on what your wing ‘bones’ are made out of and where you plan to place your feathers. For example: wings that center on your actual arms can bear canvas feathers quite beautifully. If you do end up also choosing to use foam, I'd recommend getting at least three rolls of approximately this size to ensure you have enough for this project.

Once that decision had been made, it was a matter of actually making the feathers. To do this, I laid one of the wings out on the floor in its fully extended position. I then cut a roll of easel paper into 3” x 36” (7.62 x 91.44 cm) strips and arrayed the strips over the wing in a fan-like pattern, then trimmed them into varying lengths to mimic a real bird’s wing. This process was repeated with a second layer of feathers 2.5" x 24" (6.35 x 60.96 cm). Once I had a full “set” that covered all portions of the bones as I wanted them to, I copied the designs onto the craft foam twice so both wings would mirror one another. I ended up making a handful of wider feathers for the very bottom of the wings to create a more organic overall appearance, but it's entirely up to you if your project will have need of these.

The paper templates

First pass with the foam feathers

With the future wing covers in hand, thus began the long process of turning plain white foam strips into something that actually resembled feathers. After priming everything with gesso, I used ordinary hot glue to apply 1/8" (0.32 cm) dowels of balsa wood to each strip, then painted them with acrylics in the patterns I wanted. The dowels are necessary if your feathers are close to the dimensions I used in order to provide a bit of structure; omitting them will result in floppy feathers. As mentioned earlier, this process can be extremely time consuming, so a good bit of background noise will likely be very helpful.

Once all your feathers have been painted and buttressed you can begin mounting them to that they lay against the bones. The way I did this was to cut this aluminum screening into two strips 28” x 10” (71.12 x 25.4cm). The aluminum provides a sturdy surface on which to hang your feathers without adding too much weight to your rig. I bent the strips around the primary vertical bones of the wings, then held up each feather to where I wanted it to rest, marking the screen at this point with a sharpie. Using the punching tool from this kit, I cut 1/4” (0.64 cm) diameter holes into each feather and, with the help of a pair of tin snips, did the same at the sharpie-marked points on the screen. After that, it was a matter of aligning the holes in the screens and the holes in the ends of the feathers and joining everything together with some of these grommets. The grommets are also lightweight and allow the feathers a degree of movement if you’d like them to fan out or otherwise deploy. This whole process was repeated with the second, shorter layer of feathers.

Once all the foam had been attached to the screen there was the small matter of ensuring that the feathers would stay open and beautifully fanned out. To accomplish this, I joined each feather to the one above and below it with some carefully tied (and painted over) lengths of fishing line. This process is also extremely time-consuming, but definitely worthwhile as the finished effect is stunning. It also helps spread out the weight of the wings over the full surface of the 'bones' so you minimize the potential for stress-related snafus during wear.

Over top of the screens I molded a few strips of Worbla both to cover the former and to create a metallic, steampunky effect on the wings themselves. For the basics on how I worked with the Worbla, visit my earlier post on what thermoplastic can do for you. For pieces this long, however, it can be useful to work in small sections at a time (though it can be tricky to ensure that all sections are heated evenly as a result). Also, these steps were necessary for my particular project, as I needed the wings to be able to break down so I could ship them out to Indiana ahead of Gen Con. You can experiment as you see fit, especially if you’re ok with your wings having a more permanent configuration.

After the Worbla had been added, it was just a matter of priming it with gesso, painting it, and adding fun details to make it look like real metal. Just a heads up: Worbla is not at all a lightweight material even before you add things like primer and pain, so if you’re planning on adding any details to your wings it’s a good idea to keep them to a minimum.

We're almost to the end of this series! See you guys in the next installment!

Cosplay: All About Worbla

Posted by Kel

All the cosplay posts! Ok, not literally all of them, but I’m all about following through on my promise to you guys to spill the remaining details about how Steampunk Hawkgirl came/is coming together. If you’re just joining the conversation now or missed out on any of the previous installations pertaining to this costume you can read about the corset, leggings, and the support rig for the wings using those respective links. Today we’re going to go into all the little details of the costume that involved the use of thermoplastic. These included a breastplate, gauntlets, covers/toppers for my boots, the hawk crest necklace, and the helm portion of my mask/helm/goggles mashup.

We’ve talked about thermoplastics a couple of times, namely how to work with closed-cell plastic and now to shape lengths of acrylic into fun swords. What we’ll cover in this post pertains mainly to Worbla and other sheet-form, closed-cell opaque thermoplastics. Worbla is one of the single biggest buzzwords in cosplay right now, and it’s not hard to see why. With a bit of planning and a splash of heat, Worbla can take on just about any shape you can imagine. Want to re-create Zelda’s pauldrons or Kayle’s armor or Daenerys’ Qartheen belt? Worbla (or similar thermoplastics like Wonderflex) will help you make it happen.

That sounds awesome! How does it work?

First, you’ll need a few things, namely the Worbla itself, but also a heat gun, a Sharpie or other durable pen/marker, scissors, and craft foam. The easiest way to procure Worbla is online. Fair warning, it’s not the cheapest of costume-making materials, but if you buy in bulk you can save yourself a bit of cash in the long run. I always end up buying the largest sheets available both for the potential savings and the fact that the plastic has to come from Europe, which often translates into shipping times of at least a few weeks. Heat guns are a bit easier and cheaper to come by, as many models are available in most hardware stores (plus Amazon, which is where I got mine from). If you can, try to get a heat gun with a high and low setting, as this will give you the maximum amount of control when working with the thermoplastic. All the other items are optional and dependent on the type of project you’re working on. I will make the following recommendation about cutting implements though: if you’re making something particularly complex or that just involves a lot of pieces you may want to splurge on a nice set of tin snips. Your hands will thank you if you spend any extended period cutting through the sometimes-uncooperative plastic.

Once you have your materials it’s time to discern what shapes you’ll need for your project. For Steampunk Hawkgirl I used the clingwrap and masking tape method to draft patterns. All you need for that method are exactly those two items, a pair of scissors, and a marker. You wrap the part of your body you want to model or will otherwise be wearing your intended piece in plastic wrap, then do your best mummy impression and cover the wrap with a layer of masking or marking tape. Aside from becoming what will be your pattern, the tape offers two tactical benefits. First, you can draw directly on it with your marker to give yourself a concrete idea of shapes, designs, and potential decorations. Second, the tape will be a bit constricting, which will provide a great simulation of what it will feel like to have the thermoplastic on your body. Once you're happy with your designs, carefully cut the tape and plastic wrap off yourself, then trace the resulting shapes onto your thermoplastic and/or craft foam. Adding a layer of craft foam to your pieces helps give definition and structure to the finished product, but you should certainly experiment a bit to see if your particular project requires this step.

As the majority of endeavors involving Worbla or similar thermoplastics do require at least one buffering or structural layer of material, the rest of this post will focus on the techniques used to achieve that. If you're not layering your materials, the steps for warming up and shaping the Worbla are still the same and completely applicable. After you've cut out all your shapes and patterns (this should include anything you're using for decorative purposes as well as what your foundational pieces), it's a good idea to also cut out several long, thin strips of Worbla. These little strips can come in handy when finishing the edges of your pieces or for correcting areas that didn't turn out quite as planned. A safe bet would be to cut these strips to be twice as wide as the thickness of your thickest material.

Ok, so you have your shapes, your craft foam, and your edging material. Now it's time to prep your work space. I tend to like working on a piece of cardboard that I've covered with at least one layer of aluminum foil (with the dull side facing up, but this doesn’t make a huge difference). This helps protect the underlying surfaces, but also helps you recover the Worbla once it's been heated up since it can get pretty sticky. Handy things to have within easy reach include a sharpie/durable marker, a ruler, and a pair of scissors. Lastly, you’ll need your heat gun. I have a small square of granite that I keep under the heat gun just for another layer of protection, but having a dedicated resting place for your gun is completely optional.

***MOMENT OF SERIOUSNESS: HEAT GUNS CAN BE DANGEROUS; USE CAUTION WHEN HANDLING OR WORKING WITH THEM!***

Many heat guns have two settings: a lower heat and high heat. You’ll want to employ the highest setting your gun has when initially warming the Worbla. Also, this is an ideal time to orient your Worbla in order to make your crafting life easier in the near future. Worbla has two sides: a rougher side with a texture reminiscent of fabric and a smooth, shiny side. The latter will be more adhesive once the material is warm, so it’s almost always the side that you want to apply to the inside of your garment (or apply directly onto your craft foam, if you’re using it). I always have the Worbla lay with the rough side facing up at me from the aluminum foil because doing so allows the ‘glue’ of the shiny side to heat up gently, thus creating better behaved thermoplastic. This is just what I’ve found works for me though. You should definitely experiment to get an idea of what will serve you best.

Lay out your Worbla as you see fit and apply the heat from your gun as evenly as possible; using small circular motions tends to be very effective. You may notice that the Worbla will change to a subtly darker tan/brown color as it warms up; once your piece has completely taken on this hue, that’s usually the sign that it’s ok to begin shaping it. Carefully peel your piece off of your work surface. The Worbla should be very pliable, sticky, and hot, but not burning, to the touch. You have 15-30 or so seconds to mold the Worbla into your desired shape before it begins to cool and harden. To get your desired form, apply what was the shiny side directly to your foundation material (usually craft foam). Manipulate the Worbla with your fingers until you’re satisfied with the shape, then leave it to cool. If your first attempt at shaping didn’t go quite as planned, you can reheat the Worbla to make it flexible again. While you can repeat this a few times, try not to go overboard on the corrections, as it is possible to scorch the thermoplastic (it will turn white-ish and start to flake).

Once you’ve built up your desired piece from the Worbla, let it cool entirely. In the meantime, gather up any scrap thermoplastic you have leftover and set it aside in a safe place amongst your other crafting supplies. You never know when you may need an odd shape in a future project and, given the cost of Worbla, it can be handy to have extra bits on hand. After your piece has cooled and hardened, you can finish it as needed to achieve your desired look.

For the Worbla portions of Steampunk Hawkgirl, I primed each piece with four coats of gesso then painted directly onto the dried gesso with standard acrylic paints. This was to give the pieces a weathered, textured look in keeping with the Steampunk aesthetic. Sanding the gesso or using other agents in addition to the gesso, like wood glue, will give you a more polished and smooth finish if that’s what you’re after. For the trim, I used Rub N Buff in a few different shades (related aside: I highly recommend picking up the sampler set if you're going to invest in that specific finish). Rub N Buff is a wax-based paint that, while sometimes messy to apply, gives you an incredibly realistic metallic shine and works beautifully with thermoplastic.

If you're going to add straps or extra foam to help adhere your piece to the rest of your costume (or your body) I'd recommend using rubber cement on all surfaces that share an edge with the thermoplastic, as hot glue will likely cause distortions. Other than that though, you can add pretty much anything to the Worbla, including more Worbla.

It's an excellent material and lots of fun to experiment with. You'll get to see the 100% finished pieces in the very near future. In the meantime, best of luck with your costuming adventures!

Cosplay: This Rig Gives Me Wings

Posted by Kel

It has been far, far too long since there was an update on Steampunk Hawkgirl. We’ve talked a bit about some of the reasons why: the challenges of this past winter, personal illness, and a tidal wave of other awesome content for the site. However, she has not gone neglected these past few months and now we’re getting that exciting turning point where she’s beginning to come together (thank the Maker, since Gen Con is now less than two months away). So get ready for lots more cosplay to come your way.

Whenever I’m tackling a costume, I almost always start with what I feel will be the most difficult/complex component, as it’s often better to have a bit of extra time on hand in case something goes wrong or requires more materials. Also, everything else you build afterward seems that much easier and more feasible by comparison. For Hawkgirl, you might think this proverbial hillcrest would be the wings but, during my bouts of brainstorming, I kept centering on the harness that would carry those wings and allow them to deploy. The wings themselves will get at least one entry of their own (possibly two: one for the skeletons and one for the feathers).

All we need are some feathers!

As of the writing of this post, my suppositions about the challenges that the harness would pose have proven to be mostly on target. It took a bit of trial and error, but the harness or, as I’ve been calling it, the backpack, is about 95% done. All that remains are a few final decorations, and strategically adding some foam to make it a bit more comfy. Woo!

So what went into the harness/backpack and how long did it take to put together?

Actual construction took around three weeks, but you could easily make one of these in a day or two depending on the materials/tools you use and the weather conditions where you live. A lot of the three-week run time consisted of experimenting and doing lots of math (and making an absurd number of trips to the hardware store) to ensure that all components of the rig could handle the work they would have to do. Also, I ended up making two versions of the rig: one with a wooden base and another with a sintra base because it wasn’t clear which version would be both strong and sufficiently light to wear around all day. I’ll talk about the pros and cons of each version a little further on in this post.

Materials

- 2' x 4' x ½” (1.27 cm) birch board OR 11" x 17" (27.94cm-43.18cm) 13mm sintra PVC board

- 2 double sheave pulleys (I used these by Blue Hawk)
- 2 zinc-plated chain/rope clips

- 4 zinc-plated strap hinges*

- About 2-3 feet of 1/8” (0.32cm) brass or aluminum piping/dowels

- 1-2 packages of 1/8” (0.32cm) brass collars

- 5-6 feet (1.52-1.83m) of very sturdy straps or webbing material

- 6-8 feet (1.83-2.44m) of paracord, strong rope, or galvanized steel cable (3/16” or 1/8” [0.48 or 0.32cm])

- Whatever paint, stain or other decorations you’d like for the finished look

*optional

I used a model 4000 Dremel and a 12V Ryobi power drill to do all the cutting, shaping, drilling, installation of screws, and finishing of edges. A bit of 200 grit sandpaper was involved in prepping the birch board for staining.

Some initial comments about the materials used and how I decided on these specific components: each piece of hardware was chosen because I’d calculated that it could perform the work associated with lifting at least one of the 4.5 pound (2.04kg) wings (3 pounds, 6 ounces [1.53kg] of which comes from the aluminum skeleton). That may not sound like a lot, but the way that the wings extend creates distortions in how that weight gets distributed. For example, that 4.5 pound wing requires only 4.5 pounds of force to fold the last few inches required to close them on the rig, but they require 22 pounds (9.98kg) of force to hold in a stable position once they’re open just because they’re so large, nearly 10 feet (3.05m) across when fully open. I overcompensated for this by selecting components that could bear at least twice that maximum force. The idea was that the motion of opening and closing the wings should ‘feel’ easy for the hardware. If your wings are made of a lighter material or don’t have as wide a total span then you can probably get away with hardware that isn’t as heavy duty.

First I drafted a pattern out of paper based on measurements of my torso. The idea was to have the rig eventually be at least partially integrated with the corset, so the shape of the former had to align with the latter. After some trial, error, and lots of comparing one shape up to another I re-drafted the pattern onto heavy cardboard. Once I was 100% satisfied with the dimensions, I cut the pattern into both the birch board and the sintra using the jigsaw cutting tool for the Dremel.

The next step is completely optional. When I’m designing a costume, I try to think of just about every use case and that includes all potential interactions that my fellow con-goers may have with what I’m wearing. My fear was (and still is, to a degree) that the sheer size of the wings is going to present a challenge when I’m walking around and that one or more people may bump or jostle them during the course of the day. The solution I devised for this was to mount the wings on hinged plates, so the plate (and wing) could swing backwards if they needed to. If you feel this function isn’t necessary for your costume, you can absolutely skip it and attach the wings directly to the backplate of the rig.

To make the hinged plates I did a bit of math to determine which shape would give the most support to the wings and reduce the amount of work required to lift the wings into an open position. Triangle-type structures are your friends if you’re planning on doing something similar! Once I devised the shape, I cut a pair of plates from each of my base materials with the Dremel, drilled holes for the wing support posts (also with the Dremel), and affixed each plate to the back of the rig with two strap hinges (one towards the top and another at the bottom). Strap hinges work especially well because they’re designed to support gates and other features that hold considerable weight far from the hinge point. Even after a whole mess of stress testing, both the plates and the hinges feel very solid.

Once the plates were secure, I did...you guessed it...more math to determine where the pulleys that will allow the wings to open and close should go. Initially I was going to use a single double sheave pulley in the top center of the rig and just cross the draw strings through it to articulate the wings. Some early tests quickly proved that doing so put way, way too much stress on that one poor pulley. Word to the wise: solid math is not a replacement for stress tests! It worked out so well on paper only to prove unfeasible in real life.

So it was on to Plan B, which involved one double sheave pulley on each shoulder, giving each wing two pulley sheaves worth of support when it articulates. While this does add a bit of weight to your rig, it does wonders for the shape and motion of the wing as the latter opens and closes. To hold the pulleys in place I used my power drill to create a pair of 3/16" (0.48cm) holes at each shoulder. Once the holes could accommodate the U rings of these chain/rope clips, I threaded the eye of one of the pulleys through that ring, then brought the clip flush with the rest of the back plate before installing the clip permanently with the matching hex nuts (these are almost always sold with the clip).

All that remains at this point is attaching the straps so the rig can be worn. For this, I used these tow cables. Just about any sturdy webbing will work for this purpose, but the tow cables were cheap and explicitly designed for dealing with high pressure and load bearing. After determining how I wanted the rig to lie on my back, I cut slots and fed the cables through, then anchored the cables with ¼” (0.64cm) bolts, nuts, and washers.

But wait…how do the wings attach to the backpack?

Excellent question. I’ll go into this again in the post that describes how the wings were made, but the mechanism that attaches the wings to the rig is the same as that which allows them to articulate. Each wing is supported by two posts that pass through both the metal of the wing and the wood/sintra of the swinging plates. Each post is 1 1/8” long, 1/8” (2.86 cm by 0.32cm) in diameter and is made of either solid brass or aluminum (the brass is stronger, but much heavier; you can feasibly use either without any problems). You can find metal dowels (including those in materials not listed here if you don’t want brass or aluminum) in a wide variety of diameters at Home Depot/Lowes/most other hardware stores. I cut the dowels into the lengths I needed, then sanded down the ends a bit with my Dremel. The posts are secured with these 1/8” brass collars, one on each end and tightened to the point where movement is just barely permissible. You want there to be as little wiggle room as possible between the bones of the wings and the plates of the rig, but we'll go more into how everything moves together in the post that describes the skeleton of the wings.

After that it was just a matter of sanding and staining the birch wood, then painting the sintra. With sintra, it is almost always a good idea to put down a layer of primer (I used gesso, but plain primer or even wood glue will work for this) since the surface of the thermoplastic tends to be pretty slick and resistant to paint. As for which of the rigs ended up being the better one, there's really no clear winner right now. Each material has its benefits and drawbacks, many of which will vary based on the demands of your wings.

	Pros	Cons
Wood	Cheap Strong Can be light Reliable Guaranteed to be compatible with your hardware	Can be heavy Requires much more work/specialized tools to shape Requires sanding and stain to change the color
Sintra	Light Usually strong Can be heat-shaped for a better fit Is generally easier to cut/work with	Expensive Less reliable in high-stress weight-bearing situations Requires a primer to change the color

There'll be a heap more testing, particularly once the wings themselves are 100% finished, and I'll make a decision on which rig to use based on the outcome of those. More on that in the near future!