Character: Lady
Series: Devil May Cry 4
Total Construction Time: 4 weeks
Debut: Saboten 2013
Personal Thoughts: I did this because DmC was coming out and I didn’t have the money to buy the game. I also hadn’t played the past 4 DMC games so in my dumb head, I said ‘I’ll just make a costume from DMC since I can’t play the new game and then I’ll be forced  to make the prop.’  I don’t know what I was thinking either, that logic sounds so stupid. It ended up being one of the longest cosplay journeys I’ve ever had.

Details
THE SUIT; 2 days

The fabric for the suit was the hardest fabric I ever had to track down. I didn’t want to paint strips for the costumes and I wanted a really nice suit fabric. I ended up finding fabric that was lightly striped (so it unfortunately doesn’t come up for pictures) out of a local fabric shop. I used an unaltered pattern for the shorts and jacket. The collar was hand embroidered all around which took 8 hours and the jacket was fully lined.

BELT AND HARNESS; 2 weeks
The second most ANNOYING part of making the costume. I had a deadline of 3 weeks so I decided to go the cheaper route. I sewed the harness together using a nice, light pleather which I also used for the belt. Craft foam was used as a base for the belts pockets (none of which work since I was going for appearance accuracy, not usability) then covered with craft foam and fake sewing lines were painted on which made the belt pop more. The flaps of the belts have velcro attached to the end so they have some functionality to them but only the top is attached to the belt so that when I move, the pockets move with me. Craft eyes were painted silver and glued on to make it look as if the belt was attached in various parts.

KALINA ANN VERSION 1; 1 week

Before making this costume, I thought ‘I’ll just make the gun easy peasy.‘ NO. NONONO. I went in with only a little idea of what I was going to do. I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I made a quick draft of what I wanted to do and bought two 2″ mailing tubes that would be the base and main part of the gun. The bottom of the gun as well as the top were made out of cardboard and used craft foam as details. Aluminum piping was attached to the bottom of the mailing tube which also attached to the cardboard boxes. The boxes were held up by small dowels which weren’t the greatest. The edges of the boxes were caulked so the cardboard wouldn’t show. The top part of the gun was also done in the same method but attached to the tube with craft foam and glue. The knife was made out of foam board and attached to a PVC pipe. A toy gun was bought from Goodwill, dismantled and placed into the gun rather than making it.

The first version had many problems. Not only did it come in two parts but the gun had to be held right and completely straight in order to appear correct. The bottom of the boxes also came apart often because the glue couldn’t withstand Arizona heat. I really loved the costume but after the third convention of toting the gun around, I was done. It had to be thrown out.

KALINA ANN VERSION 2; 4 days

I went in with a proper plan this time. The gun had to be just big enough to fit in my car, the boxes had to be parallel to the ground so it stood upright, and most importantly, the inner workings of the bottom of the gun had to be light but also needed to have strength as it would hold the most weight and be the most sensitive part. I wanted to be able to put a strap to the gun and be able to put it over my shoulder whenever I wanted to (I never could after this but it was still an ambitious project).

I ordered a 4″ mailing tube this time. It was shorter than the 2″ but the boxes made up for the loss of height. I made the bottom boxes as I did the first gun but smaller this time so they could all fit correctly together. The same size aluminum piping was rebought, attached to the tube and holes were cut into the boxes and piping. Lightweight scrap wood was placed into the sides of the boxes to retain some strength for future use. (the back came apart, snapping from the aluminum at PCC14. I went back into the inner workings and gorilla glued/taped the aluminum parts to one another. For extra measure, I screw locked the dowels and boxes together so that nothing came apart.)

Ultimately, I am very proud of the second gun I made. It’s incredibly stable and fun to pose with but it drains my energy fast since it is about two pounds in weight. I nearly fell asleep on it at AX14. I’d been carrying it around for 8 hours and realized that if I stood up with it it’s my height and perfect for me to lean on it and nap.