Guest Spotlight: LovableSpiral - Claw or Spear?

10 Aug Guest Spotlight: LovableSpiral – Claw or Spear?

Posted at 11:23h in Cosplay, Design, Maker's Monday by Elliott Wilkinson

Good morning everyone! Happy Maker’s Monday! In this week’s spotlight we have LovableSpiral talking about their Snow Bunny Nidalee cosplay. One of my favorite things about this cosplay is the careful attention to the smallest details, like fabric choice, to really transform a 2d creation into your own. So let’s get into it!

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One cosplay that I recently finished working on is Snow Bunny Nidalee from League of Legends. Choosing a cosplay is always different for me. Sometimes I choose the cosplay because I like the design of the character and other times I choose it because I resonate with the character’s personality. In the case of Nidalee I chose her because I really feel welcomed by the league of legends cosplay community and wanted to make something winter themed for the winter con season.

Here’s a tip for any cosplayers out there. If you really want to step up your cosplay game, take the time to really look at the potential fabric choices you have and look for areas you might be able to add extra details. Like picking a textured or adding an extra trim. It adds more of a wow factor that is visually appealing. I went this route when I picked my fabrics for this build, choosing a crushed red velvet because the texture reminds me of ice and using longer fur because it felt more like a wild cat.

Here’s a breakdown on how I went about making my prop spear. The spear itself is made out of a PVC pipe that I covered in expanding foam. I then carved the expanding foam to match the shape I wanted for the ‘stick’ part of the spear. I put a PVC coupler in the middle before I covered it in foam so that the spear splits into two pieces for easy travel. The spear tip was first drawn out on cardboard then traced onto eva foam sheets and contact cement glued together. I used a caulk from the hardware star to fill in any gaps or unclean edges. This picture features my chonky cat, his name is Teddy. I then traced the pattern onto the spear tip and used a woodburner to make the design stand out on the foam. I primed the tip with plasti dip spray, then used fluid acrylic to do a base coat in silver. Once I had enough coverage of the silver paint I sprayed it with an acrylic sealant spray. The sealant spray helps make it so that when I go in to weather the spear I dont ruin the base paint. I used a burnt umber paint on all the darker edges of the spear tip and some watered down black paint as well to darken areas. One that was complete I wrapped the same velvet I used for the garments around the top of the spear and glued in two fake leaves I made using EVA foam. The spear tip is made to slide off and on the spear so I can wrap it up for safe travel. The teeth for the spear are all made using a base of tinfoil for shape. Then the tin foil was coated in casting material. Once that was all dry the teeth were covered in EVA foam clay to smooth them and add in the worn details at the tips. I drilled holes in the finished teeth and the spear and connected the teeth using a fishing line. I finished the spear by wrapping the teeth in leather rope for both appearance and structure. Total time for the spear was roughly 40 hours of construction.