Lekku are weird…

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So I made a pattern from my lekku. And because it is thundery out there I did not go and get my proper scissors or more pins. So it probably took a bit longer than it need be. That said I got baking paper around and darted to fit, yep they are as long as the Gentle Giant statue:

http://blog.gentlegiantltd.com/?p=34

But compared to the comics (where the patterns do change from book to book, so I have a slight blend and got more interpretive towards the bottom) the patterns are way too different 🙁 Sad. Also I ain’t wearing knickers that little! most of my inspiration is from War which has the belt plaque in the back as well as front and the same hanging straps which my head prefers for balance and bikini briefs which are at least a little more comfy. So this also means I’ll have to redo the head wrap, which is fine as I think I like the wider band. Also at the end of War there is a nifty panel for a variant 🙂 If I feel like tearing up my costume… but there is another variant I will go for if the paint holds up for two days. Or rather if I do. I am a tad claustrophobic and paint alone is enough to make me feel icky.

 

So the next step it to keep this as a guide but trace over each identifiable piece and tidy them up. Then transfer to stencils so I can fairly rapidly paint them on.

Also I think I have a cunning plan for the upgrade for body paint/tattoos but it will mean a big investment in expensive paint and a proper airgun that does a wide area with low PI. Also even more steady hand and threshold for solvents… hmmmm….

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Tattoos drafted!

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And this is the leftover mess. I think I spent.. five hours the first time resizing and scaling and cropping and tidying originally. Then I printed them off and redrew them, slightly smaller but mainly thinner and with a defined penned outline. As you can see it took a while to figure out where to put what pieces… I have left a few of them off as they are not the most iconic.

In all it was only 3 1/2 pages of intense drawing and filling but I still have to figure out the lekku patterns. Sigh. I may have to see how ell the various statues work and fit in with the more detailed images in the books. So far most of the views from behind have been tiny panels. And the most recent set from the library had two whole panels of Talon! But, it did have the Joker Squad comic (sheesh actually had me sniffling and comics tend to not get that reaction from me!!) and a lot of Azlyn Rae in her special suit and then as an Imperial Knight and I have totally got the bug again! I kind of have been skimming but Azlyn really speaks to me and her anger and acceptance.. anyway. It would be nice to have a group of Imperial Knights here.

 

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Darth Talon updates!

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So.. it’s happening. Finally some good progress on my Lekku of Dooooooom!

Check ‘em out! They reach my knees! Some of the super curve I had in early stages fell out, but I know what I did and I don’t think I could have avoided it under current circumstances.

Also photo of my latest purchase! the perfect packable sized containers from the local Daisco (or $3.50 japan shops in Auckland- super excited one opened local to me XD). These are pill containers and I have filled the larger panel with the main body colour for (left to right) Rachi, Liara and Talon/Shaak Ti. The smaller panels I am filling with highlights, liners and colours for patches/markings.

So for Rachi I have (clockwise from top right) pink, white, dark purple and then the final panel will have black for line work.

For Liara (ditto) I have white then will mix similar shading and line work colours (dark blue and black).

For Talon/Shakk Ti I will have two for white and two for black as both require a fair amount of one or the other.

Then I can pack my small carry kit (seen in an earlier post, check the tags (make up) with all the brushes and shading powders in there along with mascara and regular make up..

As a balance of cost type of comparison, you need two NZ Airbrush Tattoos bottle to make about the same as one RC large colour pot. So if you are on a budget you can buy the local stuff and slowly build it up if you are not mixing colours. If you want to head straight into the colour pots then expect to pay about 2/3 extra for shipping. At least if you are buying say 4-6 pots.

Other Talon updates: The strapping has been fixed 🙂 I need to trim some extra bits but the greaves and bracers now have black velcro (don’t ask how I wound up with white as I don’t even know…) and the fixed strapping has been glued down.
I have cleaned the bikini and will need to take in the leggings and gloves. I left the top edge raw as the fabric is scuba stuff so it hard to hem, I am hoping like heck the bikini bottoms still fit as the legs have been hemmed and I don’t fancy unpicking so I can take them in.
The belt still needs to be taken in and I hope I have enough rivets to do so! I may not. I have the snaps but the leather is thick. I am pretty sure I had issues trying to get them to work last time.
Tattoos are being redrawn! I hope to get the line work able to fit fewer pages but if not, I’ll have to use two types of paper. I am flitting between files and artwork and think redrawing them is going to work out the best as I can then use unsharp mask to make sure the edges look hand painted. And the files I made last time were slightly oversized.

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So.. it’s happening. Finally some good progress on my Lekku of Dooooooom!

Check ‘em out! They reach my knees! Some of the super curve I had in early stages fell out, but I know what I did and I don’t think I could have avoided it under current circumstances.

Also photo of my latest purchase! the perfect packable sized containers from the local Daisco (or $3.50 japan shops in Auckland- super excited one opened local to me XD). These are pill containers and I have filled the larger panel with the main body colour for (left to right) Rachi, Liara and Talon/Shaak Ti. The smaller panels I am filling with highlights, liners and colours for patches/markings. 

So for Rachi I have (clockwise from top right) pink, white, dark purple and then the final panel will have black for line work.

For Liara (ditto) I have white then will mix similar shading and line work colours (dark blue and black).

For Talon/Shakk Ti I will have two for white and two for black as both require a fair amount of one or the other.

Then I can pack my small carry kit (seen in an earlier post, check the tags (make up) with all the brushes and shading powders in there along with mascara and regular make up..

As a balance of cost type of comparison, you need two NZ Airbrush Tattoos bottle to make about the same as one RC large colour pot. So if you are on a budget you can buy the local stuff and slowly build it up if you are not mixing colours. If you want to head straight into the colour pots then expect to pay about 2/3 extra for shipping. At least if you are buying say 4-6 pots.

Other Talon updates: The strapping has been fixed 🙂 I need to trim some extra bits but the greaves and bracers now have black velcro (don’t ask how I wound up with white as I don’t even know…) and the fixed strapping has been glued down. 
I have cleaned the bikini and will need to take in the leggings and gloves. I left the top edge raw as the fabric is scuba stuff so it hard to hem, I am hoping like heck the bikini bottoms still fit as the legs have been hemmed and I don’t fancy unpicking so I can take them in.
The belt still needs to be taken in and I hope I have enough rivets to do so! I may not. I have the snaps but the leather is thick. I am pretty sure I had issues trying to get them to work last time. 
Tattoos are being redrawn! I hope to get the line work able to fit fewer pages but if not, I’ll have to use two types of paper. I am flitting between files and artwork and think redrawing them is going to work out the best as I can then use unsharp mask to make sure the edges look hand painted. And the files I made last time were slightly oversized.

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Finally my lists!

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I like shopping list paper to remind myself of smalljobs required to finish projects.
Here we have a few fixes for Rachi Sitra. Some cosplay contest notes, Rebel Legion Notes and…. Darth Talon notes 🙂 Yep I want to try and aim for the next round of conventions as I do not know when my current good health will last 🙂 I am nicely full of protein and B vitamins and low on steroids (had a high dose) and I can press my face and not scream in pain.
Anyway these notes mean I can start work in the morning 🙂

Oh I even found rigid eva and thin sticky eva. Time to trial some soft armour.

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Is this really a progress update?????

Heh, my last two reblogs both had a feathery theme… so now for something completely different!

Tentacles! So my previous set of lekku work best when worn SWTOR style. But with Rachi I need to wear them slightly further forward. It causes more folds on the underside than I want but I could do some careful surgery I could quite quickly remove them of make them really adorably like wee fat rolls. I will do so later. I have finally got some more paint to mix to shade and also do more permanent markings (the liquiset paint came off in the rain!)

But I am also nearing completion of my next set and they are finally starting to look like they grew out of the head form.

They started off looking like some mutant whole chicken ready for roasting, if you bred your chicken to have bendy legs 1m long….

Then a very pimply uneven scarred set of things growing from the desk. And finally now I have some skin texture, but I would like to make the face and ends a little smoother.

So next bit of progress…. SINUS INFECTION HAS BEEN BANISHED!!!!!!!!!! *pretend flail because there is too much RA activity to really* By the power of Roxy no less 😉 Roxithromycin anyway. This means being able to wear these lekku! So I’m going to be working on refitting a few costume elements for both costumes 🙂

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