I misjudged this cosplay, some part of me looked at it and thought, “Sure that’s mostly fabric.” I was in fact pretty wrong. Sure, there was some fabric, but a very small amount. Rather I had unwittingly stumbled upon a much more complex cosplay than I planned, and remained in denial about it during most of the construction process. Yet I got it done, and felt pretty awesome while wearing it.
With each cosplay I undertake I like to find a new challenge and Lady Urbosa presented me with many; the combination of many materials, techniques and skills stretched many a cosplay muscle. For anyone who wants to try and create their own Gerudo champion I hope the various resources and links and documentations of my journey will be helpful!
For a visual breakdown of the cosplay head over to my YouTube video. I also have a make-up tutorial, and lastly a blueprint pattern in my store.
This cosplay would not have been possible without the amazing support of my Patrons over on Patreon.
Top
I chose to start with a fabric rather than foam base for the costume to cut down on bulk and get a better fit over my bust. The basic design is based off my trusty princess seam bodice pattern. I adjusted the back into more of a racer-back design, and of course made the whole thing a crop top. To cinch it in under the bust I also added a band of elastic. I used a matte satin dark green fabric. The bodice closes with a side separating zipper.
The designs were added by painting white cotton with Jacquard Fabric Paint in Navy, Sapphire Blue, Ruby Red and Super Opaque White. These were then appliqued to the green bodice after it was constructed, using a spray applique adhesive and zig zag stitching around the edges. I then painted the stitching with fabric paint to make sure the color would blend with the other white sections.
The edge of the bodice under the arm was finished with gold upholstery vinyl, which ended up being the MPV of the entire cosplay. I used the vinyl wherever I needed something thinner or more flexible than worbla or foam, or really when I didn’t want to have to deal with painting the final product. Painting was its own very special nightmare. The vinyl was glued directly to the edges of the bodice, sandwiching the raw seam in between the strips. In the center front, I sewed a pin tuck in the vinyl to give it the central line and glued it directly to the fabric with hot glue, same in the center back.
With the fabric in place it was time to add the armor. The pieces were drafted by wrapping the bodice in cling film, and taping it to create a form. The pieces were then drawn on, and cut out to give each of the individual sections at the correct size. There is now a handy blueprint to save you some work!
The armor was all made using the same technique, a base of EVA foam wrapped in worbla, when there was a raised section it was a double layer of EVA foam prior to being wrapped in worbla. For the most part I used wrapping, for a few pieces I would use sandwiching because front and back would be visible.
After this they were sealed using Rosco Flexbond, I did 2 to 3 coats to smooth the surface of the worbla and help the paint adhere. Next they were spray painted gold with Montana Goldchome spray paint, and detailed with Rub ‘n Buff in Antique Gold and Autumn Gold. The Autumn Gold was used to create the shadows in the crevices and at the edges. I chose to use a rosier gold rather than a dark gold because I wanted to maintain the clean and bright look from the game, but still add dimension. I found the gold chrome spray paint difficult to seal while maintaining its shine, so I don’t actually recommend using it, you might have better luck with the non-chrome gold. I ended up covering almost all of the spray paint with the rub n buff, so you could probably skip that part. The paint was then sealed using UV clear coat Golden Gloss UV Topcoat.
The neck section is made of several individual pieces connected together by strips of twill tape glued to the back side, same for the under-bust band. Keeping them individual pieces gives more motion and flexibility. The, what I like to call “booble-u” is connected to two of the top sections and two of the bottom sections as well as the central flower, making all of those one single piece. The armor was then glued directly to the bodice using E6000.
Bottom
The base of the skirt was made using blue satin. I gathered waistband, but I would recommend cutting a half or three-quarters circle skirt instead, as it will give a better flow to the garment that can be seen in her concept art. The waist band was attached to a length of 1 inch twill tape to add structure, it snaps together with a single snap in the front. In case of unintended snap opening, I also added a section of elastic sewed to the twill tape.
The Naboris design on the bottom of the skirt was painted using the Super Opaque white fabric paint, after I made a stencil for the design in illustrator. You can grab the Naboris pattern (and other champions) as part of the blueprint or in this post. I used blue painters tape to section off triangles of the same side and painted those as well. The stripe was done with white bias tape. I would recommend instead of fabric paint to use an iron on vinyl transfer such as Cricut transfer.
The gold ovals on the skirt were made out of the upholstery vinyl, the red ovals were red painted cotton to match with the other red fabrics on the cosplay. The small gold circles were made using brads, the things that are used to make spinners and such. These were glued together and then the top half was glued to the skirt in an alternating pattern, by only partially gluing the circles they still retained some movement.
The belt sections were made by making a master out of sculpy, then a flat back silicone mold (watch my tutorial here), and were then cast in polyurethane. I used 11 in total on my skirt, you may need to adjust for the size around your hips. The paint job on the sections was the same as all the other armor components. Each piece was then glued directly to the skirt waistband using E6000, leaving a gap about the size of one section, where the skirt opens and closes
The gap is covered by… The belt? Is it a belt, that seems to be the best way to describe it. The belt has two sections, the quite belt like portion and the big ol’ face buckle thing.
The belt was made out of red matte satin, with interfacing between the two layers to add structure. The belt shape is curved so that it slings low in the back below the gold sections and peaks upwards right where the skirt closes. The detailing was added with the gold upholstery vinyl and green matte satin, hot glued directly to the fabric. The belt closes with two snaps, with an additional third snap to attach it to the skirt so it doesn’t shift while being worn.
The top section of the face buckle is made of EVA foam wrapped in worbla. The materials were formed over a polystyrene sphere, with the raised sections being two layers of EVA foam, before being sandwiched in the worbla. The frills below are also EVA foam wrapped in worbla and attached directly to face section using worbla’s stickiness, prior to painting. Red acrylic paint was used for the face sections, the rest painted in the same way as the other armor sections.
The bottom portion or “gladiator flaps” are made out of gold upholstery vinyl and fabric. The Vinyl sandwiches fabric, red matte satin for the top portion and white cotton painted with fabric paint to match the bodice. The three layers are glued together using hot glue. The small baubles on the bottom were sculpted using model magic clay, painted and glued directly to the flaps. To keep more motion the flaps are glued only about a third of the way down, and glued directly to the top face.
The whole thing has a strap with snaps in the back that snaps around the belt and skirt waistband to keep it in place.
Accessories
The arm fins (one again for want of a better name), were made by sandwiching EVA foam in worbla, again the raised details were two layers of EVA foam. This was then molded and heat formed into shape, and the little bubbles on the bottom were made with worbla. The gold sections were painted like the rest of the armor. The Inner section was done in the same way as the bodice, painted white cotton appliqued to green matte satin, this was glued directly onto the worbla using the Flexbond.
The straps were made out of a tube of upholstery vinyl with elastic inside. D-rings and worbla strips were used to attach the straps to the fins.
The shoes were based off a pair of stilettos with a pointed toe that I found at a thrift store. I wrapped the shoes while wearing them with cling film and tape and drew on the pattern lines for the shoe and for the ankle strap. I then glued green matte satin directly to the shoe, creating a clean edge by cutting off the excess with an Exacto knife. The toes were gold upholstery vinyl glued on top, they needed to have a small notch cut out at the toe to curve the top properly.
The ankle strap was two layers of matte satin sewed and turned to give clean edges. The strap is glued on one side to the back of the shoe, and velcros on the other side. To affix the velcro I sewed it to twill tape and then hot glued it in place.
The ankle wings are a strip of ¼ inch EVA foam, wrapped in the green matte satin, with a Velcro closure on the inside of the ankle. The wing portion is a base of eva foam, this is attached by a post of worbla that sticks through the foam anklet and opens to a t-shape on the inside, which is then glued in place to keep the wings perpendicular. The EVA foam is then covered on both sides with the matte satin and painted cotton, with the edges finished with the gold upholstery vinyl.
There were a number of small gold rings for the costume, these were purchased. One ring was modified by adding a red cabochon jewel and a gold painted worbla edging.
The earrings are a sandwich of the gold upholstery vinyl and red matte satin fabric. The fabrics were sandwich around large gold hoop earrings, which also served to give a way to wear the earrings.
Wig and Make Up
The base of the wig is a bun wig made from the Maki wig in Scarlet Red from Anime Stuff Store. I pulled the wig back in sections into a high bun, and used additional wefts sewed at the base and on the edges to cover the wefts on the base wig that were made visible. I kept the front section as bangs and parted them far to the left. Over the ears I cut shorted locks of hair to go in front of the ears and help cover up my natural hair sideburns. If you don’t want to style your own bun check out the Jeannine or Jasmine wigs from Arda.
The pony tail portion was based off a ponytail clip wig, which I backcombed the heck out of to give it a lot of volume. I then covered the rats nest in another set of long wefts to smooth out the appearance. This then clips to the front of the bun, giving some extra bump. The pony-tail tie is made of gold elastic, worbla painted gold and a large green rhinestone embedded in the worbla.
The tiara is made from a ring of 3mm EVA foam covered in matte green fabric with baubles made of painted worbla and edges finished in the gold vinyl. The tiara sits around the ponytail, whose volume seems to keep it in place pretty well.
The circlet is made from a strip of the upholstery vinyl, with elastic in the back to keep it a close fit, it sits under all the wigs. The central section is made out of EVA foam that has been scored and heated to open the scoring lines up more, it was then painted gold. The gen is a red cabochon rhinestones.
For the make-up check out my video tutorial! I painted my nails blue, and used the Aradani Costumes Wild Elf ears.
