Still Alive!

For the record, yes I'm still around. As previously mentioned I tend to lose interest in things rather quickly so this blog was kind of abandoned.

I ran out of time for the scale mail before the convention so the costume was incomplete. I wore it anyway and I still got a lot of very nice comments on it which was definitely a boost.

I sort of dropped it after the convention but I've recently picked it back up and I'm working again. I have new ideas for it which I am once again very excited about. The scale mail is working rather well, but seeing as it's my first time working with it I'm having a little bit of trouble working out the sleeves. I have found a few websites that seem to have guides so hopefully this is just a minor speed bump.

I don't have any plans to attend any conventions yet this year but I still want to finish this thing. One of my friends is trying to convince me to make the investment in ComicCon for next year, but we'll see.

Cheers!

Good News, Bad News

Yeah, it's been a while. Far too long.

Good News:

I found boots! I was looking for something a little bit "piratey" and believe or not my mom was actually the one who spotted them. Plus they were on sale. Also, I found gloves that are the same colour as my pants which is just awesome. Green gloves are probably the hardest thing to find. Those and gold belts. There are all sorts of women's fashion belts that are really thin and gold, but I needed something a little thicker. Found one in Macy's when I was in the States a few weeks ago. I just need to add the Aquaman insignia.

Bad News:

I have run out of scale mail materials, and I am only done about half of the vest. I have already ordered more and should be receiving them some time next week. My convention is next weekend however, so I am concerned that I won't make my deadline.

Things I still have to do include finishing the vest, and building the trident. I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with that. If I have time and get board I might step into armour territory. I was considering making a shoulder plate that looks like it's make out of a conch shell, but I am lazy and I procrastinate so I really don't have enough time for that.

In other news, The Expendables 2 came out yesterday. I still haven't watched it. As fans of the movie will be aware, Liam Hemsworth (Thor's little brother) is in this one. I think that they signed the wrong Hemsworth. Come to think of it, they signed the wrong Liam too. Liam Neeson should be in this movie.

Then again, you could just make a movie in which Liam Neeson plays every role and I would still pay buckets of money to watch it.

We're Men In Tight TIGHT Tights.

I think that what Aquaman really needs is the good ol' Hollywood treatment. Aquaman needs a movie. I know that there is one in talks right now (how could there not be with the current superhero film craze?) and "They" are planning a Justice League film which could be pretty awesome. I DO NOT think that they should attempt an "Aquaman origin story" movie though because quite honestly, it would be boring. They need to throw an audience into the world of Atlantis and show us an Aquaman that has already been seasoned by the battles below land. He should fight for his son, or maybe to regain his place on the throne after his exile.


Dear Hollywood,
I WILL WRITE THIS SCREENPLAY FOR FREE IF YOU PROMISE TO PRODUCE IT!!!


As for who would play our beloved Arthur Curry, I don't know why but Armie Hammer (The Social Network) continuously comes to mind. I believe that he could play a wonderfully hotheaded King of Atlantis. As for Mera: Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) anyone? Or perhaps Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler)? I have put too much thought into this...

I bought pants. They are green. They are NOT tights, regardless of what the title of this post may lead you to believe. They were also fantastically cheap. By which I mean about $30. That's fantastic. I'll be sure to post a picture of my pants eventually, just not today because I don't feel like it. Also my phone is dead and I can't find the USB cord for my camera so I don't have any way to actually do so.

I'm going on a road trip with my parents this coming weekend.  I'm still working on the armor, and I have nearly mastered the skill of weaving it in a moving vehicle, so I have the entire trip to frustrate my folks with the endless clinking of aluminum scales. I have about 2.5 square feet of the fabric now, awesome.

If and when they make that movie I will be there in costume, goddammit!

My Mother Disapproves, BY THE WAY.

I know I haven't been updating, shame on me. I'm busy, alright!?

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell.

It's a slow going process. Still working on the scale mail, and I haven't made enough progress to warrant new pictures. I'm surprising myself at my own patience. I think I would usually have lost interest by now, but I'm still going.

I've started looking for pants. Do you know how difficult it is to find green pants that are not suffocating hipster jeans? The Con I'm going to is at the end of August, and so far this summer has been HOT HOTHOTHOTHOT. I have to wear something that is tighter than what I'm used to because our Aquatic friend pretty much wears tights. It will probably be uncomfortable. I've decided that I'm okay with that. Sacrifices must be made.

I showed my Dad what I've been working on. He thought it was awesome. Thanks Dad, it sure is.

My Mother, on the other hand just sort of looked at it (the scale mail fabric) with a less-than-excited look on her face. She wanted to know how much it cost. I'M PRETTY FRUGAL WITH MY MONEY, MOM! I CAN DO WHAT I WANT!

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell... again.

I'm not mad, but I thought that she'd be more enthusiastic seeing as she was the Drama student in University. Everyone has hobbies. It's not that she is upset or anything, just... uninterested. I had to go through and explain who Aquaman was to her. She literally had never heard of him before.

WHAT? HOW? BUT HE- ...JUSTICE LEAGUE??

After I explained the character to her she was a little more impressed. Maybe when she sees the finished product it'll at least put a smile on her face.

Also, did you know Aquaman had a video game back in 2003? Because I DIDN'T. Apparently it was terrible, which sounds about right. Here is an awesome video review of it.





I still want to play it though.

I Honestly Have No Idea What I'm Doing.

I am making progress with the armor. I have made a patch, look!

I'm not modest enough to not admit that I'm proud of it. It's small but I'm getting somewhere. My next concern is how to actually form this into a vest. I'm no tailor, so my knowledge of clothing construction is low. I've been looking at pictures of finished projects and sort of going by eye to estimate how much of this scale fabric I'm going to need. This is probably a bad decision.

Oh well.

I also bought an Air Swimmer online. Those are those inflatable remote controlled fish. They swim through the air. I bought it at ShopAtShowcaseCanada.com. I decided on the shark. Well, I didn't decide on the shark, their stock availability decided for me but I'm still happy. I'm not sure if the Con will be absolutely okay with it, but I figure it's worth a shot. I think it'd be fun to see Aquaman walking around with a pet shark swimming through the air, don't you? My friend thinks I should name the shark Arthur. I told him that was stupid.

Obviously I'm going to call him Henry.

HE'S A HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMAN!?

So the scale mail is going better than expected. When I say that, I mean that I don't hate it yet, which I'll take as a positive sign. Here is a sample:

I suppose that I should mention that I'm not going for a traditional Aquaman. I'm going for a slightly more pirate-y version. It looks really cool in my head, but we all know how these things tend to actually work out. I still have high hopes.

I have been watching Smallville and I'm surprised to find myself enjoying it as much as I am. I'm not and never have been a big fan of Superman, but the show has its merits. I particularly enjoy its nostalgic soundtrack; I'm pretty sure that I recognize every song. I have a couple of issues with the show, however:

1. HE'S 14!? SERIOUSLY!? And it's not just him, all of his friends must be at least 20. I could've maybe believed 17 or maaaaybe 16, but 14 pushed it right over the edge. Considering Tom Welling reportedly turned down the role twice before donning the cape, the producers has plenty of time to consider someone who at least looked a little younger.

2. If Superman's weakness to Kryptonite is blocked by lead (which I didn't know before) why doesn't he wear a lead suit? It wouldn't have to be thick. Any kind of lead-based armor would do. And for those of you who immediately thought: "it'd be too heavy" kindly place your palm on your face because you just realized that "too heavy" does not apply to SUPERMAN.

3. I hate Lana Lang.

Also I finally saw the Man of Steel trailer at work yesterday, and even though my opinion of Superman is lukewarm at best, I'm still SUPER excited to see it.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

SUPER excited! Get it? Aha aha ...ahem.

Remember What I Said About "Ridiculously Complex Projects"?

I know I am late at updating this thing but I've been busy. I work at a movie theatre, and unless you live under a rock you'll know that The Dark Knight Rises comes out this weekend. I've been busy. I have spent 44 of the last 72 hours at my workplace. Granted, 8 of those hours were watching the Batman marathon (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises), but still.

By the way, TDKR was fantastic. Now back to work.

So Aquaman wears Atlantean scale mail (which is why he wears orange, that's just the way it is) so I'm going to make some scale mail. I bought my materials off of TheRingLord.com and it arrived surprisingly fast. As I've said, I have very little personal experience in any sort of costume making, so scale mail is quite ambitious.

In case you don't know, scale mail is very similar to chail mail, except that it has - well - scales.  It apparently takes a lot of patience, so this will be interesting because I am desperately low in that quality. I'm going to start by splitting the rings so that I can just go through and put the scales together quicker. I have a little setup at my computer desk and I'm using coffee cups to separate the finished rings from the unfinished ones.

One of my friends keeps telling me that I should watch Smallville, so I think I might do that while I work.