1. Second horn being taped
  2. Better angle
  3. Both horns ready for initial paper mache
  4. Bonus little bowl of newspaper (;

Finished taping the second horn. It looks like crap, and I only have myself to blame for over-excitement to see the final product.

I’ll be attempting to add a bunch more paper mache to the thinner one as best I can in an attempt to even them both out width-wise (vertically and horizontally they are a perfect match, but the second one is thinner by far on the part you attach to the headpiece). If you hold them up, you don’t even notice a difference, but like I’ve said before, I’m a perfectionist, and I know that they are not the best they can be. 

So far I’d say I’ve racked up ~12 hours on this cosplay so far.

And that’s JUST for the horns! I don’t know if I’ll have it done in time for Halloween, but I have Harley to wear anyways. This is mainly for Phoenix Comic-Con, and/or potentially SDCC. We’ll see.

ps. Is border paste the same as wallpaper paste? The guy at Home Depot said it was, but I don’t trust that monkey.


  1. This is the second (non-fucked) horn, (which will now be refered to as the first horn because reasons), being taped up very well for the paper mache base. It’s nearly done in this pic because I was slightly drunk and spaced out so much while doing it that I forgot to take pics.
  2. Close-up of the small end of the horn so you can see the hell it was giving me. Look at all those tiny pieces of tape! LOOK AT IT!
  3. First horn done and ready for the paper mache base to go over it whenever I get around to it. It’s so pretty!
  4. First horn (right), sanded and taped, next to the less finished second horn for comparison.

Taping process to start the base for the paper mache. I have learned that the foam won’t take the paint, needs the holes filled in, and looks like crap on it’s own anyways. I’ve been told to tape with painters tape/scotch, paper mache over it, and then mix together paper mache mix and wallpaper paste into a clay-like consistency, and smooth that over in a thin layer. Sand forever to a fine point, and then paint over all of that. Phew! That is a whole lot of work!


  1. First horn carved out of the foam. This is the one I got too excited with and took a crappy picture of.
  2. First crappy horn in the sun for a better view.
  3. Both horns carved out. I was much much more careful with the second one, seeing as I fucked up the first one and it’s going to take a lot of time to fix.
  4. Starting on further carving and fine tuning of the second horn, which was ready to work with.
  5. Second horn, all carved perfection and sanded smooth on all angles. Places on the right of the first unsanded rough first horn for comparison.

I woke up right away and half spaced out on the fact that I was taking pics of all the steps, so I forgot to take a pic of the foam fully expanded blahblah before I started carving. 

The first horn I did, I was half asleep and had just rolled out of bed. I was soo excited to see how it came out on the frame that I carved too fast hard and cut away stuff I wasn’t supposed to. The only remedies I can come up with is to either go over it very slowly while taping it and stuff the gaps with bits of leftover foam until it tapes level, or to spray foam all back over it and start again. Only problem with the second option is, I seemed to have lost the top for the last can of expanding foam I have, so I can’t use it for the time being, and I’m also afraid of how new foam on the old foam will react. If I ruin this frame underneath, I have no pattern left to make a new one (because I’m dumb and didn’t think to save one).

All of these pictures are the summary of about three hours of work .


  1. Horns ready to be insulated (no flash)
  2. Horns and insulation (w/ flash)
  3. Feelin’ pumped to insulate!
  4. Looks soo- nasty (w/ flash)
  5. Weirdest texture ever

I ended up using two cans in total and I hope it was enough, I’m so scared I missed some spots. We’ll see tomorrow when it’s dry. I ended up getting some on my arm and it burns. ):

Also for some reason tumblr flipped the pictures all upside-down and sideways. Sorry!


  1. First rough draft for general shape of horns
  2. Trying to guess a general scale for horns
  3. After a couple of changes, ready to start taping
  4. The beginnings of taping the frame for the expanding insulation
  5. First horn done, feeling pretty pleased so far

I took about two inches off the horizontal ends of the horns after I taped them both and held them up to my head. I don’t want to be one of those Lokis with HUGE ridiculous horns. /: I also made the bottoms more narrow, they looked like they would be too thick when filled out. Fixed!

I looked at a few references and they seem to be about the height of her head x1.5, the horizontal length is a bit shorter than the vertical part, and the curve at the top seems to bend to just past the halfway point of the bottom horizontal part. Hope I got it all right!


First shopping trip for the materials to start on the horns :3


laceyloki asked:
You might try wonderflex as well! It seems to be a really nifty material. That's what I plan to use when I finally get around to making the headdress/helmet.

I was actually considering using Wonderflex for the actual headpiece! I’ve seen people work wonders when using it to make various armors. I’ll be sure to look into it more. (:


FML

LOOK AT HOW PERFECT THESE BOOTS ARE!

They’re called “Breckelles Vanity-81 Gold”

AND THEY ARE SOLD OUT/UNAVAILABLE EVERYWHERE I LOOK!

I’m so frustrated!


Diadem (horns)

Against my original decision and after a few more hours of research, I’ve decided to just try out expanding foam for the horns instead. It seems to be the default foam, cheaper by far, and Kamui has said that it’s easier to work with than pink foam. :D


Diadem (horns) Shopping List

So after some more looking around, I decided to use the pink foam that missy-apolis recommended for the horns. All of this will be an adventure in experimentation as I figure this out, since I’ve never worked with any of these materials before! :x

  • expanding foam (couple cans)
  • Cardboard (big)
  • Glue, E6000
  • Many Exacto/craft knives
  • Face mask
  • Hardcore gloves!
  • Sandpaper: 400, 600, 800
  • Paper Mache Mix
  • Wallpaper Paste
  • Metallic gold spray paint
  • Run N Buff (what to apply with?)
  • Future floor seal (what to apply with?)

I’ll try to pick all of this up tomorrow if possible, will post pics of haul. (:


Couple good helmet refs, the second is a good shot of the horns angles.

It’s hard to really figure out the design on the front, it doesn’t seem to be one concrete design. I’ll probably have to scour for more pictures of it, or just make it up of mostly guesswork.

The curve of the horns seems to occasionally change too, from very rounded like Avengers’ Loki to the more squarish like the older Loki helms.


(Messy) Brainstorming So Far

-headpiece/materials?

-makeup

-wig

-nails

-shirt

-fur cape

-belt

  • Medallions on belt

-pants

  • Leather band on one thigh

-skirt

-boots

-contacts

-more ref pictures

-weapon??

-foam head for fitting


Grimoire Page One

So I have officially decided to start putting together the Lady Loki costume I’ve had in mind for a while now. I have a ton of the comics and assorted artist drawings of her for reference, I am just a little intimidated at trying to even figure out an actual first step or steps.

I’ve only cosplayed once before, as Harley Quinn from Batman the animated series, and it went over VERY well at Phx Comic-Con. I was asked to take at least 200+ pictures with people, and had a multitude of fans tell me that it was the best Harley they’d ever seen. This all helps me with my intimidation at starting the Lady Loki, but I am still quite nervous.

I am very much a perfectionist and if I cosplay her, I want to be the best I am capable of being, so a part of me is afraid to even start for fear of losing motivation at the great wall that is my own perfection.

I’m not very good at sewing, haven’t worked with most major cosplay materials before, don’t have cosplaying friends to ask for advice/tips, etc. All of this is much that I will be attempting to overcome as I work on this cosplay, step by very slow step. I will be posting pictures and commentary of any and all steps I take in working on the costume, craft store hauls, package opening, putting everything together, mistakes, finished forms, blahblah.

If anyone ever has ANY comments, helpful advice, criticism, ANYTHING at all, feel free to drop it all in my ask box and I’ll be more than happy to receive all of it.

Thanks to everyone!