Black Widow Begins

Bullet belt and patches arrived today!

As I am starting/well into a new costume, I thought I'd start blogging about my adventures. I still consider myself a new cosplayer, as I have only been "officially" attending conventions for a couple of years. I've been making my own costumes and props for much longer, out of whatever was available to me. I also apprenticed with a replica prop resin casting shop for a summer. Every costume I try seems to teach me something new! My projects tend to be a mix of found, crafted, and bought-from-another-artist items. 

My facebook page can be found here, with photos of my previous cosplays and lots of character shenanigans. Acting is half the fun! The other half is creating! 

 I have been ordering most of my Black Widow accessories from a variety of places. I found a custom-fitted suit on Amazon that is quite frankly, amazing. It's shocking to me that I could get something to fit my 5' curvy figure for that cheap, and have it arrive looking so good! I also lucked out on an eBay wig

I'm nowhere close to a natural redhead, and I've never wigged before. I'm pretty happy that this (unstyled at the moment) wig turned out looking so good!

Also, I am not buying boots for her this time around, as I can use my Loki boots pretty easily.

Today's packages included my drop holsters (which turned out to be tight fitting, but I think I can make them work) and rubber training guns (very cool!), as well as SHIELD patches and a very fake looking bullet belt.

I have plans for these bullets. I've heard that other Black Widow cosplayers have used them before, but had problems with them falling apart. I decided to try gluing the links in before painting them.

Hopefully, with the center ring glued, they won't be as likely to fall apart. I can still attach them together, but the bullets won't be loose in the links.

     If this works, the next step will be painting them. This is going to be interesting. I want the paint to be durable enough to wear well at con, but I can't spray paint (roommate agreement, no aerosols allowed).

Also left to do: Sew the patches on. Make the "Widow" belt. Make the utility belt. Hope the gloves arrive in time to mod them before the con (I accidentally ordered them from China). Do something with the wig so that it isn't so frizzy. Learn to do Natasha's makeup. Practice poses. Learn to speak Russian (ok maybe not, but how cool would that be?).

This is probably the most "storebought" costume I've done, and it's still a ton of work! I'm excited to see it come together though!