CosBlog # 65: Lost Planet Tribute By Nebulaluben And Erikku-Kun

by Meagan Marie on Aug 25, 2011 at 10:23 AM

You may remember cosplayer Nebulauben from her fantastic Bayonetta recreation a while back. This time, the seasoned cosplayer has returned for a tribute to Capcom's Lost Planet, with partner Erikku-Kun by her side. Check out the stellar work on their costumes, with a special focus on some epic prop production.

Who: The Character
Femme Fatale Carpetbagger and Jungle Pirate from Lost Planet 2

Why: The Decision
We played through Lost Planet 2 in cooperative mode and we liked the game very much. We also attended Gamefest 2010 (a new game convention in Madrid) as Super Street Fighter characters (myself as Juri Han, Erikku-kun as El Fuerte and nine more friends as other characters).

They liked our group at the Capcom stand and they sent us home a box full of gifts. As we like the game very much and Capcom treated us so well, we decided making another Capcom cosplay. Once we decided on making LP2 cosplay, we started searching designs on the character creator the game includes.

Erikku-Kun: I was only sure of one thing - I wanted to make a VS Gatling Gun because I love big and heavy weapons. I focused my work on it and I chose a not very difficult design for the costume, so I decided making a Jungle Pirate because I like his mask and his chain vest.

Nebulaluben: Erikku-kun told me I could make a Carpetbagger and he told me to customize a character as I like. I absolutely fell in love with the buns and the blue and white-stripped stockings! I also like her look because it reminds me of Chun-li, and I thought it was a beautiful mixture, something like a gunslinger Chun-li... cool!

What: The Process
It took us about 4 months to complete, but it was a cosplay we made very calmly, we weren't in a rush to make them.

Nebulaluben: I was lucky to find a cloth that looks just like her jacket's fabric. The dress and the jacket weren't difficult to make. For the waist and head ornaments, I used porexpan hemispheres. I modified them to get their octagonal shapes on the edges and I smoothed the texture using mastic. Then I painted, varnished and glued them to their respective places.

The helmet is made of plaster using a mannequin as a mold. Then I made the grooves with relief painting and I painted it to make it look as a metallic piece. I painted the PVC and silicon tubes on blue and black, then I decorated them with foamy pieces and fitted them on the helmet.

It was such a challenge to fit the hemispherical accessories and to connect the tubes under the dress. I had to hook them to a rubber band thong I made (I had to make it resistant). Yes, it's very funny, but it's a piece I'm very proud of. I made it that way because it was the only way people weren't going to notice a bulge under the dress. I actually don't know where they end and what are they are for! I fitted the tubes on the belt by sewing them with nylon thread. For the backpack structure I used cardboard and porexpan, then I used foamy for the details. The padlock is made of XPS and foamy.

The keys she wears hanging on her jacket are made of polyester resin. I bought one to make a silicon cast, and I copied it. It was less expensive for me to copy them than to buy eight of them. I bought the bullet belts and the stockings. And the boots are ones I previously had at home. I made my machine gun with XPS and foamy again.

Erikku-kun: I would like to emphasize the work I made on my chain vest. It's made of real metal chains, it weighs 3kg. And the mask is made of paper and covered with polyurethane resin painted in a metallic way using the dry brushing technique. The head chains are plastic ones (if not, they would be too heavy and they could damage the mask), the balls on the end are made of modeling putty.

The clothes weren't difficult to make, I bought the pants and the top and I only had to modify them a little and add some details such as the bags on the sides and the kneepad.

For the backpack, I shaped two PVC tubes to make the frame and I added the painted cardboard cylinders, the tube and some XPS, adhesive vinyl and foamy details. Finally I added two stripes from other bags I had at home to make it look more realistic.

But the star in this cosplay is, undoubtedly, the 15kg VS Gatling Gun I made from scratch. Here you can watch a video about the process:

I wanted it to work (the PVC barrels actually turn) so I had to make a wood structure to hold the mechanism and I dismantled a drill to make use of its engine, battery and switch. It took me a month to make and it was a lot of hard work.

To finish, we made the harmonizers.

Nebulaluben: Erikku-kun made the led circuit to make them shine just like in the game and I made the body for the two of them. My harmonizer is made of methacrylate. We assembled it under the pocket on one of my sleeves. And the Jungle Pirate's harmonizer is made of XPS.

In can't remember how much money we spent on this costumes, they're not particularly expensive. I only know the Gatling gun cost 90€.

Where and When: The Debut
We debuted at Expomanga 2011 (in May). The photoshoot was made in several locations. We first took some photos on the con, and then we went to a place in Madrid where there are two old trains that look just like the trains of a stage in the game (a stage that took us hours to complete, it's a tribute for that awesome and exhausting gaming time). We had the last photoshoot in a park on an outlying district (called "Parque del Capricho") where there are jungle-like places that fit perfectly the atmosphere of the game.