Sunday, June 24, 2018

Black Bolt! The Making of a 2018 Cosplay! Inhumans! More Marvel Madness!

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!



Above three images: Black Bolt, as envisioned
by comic art masters Jack Kirby (BB's
co-creator), and John Romita, Sr.!






Above images: Rough designs for the suit and "wing" attachments!


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!


Above: Another rough design, adding overlapping shoulder
attachments (to hide where the wings would attach,
later abandoned), gloves, etc...


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...

Above: My final costume design, created by me, using
both traditional drawing and Photoshop! The "krackle
effect" works much better here!



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...


Above: Using Photoshop, I fleshed out the accessory,
getting an idea how it would look on the black mask...


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...


Above: The finished mask-piece, with added art marker effects and details...



Above two images: Adding a bit of reflective Mylar (thanks
to a cosplay friend's generosity), the effect is
complete!


Above: The (almost) finished mask and gloves!


Above: Toying with the idea of mirrored lenses...
No.



Above two images: Putting it all together!
Some minor mask and wing adjustments
still needed, but...


Above: Debuting at Charlotte's Heroes Con, here
is the finished product!






Above: The "Kirby Krackle" was a big hit! I also
continued the front piping onto the shoulders,
to create a broader upper body look...


Above: It's Lockjaw! He looks bigger in the comics!






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!"



Above: My seamstress did a great job with the wings and gloves!












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!



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!


Above: I was going for a bit of an odd, unearthly look with
the leather feel, and the high-collared jacket!

















2 comments:

alxjhnsn said...

Saw you walking around as Black Bolt! I wish I'd known it was you so I could have said, "Hi!"

Jerry Brand said...

Man, that is the absolute coolest! I dig that Kirby-Krackle. That was an inspired idea.