(cos)WED: Mashup! Jayne Cobb X Gears of War by BH Cosplay
Written by Riri (@lillyums)
Welcome to this week's Cosplay Wednesday! We have an interesting feature this week, with Brad from BH Cosplay showing his Jayne Cobb and Gears of War mash up cosplay. We don't get a lot of original designs or cosplays based on artwork! BH Cosplay combined his love for the Firefly series and Gears of War to create a fantastic piece of work. Check out what he had to say about it.
Cosplayer: Brad Hallock/BH Cosplay (website, FB)
Cosplay: Jayne Cobb/Gears of War Mash Up
Photographer: Brad Hallock/Gene Wang/Matt Booty
1. How long have you been cosplaying?
I've been cosplaying for about two years. I was bitten by the cosplay bug when a buddy of mine invited me to Emerald City Comicon in 2014. I put together my first basic coslpay (Jayne Cobb from Firefly). After that, I was hooked! Following ECCC 2015, I started BH Cosplay, and debuted three cosplays at ECCC 2016. Two destiny characters (Seahawk's themed hunter and titan) and my Jayne Cobb/GOW mash up.
2. Why did you choose to cosplay this character?
I love the series Firefly, and always liked the Jayne Cobb character. I wanted to do something original, so I started looking at the different mash ups I could do with Jayne. As soon as I saw a photo of the GOW Lancer, I knew that's what I wanted to do! It was fun designing the mash-up gun (Vera & the Lancer) and "tweaking" the GOW armor for Jayne.
3. How long did it take you to complete?
It took about 6 months working evenings and my days off. It was my first EVA foam armor build, so there was a lot of trial and error that took place. I learned a ton about foam fabrication, LED lighting, and 3D printing (several of the components of the gun are 3D printed original designs by me).
4. Any difficulties when constructing the costume?
Of course! I'd love to meet the cosplayer that hasn't had any difficulties during a build! I didn't like the front of the first helmet I made, so I had to tear it completely out and start again. I learned a TON about foam builds by watching videos by Evil Ted, WM Armory, and Punished Props. It took me about four tries to get the Serenity symbol on the armor looking the way i wanted, which meant scraping, re-priming, and re-applying the logo.
5. What do you love most about cosplaying this character?
Watching people's reactions when they get the mash-up. I hear people say, "cool, Gears of War!" but really enjoy hearing people talk through putting the mash-up together. They see the components of GOW and Jayne Cobb, and seeing that moment of realization is very gratifying. Plus, the boots make me about four inches taller, so its cool to be able to see over the crowd for once!
6. Where did you debut this costume? If you haven't... where do you plan to debut?
I debuted this costume at Emerald City Comicon 2016. I will also be wearing it at Lilac City Comicon 2015 and (hopefully) Rose City Comicon 2016 in September.
7. What's next? Cosplay related of course...:
That's hard to say. I'm pondering a few different things, but the one thing that is certain is it will involve EVA foam armor and LED lights! I'm also trying to put together a series of "how to" videos for beginners for costume building. I know finding these videos was a huge help for me, so I want to be able to help others the same way.
Wow this took so much time and effort and it looks great. I wish I can learn some of these techniques!
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