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Hey there guys.

My girlfriend and I put together a couple Tanith First and Only cosplay outfits for Fan Expo in Toronto. We didn't jot down too many details, but basically we made a chest piece and shoulder pads out of EVA foam and tried shooting for a lighter-than-Cadian body armor, battle scarred and made to look like dirty, blackened metal. The camo cloaks are nice and heavy and the lasguns we were carrying were also made out of EVA foam. We wore little microbeads, wrist pieces, gloves, knee-pads done to look like the armor and with straight silvers in the strap of the knee pads. There was velcro on the gun to attach the straight silver like a bayonet but it wasn't quite working out for us so we just kept it around our legs. My lasgun is supposed to seem to have a nalwood stock and hers a wire-stock, for being from Vergast. I was gonna wear a blue tattoo and blacken my beard too, alas there was no time.

I just wanted to show 'em off. You guys have much experience cosplaying 40K? My girlfriend has decided she wants to make this a yearly thing and wants to do a commissar/bloodpact duo next year. I'm pretty damned excited for it.

Here is a 360 degree photo of each:
http://www.shelflife.net/cosplay?360_photo=5407e6f8200589768500118a&referred_by=568f96&utm_campaign=Cosplay&utm_medium=share&utm_source=Facebook
http://www.shelflife.net/cosplay?360_photo=5407d32d20058974e10000e4&referred_by=568f96&utm_campaign=Cosplay&utm_medium=share&utm_source=Facebook

Pretty cool looking. Had to filter to find you guys though in the pictures. Nice beard though! Also to anyone wanting to see just go to character in the filter and look for imperial guard.

Nice job, my main comment is that you two need more pouches with the costumes. If you can find some cheap US surplus combat vests or something like it would add to the look. From what I remember of the books all of the ghosts had some sort of vest. Right now you guys look a little bare. But still nice job on amour and the lasguns.

We honestly intended too, but we lacked the resources or time to do it. It took us a while just to get this stuff done. We figured it was the lesser sacrifice, as we were excited to get into using EVA foam for costume.

Fair enough.

I really appreciate you desire for accuracy in regards to your lasgun differences

Did anybody at the con get it?

A few people got that we were from Warhammer 40K, a few more got that we were from the Imperial Guard, and a few more got that we were Tanith First and Only. We were lucky one of the guys who got that we were the Tanith First and Only was also a professional photographer looking to do a shoot because people had bailed on him and thanks to that I got to get this photo, which I've photoshopped to emulate codex-style art as best I can.

It kinda looks like you've drawn on the stock on the guardswoman's lasgun using a chalk brush in PS. >>

Nope, all I did was add the las blasts, B&W, adjust the contrast, vibrancy, use the burn tool to the background and apply a filter. I think the chalk-like effect is just the way the silver looks black-and-white and filtered.

I'd actually have preferred the cosplay without the lasguns. Cadian M36 Pattern? I mean, they're nice M36s, bit bulky but that's common in 40k cosplay. If you do the cosplay again, and have time for it of course, take a look at the cover art for Only in Death. Good detail with a Verghast in the foreground and Tanith behind, both using their pattern of lasgun.

I'm a stickler for the guns used in cosplay, don't mind me.

 SharkoutofWata wrote:
I'd actually have preferred the cosplay without the lasguns. Cadian M36 Pattern? I mean, they're nice M36s, bit bulky but that's common in 40k cosplay. If you do the cosplay again, and have time for it of course, take a look at the cover art for Only in Death. Good detail with a Verghast in the foreground and Tanith behind, both using their pattern of lasgun.

I'm a stickler for the guns used in cosplay, don't mind me.

Well, there were limitations. For example we needed to find schematics for building the lasguns, which we found in a casual search. We went for that basic Cadian design, more-so in reliance on other covers such as Sabbat Martyr or His Last Command, where lasguns don't quite look like the same in Only In Death (which we were looking at last night, prompting my gf to say "ugh, their lasguns look totally different from ours!"). At the end of the day it was more a matter of expedience, and relying on the models more than the cover art. My theory was that the cover art would be prepared by artists who may take liberties (for example - see how Gaunt's face has totally changed recently? The eye-scars make sense, but the face-shape is altered). So we decided to go with the standard lasgun.

We do want to finish up these costumes. We want to make better straight silvers, we want to get mesh vests with pockets for the exterior, grenades, cantine, etc... TBH I wanted to make a flamer and be a flame trooper, and she wanted to be a sniper and make a longlas, we just lacked enough instruction to think about making these, given that this was our first time cosplaying or crafting out of EVA foam.

 Chaos_Seer wrote:
Nope, all I did was add the las blasts, B&W, adjust the contrast, vibrancy, use the burn tool to the background and apply a filter. I think the chalk-like effect is just the way the silver looks black-and-white and filtered.

Makes sense, filters can play screwy hell with shiny bits. ^^;

The flamer shouldn't be too much more complicated than the lasgun though. I don't have much experience with EVA foam, how heavy is it?

 Furyou Miko wrote:

 Chaos_Seer wrote:
Nope, all I did was add the las blasts, B&W, adjust the contrast, vibrancy, use the burn tool to the background and apply a filter. I think the chalk-like effect is just the way the silver looks black-and-white and filtered.

Makes sense, filters can play screwy hell with shiny bits. ^^;

The flamer shouldn't be too much more complicated than the lasgun though. I don't have much experience with EVA foam, how heavy is it?

EVA foam's not all that heavy, I carried my lasgun loose both days without my arms tiring out what-so-ever. The real problem was time. Given the time restraint we didn't want to experiment, but rather rely on schematics. There were two separate functioning schematics for the lasgun which we relied on, describing the length of every part. I would have wanted to go the flamer route I wouldn't have been happy unless it was as unreasonably big as the one the models wear, so a foot longer than the lasgun and with an end the size of my face. I'd have had to measure, re-measure, draw, trace, cut, realize it wasn't done right and redo it to get it right and I didn't have the time.

But we're committed to work throughout the year on the next costumes so I expect they're gonna be beautiful thangs. But the year after I'm going to shoot for the Tau Stealth Suit, and the newer design too so that'll be something... Ambitious!