TLDR; Some last minute changes and poor planning on my part led to chaos, but the con itself went great!

Con crunch, a classic tale

Man, am I really bad at time management 😂. I started my Vax cosplay with what I thought was plenty of time to complete it without rushing, but loosing a couple of long weekends (to fun things, I have no regrets) meant that I ended up with work piling up and barely enough time to do it. I’m real glad I factored in that overflow time now!

I was also trying to get fixes for Aloy done, something I definitely should have started earlier as they did add to the chaos, switching between costumes.

Pack mule I am not

I was packed, the night before I set off for con and in front of me sat a large wheeled case, duffel bag, rucksack, camera bag and tote bag. Oh. Oh no. I need to take that all on the train.

Cue me staring dead eyed at the pile, some frantic thought, and a last minute swap of Aloy for my Rincewind. It is 11pm and I’m doing a quick wash and hoping that the cosplay is still in good enough shape.

I repacked as much as I could, ditching the tote bag and big duffel bag and hoped things would be dry in the morning (Nope, I had to use my heat gun to help dry them 😂).

Con day one

Two people in red robes and pointy hats standing next to each other. They are both dressed as Rincewind.

Skipping ahead to the Friday of the con, I was happy to find that my Rincewind cosplay was in decent shape! I spent the morning coating it in hairspray, which I’m glad to say did reduce the amount of red fluff that came off it to a manageable amount and mean I didn’t shed over everyone else like last time!

A lint roller and many, many sheets from it covered in red fluff.

The con itself was great, the weather wasn’t too hot and I was convinced to get a lightsaber (which tbf was not that difficult at all). No regrets!

My friend Ben brought his camera which means I now actually have more than a couple of grainy in con photos of my as Rincewind!

Con day two

Three people, one dressed as Vax, one as Keyleth and one as Death from Sandman looking at the camera whilst sat on a train.

Vax came out and immediately there where issues. I’d forgotten to do a few fixes the night before and it became quickly clear that the hot glue had not adhered well at all to the faux leather. I had to head to the cosplay hospital twice to get things re-glued, big thanks to the woman who I kept bothering for superglue!

Between myself, Lana (as Keyleth) and Daisy (as Vex) we had a small Vox Machina comic book group going and where able to take some good group photos, as well as participate in the big Critical Role meetup. It was way too busy to hang around for long which was a shame as I was looking forward to chatting with folks.

As we where leaving the con I did come across some very cool automated wings that convinced me to make winged Vax. Wings are cool!

A person dressed as Vax stands with arms raised up as if summoning the black feather wings behind him.

Things to take away

  • Hot glue is terrible on faux leather. Superglue is effective though, I’ll bear that in mind when working with it. Thread is by far still the most effective way of keeping it together.
  • Pack in advance to check you can fit everything in without requiring 76 bags and a team of baggage handlers.
  • Don’t leave repairs until the last minute - get them done well in advance of any con to save stress.

What’s next?

I’m hoping to get the photo’s I took edited, as well as get the ones of me in costume off Ben and the lovely photographer I was introduced to.

Next up for cons is MegaCon in Manchester at the end of July. I’ll be hopefully taking Aloy and Vax; I’ll be wearing the costumes from home to the con so don’t have to worry about packing.

Hope to see some of you there!

Time until MegaCon Manchester:
8 Weeks 1 Days