Not content with my past cosplay costumes of Captain America and Hawkeye, I just had to create my own version of the Inhuman's head honcho, Black Bolt! Click below to see the 5-month step-by-step creation of this live-action interpretation of this 60s sleek and speechless superhero!
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| Above three images: Black Bolt, as envisioned by comic art masters Jack Kirby (BB's co-creator), and John Romita, Sr.! |
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| Above images: Rough designs for the suit and "wing" attachments! |
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| Above: Meeting with a wonderful local seamstress to begin designing the gloves and "wings" of the costume, and how they'll attach! We used my design (seen below) as a guide! |
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| Above: Another rough design, adding overlapping shoulder attachments (to hide where the wings would attach, later abandoned), gloves, etc... |
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| Above: My first design, ready to be sent to the costume printers! My worry was that the added "Kirby Krackle" would be seen as a bubble effect... |
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| Above: My final costume design, created by me, using both traditional drawing and Photoshop! The "krackle effect" works much better here! |
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| Above images: Now it's time to design the distinctive mask "crown!" I wanted more than just the "tuning fork glued to the forehead" look, so time to sketch... |
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| Above: Using Photoshop, I fleshed out the accessory, getting an idea how it would look on the black mask... |
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| Above: After creating paper templates for each piece, I used foam-board to cut each piece and created a 3-D effect by overlapping portions...Added coats of textured paint, then more gloss silver... |
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| Above: The finished mask-piece, with added art marker effects and details... |
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| Above two images: Adding a bit of reflective Mylar (thanks to a cosplay friend's generosity), the effect is complete! |
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| Above: The (almost) finished mask and gloves! |
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| Above: Toying with the idea of mirrored lenses... No. |
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| Above two images: Putting it all together! Some minor mask and wing adjustments still needed, but... |
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| Above: Debuting at Charlotte's Heroes Con, here is the finished product! |
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| Above: The "Kirby Krackle" was a big hit! I also continued the front piping onto the shoulders, to create a broader upper body look... |
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| Above: It's Lockjaw! He looks bigger in the comics! |
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| Above: I thought the "white-out" lenses added an eerie touch! I also added a bit of black and deep blue glitter around the "antenna!" |
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| Above: My seamstress did a great job with the wings and gloves! |
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| Above: Pic by Mike Dickens, of Contagious Media! |
UPDATE! Look below to see my latest iteration of this iconic costume!
I added a customized jacket/pants to the mix!
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| Above: I designed the front and back designs (going thru several sketches and ideas), then carefully masked off the areas, using air-brush tape, then applied several coats of fabric spray-paint, creating gradations, etc... Fabric markers provided the piping and striping! |
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| Above: I was going for a bit of an odd, unearthly look with the leather feel, and the high-collared jacket! |
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