ORLANDO, Fla. – At MEGACON Orlando, you’ll find costumes of all kinds.
Simple costumes. Elaborate costumes. People in makeup and wigs. People in masks. People in cardboard, or hoop skirts, or skin-tight Lycra.
And then there are costumers in stilts, with electronics built into their suit, and a team of handlers for crowd control.
That’s the kind of costumer, or cosplayer, Allison Chase is.
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“For other people, it’s the being in the energy of the convention, it’s meeting other nerds, it’s being in a character and kind of a form of escapism. But for me, I just like to make stuff, I really like to make stuff, it really fun,” Chase said.
Chase says she’s been seriously cosplaying since 2016, but she was trying to do elaborate costumes as a kid.
“Halloween is a gateway craft, so before the con scene was a really big deal, I was all about Halloween costumes, doing elaborate stuff, and I was a theater major in college, so we had themed parties, and I always wanted to be really extra in those. So I guess I’ve been cosplaying or costume making my whole life,” Chase said.
But Chase really stepped up her game in 2018, when she introduced her power loader costume from the “Alien” film franchise.
“There is just something really, really amazing about being a full 2 feet taller than everyone else in the crowd. It makes you a lot easier to spot, but it also is just, it’s a really awesome feeling,” Chase said.
From their her costumes just got bigger and more elaborate. They include Appa from “Avatar The Last Airbender,” Catbus from “My Neighbor Totoro,” and Bumblebee from “Transformers.”
But her biggest was the Cart Titan from “Attack on Titan,” which was 14 feet long. She called that her “pinnacle.”
“I think if we get past this, then it’s technically a parade float and no longer a cosplay,” Chase said.
These elaborate costumes can require a trailer for transport and a team of handlers to help her get into and out of the costumes, and handle crowd control, because they also can hamper her vision.
“You’ve got to be able to walk around and keep your safety and the people around you important. So I have an amazing handler team that has gotten that down to a science," Chase said.
This year’s costume is not long, but it is elaborate. Chase broke out the stilts again for a Vault-Tec T-60 power armor from the franchise “Fallout.”
In addition to the stilts, which are actually stilts used in drywall construction, Chase’s costume is made of EVA foam, and an electrical pack that controls lights and sound effects. Chase said she couldn’t have done it without her team from the MakerFX, a makerspace in Orlando that she likens to a gym.
“You pay a monthly fee, and what you get is all of the equipment,” Chase said. “So instead of gym equipment, we’ve got a CNC router, we’ve got 3D printers, and we do classes on a 3D printer. We do classes with our laser etcher, we have a fiber laser, we have an industrial embroidery machine, we have a metal shop, we have a vacuum form, we have a PVC bender, we have all these fun tools.”
However, the most important part, in Chase’s opinion, is the community you also join, which includes people who love to learn things and love to share what they’ve learned with others.
“It’s very easy to reach out to the community and the other members and say, ‘Hey, I don’t know how to do this, who does?’ And someone will be there to teach you and collaborate.”
But you don’t need all those tools or a maker space if you want to cosplay this weekend. Becoming a cosplayer can be as simple as some cardboard, duct tape and a good coat of paint.
“Cardboard it amazing, it’s lightweight, it cheap, you can get it anywhere and you can follow a Pepakura pattern very, very easily, and if you’re worried about the seams and stuff there’s ways to cover that up with either foam clay, you could use tape to tape, and in the end, what it all comes down to is that you can cover up just about anything with a really good paint job,” Chase said.
Other things Chase suggests –a box cutter or similar knives for cutting, a hot glue gun, a heat gun, and zip ties.
The realism of a dirty costume can also sometimes help out.
“Dirt is your best friend. Add dirt, add rust, add metal, and go nuts. The dirtier it looks, the more realistic it looks. And it covers up any flaws that you have in the build,” Chase said.
For instance, the rust look in Chase’s armor is made with paint and cinnamon.
“One of my favorite secrets of creating a rust look is, once I put the rust colored paint, I just sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon. So that’s what you see all over me and my pants. And it does, it smells, I smell like cinnamon. It’s great,” Chase said.
Thrift stores are also great for costume pieces, also known as “closet cosplay.” If you can’t find something that matches exactly, you could “bound,” which involves finding clothing and accessories that match the color or style of a character’s aesthetic to give the impression of the character.
Chase remembers going to the thrift store for the first costume she remembers building as a child: a character from a Scooby Doo movie. While she remembers being upset that her costume wasn’t perfect, she says the cosplay community is more forgiving than she was in the third grade.
“People aren’t gonna judge. Whatever you want,” Chase said. “The thrift stores are an excellent resource. And you can just throw something together that’s a character you like, and it’s more of the impression of that if you don’t have the time to make something super accurate.”
MakerFX Makerspace has a room on the third floor of the convention center for people who want to learn new skills all weekend. They also host their own event, Maker Faire Orlando, in November.
MEGACON runs through Sunday at the Orange County Convention Center. Find a detailed look at everything you need to know HERE.