søndag 14. april 2013

Elvish staff

I was going to Desucon:Fantasy and realized I did not have the time to finish my Codex cosplay. With two days until the con and about 8 hours of spare time, I challenged myself to make an elvish costume with the time I had at hand. So here is a simple tutorial for the staff I made.

Also I have made another staff, the staff of Kraken with tutorial here. 

I started with a hollow card board pipe (the core of a roll of paper table cloth actually - so in other word a really long toilet paper core)

Then I glued on strips of foam (the cheapest kind from Biltema) For the "branches" that are sticking out on the top I used steel wire to stiffen the shape. For the thinner details (hoops) I used a couple of electrical wire stumps. 

I wanted a glowing orb on the top of my staff and found a transparent rubber ball at TGR in Oslo

Then I added paper clay (from Clas Ohlsonaround the foam. For the wood grain details I used a blunt pencil and pressed in some lines along the direction of the "branches".  

Then I let it dry over night. This paper clay is easy to paint on and it doesn't need any priming. First I painted the whole staff with a lighter, warm brown color and let it dry. Then I painted on a darker brown (acrylic) color mixed with water and wiped off most of it. This way the dark color sets in the creases and especially in the wood grains and adds dimention to the texture.

The ball is glued on as I didn't have time to make a mechanism to attch it so I could take it off. But the staff is hollow, so I could still make it slow - see description further down. 

Next I added even more dark brown and some gold highlights using a dry brush and gold paint. I have not used any clear coat, only golden highlights. 

For the handle I wrapped a strand of green fabric around the staff and added rope painted gold around the edges of fabric. Everything is attached using hot glue. 

My philosophy is that everything look a thousand times better if it lights up. Since my staff is hollow I placed a small flash light (like this from Clas Ohlson) with green cellophane over, right under the orb. No wiring, I just turned the flash light on right before the con and let it glow the whole day. 

As I mentioned the orb is glued on, but the staff is hollow. So I inserted the flashlight from the bottom up. A thin rope is attached to it so I can pull it out to change batteries. 
Elvish cospaly

For the rest of the costume I used pixie ears from Festmagasinet Standard, the cape is sewn out of two square layers of fabric (lining makes everything look more professional, just sew the two pieces together along the edges) The corset is the same I had made earlier for my Big sister cosplay and I just attached a green satin scarf as a halterneck (no sewing, I only used safety pins). Last I used a sash around my waist over faux leather pants. If you have any questions just ask, I love to answer. You can also find me at my facebook page ChrixDesign.

13 kommentarer:

  1. Wow!!! That's freaking amazing!!!! :D

    SvarSlett
    Svar
    1. Thank you :D Glad you enjoyed it.

      Slett
  2. Love this Staff and your costume! I have couple questions. So Does the paper clay dry rock hard? Can it the staff survive a couple of Cons and Events without getting wobbly? Thanks

    SvarSlett
    Svar
    1. Paper Clays gets quite hard when it dries, but is is still brittle. But my staffs have survived several cons, and car rides to cons. It does not get wobbly at all, but if left in the sun it can crack! If you can, then you should cover it with something like worbla, because then it gets much more sturdy and durable. Good luck

      Slett
  3. Would a 16 oz pack of paper clay be enough?

    SvarSlett
    Svar
    1. Yes, I think so. I used about half a kilo (Or maybe not so much even)

      Slett
  4. I love this staff and tutorial! I don't know if this is a stupid question, but I'd like to know how you attached the flashlight, as you only said you inserted it from the bottom up? Did it just kind of sit there when you pushed it in?

    SvarSlett
  5. LOVE your artistic ability. Question: Can you please explain in further detail how you're able to keep the flashlight within the hollow tube? Thanks so much.

    Bubba

    SvarSlett
    Svar
    1. The flash light firts perfectly inside the hollow tube, and I just "stuffed" cloth up afterwards. To get the light out I had a long line from it going down inside the staff so I could pull it out to change battery.

      Slett
  6. So how did that cardboard base of the staff hold up? What if the top is a lot larger? What would you recommend?

    SvarSlett
    Svar
    1. The cardboard roll I use is very sturdy and I have made other staffs with larger "tops" like the staff of Kraken: http://chrixdesign.blogspot.no/2013/07/sea-goddess-making-staff-of-kraken_8.html

      But if you feel the cardboard you have is to weak you can always use a broom shaft :)

      Slett
  7. I could not find paper clay, so I used air- dry clay. How can I keep the staff from cracking?

    SvarSlett
    Svar
    1. The simplest way is to cover it with wood glue... This makes the surface a little more flexible and holds the clay fibers together. Might be better option, but at least this one is cheap :D Good luck.

      Slett