It’s about time that audiences will finally get to see Wolverine on the big screen in his iconic yellow & blue costume: photos shared on Twitter of Hugh Jackman in costume as Wolverine for the upcoming “Deadpool 3” movie currently scheduled to be released on May 3, 2024.
The following video by Nate From the Internet explains how to build a turtle shell for a #costume or #cosplay (potentially for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) out of EVA foam.
Check out this fantastic #NeonGenesis #Evangelion #cosplay!
The EVA-01 is Maolo’s 3rd attempt at an Evangelion unit outfit. Having learned a few things over the years, this #cosplay took a whopping seven months of work. Nearly the entire unit is made of pieces of foam individually wrapped in colored synthetic leather, which (unlike painted pieces) can look a lot smoother and metallic.
At various conventions and other events, it’s quite common to see cosplayers carrying fake weapons (including very realistic looking ones) to point them at other cosplayers and spectators at those events as a way to have fun. But, is that really something that should be done without asking first?
Naturally, other cosplayers and spectators attending an event will presume that any cosplayers that decide to point a weapon at them is doing so for fun, that the weapon that their pointing at them is harmless and that there is no malicious intent. But, here are some things to take into consideration:
That third point is of particular interest here. Within the United States, each of the individual 50 states enacts its own laws pertaining to this particular activity, which, in legal terms, is generally referred to as “assault” or “brandishing”. Many other counties have far more stringent laws pertaining to weapons, both real and fake.
Paragraph (a)(2) of California’s Penal Code 417 states the following:
(2) Every person who, except in self-defense, in the presence of any other person, draws or exhibits any firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, in a rude, angry, or threatening manner, or who in any manner, unlawfully uses a firearm in any fight or quarrel is punishable as follows:
California Penal Code 417, Paragraph (a)(2)
(A) If the violation occurs in a public place and the firearm is a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than three months and not more than one year, by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(B) In all cases other than that set forth in subparagraph (A), a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than three months.
So, in California, if a cosplayer pointed a fake weapon at someone and that person felt threatened even though there was possibly no intent to cause harm, that cosplayer could face the possibility of being convicted of a misdemeanor and up to 3 months in a county jail. Should the cosplayer have asked the person first whether they would like to have the fake weapon pointed at them? If they had said “no”, then the cosplayer would simply have gone on his or her way, as would the person who didn’t want to have that happen.
Without asking first, if a cosplayer points a fake weapon at someone who could be suffering from PTSD, for example, that individual could potentially feel extremely threatened.
Michigan Penal Code Section 750.234e is written as follows:
750.234e Brandishing firearm in public; applicability; violation as misdemeanor; penalty.
Michigan Penal Code Section 750.234e
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a person shall not willfully and knowingly brandish a firearm in public.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to either of the following:
(a) A peace officer lawfully performing his or her duties as a peace officer.
(b) A person lawfully acting in self-defense or defense of another under the self-defense act, 2006 PA 309, MCL 780.971 to 780.974.
(3) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or a fine of not more than $100.00, or both.
Similar to the California law, conviction of brandishing a firearm is a misdemeanor punishable up to 90 days (3 months); however, the Michigan law makes no distinction between whether the blandishment is threatening or not.
The simple answer is “no”, but we will provide what each of the major “Star Wars” costume clubs have in terms of a “weapons policy”, if any.
The 501st Legion does have a brief published weapons policy shared on a website page that is not part of the club’s charter or bylaws. It can be summarized as follows;
The 501st Legion has no apparent public policy pertaining to the appropriateness of members pointing fake weapons at others.
There is no apparent public weapons policy.
While the Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club does not appear to have an official weapons policy (at least not anything that is publicly viewable), Section 8.1 (pages 18-19) of the “Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club ‘Member Policy and Procedure Book'” states the following:
6.) Mandalorian Mercs is strongly against and prohibits the use of “Functional Projectile and Edged/Tipped Bladed Weapons” or of any variety at any event. The Mercs defines “Functional Projectile and Edged/Tipped Bladed Weapons” as: Any toy, prop, costume part, or costume accessory that launches projectiles of any nature and/or uses a spring and/or projectile mechanism to eject projectiles from forward from housing. Any toy, prop, costume part, or costume accessory of a bladed/pointed variety that may cause a lacerating and/or puncture wound.
Section 8.1 (pages 18-19) of the “Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club ‘Member Policy and Procedure Book'”
Members found using functional projectile weapons or edged/pointed weapons are subject to punishment up to/including dismissal from the organization.
7.) Official Members must carry prop weapons considered “legal” within the country, state, or province to which they are taking part in events. Any Official Member asked to remove their prop weapon from an event MUST do so immediately and without question. Official Members who fail to do so may be punished up to and including removal from the Mandalorian Mercs.
While this is the most exhaustively written weapons policy of any of the “Star Wars” costume clubs, it also does not provide guidance specific to whether members can point weapons at others without asking their permission.
While there was no discoverable weapons policy on the website for “The Dark Empire”, Article III, Paragraph 3 of their charter states the following:
3. The Dark Empire expressly forbids active lightsaber choreography demonstrations while at conventions or any costumed event. Persons representing TDE are not permitted to swing or handle any blade or elongated object in a manner depicting lightsaber combat while in a crowded or confined area. “Battle scenes” may be posed for the purpose of pictures as long as they are completely posed.
Article III, Paragraph 3 of “The Dark Empire” Charter
Again, there is no specific guidance on whether weapons can be pointed or otherwise brandished towards others.
If someone points a weapon at you, how do you know whether its real or fake? You may not; and if you routinely point fake weapons at others while cosplaying, the people you’re pointing at may not know either. Consider that before you point a fake weapon at someone without their express permission.
When you’re constructing a #cosplay, #costume or #fursuit, it’s never a good idea to have things protruding towards your body; and it’s especially dangerous if anything is protruding towards your face that could potentially puncture an eye or cause other injuries. Case in point: this picture came up in social media and it very clearly illustrates a very potentially dangerous situation in which a #cosplayer is using protruding metal screws on the inside of a #StarWars #Mandalorian helmet pointed towards the face in order to attach an internal visor.
While the cosplayer who placed the visor into this helmet in this manner may have mistakenly assumed that putting wing-nuts on internally protruding screws could prevent injury to the face and eyes, there are much safer ways of adhering a visor to the inside of a helmet, such as hot glue, tape or even possibly narrow velcro strips.
Protruding screws should never be used to attach components when safer adherents are available.
We strongly recommend to all cosplayers, costumers & fursuiters to never use internally exposed protruding objects (such as screws) to hold costume parts together. This will only lead to injury and ruin your time wearing the costume.
#Fursuiter & #YouTuber Pocari Roo shared this group of extreme #fursuiters on her channel. What makes these fursuiters extreme is what they’re able to do while wearing their #fursuits. Please note: don’t try these activities yourself unless you know what you’re doing.
As we’ve blogged before, there are various types and styles of #fursuits; and they have different logistics and complexities associated with them.
Of the various fursuit types, one of the least common and most complicated to wear is known as a #quadsuit.
As the name implies, unlike a typical bipedal #anthropomorphic fursuit, a quadsuit requires that the wearer walk as a quadruped: on all fours like a four-legged animal. Thus, a quadsuit is not viewed as being anthropomorphic; it’s more #zoomorphic. If you aren’t familiar with the terms, anthropomorphic refers to a non-human entity (such as an animal) having human traits, emotions and intentions. Well known characters, such as Mickey Mouse (#Disney) and Bugs Bunny (#WarnerBrothers), are anthropomorphic in that they are both animals who are bipedal like humans, talk like humans, and have other human traits and emotions. Conversely, zoomorphic imagines humans as non-human animals. Characters such as werewolves or Toothless (from “How to Train Your Dragon”) would fall more into the zoomorphic category
Since humans don’t look particularly animal-like when walking on all fours since the arms and legs are not the same length, a quadsuit wearer typically has to wear “arm-stilts” to provide the proportionate balance between the front and rear legs. Naturally, a quadsuit wearer isn’t going to be able to use their hands at all while wearing the suit. Additionally, depending upon the species being represented, the wearer’s head may be located inside of the neck of the quadsuit instead of the head, which would mean that the quadsuit’s visible head is attached to the wearer via a helmet with an extension attached to the helmet.
Thus, quadsuits are rather complicated, which means that they are also typically far more difficult to make. If you were going to order a quadsuit form a fursuit maker, you should expect prices starting at $6000.
Fursuiter Stormi Folf produced a wonderful YouTube video explaining quadsuits, which we have shared below:
Here’s also a video by RossyKitti Kreations showing how she gets into her quadsuit:
If you’re a fan of the streamed #StarWars series #TheMandalorian and you’ve wanted to wear a #Mandalorian #costume or #cosplay, you may have come across some rather expensive options with regards to building a screen-accurate version of the costume with the intent of joining a “Star Wars” #CostumeClub. If you aren’t interested in joining a costume club and you don’t want to spend the likely $1000 to $2000 to own a screen-accurate costume, there are less expensive alternatives that look very good.
One inexpensive option for building a Mandalorian costume is to use EVA foam for constructing the helmet and armor worn by the character. If you’re not familiar with EVA foam, this can be found at craft stores in various thicknesses, as well as thicker versions in hardware stores that are intended to be used as floor mats.
EVA foam (or, ethylene-vinyl acetate) is an elastomeric polymer that produces materials that are “rubber-like” in softness and flexibility. The material has good clarity and gloss, low-temperature toughness, stress-crack resistance, hot-melt adhesive waterproof properties, and resistance to UV radiation.
The Heroes Workshop recently released a series of videos on YouTube showing how they built a Mandalorian costume using EVA foam. We’ve shared the first video below that shows how to construct the helmet.
You can make a Mandalorian costume out of cardboard? Yes, actually you can. It won’t have the flexibility of EVA foam, but if you have a lot of cardboard boxes laying about your home, then you’ve already got the bulk of the materials that you’ll need to make the costume. While EVA foam flexibility, a cardboard costume equivalent will be rigid and part of the construction is building up internal ribs to support part of the structure, especially on the top of the helmet.
Below is a video produced by Epic Cardboard Props showing how to construct a Mandalorian costume out of cardboard.
Yes folks, if you’re a #fursuiter or an anthropomorphic #cosplayer, you can get yourself an #animatronic #fursuit tail custom made to your color scheme! Fursuiter Stormi Folf demonstrates a new animatronic fursuit tail called a “Digitail” that he received as an unsolicited gift, showing all of its pre-programmed motions. Some people may find the animatronic tail off-putting, but it’s wide range of motion makes an incredible piece of cosplay/fursuit technology!
#PunishedProps released this video on their Punished Props Academy YouTube channel in October showing how to build a #Dwarven #LOTR helmet out of EVA foam. The pattern used comes free with purchase of their latest book on costume making.
Costuming, Cosplay & Costume Clubs 101 