The cosplay project I’m currently working on is Aloy, from Horizon Zero Dawn. I loved the game and thought that the outfits integrating bits of machine parts looked so cool.

Aloy in the shield weaver outfit

I picked the Shield Weaver outfit because it was one of my favourites in the game (I also loved the stealth and the later Banuk armour you could get). As a bonus it also has elements that let me used LED’s, something I’ve been wanting to integrate into a costume for years.

The story so far

Planning started in February, after some experimentation revealed that creating a Mandalorian cosplay out of foam was not going to produce the finish I wanted. Making foam super shiny is really difficult!

Production of the pieces started in late April with the first bits of the armour and then onto making the clothes as in the background I worked on armour templates. I’ll write a retrospective on each step that’s been completed later, but at this point I’ve made the trousers, arm covers, shoulder covers and padded front piece.

They all need their details (such as pipes and connectors), but those need painting and I don’t want to do that with all the dust flying around.

The armour construction is going well, though I’d totally underestimated how long each set of pieces would take. So far I’ve finished the the gauntlets, chest armour, spine, upper back armour, knee armour and the shoulder cover connector bits.

What’s still to go

I’m currently working on the headpiece, and once that’s complete I’ve got the emitters (x10!) and the shoulder armour to complete. The latter is going to involve a lot of trial and error as it’s the most complex piece. Once that’s done the armour is complete and I can start priming and painting. There’s a few connectors and the like that need making, but I’ll done them when it comes to assembly as it’s likely they’ll need tweaking.

On the clothing side I need to get a needle for my sewing machine to complete the sash/belt and scarf, but that’ll take no time at all. The pouches and quiver still need making too, but they’re fairly simple to do so currently sit at a lower priority. I need to measure the shoes I’ve got to figure out how much elastic I need and then can get on making the covers for them. These next few evenings could actually be good for getting them sorted as a break from the sanding!

Lastly, it’s come down to either the bow or the spear. I’d like both as have a template for the spear (Thank you Kamui Cosplay), but being an archer the bow is where my heart is at (and what I used most in the game). I’m currently making a template using a STL of the warbow and the Guerilla Games PDF cosplayers guide. Should have that finished soon, then onto the production! There’s a chance I might need to get some 10mm foam for that, I’ll see when the template is finished.

Time until Comic Con: 12 weeks!