Reference

If I was ever up for a challenge this outfit definately comes to mind. I had started playing Shin Megami Tensei 3, or better known as Persona 3 in the US. I loved the character designs and had flipped through the artbook that came with the game and when I saw Juno, I kept thinking, "how would someone do that?" And well, I went about finding out how.

Obviously, the biggest obstacle on this cosplay was the ball. For this I ended up getting two acrylic skylight domes. First, I measured out areas for my body and for my feet and cutting them out with a dremel tool. Then I ended up taking a blow torch and kitchen hot mitts and slowly heating up the flanges and turning them inward. This probably was the most difficult task. Getting the acrylic too hot and the plastic bubbled, too cold and it wasn't flexible. Took a lot of time and a good amount of butane before this task was completed. Once the flanges were turned inward, I marked the spots where screws would hold the two halves together and drilled holes.

Next thing to do was sketch out the stained glass like design for the front of the ball. I ended up getting a yard by yard piece of craft foam to cut the design into so it was a single piece with no seams. Then that was glued on with other gold designs, coated in school glue to smooth out the texture and painted gold. The inside of the skylights was then painted with a coating of an opalescent coating for shine and then various layers of acrylic paint.

A belt system was created that was rigged with a hoola-hoop and belt webbing to equally support the weight of the skylight ball and each belt attached to a belt that went around my waist. It allows the ball to float around my waist.

I created a partial zentai suit from black spandex from scratch and drafted a pattern so that anything exposed would be black. The corset-like top was based on Simplicity Pattern 4070. It was modified to have hanging sections that extend into the ball. Ruffles were added to the top edge. Ruffles were created with a ruffling foot. Gloves were created from Vogue Pattern 7949. The top, gloves, and ruffles were made from Casa satin. Making the gloves was difficult because most gloves are meant to be created from a stretch material. I created the gloves on a bias to add a little flexibility but it took a lot of tweaking to fit them correctly. The headband was made with the same fabric and each side ended in a bead and teardrop shaped bead made from Model Magic.

The wig started out white and was dyed using FW Artists Ink and rubbing alcohol mix. I kept spraying and combing the mixture through until I achieved the gray I wanted.

The mask was made from WonderFlex that I molded around the shape of my face. Red spoon tips were used for the eyeballs and glued on and then it was covered in a cotton/spandex fabric. Slits were cut above the spoons and with the tension of the fabric pulled back from the "eyes". There were also eyeholes cut into the wonderflex but really aren't visible under the fabric so I did have visibility. The mask then attached my face with velcro.

The wings were created from insulation foam that were carved with heated foam carving tools. Each ring was measured and then carved and then each edge sanded with a fine sandpaper to smooth out any jagged cuts. Then the design was glued together with foam glue. Hooks were screwed into dowels that were anchored into the wings using large washers and then the whole thing was painted with primer and then acrylic paint. The hooks then attach to a harness that went under my outfit. I also made the wings split in the middle so that they are easier to transport.

<3 Thanks to all the friends who helped me get around in this costume and the people that let us on and off elevators and made way for us. I hope to wear this outfit again at a convention that has room for us to move around considering I have a wingspan of 6 feet. And the fact that I have to see if I can rebuild the ball since my mother fell on it and it broke. We'll see what kind of fix I can make with some epoxy.



Additional Photo Credits: ACParadise
Featured Cosplayers: Yesod as Thanatos, Stardustshadow as Jin Shirato, LousyItachi as Shinjiro Aragaki, Tsuki-Ookami as Yukari, and Reinaurre as Akihiko.