First Time Con Goer Questions

What Convention should go to?

Local conventions can be small but they help you gain good experience for bigger cons.

Here is a list of comic conventions in the US. Find local ones or big ones close

Do a lot of people dress up?

YES! Don't be afraid to cosplay. If you are walking outside and it looks like there are no cosplayers, don't freak out. When you get inside there will be hundreds of them.

Should I let people take pictures of me?

YES! THat is half the fun. People will come up to you and ask "Can I get a picture?", this is when you strike a pose and have fun with it.

Should I enter the Costume Contest?

Totally! Even if your costume isn't the best, people will appreciate you got on stage. When on stage don't feel rushed, strike a few poses before going on leaving enough time for people to take pictures.

What should I do to prepare for a Con?

If you are going to a bigger con and staying at a hotel make a checklist of the components of your cosplay. This will ensure you don't forget a pics of your costume when you leave home and the hotel.

Plan ahead. Go to the cons website and find the schedule  Look for panels of contests you may want to do and budget your time. Also visit cosplay.com to see if there are any photshoots planed for your type of costume.

Some Cons will have sign up ahead for things like costume contests, parades and more, so check their website to make sure you don't miss out.

If you have any more questions please ask in the comments!

Superhero Mask Turtorial

Heres a picture of the finished mask worn: [link]

So yeah, I recently was pretty happy with how a mask I was doing (for my Jason Todd cosplay) came out so i thought why not make a sort-of-kind-of tutorial on how i did it, in case anyone asked in the future

The 99cent store is currently selling this type of mask (that was covered in black glitter paint when I got it) for the Halloween season. If you're able to, i strongly suggest stopping in and grabbing one if you're in the market for a cheap mask base.

You could also buy a hard fabric version of the same style of mask base online, however the price is more like $5-$12
Hope this helped anyone out there!

Source: Axis33

Buying Your Cowl

Cowls are hard to make but if you do try to make it, it could ruin your whole cosplay. Your cosplay could be the greatest thing ever but if your cowl doesn't look professional, the whole thing looks unprofessional.

MySuperHeroGuy-
Website
Facebook 
Etsy

Reevzfx
Website
Not only do they have cowls but high quality masks as well.

There are other places to buy cowls out there but always make sure you can't find it somewhere else cheaper, and maybe even better made.

Pro Bending Discs- The Legend of Korra

                                                                   Source: sike-redwolf

Mai Weapons Tutorial - Avatar the Last Airbender

This didn't take as long as I had anticipated, actually. I *still* have to work on the weapons a little bit more. I have a lot of personal screw ups that I need to fix and I'm sure you can point out each and every one in the last picture. Blah, whatever. That's how I did it. 

It's simple, quick, and it looks nice if you do it right. 
I used this wiki to find most of the information about her weapons: [link]
I'm actually really surprised it wasn't longer. ~

Source: fatalcosplays

Zuko Scar Tutorial - Avatar the Last Airbender

                                                                    Source: akuserureno

L Cosplay - Death Note

 L ~ Death Note

L is a simple but fun character and can be a cheap and easy first cosplay.

Shirt- Long Sleeve White Shirt. It's as simple as that.

Pants- Again simple, jeans.

Wig- The wig is the trickiest part. You can get a short black wig and style and cut it or ebay has a lot of L wigs already styled. If you go with styling I suggest Got 2b Glued Hairspray and Gel, it lasts forever!

Makeup- Place black face paint on your finger and smear it under your eyes, then make it even.

Accessories- You can find deathnote for >$10 on eBay (pictured to the left) or make your own. If you have a friend dress them up as Light and handcuff you guys together. Special long handcuffs can be found on ebay.

Get in the Mood- Walk around slightly slouched and if you can barefoot. Eat a lot of sweets. Keep a bag of cookies close! Whenever you sit, sit like L and stare off into the distance biting your thumb often (pictured above). Hold things with two fingers and act smart.

Doctor Who Cosplay Help

I've found this guy very helpful. He basically breaks down the doctors to where you can see each part of the outfit. He also give tip on where to find stuff.

Here you can find all his projects on his Livejournal
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/

First Doctor
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/22265.html
Third Doctor
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/21831.html
Fourth Doctor
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/21419.html
Fifth Doctor
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/21170.html
Sixth Doctor
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/18617.html
Sevnth Doctor
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/18181.html
Eighth Doctor
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/17922.html
Ninth Doctor
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/15005.html
Tenth Doctor
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/14756.html
Eleventh Doctor
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/14305.html

Toph Wig Tutorial- Avatar the Last Airbender

Yeah! Toph!
Wig Tutorial.

Time to make: 45-*75 min
Price to make: $$ out of $$$$
*Toughness to make: ** out of ****

*Scaled for people with no experience with this sort of thing

Suggest Wig: Buy on Ebay - It looks better if the two wigs you buy are the same exact ones so that the shades of black aren't different.

Suggest Stuffing: Fairfield Poly-Fil Premium Polyester Fiber. Buy on Amazon

Suggested Styling Spray and Gel: Got 2b glued. This is the best stuff out there in my opinion, it will hold for years and comes out with water. Buy on Amazon- Spray  and Gel

If you have questions please ask.

Pictures with cosplay coming in the beginning of September.

Martha Jones Cosplay

So in Jun. 2012 I cosplayed as Martha. It wasn't a total fail but it was pretty bad. So I fixed it and it looked alot better in Aug. 2012 when I went to DragonCon where oddly enough there were like practically no Martha's.
So i'm going to go step by step to show you what you need and where to get it.

So lets get started. Now eBay is a lovely thing, I don't know where I'd be without it. So before you spent a hundred dollars on a jacket check eBay.

Me in a Tardis at DragonCon and me with
my friend and this David Tennant we found.

The Jacket
Now I don't know a lot about my jacket but what I do no is that it is a SIENA size four. I love this jacket, it is a very nice, very soft red leather that is perfect. Now I got this jacket for $40 on eBay from the seller linda's stuff. If your very picking and can't cosplay without it being perfect than you should probably skip eBay and go strait to abbyshot. They have a perfect replica Martha jacket for only a $100, but the downside is that it only comes in XL and XXL. Here's the link http://abbyshot.com/doctor-who/martha-jones-companion-jacket/
Another jacket that I have found is only 8 dollars more. Its from Hello Cosplay and they will tailor make it just for you. Here's the link for that http://www.hellocosplay.com/red-leather-jacket-p-1985.html?zenid=lj900s5n7rf5bng6iiudn7unt2
Your last option of course is to make one your self but it may run you just as much as you buying it.

The Shirt
Martha has a really complex shirt that I have found nowhere else. But you have two options. One - Make it. The simple way would be to just draw it on or get a close iron on. Two (which is my way) By a plain pink shirt and go with it.

The Pants

Simple - jeans. You can also add a belt if you wish.

The Shoes

Now the shoes... so I think Martha is total kick ass so I went with combat boots but to be more accurate she wears thin black or dark brown high heels, but if you're not a heel person like me get yourself some black combat boots (again eBay). The closest boots I have found are Naturalizer Black Knee High Leather Boots Trinity. Just copy the name and put into google and find the best price. I suggest search eBay as well.

Accessories

Martha wears silver hoop earrings you could get cheap at Kohls. She also wears a heart necklace but when I cosplayed as her I out a key on a rope for the season 3 finale.