Castlevania Order of Ecclesia: Shanoa -- Cosplay Update II, Breastplate, Collar & Gloves W.I.P

 

Hey all! Feeling kinda under the weather today as my on and off allergies have been driving me crazy.  It's been so terrible the past couple of days, that I've been feeling like a lump of sick, unable to do anything, sleep at night, etc.  What to do? So, I opted to stay home from school and relax, as my energy levels are near empty and my brainpower is in the negatives.  Meaning, I can't be constructive or productive at all.  So here I am, updating my blog in my pajamas, sipping tea... waiting for the vertigo to stop.  I hope I can recover from this soon.

On the upside, I do have a few small picture updates on my Shanoa costume -- mainly the completed breastplate, and also her fingerless gloves and collar!  Enjoy!

I used masking tape to "mask" (lol) any portions of the breastplate that I didn't want to accidentally glob glue on.  I decided to use E6000 over Barge contact cement to affix the decorative gold pieces because it's a pre-mixed epoxy, and doesn't need to be applied to both surfaces (As my materials are porous) to stick properly.  E6000 is also a flexible epoxy, and given this is going to be worn on my torso, I figured it to be a better bet as I will be moving about quite a bit!

The gluing task was a bit... harrowing, to say the least.  I had to be careful not to apply too much glue to the backing of the design (so that it oozed out from underneath when pressed down) and also couldn't apply too little, as it wouldn't stick down all the way.  I also couldn't bend my design back to apply glue -- the surface wanted to (naturally) buckle and haze as it is a primed and painted leather..

That being said, I applied glue all over the center back of the design, lined it up and pasted 'er down.  I glued the 'arms' of the decor separately, and used a small toothpick to apply to smaller portions of adhesive to the outer areas that needed more glue.  There were a few moments where I thought I had messed up something permanently, but because of the masking (Phew!) all was fine.

After a half an hour of careful gluing the design was set down! I let it cure overnight (24 hours) before I tried the breastplate on, and also performed some minor touch ups.  The outer gold trim was also glued down with E6000, and folded over the edge of the breastplate for a more finished look.  Here are finished pictures of the breastplate! ;D  Really happy to have finished a very difficult piece of this costume with relative ease.  I now must figure out how to attach it to my body, and all signs seem to be pointing to wide strips of Velcro, and a few snaps.  Will be updating on that later on!

I also had the chance draft her gloves and collar.  They are by no means complete, but the gloves are more or less 80% finished.  I just have to affix the elastic cross-gartering across the forearm, and create the feather detail at the elbow.  (I have black rooster feathers coming in the mail!)

For the collar, the bow is more of less complete, but the actual collar itself needs some work. I used darts to cinch it around the neck, but I must do some necessary clipping and tacking down for it to look right.  I tea stained the lace (On both the gloves and collar) for a more antique look.  It'll likely close in the front with a small hook and eye that the bow will hide.  The Venice style laces used were bought in downtown LA for a minimal price, and are pretty antique looking!

Anyhow, that's all for now as I am waiting on a few things to arrive in the mail so that I can keep making progress here.  Thanks for reading. :3!

Cheers and happy costuming,

♥ Elysium