Tuesday, August 24, 2010

THE GRAND PRIZE (AND ALMOST AS GRAND SECOND PRIZE)




First Prize: A 1/48 scale transforming toy-model of the Macross VF-1J (Variable Fighter), produced by Yamato toys and designed by Hikaru Ichijo. This is not only a Macross classic, it was the Mecha featured in the opening sequence of Robotech. It is a truly beautiful design.









Second Prize: A beautiful a4-size book of Shoji Kawamori's best designs and artworks, entitled: "Kawamori Shoji: Design Works".






Sunday, August 22, 2010

Friday, August 20, 2010

TRANSFORMERS COSPLAY

Of course, Transformers count as Mecha, and so they might appeal to our younger participants (or those older ones who are feeling a little nostalgic). Please find here below some examples of Transformers Cosplays that have already been created (Click on the Youtube links to view some amazing transforming cosplays:















Wednesday, August 4, 2010

A GUIDE TO CHOOSING YOUR CHARACTER BY DECADE

The following is a guide by decade of some of the most amazing Mecha and Armour characters. If you wish, seek out your character according to your tastes and/or age - all shows have their own particular style, which means you will have to choose what one you prefer. Type the names below into Google Images and/or Youtube to get some great visuals:

1970's:

- Mazinger-Z
- Mobile Suit Gundam (Gundam 0079)


1980's

- Robotech
- Robotech is an American adaptation of three different different Mechas:

1. Super Dimension Fortress Macross
2. Southern Cross
3. Genises Climber Mospaeda

-Cyclone Mospaeda (a motorbike that transforms into armour for Robotech humans.
-Mobile Police Patlabor

1990's

-Neon Genesis Evangelion
-Vision of Escaflowne
-Gasaraki
-Turn-A Gundam (designed by Syd Meade, the futurist who designed vehicles for Blade Runner)

2000's

-Ramxephon
-Overman King Gainer

Armour Animé:

-Saint Seiya (Knights of the Zodiac)

Mecha + Armour Conflated?:

-Five Star Stories

DESIGNERS: Type these names into Google Images to see some of the designs associated with them:

- Shoji Kawamori - designed Starscream G1 Transformer, as well as droids in Ghost in the Shell.

- Hojime Katoki - redesigned Gundam for later generations.

- Kunio Okawara - designed Votoms - can sometimes have a crazy and colourful style.

- Mamoru Nagano - an artistic designer, involved in Five Star Stories

- Yutaka Izubuchi

Podcasts:

-Gundamn!@MAHQ

Websites:

www.mahq.net

www.cosplay.com

www.gearsonline.net




Tuesday, August 3, 2010

TIPS FOR MAKING COSPLAY










Tips for making Mecha or Armour cosplay costumes for the event:


1. Use an image (preferably several images) of an existing design as a guide - this will work better than just making it up. It is important to really love the Mecha or Armour character that you choose, in order to make a killer costume.

You might consider leaving your face unmasked in the costume, as in the costume on the event flyer - however, you are under no obligation to do this.



2. You can use any material (preferably something light-weight, as you will be wearing it - Lego is not a good idea in this regard:)) You can even use cardboard - it's free and easy to acquire, and cardboard is surprisingly strong if you use a thick variety - most shops in Dublin city put piles of flattened cardboard out on the street around closing time (5 or 6 o'clock on a working day) - you can just take these piles of cardboard home.

Cardboard is easy to cut and bend. You can also glue together a sandwich of several sheets of cardboard to make a stronger one, if you so need or desire. Don't forget that you don't always have to cut the cardboard, but instead you can also score it slightly and fold it to make 3-D forms.

Other materials can include fibre-glass, vinyl-over-foam, and anything else that is strong-but- shapeable and with a smooth surface.


3. Seal the materials that you are using with a primer before you paint them, if they are water or liquid absorbant. You can use a white household primer - you can buy tins of Zinsor Bullseye 123 from MRCB paints on Thomas Street - that's a really great primer as you can get a really smooth finish with it, but any household primer will do as long as its ok quality. Paint two layers of primer on cardboard - let one layer dry and then apply the second.



4. Use Acrylic paints to colour your costume - the colour in acrylic paints is vibrant and will make your costume look amazing. Don't always use paints directly out of the tube or bottle, but try mixing a little of another colour through them. If you want the colour scheme of your costume to be harmonious, choose one colour and mix a little of it through each of the different colours on different parts of the costume - this will really make it look great. That said, leave one or two colours unmixed with the one colour you have chosen if possible - too much harmony creates boredom. Don't buy the cheapest acrylic paints - System 3 are fine - you can find them for better value in K & M Evans on Mary Street, just off of Capel Street (turn off of Capel Street at The Boars Head pub. and Evans is down an alley on your right).

Use metallic spraypaints to make metal-effects - you can buy either chrome or gold spraypaints, which are quite shiney and resemble metal properly - make sure to seal the surface before spraying, and always use spraypaints in a well ventilated room (wearing a fume-mask is also an excellent idea). You can also get spraypaints which are used to make metallic effects as on a car paint-job, which is what they are intended for. Slightly varying the visual texture of the paints you use throughout the cosplay will add to the amazingness of your costume.



5. You are better off using a hot glue gun to stick materials together - again, try to get this in K & M Evans, or alternatively in a D.I.Y. shop. Be very careful with the glue coming out of the gun - it is extremely hot - better off to use some kind of gloves when you are using the glue gun. Cardboard will stick together in seconds with this type of adhesive. Other glues you could use are Bostick (pink tube) or Serious Glue. Always open a window when using glue - its really dangerous not to ventilate the room.

6. Make your costume in sections - there might be two or three pieces just for the head part, for example. You might have one part that attaches to the back of the head, then a helmet that locks into it and sits on top, or a part that folds around the fact to create a Mecha-type face. The same applies to the rest of the body - you might have one piece for the chest, another for the abdomen, and one for the pelvic area - the legs might have one piece for the upper leg, and a seperate section for the lower leg, and yet another for the feet. The spaces between sections can be used for movement, so that they can slide over each other.



7. Use on-line research to learn more about making Mecha cosplay costumes - research is a huge part of the creative process and you'd be surprised what you might find. A few starter sites on the net are:

NEW TO COSPLAY? START HERE!
http://www.limitbreakcosplay.com/FAQ_Beginner.htm - Cosplay 101 for the Beginner
http://geocities.com/rikku_shidou14/AdviceTipsPage.html - Words of Advise

CON 101
http://www.cosplaycloset.com/TIP/TIPframe.html - Cosplay Care
http://sarcasm-hime.net/cosplaycrimes.html - Cosplay Crimes (and how to avoid them)

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Field/4597/checklist.html - Con Checklist (for Girls)
http://www.tokyopop.com/607.html - CON 101 Part I
http://www.tokyopop.com/612.html - CON 101 Part II
http://www.tokyopop.com/623.html - CON 101 Part III
http://www.cosplayphotos.com/conventions/grab_photo_article.php?ar_id=1 - Cosplay Photographing Etiquette
http://www.tokyopop.com/175.html - Make Cosplay Worth It!
http://www.tokyopop.com/379.html - How to Choose a Good Character Part I
http://www.tokyopop.com/404.html - How to Choose a Good Character Part II
http://www.tokyopop.com/482.html - What Matters are the Fan! FanService!

ARMOR MAKING + MECHA:



http://costuming.org/wonderflex.htm - WonderFlex FAQ
http://gaogaygar.fc2web.com/EnglishMake01.htm - Urethane How To + Armor Making
http://www.jedielfqueen.com/elvenwarriors/materials/processes.htm - Armor Making with several materials
http://amethyst-angel.com/armormaking.html - FiberGlass Armor Making
http://www.studiocreations.com/howto/index.html - Tips and Techniques for Costumes + Sci-Fi Costume Tutorials
http://www.bioweapons.com/BIOWEAPONS/ - How to Model Cast + Guyver Cosplay
http://www.paper-wings.org/tutorials/armor/fiberglass.html - FiberGlass Tips I
http://www.paper-wings.org/tutorials/armor/bondo.html - FiberGlass Tips II- FiberGlass Tips I
http://amethyst-angel.com/castingguide.html - Sculping and Casting
http://home.eol.ca/~props/metall.htm - Creating a Metal Surface
http://forums.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=83378 - Vinyl over Foam


SPECIFIC COSTUME DETAILS:

http://forums.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=84867 - Another Zabuza Sword Tutorial (NARUTO)

COSPLAY*RELATED
http://www.cosplay.com/ - Duh... Online Galleries and Forums
http://www.cosplaylab.com/ - More Galleries
http://www.usagichan2.com/ - Con Reports
http://www.fansview.com/ - Con Reports and Galleries
http://www.skypirate.net/cosplay/ - A*Kon Reports
http://www.kitanasoutpost.com/otakon/blog/ - Misc Cosplay Tips
http://www.geocities.com/waynekaa/instant.htm - 5 minute Cosplay Ideas
http://proplady.livejournal.com/ - Prop Blog




Mr. Clive is sharing his ideas on how to make Gundam costumes..

site is here...


head tutorial..

http://www.geocities.com/mirage_cld2/Tutorial_head.html


body tutorial
http://www.geocities.com/mirage_cld2/Tutorial_body.html




Thanks, and hope to see you on the day!!!!

INTRODUCTION and FAQs







Please note that this blog will be updated throughout the month leading up to the 'Knights of Mecha' event. The information below is an attempt to answer most of the questions that will come up around the event. If you still have questions after reading this post, please contact Andrew on and.carroll@gmail.com, and title the e-mail with "Cosplay Inquiry".

MECHA COSPLAY EVENT INSIDE MAIN COURTYARD AT IMMA (IRISH MUSEUM OF MODERN ART) ON SATURDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER 2010 FROM 11am to 2:00pm.


I don't know how to make Mecha or Armor (Armour) Cosplays! Can you help with this?

This is Ireland's first (as far as I am aware) Mecha and Armor cosplay event, and so it is understandable if many people out there don't really know how to make Mecha or Armor cosplays (costumes). It would, however, be great to see people giving it a go, and seeing what they can come up with. No-body is going to be critical of cosplays on the day (if they are, I will have them physically ejected from the building!:)) You don't have to come up with the greatest Mecha or Armor cosplay the world has ever seen (that would be truly amazing, though, if this is your first time doing this kind of thing!:)).

This is all in the name of art and fun and coming together over a common interest, and people should participate in that spirit - it's great to be cool, but it's even better to give something a try and amaze yourself with what you might come up with. Let's just give it a go and see what we can achieve, both on an individual basis, and collectively on the day!!:)

I have put a section on the blog which gives tips and links to even better tutorials, if people want to do a bit of research into the construction of these kinds of cosplays. There are other very interesting sections on the blog too - please check them out!


What's a "Cosplay"?

Cosplay is short for "costume roleplay", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often] drawn from popular fiction in Japan. Favorite sources include manga, anime,tokusatsu, comic books, graphic novels, video games, hentai and fantasy movies. Role play includes portrayals of J-pop and J-rock stars, Taiwanese puppet characters, science fiction characters, characters from musical stories, classic novels, and entertainment software. Any entity from the real orvirtual world that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Inanimate objects are given anthropomorphic forms and it is not unusual to see genders switched, with women playing male roles and vice versa.


Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture centered around role play. A broader use of the term cosplay applies it to any costumed role play in venues apart from the stage, regardless of the cultural context.



WHO'S IT FOR?

The event is for anyone who wishes to participate - it is not exclusive to Mecha fanatics, though they are of course welcome!!. If you have fond memories of the technology in Ghost in the Shell, or love Robotech and Transformers, Macross Plus, Metal Gear Solid, Iron Man, Robocop, that robot-suit thing in Avatar, etc. then just have a go at creating a costume based on your favourite and wear it on the day, to meet and compare costume-creations with like-minded Cosplayers. Armor (Armour) Cosplays are also very welcome.

One definition of Mecha is that it is a collective term for technological Animé characters that approximate the shape of a human body, and allow the use of: martial arts movements or swordsmanship, ceremonial acts of honour, saluting, and other human mannerisms. Armour Cosplay is an elaborate costume of armour created and worn by the cosplayer.
If you adore sword-carrying Mecha robots, droids, the At-St from Starwars, Gundam or any of the examples mentioned above, get busy making your costume and come along on the day inside it!!

The event is open to anyone, young or old (children must be accompanied by an adult), male or female, who wish to take part (guardians need not wear a costume, but it would help!!). The event is a celebration of a culture and design aesthetic that inspires many.



What Will Happen on the Day?

Cosplayers will hopefully arrive as close to 11:00am as possible at the IMMA courtyard, to have fun comparing costumes. We also hope to acquire some futuristic chess-sets that will be located around the courtyard for people to battle it out on (this will be in-lieu of recreating favourite Mecha battles dressed in cosplay, which is neither advisable nor permitted on the day), so brush up on your chess skills if you can!!:)

There will be food available on the day, as the Kilmainham Arts Festival Picnic will be taking place simultaneously and nearby, and very affordable picnic baskets will be available from the Patriot Inn, which is just at the back gate of IMMA - hopefully some of the cosplayers will descend upon that particular establishment in full cosplay, and request picnic baskets - hopefully. After the event, cosplayers can then roam around the rest of the Arts Festival, which is going on for the whole day, to see and participate in other events such as art-exhibitions. There will even be a recreation of Alice-in-Wonderland in the IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art) garden maze.


What's "Mecha"?


Mecha, also known as meka or mechs, is a broad genre of walking vehicles which are usually controlled by a pilot. Mecha often appear in anime, science fiction, and other genres involving fantastic or futuristic elements. Mecha are generally, though not necessarily, bipedal, with arms, hands, and usually fingers capable of grasping objects. A mecha that approximates the shape of a human body allows the use of martial arts movements and swordsmanship, ceremonial acts of honor, saluting, and other human mannerisms that cannot be performed using a tank or airplane.

In most fiction in which they appear, mecha are war machines: essentially armored fighting vehicles with legs instead of treads or wheels. Some stories, such as the manga Patlabor and American wargame BattleTech, also encompass mecha used for civilian purposes such as heavy construction work, police functions or firefighting.

Some science fiction universes posit that mecha are the primary means of combat, with conflicts sometimes being decided through gladiatorial matches. Others represent mecha as one component of an integrated military force, supported by and fighting alongside tanks, fighter aircraft, and infantry, functioning as a mechanical cavalry. The applications often highlight the theoretical usefulness of such a device, combining a tank's resilience and fire power with infantry's ability to cross unstable terrain. In other cases they are demonstrated with a greater versatility in armament, such as in the Armored Core series of video games where mecha can utilize their hands to carry a wide range of armament in the same manner as a person albeit on a much larger scale.

The distinction between true mecha and their smaller cousins (and likely progenitors), the powered armor suits, is blurred; according to one definition, a mecha is piloted while a powered armor is worn. Anything large enough to have a cockpit where the pilot is seated is generally considered a mecha.

Rarely, mecha has been used in a fantasy convention, most notably in the anime series Aura Battler Dunbine, The Vision of Escaflowne, Panzer World Galient and Maze. In those cases, the mecha designs are usually based on some alternative or 'lost' science-fiction technology from ancient times.


How Much Does it Cost?

This is a free event. This is an alcohol-free event to boot.


What if it Rains?

In the case of bad weather on the day, the courtyard is surrounded by wide cloisters under which the event can continue, unabatted.


Who is Organizing the Event?

This event has been conceived by, and will be facilitated by, Dublin artist Andrew Carroll, in affiliation with the Kilmainham Arts Festival.


What's Armor (Armour) Animé?

Armor animé or manga we are taking to being where the characters wear elaborate suits of armour (as in knights' armour), such as in Saint Seiya, though there are many other TV shows apart from just that one. There are also other possibilities, such as Iron Man or Robocop cosplays, which fall into both catagories of Armor and Mecha, we think.


Is There a Prize?

There will be a prize on the day for the best cosplay.





The organiser reserves the right to use documentation of the event, including images of the costumes worn on the day, as source material for artworks produced after the event takes place.