This section contains props and costumes of my own design. Contact me for commissions or rentals.
The 2 piece female fantasy armour was made exclusively from recycled beer, juice and pop cans, mostly the pull tabs. It's 100% Aluminum (no thread, tape, velcro, buckles, etc.) - 100% Recycled and Recyclable. For the male armour suit and the 1 piece female suit, I started using string & wire to make them more robust and faster for models to get into. For all, I eventually added a silicone coat inside to make them more robust and comfortable. The Alumiwear line was showcased in the Deadly Sins 2 fashion / lingerie show & at Polaris 2011 (Workmanship winner, Journeyman division). (Digital Art: Joe Diamond, Rob Emery, Michelle Renee. Models: Stephanie, Alissa, Alii, Rob Emery, Lovina & Jenessa)
I created a Steampunk Journalist with aether teletype and compact camera case (to fit around my digital camera. Broach by E. Chartier. Photo by Convoke). I also created a set of steampunk weapons, including a tasifier, nerf rifle, gatling gun and vampire rifle.
This section is for items from favourite shows/movies created just for fun. Items are not for sale or commission, and copyrights belong to their respective owners.
The duct tape Wolverine X-Men Uniform is around 90% tape (all duct / duck tape) - silver inside, black outside and clear to hold the orange string. The other 10% is foam, velcro, string, buckles, leather gloves/boots and cast resin claws. Iron Man (pic by Convoke) is bristol board and red/gold duct tape over a red body suit and ski boots. The Arc Reactor is custom made with LEDs and cast arc ring. Batman's mask, gauntlet and armour are mostly black duct tape. Wolverine was the winner of the Polaris 2010 novice division and workmanship awards, and also showcased at Fan Expo 2010 & 2011 & Dragon Con 2012. Iron Man was showcased at Fan Expo 2012. Batman was showcased at Dragon Con 2012.
The Cyberman costume (pic by Yuki, Optimus Prime by Venessa) is duct tape over bristol board, with foam for depth/shaping. A sound sensitive circuit was linked to LED's in the mouth and a keychain based voice circuit to deliver the "Delete" and "You will be upgraded" lines. I also made a Dalek out of cardboard and duct tape. The head is a salad bowl, and the eye stalk is made from pvc tube and a spherical Coke bottle. Then the two costumes merged and The Hybrid was born (pic by Christine Mak). For Jackson Lake, I added fabric paint and leather trim to a coat and carved an old awl into a "sonic" screwdriver. I also made assorted props for Doctor Who: Judoon Scanner, custom (Godzilla sound + laser + mechanical) screwdriver, Jackson Lake's screwdriver, Osterhagen (USB) Keys, Chameleon Arch and some Time Lord cufflinks. The sonic screwdriver is a conversion of the Wand Company's 11th doctor remote control to allow it to extend. I designed a Tardis to make it portable (it fits entirely in a sedan when disassembled), indoor-compatible (it fits under an 8' ceiling when assembled) but is still large enough to look full size (it's about 90% of the height of the 1980 Tom Yardley-Jones Tardis).
The Borg was my first costume. It remains one of my heaviest, even with 15 lbs already removed (Photos by Wandering Dana & FanExpo). I made the Geordi visor (modelled by Alan) from aluminum sheet and brass screen. The Goa'Uld was made of foam and other light materials making it more comfortable but still hot. For Boba Fett (pic with Lovina as Leia), I experimented with reinforced plaster (heavy) and mouldable foam (light) only to find out how brittle they both are. Goop (silicone glue) to the rescue! An outer layer on everything makes it fairly resilient despite the brittle core. The Predator (pic by ASPhotography) was made by painting in latex over a Mr.Incredible suit, plus airfoam sculpted armour, car mats and a very heavy plaster helmet. To lighten it, some pieces were replaced with Worlba molded pieces. The Borg was showcased at Fan Expo 2011, Comicon 2013 and Polaris 2011 (People's Choice award w. Deanna Troi, Edith Chartier) & 2012. The Goa'uld was showcased at Futurecon 2011. Boba Fett was showcased at Star Wars Day 2012. The Predator was showcased at FanExpo 2013.
Firefly's Malcolm Reynolds (gun/holster/suspenders) - showcased at Fan Expo & Polaris 2011, CSTS 2011 & 2012 (pic by E. Chartier). Lara Croft guns and holster (Digital Art: Joe Diamond, Model: Djulz). Piccolo was a bought item (commission) that I later modified by adding latex and thermal glue to the arms, and more fabric to the hat, belt & boots & making the pouch and gloves (pics by ASPhotography and Greg Payne). The gloves were made with air dry foam nails, dollar store gloves and latex, with some LEDs for the special beam cannon attack. Piccolo was showcased at Anime North 2013. Jedi Knight with detachable blade lightsaber - showcased at Fan Expo 2012.
When my folks radio antenna got knocked down, I welded it into a 1/2 scale Viper ( Battlestar Galactica ). I added wings, wheels and engines (water barrels) from Craigslist free stuff. The canopy & cowlings were made with new materials. I also turned my welding jacket into a pilot's uniform jacket by adding trim, buckles and shoulder patches. My Jon Snow ( Game of Thrones ) was mostly sewn together (thumbnail by Very Frank Pictures) - link picture with Tina (Melisandre) and Nicole (Daenerys). For Pete Venkman (photo by Merle Robillard), I modified the Mattel neutrino wand to sync up with the lights on a homemade proton pack. The pack was made of foam over beaverboard, with a baking tin, floppy disc case, Pringles tube, PVC pipe, wood trim, etc. Farscape's Rygel XVI was sculpted in plastilene and then latex moulded to fit onto a Yoda plush doll body (latex painted to match) to go with my John Crichton outfit (duct tape vest, leather pants, and two jackets sewn together to make the Peacekeeper jacket). Bofur was put together from a sweater and jacket, and other clothing I already had. Most of the work went into creating his hammer/axe (not in the picture) and mustache/goatee. It was used on tour in Middle Earth
From Farscape - Winona was carved into wood, and a laser pointer and LEDs were added, as well as a hidden (magnetic latch) battery compartment. It was later replaced with a more screen accurate version, and the LEDs, laser and battery compartment were added again. The holster was made of faux leather over foam and molded plastic. From Firefly - Inara's laser pistol (made from dollar store parts) and boltcaster (hardware store and dollar store parts) and Mal's Mos Bros gun and holster (Version 1 was sculpted and cast to fit around a TV remote control. Version 2 (more screen accurate) was won at a raffle and repainted, and the holster was resized to fit it.). From Star Wars - a Lightsaber with detachable light-up blade was made out of hardware store parts and a Ultimate FX blade. A dollarstore gun was refit with metal bits for a Lady Mechanika cosplay, and the holster was made from leather.
I also made a Motion Tracker (Aliens - it uses a LCD keychain with a blinking LED to drive it like slow-mo video), an Arc Reactor (Iron Man - carved and cast ring, eith LEDs for light and optional battery compartment for portability) and, from Game of Thrones, a necklace like Melisandre's and my own personal Iron Throne. For a Men In Brown (aka steampunk version of Men In Black), I made a neuralizer and steampunk goggles.
All images copyright Rob Emery