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Monarch Henchman Cosplay Accessories

March 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

You may be a henchman but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look sharp! As a future member of the Mighty Monarch’s minions, this mask and belt set can help finish off your costume and have you looking like a professional henchman. From Cinemastery Studios comes Venture Bros. inspired cosplay accessories!

HENCHAMAN COSPLAY MASK
Vacuum formed High Impact Polystyrene painted sunbeam yellow with attached elastic. The lenses are 1/8th inch thick red acrylic and heat formed to give that extra cartoony depth. The acrylic provides less blurring or visual distortion than craft store acetate or painted lenses. The inside of the mask is lined with yellow felt for added wearability (comfort).

HENCHMAN COSPLAY BELT
1.5 inch wide yellow nylon webbing and belts come between 42″ and 46″ in length (trim off excess but leave enough for tucking behind the ammo pouch.

HENCHMAN COSPLAY BUCKLE
The butterfly emblem is solid resin painted and attached to D rings, so with this belt and buckle set it actually works like a real belt.

HENCHMAN COSPLAY POUCH
Gold yellow canvas 2X5X7. Perfectly sized for wallets, smart phones, convention badges, and pocket cameras. A single snap to open and close.



» Buy Monarch Henchman Cosplay Mask and Belt Set


For more information on Cinemastery Studios and a full shop listing, visit etsy.com/shop/cinemasterystudios

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Dr. Venture Cosplay Tutorial

December 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

So you inherited a company with a vast facility which includes a laboratory, factory and even a bio-sphere but the one thing you didn’t inherit is good fashion sense. As honorary doctor Thaddeus “Rusty” Venture a lot has fallen onto your narrow sloping shoulders but as a cosplayer for Dr. Venture you aren’t faced with the same burden. What is likely one of the most user friendly costumes from Venture Bros. let’s get you fitted for that speedsuit.

COSPLAY BREAKDOWN

  • Bald cap or naturally bald head
  • Eye Glasses
  • Rust colored chin beard
  • Speed suit (Mauve or Salmon colored for seasons 1-3. Sky blue for season 4)
  • Communicator wrist watch
  • Brown leather ankle boots

Bald cap/lack of hair
Rusty lost most of his hair in his 20′s and for a while attempted the obvious “I’m losing my hair so let me over compensate by growing what’s left as long as possible”. Still He lost that battle and finally came to the wiser determination to shave the remainder of his hair off. So for the standard Dr. Venture you’ll need to become silky smooth. A latex bald cap and spirit gum can hide your hair but let me make this recommendation now: Buy more than 1 bald cap. Try it on and pull all the edges well past your hairline, attempting to get the cap as taunt as possible. Trim off the excess but do so in stages so that you don’t cut more than needed. When you go to glue the edges down think of this part like a marathon and not a sprint. Glue 1 section down and let it thoroughly dry, say the forehead. Then once dry pull the cap taunt and glue the neckline down. Since the latex of the cap will be under tension you may have to hold the cap in place until the spirit gum sets. Then repeat for the left and right side. Now if you’re a master make-up artist you’ll be able to blend the store bought bald cap into your own flesh with liquid latex or other prosthetic cosmetic adhesives. Now if you’re already “follicly” challenged then the best thing to so do is shave the rest off. That’s hardcore and committed AND if you do it with a pink handled “Daisy” razor then you are so much more authentic than a bald cap user.

Eye Glasses
Check Thrift stores for some but be warned you’ll probably need to remove the lenses since they’ll be the previous owner’s prescription and will probably make you go cross eyed. The ear pieces and upper frame are black plastic with the silver rivets exposed on the front side. The under frame an be silver wire or all black. You have a lot of flexibility here so even wayfarers would work.

Beard
In a style that harkens back to Sigmund Freud, Rusty sports a chin beard. Probably the most trouble you’ll have is finding a red colored theatrical beard but look online. There are many sets being sold which come with mustaches and small chin beards. Alternatives are craft foam, cardboard, duct tape or even a drawn on beard with colored pencil or paint. If you use an artificial beard have spirit gum handy, clean and dry the area well first then liberally apply the spirit gum and press and hold firmly on the beard. Hold it for 3-5 minutes, be patient because the spirit gum works well just not fast.

Speedsuit
Probably the funniest single piece of clothing from the series we literally mean “single” piece of clothing. The show has sparked new interest in a style that died with the first re-runs of Three’s Company. The synthetic clothes of the 70′s introduced people to wrinkle free wear and while we were being all convenient someone thought the coveralls our mechanics wore didn’t just belong to them or our lazy grandfathers who didn’t want to worry about coordinating shirts and pants thus was the birth of the speed suit. In seasons 1-3 Rusty routinely wears a mauve colored speed suit with a white adjustable belt. That is an uncommon color in coveralls or speed suits but some folks have begun providing just that color. An alternative is buying a set of coveralls in a light color and stripping the color with a sink or washing machine full or deluded bleach. Do not over bleach and before you attempt the next step wash the coveralls and dry them. Then purchase pink dye and follow the fabric dye’s instructions. The pink added to the probably remaining bit of color on the coveralls will likely make the dull mauve we see in the show. For Rusty in his “Venture Blues” life is easier. Short sleeved coveralls by red cap can be found for an average of $35 + shipping. Rusty still likes to wear a belt with his Venture blues and since that’s the official work wear for Venture Industries it also features the embroidered V-globe logo on the left front pocket as well as an embroidered name tag (black fabric with white border and stitching). Your methods for those embellishments can be draw them on, use t-shirt iron-ons or transfers, or have an embroidery shop do them professionally. The last method may cost you as much as $40. From personal experience sew the name tag on about 1.5 inches above the pocket. Otherwise the pocket protector covers it.

Communicator Watch
Again this prop can be on 2 very opposite ends of the spectrum depending on your budget and skill level. You can make it from paper craft or you can use Sculpey or you can modify a wrist watch cell phone. Research online and see what others have done. Budget both your time and money and see what you can attempt to make if both things permit. Rusty’s watch band varies from Brock and the boys. Rusty uses an elastic metal band.

Boots
Yet another throw back to fashion of yesteryear the brown, Italian leather ankle boot belongs with “Our man Flint”. Shop online or check your local thrift stores. Take your time and find some that fit well and preferably have a working zippers. Some were slip-on styled so be sure the elastic hasn’t died.

So suit up, then slouch and look aggravated. That’s it! You’re Dr. Venture.



Written by Johnny Havoc, Venture Bros. Cosplay

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Monarch Henchman Hoodie by Cinemastery Studios

December 3, 2011 By 1 Comment

When you are a minion to the Mighty Monarch you’re never truly off duty. Be ready for action any time with this light weight signature hoodie. Pullover style with elastic cuffs and waist, draw string hood and attached antenna and mask. The lenses of mask are made from transparent red vinyl so there is virtually no visual distortion. Is it a hoodie or is it a costume? it won’t matter because now you can attend that party, convention or arching and be comfortable all while showing your great taste. Hench-4-Life

Similar styled hoodies by Ecko go for $60-$200 but now to help get everyone excited about these unique Venture Bros apparel all sizes are only $35 plus shipping!

*Note* Large was used in the photos shown and the individual seen is 6′ and 167 lbs. So smalls and XS would be meant more for children or those with petite figures.

Email what size you’d like. Sorry no XXL, XXXL or XXXXL at this time, sorry 21.

» Buy Monarch Henchman Hoodie by Cinemastery Studios on Etsy





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Molotov Cocktease Cosplay Tutorial

November 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Iron curtain has fallen but not all Soviets are ready to reveal their secrets. This certainly holds true for the angelic assassin turned mercenary Molotov Coqtiz (Cocktease, we’re not afraid to say it). Still she can keep her secrets on a great number of things but some crafty Venture Brothers cosplayers have unraveled Mol’s secret to her slinky, sprayed on cat suit.

Joanie Mars, cosplayer of characters spanning multiple universes is also a huge Venture Bros. fan. Joanie’s translation of Molotov has earned her own fans so there is something to be said when the fans have fans. Start this costume out like all costumes, do your research, watch the show, take notes or better yet get screen captures of Molotov in action. Sure there may be plenty of images on the internet but they may not have all the angles you need OR give you the ability to scrutinize all the details.

THE BREAKDOWN

  • Red hair – Straight and parted over the right eye
  • Eye patch – Heart shaped and used on the left eye
  • Black Body Suit – With a deep revealing V in the front and even more revealing V in the back
  • Holsters – belt and straps. A dark red to maroon color
  • Gloves – Nearly elbow length and matching the straps and holsters
  • Boots – Almost knee high with stiletto heels and again matching the gloves and straps
  • Weapons – Kitana, C-96 broomhandled pistol, mini-Uzi, dagger



Bodysuit: The quick and easy method: Buy a black lycra/spandex bodysuit in your size then apply the relevant directions below for creating the front and back V’s. With the suit on she measured her body and drew a line from her collar down to just about her pantyline for the front V. In the case of the rear V she made the depth of that one slightly longer than the front. This is to reveal the more cheeky aspect to Molotov.Then following that line she cut straight down almost like making the opening incision in an autopsy. It’s crucially important though that when cutting the V’s to NOT cut a lot of material on your first go around. A single cut straight down will make the stretch material expand outward. From there then you can adjust and gently remove more bits of material as needed. Leave yourself plenty of material so that you can hem those cuts under. She left approximately ¼ inch hem allowance for the front and rear V’s but remember this is stretch material and stretching it too much while sewing will distort the finished product so give yourself enough hem material for you to be comfortable with. In this occasion Joanie created the bodysuit from a neoprene/spandex blend. She wanted something thicker and shiny. The neoprene is a rubbery material often found in wetsuits and gaskets. To make the waist and small of the back even more curvy she added darts (no fellas not the kind of darts you find in bars) to take in more of the fabric and make it more form fitting. Ladies who have worn these bodysuits will know that the material likes to stretch in the straightest most direct lines between points of tension. In this case that would be from the butt to the shoulder blades. Adding the darts forces the material to following the back.

Holsters: Here is a word of wisdom from an experienced cosplayer, Joanie recommends first acquiring your props for the holsters or sheathes. You have any number of weapons you can use but analyzing the show Mol frequently has; a hunting style knife or dagger, a C-96 broomhandle pistol, a mini-Uzi like in “Assassinanny 911” and a Samurai sword. The props, specifically the sword, knife and C-96 all have holsters or sheaths. Using the same stretch vinyl as what you’ll need for the gloveswrap the weapons and measure enough material to cover each with some extra for the seams to be folded and hemmed. Then a thicker, stiffer material can be acquired to act as the rigid portions in a holster which maintain the holster’s shape. This material should be cut out to match the outer red vinyl. So you have 2 materials cut to the same shape. The inner thick material should be sewn to one side of the red stretch vinyl. Now instead of 2 matching patterns you’d have one single piece with thick vinyl on one side and the red stretch material on the other.Then enclosing the thicker material the holster or scabbard would be folded over and sewn shut so that the red stretch material would appear on the outside. The holster straps are made from the red vinyl. One method would be to take lengths longer than what you know you’ll need and fold them over until you have nice uniform edges. For instance the thigh strap for the holster can start as a piece of fabric 20” long by 4” wide. Then create folds on the 4” side, one coming down 1.25” inches and one coming up 1.25” (you lose a partial inch in the bend of the fold). That means you have a 20” length of red stretch material that is only about 1.25-1.35 inches tall but is 3 layers thick. Then sew down the folds to have nice professional edges. You can then wrap that piece around your leg and check the length, cutting off any excess. You will have to employ a method similar to this for each of the straps, the belt and parts of the holster. Some straps, like the ones for the knife which goes on Mol’s arm can be narrower than 1.25 inches so keep your sewing pins handy and adjust the widths to meet your own aesthetic tastes. For the belt again the same matching red was used but rather than just folding it over again a more supportive material was inserted (like the holsters) and used as a partial spine so that the belt wouldn’t be flimsy.

Gloves: Get 3 yards of materials so that you can make the holsters and gloves all from the same material. With the gloves Joanie also made those from scratch. Place out you hand and arm spreading your fingers onto a large sheet of paper, or sheets of paper taped together to accommodate your hand and arm with enough extra space so that you can trace. Then trace out your hand and arm, if you are a good freehand artist you can automatically just draw and image of your arm and hand about ½ – ¾ of an inch away from your fingers and arm. If you directly traced your arm then you should now create a duplicate tracing but make it outside that first tracing and again set it ½ -3/4 of an inch away from the original tracing. Why so far out? This is the extra material you’ll need to both wrap your hand AND have enough to sew to. Now for the thumb specifically, imagine where your life line is on your palm. That long curved line which isolates your thumb from your hand. Mimic that on your drawing and then when you go to cut out your traced hand and arm be sure to also remove the thumb cutting along that imaginary life line. With you paper pattern made trace it out four times onto your red stretch vinyl. Be sure you have two sets facing each direction otherwise you might end up with 2 left gloves or 2 right gloves. It helps prevent confusion if you cut these individually as in thinking to yourself “this is the left hand… and this is the right hand”. Now you should have four pieces of material cut resembling 4 fingered hands and partial arms. With the facial side, the side you want to be seen, facing toward each other and all the fingers and arm sections line up between sewing the outer edge of your glove. Follow around the edges and be sure to back stitch and reinforce between the fingers and wrists. Since these areas bend the most on our hands the gloves will have the most stretch and wear here.

Boots: Mol’s boots can be bought ready to go but if you have the chance you might want to bring a sample of the glove material with you as you shop for the boots. That way you can try and get the best color match possible. If you’re shopping online then you’re at the mercy of the color of the screen and accuracy of color correction of the camera that took the sample photos. Still there are plenty of boots out there that will work.



Written by John McDonald with Joanie Mars, Venture Bros. Cosplay

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Brock Samson Cosplay Tutorial

November 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you’re looking to start in costumed aggression, there’s no more appropriate Venture Bros. cosplay than Brock Samson. We’re going to focus on the original Brock outfit here, a costume you can create purely off-the-rack, which is great for beginners. There will be small creative suggestions on some items, but not in detail since the focus of this tutorial is ready-made costuming. As easy as this will be to put together, this is not an outfit to be worn casually, you’ll need to adapt the Swedish Murder Machine mentality to sell it. We recommend getting your OSI License to Kill first, click the link below for that. What? You didn’t think portraying Brock F-ing Samson was going to be that simple, right? Oh, you did. Well then, let’s get your training started. You can’t rock this if you’re as soft as a wad of cookie dough.

» Click to get Brock Samson’s OSI License to Kill

List of Items Needed:

1-Penguin Shirt
2-Green Pants
3-White Slide Shoes
4-Mullet & Sideburns
5-White Belt
6-Bowie Knife

THE COSTUME BREAKDOWN

Penguin Shirt: This can be found at several major retailers and on the web. The key to finding this polo is that the style is called ‘The Earl’, don’t just type in Penguin Polo or you’ll sift through everything else made by the brand. You want the solid black with the white trim. They run around $60 retail, but are sometimes found for less on sale or sites like eBay.

*Additionally, if you’re down with crafting, you can modify a far cheaper black polo. You’ll just have to add the white trim on the sleeve cuffs, around the collar edge, and outlining the chest button placket. This can be done through a variety of ways: sewing white cloth or bias tape to the shirt, masking off the lines with tape & using many layers of fabric paint, or cutting down iron-on fabric tape(comes in a one inch width) and applying that to the edges. All the products for those options can be purchased at a local fabric store or Jo-ann’s, just ask a salesperson where to find them.

Green Pants: I would recommend green khakis for this one, they’ll have the look and the bonus of comfort. Finding ones the pea pod shade that Brock wears is the tricky part, but you can fall back on the traditional army green if you cannot.

If you’re going for accuracy and want the ‘split pea soup’ green, you can always create your own. You can either procure fabric and sew pants, or purchase white ones and dye them. If you go the dyeing route, RIT liquid dye is best for mixing and easier than the dry. Also, RIT has an amazing color formula chart on their website to help you know what to buy to make the shade you desire. The formula I recommend is #41 under the Yellow-Green chart, #263 if you want a lighter look or depending on the material. Read all the fabric recommendations and dyeing advice on the site before starting, dyeing can be full of surprising results without proper preparations.

White Shoes: Brock wears a white loafer/slide shoe. These can be found all over for very little in a canvas material. If you want leather or the look of such, you’ll have to fork out more and they’ll be more accessible in internet stores.

*Crafters can always find used slide shoes at a Goodwill or thrift store and add white fabric paint(Tulip brand matte sheen) to get the right color on a leather or synthetic pair. Just be sure to clean the shoes thoroughly with rubbing alcohol before applying paint. It should take 3-4 thin layers to get a solid coat. A sponge tip brush will give the smoothest application; they are sold in packs in dollar, hardware, and craft stores.

Murderous Mullet: To achieve Brock in all his glory, a luscious mane of blonde hair will be the cherry on top. If you cannot find a proper mullet wig easily, a curly shoulder length ladies one will do. Then you can just trim back the sides to get the right ‘business in front/party in the back’ appearance only this hairstyle can channel. You can try costume stores or places like Party City for basic ones, a wig store if you want to go higher end in quality and pricing. Also, don’t forget the fake sideburns! The best way to apply those babies is with a magical product called Spirit Glue. Pick up the pack that carries the remover in it as well. This retails around $6 at most costume/party stores.

White Belt: Do not confuse Samson with the average hipster, he donned a white belt before any of them were even born. This should be an easy find and his is plain with a silver rectangular buckle. You can go the leather/synthetic route, but it will probably come with an open buckle face instead. Brock’s belt looks to be the fabric variety with the solid steel slide buckle-which is a military style.

*Having trouble finding the right white belt? Purchase a proper black one and use about 4 layers of Tulip matte fabric paint to turn it white.

Bowie Knife: There’s two ways you can go with this, the real route or the toy one. A prop is best since you can carry it unsheathed, pose with it in your mouth and a violent twinkle in your eye, and generally be less likely to dismember anyone accidentally. This is typically called a Bowie (I half wonder if  Doc Hammer chose it out of his sheer love for David) or a survival knife. It is common so it can be found in costume and even some toy stores. Online will give you a broader selection in style and price. Some may choose the real thing since they come in the same price range, but you will be limited to keeping it in its holster. Conventions have a weapons policy and true ones must be ‘peace-bonded’ at all times. If you go the holstered route, make sure it sits in a golden brown leather look one.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Muscles: If you’re not built with a similar physique as Brock, one way you can fake it is with a classic ‘muscle shirt’. Many costumers carry these, it’s a shirt padded just so, so that when worn under his Penguin Polo, it’ll give the bulk you’re looking for.

Communicator Watch: Since this is a pure from scratch item, it doesn’t fall under the parameters for this tutorial.  We’ll have a step-by-step guide for one coming soon, so check back!

Written by Susan Blix, Venture Bros. Cosplay

Discuss this story in our Venture Forums! Follow @VentureBrosBlog on Twitter and be sure to “LIKE” us on Facebook for the latest Venture Bros. news!

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