IshidaRyusei
Jr Member
Hello all!
So over the past few weeks I've been doing some debating on who I want to be my big project and what I want to be the side project. The end decision is pretty obvious if you've read the title. My main project over the next few years- yes years as I'm taking a hiatus from conventions and have no set timeline for this project so I'd rather take my time with it- is Halo 5's Cortana model. My mark VI armour will be a side project as I want to get Cortana done first and the suit is a good breather project for when I'm frustrated or at a standstill with Cortana. My reason for choosing this Cortana model specifically as opposed to previous ones is because one, she's covered and not naked lol but also it shows her nice figure and she just has that air of confidence to her that I really enjoy in a female character. On top of that, I enjoy the detail that this one has and the feel of the armour incorporated into the bodysuit just excites me!
So, continuing on I'm going to show my references and also where I'm at currently with the research process. Because this cosplay has yet to be done by someone else from what I've seen on the internet there's a lot of guesswork and breakdown/research that needs to be done. Not to mention the fact that I'm an accuracy freak when I'm working off source material and making cosplay myself.
Below are my reference materials, if anyone can help with obtaining alternative views from the game directly (specifically the knees) I'd appreciate it.
Based on the 180 turnaround I've been able to successfully identify the following sections to her armour/suit with each colour representing a different section:
I'm still studying the suit but so far things are looking good. Interestingly, the hard-light segments on her suit are semi-transparent or almost completely see-thru depending on where they're located so this proves a challenge in figuring out the material to use for those parts. Recommendations are more than welcome. For the base of the suit I'll be using the following morphsuit which will be ordered from Zentai-Zentai:
This suit will have a number of the dark blue details painted on directly with the use of liquid latex. To create the different sections that I've indicated I'll be using craft foam and eva foam and either overlaying it on top of the suit or inserting it into the suit to create a more fluid and natural appearance. I'm open to opinions on this but it does leave me with a very specific question, how stretchy are morphsuits? If I put the foam underneath the suit I'll need a fair amount of give and 'wiggle room' to put it in and secure it so that it doesn't shift around when worn. Would I be best off buying a size larger than myself and adjusting it accordingly after?
Hair wise I have two options; get my hair cut to match Cortana's (something I plan to do already as I like her hair style and it's a good change of pace from my usual Gumi/Sinon cut- Vocaloid Gumi for those who have no clue) and then dye it- I'm iffy on this as I don't feel comfortable bleaching my whole head, just the bottom half, but I may be able to simply overlay the colour on my already dark brown almost black hair and get away with it, while option two is to go the usual wig route which is a good option if I select it and I can probably find an affordable wig to match on ebay as bob cut wigs or 20cm as they're referred to tend to run from $10-15 for one of decent quality. The wig one is what I'll probably be selecting knowing myself but I'll have to look around and find one that matches her best.
For the eyes, my eyes are a fairly dark brown, almost chestnutty. Cortana has these bright electric blue eyes that are almost impossible to get unless you have them naturally. This leaves an issue for me as this means using contacts. I have minimal luck at best with inserting contacts and my first pair reacted poorly with my eyes, though this was likely because the brand I picked is known to have not so kind lenses for newbies- it's either that or my eyes just don't take to contacts well. So for the eyes what would you guys recommend? I have perfect sight so I would be a plano. What are some of the good brands for lenses? I hear Korean brands are generally the best and the pair of lavender lenses I have seem to work well from the one I was able to get in... I struggled for an hour to get that one in and then gave up on the other out of frustration. Do you all have any good tips for inserting the lenses? Removing is easy but putting them in is hard as heck.
Regarding her blue skin I've settled on using bodypaint but I have a number of options to select from as shown in the following images:
Right now I'm trying to select the best possible match for her skin tone however I'm thinking something from the right side (The metallics) may be a good options as she is still a digital being so this would help in emulating that feeling of a being created from light that isn't exactly human. Now, because more eyes are better, which one is the closest match?
I'll be researching makeup next and doing eye makeup tests as she has a little bit of a blue eyeshadow on her in the gameplay that I've seen and I will want to obtain blue lipstick. Right now the majority of my research is figuring out how much everything will cost altogether and creating a pricing scheme and budget for the costume. If possible too I am hoping to get a job soon @_@ I need money to fund this and maybe get a console for myself haha. The next steps for this is to continue studying the suit and doing research. I'll be starting some of the sketchwork for the details and break down of the different pieces for templating as I go but I'm highly struggling with figuring out the hardlight portions and how to create lighting on her suit. Call me ambitious but I want to try to emulate a cybernetic pattern in her suit as closely as possible with lights and if ppossible maybe create that pulsation as though data is traveling through it. Help with the things I've mentioned is more than welcome for sure.
Anyways, this is just the start and I'll be updating with whatever progress I happen to make.
So over the past few weeks I've been doing some debating on who I want to be my big project and what I want to be the side project. The end decision is pretty obvious if you've read the title. My main project over the next few years- yes years as I'm taking a hiatus from conventions and have no set timeline for this project so I'd rather take my time with it- is Halo 5's Cortana model. My mark VI armour will be a side project as I want to get Cortana done first and the suit is a good breather project for when I'm frustrated or at a standstill with Cortana. My reason for choosing this Cortana model specifically as opposed to previous ones is because one, she's covered and not naked lol but also it shows her nice figure and she just has that air of confidence to her that I really enjoy in a female character. On top of that, I enjoy the detail that this one has and the feel of the armour incorporated into the bodysuit just excites me!
So, continuing on I'm going to show my references and also where I'm at currently with the research process. Because this cosplay has yet to be done by someone else from what I've seen on the internet there's a lot of guesswork and breakdown/research that needs to be done. Not to mention the fact that I'm an accuracy freak when I'm working off source material and making cosplay myself.
Below are my reference materials, if anyone can help with obtaining alternative views from the game directly (specifically the knees) I'd appreciate it.
Based on the 180 turnaround I've been able to successfully identify the following sections to her armour/suit with each colour representing a different section:
I'm still studying the suit but so far things are looking good. Interestingly, the hard-light segments on her suit are semi-transparent or almost completely see-thru depending on where they're located so this proves a challenge in figuring out the material to use for those parts. Recommendations are more than welcome. For the base of the suit I'll be using the following morphsuit which will be ordered from Zentai-Zentai:
This suit will have a number of the dark blue details painted on directly with the use of liquid latex. To create the different sections that I've indicated I'll be using craft foam and eva foam and either overlaying it on top of the suit or inserting it into the suit to create a more fluid and natural appearance. I'm open to opinions on this but it does leave me with a very specific question, how stretchy are morphsuits? If I put the foam underneath the suit I'll need a fair amount of give and 'wiggle room' to put it in and secure it so that it doesn't shift around when worn. Would I be best off buying a size larger than myself and adjusting it accordingly after?
Hair wise I have two options; get my hair cut to match Cortana's (something I plan to do already as I like her hair style and it's a good change of pace from my usual Gumi/Sinon cut- Vocaloid Gumi for those who have no clue) and then dye it- I'm iffy on this as I don't feel comfortable bleaching my whole head, just the bottom half, but I may be able to simply overlay the colour on my already dark brown almost black hair and get away with it, while option two is to go the usual wig route which is a good option if I select it and I can probably find an affordable wig to match on ebay as bob cut wigs or 20cm as they're referred to tend to run from $10-15 for one of decent quality. The wig one is what I'll probably be selecting knowing myself but I'll have to look around and find one that matches her best.
For the eyes, my eyes are a fairly dark brown, almost chestnutty. Cortana has these bright electric blue eyes that are almost impossible to get unless you have them naturally. This leaves an issue for me as this means using contacts. I have minimal luck at best with inserting contacts and my first pair reacted poorly with my eyes, though this was likely because the brand I picked is known to have not so kind lenses for newbies- it's either that or my eyes just don't take to contacts well. So for the eyes what would you guys recommend? I have perfect sight so I would be a plano. What are some of the good brands for lenses? I hear Korean brands are generally the best and the pair of lavender lenses I have seem to work well from the one I was able to get in... I struggled for an hour to get that one in and then gave up on the other out of frustration. Do you all have any good tips for inserting the lenses? Removing is easy but putting them in is hard as heck.
Regarding her blue skin I've settled on using bodypaint but I have a number of options to select from as shown in the following images:
Right now I'm trying to select the best possible match for her skin tone however I'm thinking something from the right side (The metallics) may be a good options as she is still a digital being so this would help in emulating that feeling of a being created from light that isn't exactly human. Now, because more eyes are better, which one is the closest match?
I'll be researching makeup next and doing eye makeup tests as she has a little bit of a blue eyeshadow on her in the gameplay that I've seen and I will want to obtain blue lipstick. Right now the majority of my research is figuring out how much everything will cost altogether and creating a pricing scheme and budget for the costume. If possible too I am hoping to get a job soon @_@ I need money to fund this and maybe get a console for myself haha. The next steps for this is to continue studying the suit and doing research. I'll be starting some of the sketchwork for the details and break down of the different pieces for templating as I go but I'm highly struggling with figuring out the hardlight portions and how to create lighting on her suit. Call me ambitious but I want to try to emulate a cybernetic pattern in her suit as closely as possible with lights and if ppossible maybe create that pulsation as though data is traveling through it. Help with the things I've mentioned is more than welcome for sure.
Anyways, this is just the start and I'll be updating with whatever progress I happen to make.
