Panda Annie WIP

    Before I get to the Panda Annie stuff, in my last post I was talking about the Lunar Goddess Diana sword I was working and that I'd be posting more progress on that soon. Well, I sort of ruined it and have to start all over. Even though I tested the resin on styrofoam with five coats of gesso and it worked, I think the day I did the resin on the actual sword was way too hot (over 100 degrees) and the coat I did was probably a little too thick, then I left it outside to dry and air out so the styrofoam probably just melted under the resin or something like thats :( So on the second one I don't even want to try again with the fiberglass resin. I tested some epoxy resin with a piece of fiberglass directly onto some styrofoam and it worked perfectly! I have no idea why I didn't just use that from the start.



     Since I was pretty frustrated with the sword failure I decided to take a break from the Diana cosplay and work on Panda Annie (probably a much better first cosplay since it's a lot easier)! I'm going mainly off her look in the splash art rather than what she looks like in game. So starting with the headband, I cut the shaped out of craft foam and covered them in Worbla (which I'm a total noob at using, people who make crazy intricate armor with it are all magicians!). Then I used Bondo All Purpose Putty to fill in all the imperfections and make the corners cleaner, with sanding between each coat. Next, primer and Rub 'n Buff!

     The Rub 'n Buff worked perfectly and gave it the exact Sort of metallic finish I wanted. I then painted on the panda face with acrylic paint and still need to do a coat of gloss finish to keep the paint from scratching off.

     For Annie's croissants buns I pretty much just followed this EXTREMELY helpful tutorial on youtube. The wig I bought on Ebay for $11 and sewed on some extra black wefts. Once I finish cutting and styling the wig I'll sew the buns on.     

     The whole head part is almost finished! Pretty much all thats left is putting it all together, and ordering some some amber circle lenses. The circle lenses part makes me a little nervous. My eyes are pretty sensitive so I want to invest in a really good pair that I can wear comfortably, but have no idea where to look or what brands are good or not. Advice would be very appreciated! ♥