Cosplayed by
ShineTetsuo Shima (worn for WasabiAnime Halloween 2001)
| Planning Construction |
"Hey, Sean..." (watching Akira DVD) "Yeah?" "Who can I be for the Halloween thingy?" "I dunno. DUDE! Tetsuo just blew that thing up!" "Thanks." And thus began the Tetsuo costume. Now, there are costumes that look "ordinary", and there are costumes that don't count as cosplay. This costume would have been in the second group if not for one added factor: The Robot Arm. Note: Yes, I saw the guy who did Tetsuo at AWA. But, I didn't see him until after I did this Tetsuo costume. I did this all on my own ideas. The Tetsuo costume consisted of:
The Robot Arm was my pride and joy of this outfit. Unfortunately, it did not photograph well at all. The Arm was constructed in roughly 7 hours, 5.5 of them before the convention. The basis of the arm is a leg of black pantyhose that I cut and wore on my arm. I then spraypainted a latex glove silver and put it on. I then took duct tape and taped the glove to the pantyhose, creating a giant canvas for my insanity. Next, I gathered as many wires as I could. Luckily for me, we had (and still have) a TON of wiring laying around doing nothing, so I snipped a few multicolored yards of it and started wrapping it around strategic places, starting with my fingers. I helped my friend with his Eagle Vision costume a few days before, and we had some plastic leftover from the guantlet array. I chopped up the plastic into plates and taped those to my arm. I layered wiring under and among it, taping as I saw fit. Next, I had some cardboard laying around for no good reason, so I spraypainted it silver and attached it to the back of my hand and bicep. To finish off the costume, I pulled some of the wiring from the insulation and let it stick out everywhere, looking very chaotic. I then duct-taped the top of the arm to my skin, to add to the effect. God, it was great. |
| How it turned out | This was one of the most successful cosplays I have ever done. Everybody absolutely loved the Robot Arm, and I spent the whole night wading in and out of character.
Of course, Tetsuo's character is questionable by the time he has the arm, anyway, so... I got the "Playground (name of the dealer)" Dealer's Award (number one, for doing a rarely cosplayed character, number two, for the arm). That arm was the most comfortable costume-piece I have ever donned. EVER. When I took it off, I regretted it for weeks... partially because I was so chilly without it! It was warm, comfortable, and I could stab people with the wires/plates if they offended me! Of course, I eventually ended up jamming a glowstick in the arm (just because :P). |
| Afterward Revivals Synopsis |
Seeing as how this is one of those costumes, I usually end up wearing at least a part of it once a week. As for doing the whole costume again... I'd love to, but
the Arm has to be built ON my body-- and in order for me to remove it I had to cut it with scissors. It is currently laying out in the open, in my room, proudly displayed before my adoring public. |
