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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Duela Dent Cosplay - Ame-Comi Version

All Photo Credits: TM 2013 SMASHWORKS. All Rights Reserved.
This was my third costume premiere at SDCC 2012. In 2011 I was lucky enough to find an Ame-Comi version of Duela Dent designed by the lovely Jim Fletcher of DC Entertainment while on my first trip to SDCC. After seeing her in person, I *knew* I had to cosplay her. How could I not? She was designed with so many wonderful small details in her outfit construction and clearly present is the steampunk theme, which I also love!

Below I have described my construction process, but as this was such a lengthy process I have only listed a selection of what I did. Follow the link for this and more images!

This was one of the most complicated costumes I've ever created. It required finding supplies and materials in colors that were very scarce (purple, green and orange.. come on!), drafting a pattern for an overbust in a more complicated shape (with added support), painting and sewing leather accessories, and making multiple props. I did not attempt to make her cane, as transporting it would be nearly impossible and I wanted to concentrate on the pieces I would actually be wearing. I started collecting fabrics for Duela in 2011 and began constructing at the end of the year. This was a multi-month project up to the very last moment of wearing it at SDCC 2012 (in part because some of the pieces had not survived the plane ride as well as I hoped). 
All Photo Credits: TM 2013 SMASHWORKS. All Rights Reserved.

The hat I originally bought online but it was horribly constructed and not sized properly. I had to take it apart at every seam and salvage the fabric to create a new one. Wire was sewn in to the brim for flexibility and then the band was made from leather which I had painted. The goggles were purely aesthetic, as I went for form over function. I created the adjustable band with leather, hardware and rivets, and the goggles themselves were actually made from leather, Sculpty, magnetic container lids, and stained glass paint.

The shoulder pads, collar, corset (complete steel boning), and gloves were, for the most part, made from a combination of painted leather and vinyl, and an assortment of re-purposed objects painted gold to create the steampunk embellishments.
All Photo Credits: TM 2013 SMASHWORKS. All Rights Reserved.

Duela's "backpack" posed an interesting challenge for me. On the statue, it was hanging by two puny looking straps attached to her shoulder pads. Madness! I suspect that the laws of gravity may have been suspended for her.. Clearly I couldn't do that myself, so I decided to create a structure that would hold it to my back from the underside and could be lashed in to my corset. It worked out quite well! 

For the green tubing that comes out from the backpack and connects to the belting at the waist, I used a real gardening hose and connection fixture. I installed this fixture inside the bottom of the backpack allowing me to to actually screw/unscrew the hosing which made things much easier for transport. The base of the backpack was created with sheets of styrofoam, my motal enemy (luckily not the squeaky white stuff, the more aerated art store kind), that required stacking, gluing, and sanding. On top of that I applied and painted craft foam, then added more steampunk embellishments to match the original design. The tube sticking out of the side was actually a pop bottle preform (what a pop bottle looks like before it is heated and blown up into the shape of the final bottle) that I applied a variety of materials to after drilling holes in the side to attach it to the backpack.

All Photo Credits: TM 2013 SMASHWORKS. All Rights Reserved.

All Photo Credits: TM 2013 SMASHWORKS. All Rights Reserved.

I love this character. Creating a cosplay for the Ame-Comi Duela Dent was really a labor of love as there was, and is, nothing else like it. If you want to do this cosplay, you have to make every single component yourself (or have someone else make it for you) and be willing to put in a lot of time to do so! In the end, I was very happy with how she turned out and I think this project is really a testament to how much my work has progressed since I started my costume adventures :)

5 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for this blog post, Its so helpful! I'm working on this cosplay for SDCC 2013 and you've given me some great ideas. But I was wondering regarding the backpack, which is presenting to be the biggest challenge for me, what did you use for the gears part? Thanks!

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    1. Thanks for the comment :) Glad to hear someone else is taking on the challenge for this year!

      For the backpack "gears" I went to a surplus store and wandered the aisles searching for random things that would work. The pieces I used are actually plastic that I painted gold. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think they may have been parts for a vacuum of some sort (it may be a very old type of vacuum as the surplus store buys out overstock or old stock of parts to sell..)

      Good luck! Let me know if you have more questions :)

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  2. Thanks for the reply! It certainly is a challenge, but a fun one! :) there are so many components to the costume but it so interesting when you break it down. I love that its finally starting to pull together. Thanks! I have a bunch of gears but I need bigger ones for the backpack. I'll have to see if there are any stores like that in my area. I was also wondering what kind of white makeup did you use and did it last thru the day? Thanks for you're help!

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    1. I hope you will share a link to your finished cosplay if you have a chance later! I'd love to see it :)

      I used Mehron cream makeup, for this bright white I've found it works the best. You need to make sure you powder your face really well before hand to stop it from crusting up too much. My only issue was that I tended to get smile lines and that was probably because I didn't apply enough powdered base. I've worn this costume for probably 12 hours at a time and that was my biggest complaint with the makeup. It's going to rub off if you apply on the body of course, but the important part in my opinion is the face which holds up pretty well.

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  3. I will for sure! :D

    oh awesome! I'll have to try that. I have a cream makeup from Ben Nye but it didn't last long and I have Temptu alcohol based paint but no airbrush machine O_o I didn't think that one thru very well haha. Thanks so much for your help! I really appreciate it :) you've given me a lot of great ideas

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