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CosBlog #2: Zora Armor Link Variant by Renee Britton

by Meagan Marie on Oct 07, 2009 at 06:27 AM

Fanboys (and girls) are a special breed in the gaming world. With their zealous enthusiasm they single-handedly have the ability to make or break games, breathe life back into flailing franchises and (if they use their powers for evil) start flame wars across the Internet. Their undying devotion for a developer, game or character has spawned web-rings, epic works of art and the desire to participate in the ultimate fan tribute—cosplay. This weekly blog highlights some of the best cosplay found around the net. These fans put their blood, sweat and tears into their work, and it shows.

Miss CosBlog #1? Check it out here.

Who: The Character
Zora Armor Link Variant from The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess

Why: The Decision
I have been a Zelda fan ever since I could hold a controller in my hand. Zelda games have grown up with me and so has my love for the characters. Link has always been my favorite and I don't think I could ever grow tired of him. Before this costume was made I had always wanted to cosplay Link, but I could never decide on which design I wanted to create the most. When playing Twilight Princess for the first time I wasn't expecting anything new with his outfits, I thought for sure Link was just going to have a blue color variant for his tunic. To my surprise he ended up having a completely different outfit and the moment I laid eyes on it I made my decision right away.

What: The Process
The costume itself didn't take too long, though I really pushed myself getting most of it done in about a months time. The sword, shield, and helmet were the things I worked on and off for about two months. I used a variety of materials throughout the whole costume. The shield is made of blue insulation foam, high density foam for the border, two part epoxy clay for the raised details, wood to mount the leather strap, and PVC pipe for the handle. The bolts of the shield I had made a mold for and casted them out of polyurethane plastic. The helmet base is paper-clay, two part epoxy for the raised details, and the side pieces were molded and casted out of polyurethane plastic. For the scales I decided to go with craft foam as opposed to the actual metal scale-mail so that I could get the size of the scales accurate to the game. Each craft foam scale was coated with one coat of white school glue, minwax silver polish, polyurethane, and fabric glue. Some scales were reinforced with fabric backing in areas that would receive a lot of stress. In the end I never really kept track of the final amount, but I estimate this costume cost at least $300-$400. The costume itself was not too difficult, but each part took a good amount of time. I would say that the helmet was probably the most difficult out of the entire costume. It was interesting trying to get the helmet to fit comfortably and get it to stay on my head without any problems.

Where and When: The Debut
I first debuted the costume at Ohayocon 2008. The first run of the costume was a big success, however it was far from done at the time. I had made a pair of temporary boots for that con, and I had yet to construct a sheath for my sword. Despite all this I was happy to get it presentable enough to debut it at Ohayocon. With each con I wore the costume to, it got updated in some way or another.

Links: The Cosplayer
Personal Website
Deviant Art Profile
Cosplay.com Profile